Toulouse: he denounces an “abusive” gas cut by the operator Eni
On November 2, at the very start of the winter break, the gas meter of a retiree from Toulouse was cut. Eni, its operator explains that the termination of its contract is linked to unpaid bills.
By signing a contract with the operator Eni in 2019, Yves Ellul, retiree from Toulouse, hoped to make significant savings. Its specific contract that its invoices will not change for three years, regardless of the evolution of gas prices. Everything is going as planned until October 28th. “A Gaz de France agent rang at my door. He told me that he had received an order from my supplier to turn off my meter. “
Surprised, the Toulousain calls his operator who explains to him that he has unpaid bills dating from July 2020 and July 2021. “During these periods, we did not receive any invoices and with the holidays, we forgot to pay. “Yves and his wife immediately reimburse what they owe Eni, yet on November 2,” without warning “, the gas is cut. “Immediately afterwards, we received an end-of-contract invoice corresponding to one month of gas. “
“We are bound hand and foot!”
The couple subscribed to another operator, but had to wait four days before the measure was effective. “We had to pay fees for opening the line with the new supplier and GRDF, and above all this new contract is not at all equivalent, the prices are much higher. “Yves deplores” dishonest practices “and” abuses “, and plans to contact consumer associations to see what steps are possible. “It’s a shame to operate this way. We are bound hand and foot at the mercy of these people! “
Eni, through an agent, explains that the termination of the account is “the usual procedure in the event of unpaid bills”. “We have relaunched this person a number of times through text messages, and calls. Yves assures us that this is not the case.
Difficult to verify this precise point, on the other hand for an agent working with the national energy mediator, independent authority, the error comes rather from GRDF. “Eni terminated the contract for unpaid bills and asked the manager for a termination, but normally, the cut should not occur during the winter break. From November 1 to March 31, energy suppliers are not allowed to cut off the gas. Asked, GRDF explains that “decommissioning is only done at the request of suppliers and that agents do not have details of the situation of people”. “This request dated from before the winter break. The date taken into account is the date of the request, October 26, and not the cut-off date, November 2. “
the national energy mediator advises Yves to file a complaint with GRDF and Eni to request compensation, then to refer them two months later in the event of no response. “We will analyze the file to see the crimes and propose a solution. According to the energy mediator, Eni is the operator with the most disputes in France: 307 for 100,000 contracts, against 76 on average.