Comments on: Beware of Universal Gas & Electric

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:56:13 +0000

Well it doesn’t lool like I am the only one who does not read the fine print and want to believe in what I am being told. I too was scammed by Universal Gas and Electric. I was promised that my rates would always be lower than consumers and nothing was ever mentioned about signing a 5 year contract. When I contacted them the first time I was told that I was locked in and I could do nothing about it. The second time I called they stated that I could terminate early for a fee of $250.00. I asked them if i were to move what would happen? They stated that the contract would follow me to my next residence unless I do not have a gas bill in my name and can show proof of that. I also called the Michigan Public Service Commission regarding Universal and they stated that they are aware of the complaints and that Universal was investigated and now are to report any and all complaints. They were also to change their approack with new clients, but stated that for those of us who signed up in the past are stuck with the original contract and must pay the $250 cancellation fee if we want out. Shame on this company for taking advantage of people. I would advice everyone to avoid any business with this company

By: Watching the detectives

Watching the detectives — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:13:20 +0000

Andrew Steele

The Ontario Tories’ leadership race continues to get more divisive.

The latest salvo is an anonymous attack on Frank Klees from quarters unknown, under the psuedonom “Tory Detective.”

The allegation is a serious one: that Mr. Klees is on the board of a company fined $200,000 by the Ontario Energy Board for making false and misleading statements.

Mr. Klees was considered the best performer in the leadership debates, a wily blend of Brian Mulroney and Ernie Eves. He’d better keep it up. It will take every ounce of Irish Blarney and double-E slickness he can muster to explain away these claims.

The e-mail read as follows:

From: Tory Detective

To: torydetective@yahoo.ca

Sent: Sat May 30 22:24:05 2009

Subject: Frank Klees: Business Experience & Judgement? Uh oh….

Someone is walking the walk, but not talking the talk.

Frank Klees wants Ontario PC Party members to believe that he should be elected leader due to his “business experience”. But it looks like Frank’s business experience may not be quite the positive attribute he once thought it was. And judgement? Well…

Frankie sits on the Board for Universal Energy Group and is a member of the Audit Committee for the company. He even chairs the Compensation and Governance Committee.

As reported by the Toronto Star earlier this year, that same company – Universal Energy Group – was fined $200,000 by the Ontario Energy Board for making “false, misleading or deceptive statements to consumers.”

A copy of the order (which isn’t the first time) can be found here.

And another one in April (wasn’t there a Leadership going on then?).

And the people are some angry. Victims of the “Universal Energy Scam” can be found talking about their experiences.

…

But Frank doesn’t just sit on the Board. Universal Energy CEO Mark Silver, through his company, OPTUS Capital Corporation, made the single biggest donation to Frank’s campaign: a whopping $34,000 – about 20% of his entire campaign.

Frank’s campaign even reported the donation in the real-time donor disclosures to Elections Ontario.

Wow. Frank’s “business experience” seems to entail managing an energy company ripping off old ladies door-to-door. Judgement, indeed.

Hope you find this enlightening.

By: ladm

ladm — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:47:46 +0000

It seems that Universal is coming to Ohio. Just got a call from a lady. The call was made from Michigan. She asked me to come to an interview this Saturday (Christmas weekend) which would be conducted in a Cleveland suburb. Since I can not find an office listed under their name in this area, I would guess the interview will be at a local hotel. I should have asked. I asked if there was another time. She responded by telling me this is the only opening they have and got a bit irritated when I asked her to elaborate a bit more about the Costumer Service position. I saw their ads on different job sites, so I knew this is not what I wanted to do. I had no idea about their operation until reading posts on this site.

By: Wally

Wally — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:43:32 +0000

Joe, Chad and Stacey, I appreciate your responces. FYI, I came across a law firm that can possibly take care of canceling your contract given the right circumstances. Find out more at http://dbrparalegal.com/
I’m yet to try them, but I will consolidate my mother to see if shes willing to try them out.

By: Chad & Stacey

Chad & Stacey — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:02:05 +0000

Wally,

We appreciate you sharing your experiences. Every person who posts a comment about how bad Universal Gas & Electric is helps other people out there looking for information.

We wish you the best of luck.

By: Chad & Stacey

Chad & Stacey — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:59:40 +0000

Joe,

I preferred to give you an honest chance by interviewing through email (which boiledover is my email address) but you chose to post a comment. (which is fine too) You are right about the company you represent, I researched them before sending you the email this morning.

I only implied that you may be spamming due to the fact that you have used (Joe & Joe Ostervik) PLUS you have used three different links associated with your name ( http://ccmgasbroker.com/, http://yourgasguy.com/, http://myutilitybrokers.com/ccmgasbroker). Another reason why I contacted you to give you a fair chance to explain.

I mentioned the start up fee for your broker business only to respond to a reader that is having difficulty finding a job. You may not realize but Michigan has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. We are all struggling and if the gentleman that was desperately looking for employment has to invest hundreds of dollars to become employed he should proceed cautiously.

My plan was to get some background on you and the company you represent to assure that the readers of this blog are getting the right information and that your true intention is to help them. I was actually impressed by the information I found although it was very vague and planned to feature it in a post.

I know UGE is a rat, scamming company…that is why this posts was written to begin with.

By: Joe Ostervik

Joe Ostervik — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:04:57 +0000

Wally they were sued this past year $300,000 not much for a big company and they lost there licence and moved out of MI and came back with a different name “Commerse Energy” using the same sales tatics and are a Canadian company.

By: Joe Ostervik

Joe Ostervik — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:00:54 +0000

Stacey read your email please send me any questions you have and your email back and not just boiledover.com . Not a problem our company is ligit!

By: Wally

Wally — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:56:12 +0000

I just want to express my pure hate for universal energy and all of their employees. Not only did i get scammed into this 5 year rip off of a contract but I sold my house about 4 years in and they refuse to acknowledge the fact that I will not need their services any longer and they are charging me a cancellation fee of $171.92. They keep telling me that I am not sending in the right documents to have this fee removed even though I am sending them RENTAL AGREEMENTS meaning I don’t pay utilities!!!!Customer service needs their faces rearranged since the lady refuses to put a manager on the phone (even when I call back!). My mom who is a first time home owner was scammed as soon as she moved in. She had no idea who the rep even was. I wonder if this company is perfect candidate for a class action suit? I’m not a law student but if anybody has any ideas on how to sue these people out of all they own please let me know and thank you.

By: Joe Ostervik

Joe Ostervik — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:53:42 +0000

Dear Chad
I am not spaming anyone. I was looking into UGE and I came across this site. If you read any of the comments earlier I am helping people watch what they do. My company that I represent is helping people save money not to scam them. We have been given a A+ rating from the BBB and MPSC and were the only company that actually showed a savings for there customers in the past 3 years! And anyone that would like to be a rep very well could be. Yes it’s a $329 start up fee but you can be your own boss and work as hard or as little as you would like your income is total up to you. As of last month our company was $6.99 per mcf and Consumers Energy was $7.42 per mcf and we DO NOT HAVE A CONTRACT unlike most companies like UGE with a 5 year contract and they tell everyone you can get out of it at anytime. One of my future customers is with UGE and they told him a $6500(commercial act) cancelation fee if he wants out and $10.89 per mcf. UGE has changed there name to Commerce Energy because they had a lawsuit against them. Do you know any insurance salesmen they pay a desk fee and a yearly fee also! If you think that way this economy is why do we have several thousand reps mostly in MI and Ohio and keep growing every month? We sell gas(res and com) in 5 states and electrictiy(com only) in 9 soon all of the USA. Not one of my customers have dropped out of our program since Dec 08. It’s because we help people save money not scam them! Just want to help anyone save and maybe make some extra $.