A third Prince George business is claiming it was fraudulently signed up for a independent natural gas contract by Ontario-based Active Renewable Marketing Ltd.
Local White Spot Restaurant manager Paul Case said he checked the
restaurant's gas bill in March, after reading in the Citizen about allegations of fraudulent contracts. In March the Citizen reported on allegations by Ave Marie Gifts & Health Foods and Mother Maria's Market owner David Fuller, and Finish Line Auto Care owner Terry Fortner against Active Renewable Marketing.
When Case checked the bill sent by Fortis B.C., he found, "Active Renewable Energy -Agreement ends Oct. 1, 2013," printed beneath the cost of gas on the bill. When the franchise owner, Jas Dhillon, called Active Renewable Marketing he was provided a copy of a contract
dated Oct. 1, 2008.
"Our owner has sole signing authority, and he lives in Vancouver. No one knew about this," Case said.
"It's been on there for three and a half years. We're out close to $50,000. For our owner, $50,000 is a huge impact. When you're only making six to eight per cent [profit margin], that's a lot of money."
The contract appears to be signed by a former employee who was a supervisor at the restaurant at the time, Case said. That employee had no to authority to sign a natural gas contract for the restaurant and, "it's definitely a different signature," from the former employee's signature, Case said.
In a signed statement, the former employee said she recalled being approached by a man who asked her about the store's gas bill. She said she did not sign any contract or agree to any changes to the restaurant's gas bill.
A comparison of the former employee's signature from her written statement and the signature on the gas contract shows
noticeable differences.
The signature of the sales agent who signed the contract for Active Renewable Marketing is illegible on the contract. However, the agent used the agent number 300476 -a different number than the ones used by the agents which signed up Mother Maria's Market and Finish Line Auto Care.
Case said natural gas is a major cost for the restaurant, which uses gas ovens, deep fryers, heat, hot water and grills. Under the contract, Dhillon's company was charged $10.99 per gigajoule of natural gas. The current going rate offered by Fortis B.C. is $2.977 per gigajoule.
"It's quite a hefty bill at the end of the year," he said.
Since finding out about the alleged fraud, Dhillon has filed a complaint with the B.C. Utilities Commission and the RCMP.
RCMP spokesperson Const. Craig Douglass confirmed an investigation has been launched into the allegations, but could not comment further on the active case.
In addition, Dhillon contacted Active Renewable Marketing and is seeking legal advice, Case said.
BCUC takes action
B.C. Utilities Commission acting commission secretary Alanna Gillis said the commission has launched a compliance inquiry against Active Renewable Marketing, also known as Active Energy Corp.
The B.C. Utilities Commission is charged with regulating and licensing utility companies and independent natural gas marketers in B.C. Companies like Active Renewable are required to follow the Code of Conduction for Gas Marketers, which sets rules
regarding marketing practices.
The compliance inquiry, ordered on March 8, is to investigate 24 allegations of forged or unauthorized signatures on contracts. According to the order, the commission received 24 complaints against Active Renewable Marketing between Nov. 17, 2011 and Feb. 28, 2012.
Under order A-5-12, the B.C. Utilities Commission requested Consumer Protection B.C. investigate the allegations.
"If they are found to be non-compliant... the commission could put conditions on their license. They could revoke their license to market in B.C.," Gillis said. "If there is certain contracts which are found to be non-compliant ... they could cancel those contracts."
In 2010, the B.C. Utilities Commission investigated Active Renewable Marketing for nine allegations of fraudulent signatures on contracts.
The commission ordered Active Renewable to make improvements to its training regime and required the company to report all future claims of fraud
immediately to the commission.
In a 2010 letter to Active Renewable Marketing, commission secretary Erica Hamilton said two sales agents generated over 50 per cent of the complaints against the company.
"These two sales agents received warning letters and were retrained; however, continued to receive complaints related to forgery and/or unauthorized
signatures," Hamilton wrote.
"This suggests that either Active's training is not effective in improving the sales agents' compliance with the Code of Conduct for Gas Marketers, or Active's compliance regime is not adequate or is not strictly enforced to deter non compliant sales
practices."
The commission also ordered the cancellation of an allegedly forged contract in a separate case in 2010.
Active Renewable Marketing was the subject of another compliance inquiry order in January, to investigate two allegations of code of conduction violations by sales agents.
Despite the complaints against Active Renewable, the commission renewed the company's marketing license in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Active Renewal responds
Active Renewal Marketing spokesperson Charlie Zilvytis said the company responds to complaints on an individual basis.
None of the allegations of fraud have been proven in court.
Zilvytis said he was unaware of the details of White Spot's contract, but the company tries to respond to complaints as they are raised. However, he said it is strange that the issue was not raised until more than three years after the contract was signed.
"There is a certain amount of buyer's remorse that happens," he said.
At the time this contract was signed, Active Renewable was not required to send a confirmation letter or make a confirmation phone call to the business before activating the account. Changes to B.C. regulations since 2008 would now require those practices.
The company no longer markets directly to commercial customers, Zilvytis said. However, when it did market to businesses, the company's sales agents were instructed to speak with people authorized to sign agreements. The customer was required to check a box on the contract form which indicates they are the person authorized to represent the business, Zilvytis said.
"We've undergone a number of changes since 2008," he said. "If we see some sort of trend, we react accordingly."
