ACM warns against Dutch company Opslagplan’s telemarketing practices involving home batteries
Summary
- Over the past few months, ACM has received hundreds of reports about telemarketing practices involving home batteries of Dutch company Opslagplan.
- According to these reports, consumers feel they have been misled when purchasing home batteries, and they are confronted with thousands of euros in fees to cancel their purchases.
- Home batteries are not custom-made products. With regard to telemarketing sales or door-to-door sales, consumers are able to cancel their contracts within 14 days for free and without reason.
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) warns against fraudulent telemarketing practices involving home batteries offered by Dutch company Opslagplan. Over the past few months, ACM has received hundreds of reports about the sale of home batteries by Opslagplan. In the telemarketing calls, Opslagplan asks individuals to digitally sign ‘offers without obligation’ or to agree to appointments for consultations in their homes. Harmed consumers indicate that, only after the telemarketing call, it became clear that they signed purchase agreements for home batteries of 15,000 to 20,000 euros each. If consumers wish to cancel their purchases, Opslagplan says they need to pay thousands of euros in ‘cancellation fees’.
ACM has already issued multiple warnings against fraudulent sales of home batteries, and is currently conducting an investigation into the sale of home batteries by various businesses. Since ACM has received hundreds of reports about Opslagplan over a short period of time, ACM has now issued a warning against this business. ACM continues to investigate the telemarketing practices involving home batteries, and calls on consumers to continue reporting any issues to ACM ConsuWijzer.
Home batteries are not custom-made products
Opslagplan claims that consumers cannot cancel their purchase agreements because these supposedly concern ‘custom-made offers’. That is not correct. With regard to telemarketing sales or door-to-door sales, consumers are able to cancel their contracts within 14 days for free and without reason. There is an exception to this rule for ‘custom-made products’ that are specially custom-made for consumers. Home batteries do not fall into that category, because they are produced in bulk and are not manufactured for a specific consumer.
Opslagplan’s methods
Opslagplan is not registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK), and its website, phone number, and email address are unavailable. In their reports, consumers say that Opslagplan’s salespeople do not clearly tell them that they are signing purchase agreements. In addition, Opslagplan’s salespeople fail to mention that consumers are able to cancel their purchase agreements within 14 days. According to some reports, Opslagplan gives the impression that, thanks to a subsidy, consumers are able to purchase home batteries free of charge. If consumers say they wish to cancel their purchases, it does not seem to be an issue at first. They are subsequently called back, and are told that they can only cancel their purchases if they pay thousands of euros in ‘cancellation fees’, or if they agree to the purchase of a lower-priced battery.
ACM’s recommendations
Purchasing a home battery involves a lot of decisions. For example, you need to choose what storage capacity you want, and whether you wish to trade on the electricity wholesale market with that battery. A home battery’s financial returns are also uncertain. Such complicated purchase decisions should not be made over unsolicited calls. That is why ACM recommends individuals that receive unsolicited phone calls to end those conversations and to hang up. If you continue with the conversation anyway, do not be tempted into digitally signing anything, and record the conversation with your mobile phone. In that way, you can always listen back to the conversation and you have proof of what has been agreed to.
In the case of telemarketing sales or door-to-door sales, consumers always have the ability to cancel the contract within 14 days for free. If consumers are not properly informed during the sales call about this statutory cooling-off period, the cooling-off period can be as long as one year. Consumers who were misled during the call, for example, because they received wrong or incomplete information, are able to rescind their contracts. In that way, they annul the contract, as if it had never existed. On ACM ConsuWijzer, you can find recommendations and sample letters (in Dutch) for consumers who wish to cancel the purchase of a home battery or rescind the purchase contract.