Price shock – electricity customers now have to pay 631 instead of 41 euros

A 44-year-old from the Kirchdorf Ward was stunned last week. “I suddenly had to pay 631 euros for the electricity instead of the previous 41 euros – per month,” he says in an interview with “Krone”. “And the biggest cheek is that in the letter it says: ‘You have asked us to change your partial amount.’ I have nothing. On their own initiative and without warning they have massively increased the partial amounts,” he says angrily.

“This is madness”
Only after a phone call to the company and a conversation with the Chamber of Commerce did the electricity supplier release the man from the contract surprisingly quickly. “Now I am with another provider, where I still pay more than 200 euros per month. It is actually crazy what is being done there and what is charged for electricity and gas,” says de Kirchdorfer.

Such matters are now the order of the day for the consumer lawyers of the Chamber of Commerce. “We have very, very many cases,” confirms Ulrike Weiß, top consumer lawyer for the AK in Upper Austria. In particular, contracts that were once particularly cheap have become financial ruin for many customers in recent weeks.

Deadlines should not be overlooked
The problem: “Most contracts are legal, the operators are well insured,” she admits. That is why Weiß advises all electricity and gas customers to read their contracts very carefully now. “Often there is a deadline that you should not overlook, because if you miss it, it can get very expensive. And also with a view to the turn of the year, you really have to look very carefully at what is in the contract”, advises Weiss. When in doubt, the experts of the Chamber of Commerce will also help you so that you are not faced with a very expensive surprise.