Complaints relating to VEU in-home display activities

6 December 2021

We have received a number of complaints and allegations of inappropriate conduct relating to in-home display activities under the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program. The types of complaints fall into three broad categories:

• inappropriate marketing:
  • aggressive and persistent calls with consumers receiving multiple calls a day over several weeks
  • consumers being told installation is mandatory or government-mandated
  • misrepresentation that an in home display has been ordered without the consumer making a request.
• issues with installation:
  • installers connecting devices to their own smart phones rather than the consumers
  • installers mispresenting themselves as being from another provider and installing their own device (not the pre-ordered device) without the consumer’s knowledge.
• issues with consent:
  • consumers not being provided adequate time to review the assignment form
  • consumers being asked to sign assignment forms they have not completed themselves or forms not containing their signature
  • consumer not seeing or signing the assignment form; signature on copy of form provided is not that of the consumer, installer ticked the consumer declaration boxes 
  • inadequate explanation to consumers about the program and how it works.

We are monitoring these complaints closely and are working with Consumer Affairs Victoria to investigate potential breaches of Australian Consumer Law.

We remind accredited persons that you need processes in place to identify the capacity of a consumer to give consent, and to engage appropriately with vulnerable consumers.

Please contact us by email if you have concerns or issues regarding conduct relating to the delivery of in-home display activities under the VEU program: veu@esc.vic.gov.au