On Wednesday, for no apparent reason, the Lodewijckx family suddenly found themselves without electricity in Herenthout. Fuse problem? Nothing had moved. Worry all over the street? No disturbance to neighbors. “We were the only ones in the case”, confides to the Nieuwsblad Bart, the 44-year-old father.
The 40-year-old therefore contacted his network manager, Fluvius, directly for help. It was there that he discovered the unthinkable: “They managed to tell me that no energy contract had been concluded at our address! “. Astonishment for Bart who is sure to pay a supplier well. “It was only following many calls that we were informed that a certain YS had signed a contract with our EAN code at the end of last year. »
big mistake
In concrete terms, the EAN code stands for European Article Numbering. This makes it possible to identify the points of delivery of electricity or gas. A long code made up of 18 digits which, however, was used in this story by an unknown person. “We pay our bill by direct debit. So we didn’t notice anything. We received several emails last year on behalf of this certain YS but we simply reported them. We assumed everything was in order…”
Once the error was discovered, the supplier worked to restore the situation for the Lodewijckx family. “But it can take up to five working days before everything is back to normal. If it’s a real mistake, then I don’t understand why it takes so long to correct it,” Bart wonders. “Besides, I would like to receive compensation from whoever caused this. I had to telecommute during these two days, but since I might not connect to the Internet… Not to mention the foodstuffs that I had to throw away because the temperature of my freezer was no longer good…”
A big mistake that cost a lot. Especially since it might have been avoided. “On November 1, 2022, the energy contract of the Lodewijckx family was taken over by another supplier because this certain YS transmitted the wrong EAN code, that of the Lodewijckx family. This supplier would have accepted this contract and apparently would not have checked if the code was already used. If they had done that, there would be no problem now,” Fluvius regional spokesman David Callens told the Nieuwsblad.
They thought they had a contract
But why did Bart and his family find themselves without electricity? Quite simply because YS finally transmitted its correct EAN code on February 19th. This ended the contract with the EAN code of the Lodewijckx family… who found themselves without a contract. “In such a case, you switch to Fluvius as a social provider.” However, she never paid the supplier. since she thought she had a contract!
“It’s a complex situation. The affected family must now raise the issue with the provider who failed to properly verify the code. They then have to return the contract to the original supplier,” summarizes Fluvius. And the incomprehension remains on the way in which YS was able to transmit this bad code.
