尊重事实令黄夫妇取消了固定合同

Sticking to the facts: Best policy in filing complaint

诚实是最好的良方。黄夫妇因在整个投诉过程中尊重事实而得以取消了他们签署的固定费用能源合同而未缴一分罚款。

Honesty is the best policy. By sticking to the facts in filing their complaints, the Huang couple has wriggled out of a fixed rate energy contract without incurring liquidated damages.

今年年初，黄女士与一家能源销售公司签署了煤气和电费合同。黄女士投诉说，由于销售员推销行为缺乏职业道德，她被误导而签署了这份合同。

Early this year, Mrs. Huang signed a utility contract with a gas and electricity sales company. Huang complained that the contract was the result of unethical sales practices, of which she became a victim.

黄女士是多伦多的一名新移民，英语水平有限。今年3月，当黄先生身在中国时，一名来自一家能源销售公司的讲国语的推销员敲开了黄夫妇的家门。当了解到这位推销员来自一家有名气的能源公司后，黄女士递上了她家的煤气账单。推销员很快就说服了黄女士，即只要她在新煤气计划上签字，她日后就可在能源支出上享受大幅折扣。

Mrs. Huang was a newcomer to Toronto, who speaks limited English. In March this year, while her husband was in China, a Mandarin speaking salesperson from an energy retailer knocked on her door. After learning that he was from a reputable energy company, Huang presented them with her gas bills. She was soon convinced by the salesperson that by signing up for a new gas plan, she would enjoy a great saving on energy costs.

但黄女士不久发现,实际上她所签订的固定费率的能源合同使她家的煤气账单比市价高出好几倍。在黄女士的丈夫发现并想要取消这个合同时，却已经为时已晚，因为他们已经错过了10天反悔期。

But to her surprise, Mrs. Huang realized that the fixed rate gas contract she had signed resulted in a gas bill several times higher than the market price. When her husband found out, it was too late to cancel – they had missed the 10 day cooling off period.

但是在黄女士夫妇坚决要求取消合同，并声称他们是被误导签字后，该公司回应表示，他们的销售行为完全符合法律规定，如果黄女士夫妇要取消合同，必需支付违约金。

But after the Huang couple demanded to cancel the contract, alleging that they were misled into signing, the company responded that their sales practice was entirely in compliance with the law, and that Huang couple was required to pay for the liquidated damages if the contract was cancelled.

该公司还向黄女士夫妇提供了当时的确认电话录音，从中可以听到在黄女士被问及是否同意她所签订的合同价格时，她清楚地回答“是”。在此之前，当黄女士被问及是否适应英语对话时，她也给出了肯定的回答，但实际上她的英语水平非常有限。

The company also presented them with a record of the confirmation phone call, in which Mrs. Huang clearly answered “YES” to a question asking whether she agreed with the contract price she signed on. Prior to that, Huang also gave an affirmative answer to a question asking whether she felt comfortable with carrying out the conversation in English, the language she was struggling with.

但是在黄女士讲述自己在回答这些问题时如何遭到误导，不禁因为气愤而提高了嗓门。

Mrs. Huang raised her angry voice while explaining how she was allegedly misled into answering those questions.

据黄女士称，是她的善良和有限的英语技能导致她上当受骗。为了能得到她对所有电话提问作出肯定回答，推销员推说公司想要向她了她是否对解推销工作满意，如果她对所有问题都回答“是”，他将非常感激。

According to Mrs. Huang, the unethical practice preyed on her kindness and limited English skills. To obtain her “YES” answers to the questions over the phone, the salesperson told her that the company wanted to get her opinion over the quality of the job performed by the salesperson, and that he would be grateful if she answered “YES” to all their questions.

看着那些在严寒的冬天冻得瑟瑟发抖的人，黄女士觉得自己有义务按照他的要求去做。于是她接过电话，对所有问题都回答了“是”，而实际上她根本没有理解被问的是哪些问题。

Watching the salesperson trembling in the blistering cold, Huang felt she was obligated to follow his requests. She took over the phone, and answered “YES” to the questions, without understanding what she was being asked.

在黄夫妇得知取消合同的高昂代价后，他们才意识到自己的麻烦有多大，因为他们必须为取消合同支付总额高达$1200元的违约金。

The couple didn’t realize their trouble until they were told that cancelling the contract would be at hefty price – they had to pay for the liquated damages totalling $1200.

在获悉黄女士夫妇的故事后，《大中报》帮助他们联系了监管能源销售公司的政府监管机构——安省能源局。随后黄女士夫妇向安省能源局提出了投诉。

After learning of the couple’s story, Chinese News helped them connect with the Ontario Energy Board, the government regulator of energy sales companies. The couple then filed a complaint with the OEB.

相关能源销售公司在接到安省能源局转交的投诉后，通过电邮对黄夫妇投诉作出回复，但是电邮内容却令夫妇二人震惊不已。

The energy retailer, after reviewing the complaint forwarded by the OEB, responded to the couple in an email. But the content of the email shocked the couple.

该公司的投诉专员在电邮中称：“你们提到你们目前的经济困境。如果你们能够提供支持文件证明这一点，可以无需支付违约金取消合同。”

 “You mention you are currently experiencing financial hardship.  If you are able to provide supporting documents regarding your claim, the contract can be cancelled without liquidated damages,” the company’s complaint specialist wrote.

这封电邮令黄先生不知所措。很显然，只要递交所需的文件，就可以立即取消合同，而这正是他渴望的事情。但是，他并不想撒谎。

The email caught Mr. Huang in bewilderment. Apparently, sending out the required document can have the contract cancelled immediately, which was what Huang desperately wanted. But Huang did not want to lie.

黄先生回信称：“我从未在投诉中提及我的财务状况，而我也没有遭遇任何财政困难……我投诉的重点是关于贵公司销售员的不道德销售手法。”

“I never mentioned my financial situation in filing the complaints.” Huang responded. “Neither am I experiencing any financial difficulties… My arguments in the complaint are concerning the unethical sales practice of the salesperson in your company.”

如果这些财务文件是对黄先生是否诚实进行的考验，那他已经通过了测试。

If the request for financial documents is an honesty test for the Huang couple, they have passed the test.  

在几天后，该公司通知黄女士夫妇，他们的合同已经被取消，并且无需支付任何违约金。

A few days later, the company informed the Huang couple that their contract has been cancelled, without any liquidated damages.

黄先生笑容满面地称：“无论有多扑朔迷离，真相总会水落石出。”

“However cloudy the situation is, the truth will just come out,” said Huang.