ENEL and the "mercato libero": don't get caught out!

Recently, I was wearing my "help a fellow expat" hat again and thought it might be worthwhile sharing the whys and wherefores of the problem.My friend, who speaks some, but not great Italian, has been having trouble with Enel organising payment by direct debit on her credit card. Everything was sorted, the form sent in by fax and racommandata a/r and a week or so later, she received a tel call from someone at Enel, asking - or so she thought - to confirm some of the details on the form: name, codice fiscale, client no etc, all of which she did, but there were a few questions asked that baffled her. She asked the person to talk slowly, repeat what she had said etc, but to no avail. The rat-tat-tat-tat of words she couldn't quite grip continued, and every so often she said si or no when she thought she should. With a long history of Enel problems over several years, she didn't want to do anything to delay or complicate her direct debit payments.Having put the phone down and thought about things for a bit, she called me, saying that she had a horrible feeling she had agreed to some new kind of contract, could I check for her. As soon as she gave me the number she had been given (freephone 800900860) I knew something was up as that is not Enel's numero verde.A couple of phone calls later, I could tell her that she had in fact been speaking to Enel Energia, not the "normal" Enel, so the part of Enel, set up as a completely different company, that is one of several electricity /gas suppliers competing in the free market. They told me that there was nothing on their computer to say that a contract was being processed (sighs of relief) but a couple of weeks later, one turned up in the post.It was one of these "confirmation of a verbal contract" forms, so no need to sign and return, the verbal contract was binding, but hidden within the pages were instructions to "disdire" or cancel the verbal contract within 10 days of receiving the formal, printed version. Strangely, it had not been sent raccomandata a/r - so how they would know when those 10 days would be up, heaven alone knows - and as my friend lives out in the middle of no-where, very little post actually reaches her. Sometimes she'll find some at the post office - sometmes stuck on her gate, sometimes it just never arrives!. Having read through several pages of tiny print (why is it always so!!?? (rhetoric question, we all know why - same in every country) I finally discovered the fax number the letter of cancellation had to be sent to, along with the address to send it racc. a/r.We have now phoned Enel energia several times ( me, and me pretending to be her) and can get no news at all as to whether or not they have indeed cancelled the contract, and the "normal" Enel can't or won't put a note on their computerised system to say my friend doesn't want to change suppliers and therfore to ignore anything that says she does. All she can do now is keep her fingers crossed.I've since checked internet to see if anyone else has had this problem and it turns out to be very common - even born and bred Italians not realising they are talking to a 2nd Enel company that is actually in "competition" with the original Enel even though it is owned by the same people (ok, so that's a simplification, but it is more-or-less so).So, moral of the story, be VERY careful if someone from Enel phones you up and starts asking questions - you may find that you have just agreed to change suppliers. I imagine the people calling are working on commission so signing up is more important perhaps than being clear....but maybe I'm being unfair.