Battery buyers prepare class action over falling returns

About 20 Finnish buyers of Emaldo home batteries are preparing a class action after promised monthly payments fell sharply, Yle reports.

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority receives several hundred contacts each year about problems with sales of home batteries used to provide reserve services to the electricity grid. One of the most common complaints concerns returns that were not paid or were far below what buyers had been promised, the authority’s chief specialist, Raija Marttala, said.

Simo Höykinpuro, who lives in Seinäjoki, says Emaldo and its resellers promised buyers a fixed payment of 150 euros a month for 36 months in spring 2025. After a few months, he says, his payments fell to a few dozen euros. Resellers are now advertising monthly returns of 120 euros, according to Yle, which has seen the marketing material.

Höykinpuro and around 20 other buyers say their complaints to sales organisations have received AI-generated replies that do not address their concerns. Höykinpuro says he has received no response to his latest complaints. He has reported the matter to the Competition and Consumer Authority and is preparing a class action with other Emaldo battery buyers.

Emaldo’s product director, Alasdair Firth, confirmed that the company suspended its 36-month guarantee programme. He said payments were reviewed because of changing market conditions and later reinstated. Firth said customers who have registered will receive the same amount for 36 months.

Emaldo, a Danish-Chinese company, sells reserve batteries in several countries and in Finland works through smaller sales organisations. The company does not have an agreement with Fingrid, Finland’s transmission system operator, for reserve markets, said Maria Joki-Pesola, who leads Fingrid’s balance services and marketplaces. She added that Emaldo could work with another company.

Fingrid says some battery sellers have used its name and even its logo in marketing without permission. The company says it has intervened in such claims. Reserve markets help balance the electricity grid’s frequency, and Fingrid pays compensation to participating operators.

The Competition and Consumer Authority says the problems are connected to home sales practices and contract terms. It says marketing must not give false or misleading information that could affect a consumer’s decision. Responsibility for product defects rests primarily with the seller, although consumers may also turn to an earlier seller in the supply chain, such as an importer.

The authority and state-owned expert company Motiva warned consumers in June about aggressive home battery sales and unrealistic promises of returns.