The surprise for most Stromio customers came just before Christmas: no more electricity from Stromio.

Despite current contracts.

It's over.

"But I do have a price guarantee," the readers complained to us in the editorial office.

"Is that allowed?" It's not, says Phillip Eischet.

He has declared war on the provider.

Daniel Mohr

Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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Eischet founded RightNow in 2016 together with Benedikt Quarch and Torben Antretter.

Since then, they've been buying up claims for damages that consumers might have against big companies and trying to enforce them in court.

"Being right and being right, there is a discrepancy in Germany," says Eischet.

“In theory you have a legal right, but in practice it often takes a disproportionate amount of time and money to enforce it.

Incidentally, that is also the calculation of many large corporations that people will not complain about 200 or 300 euros.”

The young RightNow founders turned it into a business.

Their technology experts have developed programs with which claims for damages and the probability of success of legal proceedings are calculated.

They offer the customer money today and immediately.

This means that the case is closed for them - regardless of what RightNow makes of the process and whether and when it may be successful in court.

Around two million victims in the Stromio case

On average, Eischet now estimates the payments that he will offer to customers who have been terminated by Stromio, gas.de and Grünwelt at around 80 to 100 euros.

“All in all, there are two million victims,” estimates Eischet.

"Many don't even know that they have a claim." In the Stromio case, the damage results, among other things, from the promised electricity price, the term of the contract and the higher costs of the default supplier or alternative provider from which the customers now obtain electricity.

A mixed calculation, as Eischet describes, because nobody knows today how the courts will assess damage and whether they will recognize it.

RightNow plans this risk in its offer with corresponding discounts.

The offer officially starts on Monday.

RightNow has already received 5000 inquiries, several hundred of which have already been successfully checked in a purely digital process on rightnow.de with mostly rapid responses within a few days.

The Stromio exams are all scheduled to be completed in February.

In order not to let the risk for RightNow become too great, they only make offers with lower payouts or no offers at all after a certain number of customers.

Former Stromio customers with legal protection insurance could also hire their own lawyer and try to enforce their self-determined claims. That might be more than RightNow offers them. "We don't see them as our competition at all," says Eischet. Not even debt collection companies that promise a share in the success of the process. Such procedures can take years and success is uncertain. The RightNow payment, on the other hand, is possibly lower today, but it is secure and immediately in the account. "We've noticed that young people in particular often don't feel like struggling with paperwork and lawyers for weeks, months and years to get their rights," says Eischet. "They appreciate our approach and are glad someone is taking on the big guys."

The company's lawyers assume that RightNow could be successful against Stromio.

"Of course, we take a close look at what the Federal Network Agency says on the subject and that the Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office is taking action," says Eischet.

"The story is spreading in the industry that Stromio simply no longer wanted to stick to existing electricity supply contracts and preferred to sell the electricity to large customers at higher prices." In addition, the company has reported profits of many millions of euros in previous years.

"We check beforehand how solvent the opponent is," says Eischet.

He therefore does not take action against insolvent electricity providers, some of whom have recently terminated their customers.