No one likes paying bills, but how would you like to pay twice as much as your neighbours for natural gas? That's the situation a B.C. senior found herself in after signing a long-term deal with Summitt Gas.

Teri Brown has a "no soliciting" sign tacked onto the fence surrounding her Pitt Meadows home, but that didn't stop a door-to-door salesman from catching her off guard outside her garage in 2008.

"He wanted to see my bill, instantly. He wanted to see Terasen Gas bill and said, ‘We can save you money… sign on the dotted line,'" Brown said.

She signed. Now Brown is paying Summitt $10.99 per gigajoule while her neighbours pay $4.50 through Fortis BC. She says she's furious and feeling "absolutely trapped."

"I am going to be paying two and a half times as much for gas for the next 16 months," Brown said.

And she's not alone in her frustration. The Better Business Bureau has received 22 complaints about Summitt Gas.

Summitt let half those disgruntled consumers out of their contracts – and CTV News called the company, hoping it would do the same for Brown.

The company looked into Brown's case, but said she didn't meet it's criteria for cancelling the contract on compassionate grounds. It only does that for people over the age of 70, or people with poor health or low incomes.

"We felt in this case the customer had a complete understanding of the contract, of the terms, of the risks involved," said Gaetana Girardi, director of compliance and regulatory affairs for Summitt. "We feel it is a binding contract."

Summitt says Brown can re-sign a new five-year deal at $8.50 a gigajoule – that's twice the going rate – or she can pay a hefty cancellation penalty.

"He said it's going to cost you $623 plus tax to get out," Brown said. "I was furious, absolutely furious."

Brown says she will pay the fee, estimating it will still save her more than $1,000 over the remaining 16 months of her contract.

She did have one chance to get out of the deal early on, however. When it comes to door-to-door sales, by law you have a 10 day cooling off period to change your mind. If you do, you can legally cancel the contract.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lynda Steele