Just had one of those electricity suppliers come by my apartment and attempt to sell me

[applegrove]

power under the guise of the local utility in a 5 year contract. Fortunately I figured it out in the last minute. Will have to call and cancel to be doubly sure they didn't put the paperwork through. Yuk.

[rug]

1. Door to door electricity salesman?

[applegrove]

2. Oh yes. And she presented herself as from the local untility. And added that she was only a supplier

to them after. And had me sign stuff. Then I had to make a call to her supervisor from my own phone and the supervisor asked me a series of questions...had they left their card? Did they tell me it was a 5 year contract? I said no. The person on the other end of the phone sighed. And I backed out. I was too gobsmacked to grab the papers I signed out of her hand. Apparently me they have to contact me before it becomes official. I will call them tomorrow and demand they cancel the whole thing...just in case. I hate the bait and switch. The girl seem perfectly capable of doing any kind of sales job. I feel sorry for her that she chooses to engage in the dark arts.

[rug]

3. That strikes me as a depressing job.

[applegrove]

4. Yes. But they obviously have had so many complaints they have to verify again and again. Some people

enjoy doing others wrong. She was obviously one of those types of people.

[A Simple Game]

7. Had a similar event but by phone, on second thought changed our minds and called the

electric company and explained what happened. They put a hold on any transfers which stopped the transaction from being completed. Call your utility, they may be able to stop the process.

[applegrove]

8. Thanks. I will tomorrow. Can't believe I was so stupid.

[A Simple Game]

9. Not stupid, some of them can talk a dog out of a bone they're that good at selling.

They know they can't give you time to think.

[A Simple Game]

10. On second thought try calling them now, seems we called at night and they had a 24/7 support line.

Number should be on your bill.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. My rule has always been.."leave the paperwork with me and I will look it over"

Same with sales calls..mail me the paperwork.
amazing how that puts off the scammers.

For door to door people, I take a pic of their car leaving the driveway ( we only have rear plates here in Ala).

[applegrove]

6. I was totally snowed at first. I kept trying to think but she kept talking and I signed before I had

the chance to think to myself "this could be a bloody mess". I always try and be helpful and she used that against me. Thank god for the government regulation which forced her to talk to the manager on the phone and confirm that she hadn't given me all the pertinent information.

[mackerel]

11. I'm confused? I thought you just call the utility company yourself if you electricity?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. You can buy power from someone other than the local utility.

You still pay upkeep and line fees to the local utility but the juice comes from somewhere else.

Chicago negotiated a deal on behalf of the entire city and it supposedly lowered the bills. I think we have since switched back

I've known a few people who did their own deals and regretted it. Cancellation fees.

I feel sorry for the kids I see peddling the deals in my neighborhood. It looks like a shitty job. I try not to get pissed when they do the "get buzzed in once and then hit up all the other units trick"

[applegrove]

14. Yeah she said she was going to all units in the building at first. So I did not feel targetted.

Then, after I cancelled, I don't know if she left the building or not. I didn't feel like chasing her out. I'm so passive.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. My boyfriend saw a neighbor, can't remember if it was in our building, get in to it with ...

..... one teams of sales people. The kids were either African American or Latina and it went something like "why don't you get a real job" and "why don't you give me a real job"

It's a shitty job but you can probably make a living if you hustle. Most won't but some will.

I was there once.

[mackerel]

16. You can't do that here. It's the City Electric Company.

[applegrove]

13. I know. They buzzed me and said they were representing hydro and changes needed to be made.

Then she walked it back verbally a bit. Said I would get equal billing which I want. I kept that in mind when she said she represented a supplier but I would get my same Ottawa hydro bill. Then she said she had to call from my home to confirm with a supervisor. I thought to myself then maybe this is not so on the up and up. Then she put me on the phone with the supervisor who asked me a few questions and then "did they tell you you would now have a 5 year contract at certain kilowatt hour? and I said no. The supervisor huffed. I said I'm not interested and the girl left. Thank god for government regulations which is what I think that phonecall was about.

[HeiressofBickworth]

17. I have a policy:

I'm polite and say I'm not interested -- if they ask why, I tell them that I have a policy of never doing business with people who come to the door or call me on the phone. If I am in need of goods or services, I'll find what I need; they don't need to cold-call me. If they say they represent a utility, I ask them to send a letter outlining why they are contacting me and I will consider it.

I figure that if I do this routinely, when I'm old and fuzzy around the edges, I'll fall back on pattern and won't be duped by con artists coming through the neighborhood.

[applegrove]

18. That is my new policy. Unfortunately she made me think she was the local utility company and I was

helping her out.