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2012-08-08 at 11:30

Door-to-door energy sales leaving some homeowners irate

By tbnewswatc.com
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Complaints about door-to-door energy sales people have the attention of Thunder Bay Hydro.

Company spokesman Tim Wilson says customers should not feel obligated to sign into a new contract with another energy retailer.

“We tell customers that if the price makes sense for you on the commodity line on your bill then to do so,” Wilson said during an interview with CKPR Wednesday.

“Otherwise, if they feel they’ve signed into something they are not sure about then there is a 10-day cooling off period that the Ontario Energy Board grants to individuals who have signed contracts.”


Wilson added that Thunder Bay Hydro does not make door-to-door sales calls to residential customers.


(CKPR Radio)

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Comments

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Dudebro says:
Its really quite easy...no one gives anything away any cheaper than the next guy, they just change details of the product, contract etc to make it look more enticing.
If a company needs to go door to door to peddle their product then its really quite obvious they aren't a very respectable company anyway.
8/8/2012 1:52:32 PM
mirris says:
My mother just had a guy come to her door who said that they were "replacing" Reliance rental equipment and any equipment damaged in the recent floods in Thunder Bay. She called me, and after he repeated his speel, I asked him outright if he had any association with Reliance. He went into a tirade about how they were crooks. I asked if it was a cold sales call. He said 'Well, we go door-to-door...". I told him to leave the house immediately, that we were not interested. He left, but said some unsavory things under his breath about me to my mother.
One character a few years ago tried to demand to see one of my bills, and when I told him to leave and tried to close the door, he put his foot into it to stop me. Within a few seconds he was running off my property. (And he was lucky he could run on that foot!)
Are there any laws governing this type of thing? I have called the companies that these guys were suggesting that they represent, but what can they really do?
8/8/2012 3:52:43 PM
Sui Generis says:
I had a similar incident last summer with one putting his foot in the door to stop me from closing it. This particular individual wanted to see my bills, and tried to pass himself off as a TB Hydro employee. When I demanded identification and picked up my phone, he ran.

I did follow up with his head office, Direct Energy, and this particular employee lost his job. Always follow the complaint up with their head office! The employee working on a commission doesn't always follow the company policies.
8/8/2012 6:52:56 PM
jimmyboy says:
Do these individuals not have too have a purchased vendors license or permit of some kind purchased and registered with the city before they go about their ways in conducting business and bothering and confusing people the way this always seems to happen.???

One would believe they would be required...so why does the city not deny their conducting business door to door as they are presently allowed.!
8/8/2012 4:16:49 PM
Me n My Opinion says:
Apparently anything and everything is the City's fault Jimmy? Wow.
8/9/2012 10:29:42 AM
humnchuck says:
Haven't seen any yet this year, but last summer we must have been on the A list as we were called on about 5 times in 3 weeks. I found one guy sitting on my front steps when I came home at one point; asked him who he was and what he wanted and got some chummy routine...until I told him I wasn't interested and to leave. I guess that's what you get with a door-to-door sales force who are likely working straight commission.
8/8/2012 4:48:19 PM
waterunderthebridge says:
It is about time that the Fiberal party make this type of stuff illegal. It is nothing but a tax on seniors and the gullible. Under the guise of deregulation and giving consumers "Choice" - they allow this type of marketing. I would bet you dollars to donuts that anybody who has bought the gas or electricity from these guys have lost money over getting the stuff from the regular deliverers. And try to get out of these guys is almost impossible - especially the elderly who do not know if they have gotten out and accidently reup again.

You dont make money on this stuff - there is no way that a pipeline or transmission line - is built by these guys - and the gas is all delivered into the system with fixed pricing - It is all smoke and mirrors and in the name on protecting the elderly this practice needs to be halted. or KICK THE FIBERALS OUT OF POWER AND WHOMEVER TAKES THEIR PLACE NEEDS THIS IN THEIR PLATFORM
8/8/2012 7:26:25 PM
john says:
You have Mike Harris and Ernie Eves to thank for this. They de-regulated the energy market in an attempt to lower costs. This opened the market to allow private companies to sell energy directly to consumers. All it did was lead to shortages and higher costs.

These private energy sellers have adopted door-to-door sales techniques that are less than honourable.
8/9/2012 8:52:33 AM
glock9 says:
Irate? How about furious !
8/9/2012 7:33:48 AM
Tom Sanderson says:
Inform your elderly parents\grand parents about these people. They are a cash grabbing company and the bill is almost double what the local providers charge. You can't get it any cheaper than what the provider sells it for.
8/9/2012 7:51:29 AM
Janie says:
I had one come to my door last year to try and sell some kind of carbon footprint offsetting program, but it sounded very similar to these kinds of sales people. She tried to tell me that if I recieved a Northern Ontario Energy Grant that I was required to sign up for this service. I told her what the credit was actually for and to leave.
8/9/2012 8:12:00 AM
Glyder says:
Ahh, gotta love all the tough talkers. "broke his foot, gun cabinet by the door" etc. Yeah, break out a gun, or even THREATEN to pull a gun, and you know as well as I do that YOU will be charged, and facing a huge fine, jail, and loss of weapons.

Same with the guys saying they hurt them, or threatened them. They can charge you, so quit talking tough on an internet msg board. Yeah, these guys are annoying but feeding your ego on a msg board to all the other internet tough guys here is just mildly amusing.
8/9/2012 8:19:16 AM
barry medawin says:
Ahh, gotta love these assumptions you make. I brought out my "heater" twice on occasion to "remove" these parasites from my doorstep. No, I did not point the business end at them, just asked them what they though of my new sporting gear. Nothing illegal about that - it is after all my house. So don't assume we are all talk, or you may walk into a heated situation with your own blinders on.
8/9/2012 9:52:26 AM
TBDR says:
brandishing a weapon is a criminal offense whether it happens in your home or in public. You just said you used it to remove people from your doorstep. That is brandishing a firearm. Whether you point it at them is irrelevant.
8/9/2012 1:48:06 PM
bttnk says:
Glyder you must be the guy who is see banging on doors around the neighbourhood. Do yourself a favour and skip my door or run the risk. After all you are tresspassing.
8/9/2012 10:50:03 AM
mirris says:
Never said I "broke his foot". I just didn't let his foot stop me from trying to close my door. And if I had hurt his foot at that point, as long as it wasn't excessive and what I needed to do to stop him, it would have been legal. I DO say he was lucky his foot wasn't broken. He was trespassing, and (though I personally know it wouldn't have gotten that far) if someone was worried he would force his way in, you do have the right to protect yourself if you have reason to believe you will be harmed.
Hmmm...maybe you are feeding your ego just a little bit by talking down to others on a message board?
8/10/2012 2:15:49 PM
student21 says:
... unless they show you ID.. NEVER OPEN YOUR DOOR TO ANYONE! if anyone ever prevented me from closing my door (by foot or by grabbing it) i would have 911 dialed soooooo darn fast!!!!
8/9/2012 8:34:19 AM
moondew75 says:
I was sucked in by one of these so called "energy saving companies" years ago. It didn't have much of an effect on my hydro bills years ago when I had lived in an apartment, but when we moved to our first house, our bills were beiiger than a mortgage. It was not easy to get out of that billing. They were trying to charge me an insane cancellation penalty. But I managed to get away from their billing. I came home last year to my husband and his friend sitrting at my diningroom table with another one of these idiots. Same kind of scam, just positioned differently. My bills were on the tabel and I almost freaked. I chased the guy out of the house and told him not to ever come back. My husband isn't permitted to open the door or talk to strangers anymore...
8/9/2012 9:46:46 AM
ozone says:
Advice:

AVOID any of this door to door sales group hydro, phone, gas, if it sounds to good to be true , it probably is!

Utilities are governed by legislated groups Ontario Energy Board, OPA, CRTC etc. These private groups are not and operate in less than reputable ways.

Locally, the hydro and gas company sells the utility AT COST. They do not make money on a mark up like the private door to door groups that offer great low rates but read the fine print. Future pricing is extravagant, contract terms to cancel are ridiculous and sadly these private out of town groups do not support any of the local community or citizens of Thunder Bay

Think hard about where you spend your money for these non local services or products. It may be your family, neighbour or kids sport group that gets impacted in the end.
8/9/2012 10:08:20 AM
theonlyopinionthatmatters says:
Sure dogs are a handful sometimes, but its worth it to see the solicitors be scared away.
8/9/2012 10:48:16 AM
moondew75 says:
My apologies for the spelling errors in my previous post.
8/9/2012 1:30:35 PM
rootbear says:
Couple a years ago the same thing. Had to stop mowing the lawn to listen to his shpeel. After saying no thanks he began preaching to me in a demeaning manor. First time I have ever told anyone to get off my property! My sister in law got sucked in and when we found out, it was big penalties to cancel. We pleaded mental disablility to his superior and won. Try to out talk me will ya?
8/9/2012 2:30:02 PM
Dan Dan says:
It's not enough to throw these people off your property. You should escort them out of the neighbourhood, so they can't scam the neighbours.

And no, none of these fraudsters are going to press charges. The last thing they want is any involvement with the police.
8/13/2012 11:05:49 AM
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