scotish power knocking about complaints

mrs_angry

hi all, i just answered my door to a man from Scottish power who said he wasn't selling anything but checking on people in my area because there had been alot of complaints from households in my area with regards to paying to much for their energy.

he asked to see a gas bill from me but i don't have one so he couldn't

he seemed to be writing alot down on a form, like how much i paid and how i paid

thing is I'm a little worried now that this could have been a conman, he didn't try to sell me anything, but i find it a bit strange that they would call at my door to check this

surely if i was paying too much in my area, southern electric/British gas would inform me

Dreamnine

I know what I'd tell him!

1carminestocky

If he's seen your gas bill and noted down your reference number I believe he can then go on to sign you up for his own comapny's gas/electricity. NEVER even get involved in a conversation of more than 2-3 words with door knockers, let alone show them personal info.

mrs_angry

1carminestocky wrote: »

If he's seen your gas bill and noted down your reference number I believe he can then go on to sign you up for his own comapny's gas/electricity. NEVER even get involved in a conversation of more than 2-3 words with door knockers, let alone show them personal info.

lucky for me i didn't have a gas bill to show, so this is a big con then by Scottish power.

i did have them knock on the door a few months back with the were not selling you anything but.......

i turned them away then but looks like they will try any tactics to get you to swap!

i might even drop them an email to tell them i am going to report this to the police

mrs_angry

i have now emailed scottish power and told them of this incident as i am quite concerned for any one else being caught out by being conned.

will post any reply i get here:D

Plushchris

You should have told him to go and knock on the doors of the people who complained.

Seriously, these guys are liars, cheats and conmen dont trust a word from their mouths.

malamute

I had exactly the same spiel from Scottish Hydro about a 2 month's ago it was a woman same story along with calling in response to government action on fuel poverty and overpayment she had only been doing the job for 3 days following her training (its a pity they don't use me as there non-compliant potential customer.
.
To cut what was a 20 minute confrontation where i finally started to loose my temper i told her in no uncertain terms where to go and also that i would be contacting the police (i was concerned that less knowledgeable, pensioners would be taken in). The following week there was an article in both the national and local newspaper warning of their sales tactic's.
Never have anything to do with these cold callers I'm sorry for the vulnerable and non-internet users as they are easy pray for these con men (women)

ronniemcinnes

I presume you never signed for anything then?
what colour was the form?
was it a purple coloured book or sheets of A4 paper with black writing.
The walkbooks that the reps are supplied with, on most occasions the supply numbers are already there so the rep wouldnt need to see a bill to obtain these.
If an erroneus transfer did take place, you would have every right to complain, and I would strongly recommend that you do.
For me to swap a supply over without consent, I would be risking my job if caught. (not that I would do anyway)
questions I ask on the door are- who is your current supplier? what is your payment method?
reason for this is that there are occasions when the customer thinks they are with us , but have been transfered without consent.
Payment method, is it direct debit or pre-pay. alot of homes on the walkbooks may only be able to come over if they pay direct debit, so there is no point in trying to get somebody to switch if they are on weekly payment cards and dont do direct debit.
you can only sign a prepay as a prepay.
does a customer have their prices fixed. it may be that it is something they may consider. if a customer is on a fixed price tariff, no point in them switching due to cancellation fees, you simply walk away.
An example I had today was a customer had left us, and started getting demands in for £60ish . she has ignored these, and now a debt collecting agency has now written to her(she pulled the letter out of her bin ). she was angry the fact that I had turned up on her doorstep, but I did advise her not to ignore the demands and debt collectors letter, but instead to conatact her CAB and also file a complaint to energywatch over the issue she has.she may not have signed up, but her tone had changed and was pretty receptive afterwards.
not all of us are cheats /cons /liars, but they are out there.

mrs_angry

no the form that the man had just had peoples names and addresses on, and no reference numbers. he didn't know which supplier i was with at all. I'm sure you will appreciate that in this day and age a total stranger knocking on the door asking to see a bill which holds enough information to be used by a conman should not be happening.

as i said i do have a sign at the door saying we do not buy goods or services at the door, but the people from Scottish power don't seem to understand this sign, when i point it out to them they say I'm not selling you anything.

so what are they doing at my door then?

you may not be a cheat but many people have been caught out and several people i have spoken to have said that they have too had Scottish power hounding them at their door, even when they are told a polite no thank you.

i have sent an email to Scottish power with regards to this, as i stated he didn't call and ask me to swap but told me that complaints had been made concerning high bills in this area, as soon as he asked to see a gas bill of mine alarm bells began to ring.

would you give over your details to a complete stranger on the doorstep? when we are told to shred everything!

this is why the practice of cold calling should be abolished, people can use the internet and those without it can ring around suppliers to find a cheap deal.

mrs_angry

I am writing in reference to your recent email regarding recent visits to your property by ScottishPower sales agents.

I would like to start by apologising for any inconvenience this matter may have caused.

If you could contact us with your address details I will be happy to pass this to our sales team and request that they do not visit your property.

this is the reply i got from scottish power, so the man knocking on my door was a salesman!, thats not what he told me,in fact he said im not selling you anything. this is why i would never again trust a salesman at my door, and just prooves that they will use any means to get a sale.

KE01

i have just had a similar experience with Scottish Power, hammering on my door at 8.15pm. I was in the middle of putting my toddler to bed and thought there must be some sort of emergency so ran downstairs to answer to be confronted with a man who was 'responding to complaints in our area about high bills and had just been speaking to our neighbour about it' i repeatedly asked if he was trying to sell me something which he continued to deny until I completely pressed the question and he was forced to admit he was trying to get me to switch supplier. i was furious. He was very rude and when I asked for his name to complain he refused to give it to me and told me that it was leagal that he could knock until 8.30 and that was the reason he wouldn't give his details!!!

Just wondering what came of your complaint?

Thanks

Kirsten