Southern Electric exposed on Watchdog

Geoffo_M

Southern Electric's doorstep selling was exposed on BBC Watchdog last night. They filmed a 'representative' lying through his back teeth. The regulator should throw the book at them for this, but we know that won't happen. You can read about it here:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2008/11/dishonest_doorstep_tactics_dis.html

You can also view the video on Watchdog's main page

coowee

"Yes" I saw it Geoffo
We changed to Southern Electric 2mths ago and the salesman was very polite and told us to take our time in deciding.
I even went on the laptop while he was there to find out what he was saying was true!
There's always a few bad eggs I suppose in any company.

Cardew

These people prey on the vulnerable/trusting/naive/ignorant.

The are not idiots and can quickly assess who they are dealing with and the sort of people who will log in to MSE are less likely to be scammed by these salesmen.

It is an inescapable fact that if you provide a large financial incentive by way of commission, you will attract scum who will lie and cheat.

SuziQ

Interesting-I came on here because I have been doorstepped by one of their reps today and was left feeling angry. He was aggressive, told me that EDF are thieves who are under investigation (his words not mine!) and was blaspheming which I find very offensive. I came on here to find out who to complain to!

Cardew

SuziQ wrote: »

Interesting-I came on here because I have been doorstepped by one of their reps today and was left feeling angry. He was aggressive, told me that EDF are thieves who are under investigation (his words not mine!) and was blaspheming which I find very offensive. I came on here to find out who to complain to!

If you look at the programme- see link above - there is a freephone number

hm71_2

must admit I have been with southern electric along time & have bought them with me when moving as I have never had bad service from them but as COOWEE said there are always bad apples in any bunch. I had a window company knock on the door in the week giving me a load of old balderdash about my windows- got very nasty when I told him I was not interested etc... Cardew is also right give people a finacial incentive & they will try anything look at all the traffic wardens who were ticketing anything that moved when they had the chance of getting a prize. I think some sort of rule should be bought in that you only recieve a wage rather than commission in this sort of job- or don't have doorsteppers at all. there are many places to access info now so people can make informed decisions on their own.

Lachk

I have actually just started with Southern Electric as a "door knocker" and I can tell you from experience that they DO NOT condone these sales tactics.

I had to do a 7 day residential training course outlining all the companies policies and training people to give genuine advice and work out proper savings people can achieve. True not all customers will be better off, but an awful lot will.

As a few people have said, there are always some bad apples to ruin things for the genuine staff.

The company has taken this VERY seriously and all staff had to retake their industry qualification today before they could go out to work and everybody had their presentation folders audited to ensure that all information was accurate and up to date.

We have all been taken to task for the awful actions of a very limited few and this has affected our ability to do our jobs.

Watchdog have edited that piece very cleverly to imply we are all dodgy, then make a vague reference to the fact that we might not ALL be liars. Very offensive to the honest staff and very unhelpful to the customers who would benefit.

I personally (and all the people who have trained me) walk away if anyone is in any doubt, and we are also checked by our telephone registration dept for accurate details being given and there are stringent policies in place for anyone over 70, we have to ask several questions to ensure they know what they are being asked to do, if they have anyone who helps them with their bills etc and that is reiterated by the phone dept. It would be highly offensive to an awful lot of customers over 70 if we didn't take their word for their own capabilities.

Also we are NOT allowed to knock on any warden controlled properties or residential care properties either - that results in instant disciplinaries.

I just feel we did not get a fair representation on the programme and yet again Watchdog glorified a few complaints to tar the whole company.

We get reports from customers every day of tactics used by other companies that make what Watchdog showed pale into insignificance.

If you are in any doubt have a look online for complaints against energy companies or look at uSwitch.com and others and read the facts on our rates and level of service and customer satisfaction.

But to be fair, I have had no real problems promoting our services because all the comparison sites show that we are actually the cheapest supplier in my area anyway That's why I work there!!!:j

reactor_3

Yea as Southern are about the best supplier out there being 'tricked' into signing for them cannot be a bad thing.
I would much rather they did an article about how Npower overcharged me and still have my money, I consider that criminal theft. The don't want the matter to go to court because In my opinion they know they are sure to lose.
So 'Watchdog' do an article on a relatively trivial and minor incident and ignore the
fact that Npower have extracted million out of their customers by 'tariff fiddling' which I consider illegal. They pay up to anyone who, so far, has threatened to take them to court but have not returned the money to millionsof other who are affected.
That the real crime in my book.

1carminestocky

I have a feeling shows like Watchdog may have been warned off the npower scandal due to the potentially hundreds of millions of pounds it would probably have to pay back. If the regulator do nothing about them then I think us OFGEM sceptics would be entitled to say to the OFGEM apologists (apologist?) on here: We told you so.

With regard to this door step selling/lying. Of course, if the energy industry was still under state control this loathsome 'profession' wouldn't actually exist. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Vestra

That programme is heavily edited and always worded to make the companies always sounds more evil than they are.

Notice how the guy on watchdog said Southern Electric would not come in, that is because they only asked them an hour or two before the show! And the statement they gave was not the same as what they read out, I'm tempted to post it but I don't think I'm allowed.