Possible misinformation from salesman

Moglex

I had a salesman round yesterday from Southern Electric and when I told him that I always used USwitch to check for the cheapest price he told me that "these sites are sponsered by energy providers".

I sent him on his way but noticed that he was at my neighbours for a long time so did a check on USwitch and found that nPower were considerably cheaper than the Southern Electric. So I emailed my neighbour and got a reply as follows:

---

Apparently the internet site is not uptodate or is being payed by the suppliers.

Southern Electric is still cheaper than NPower if one compares the actual rates:

Southern Electric:
Gas:
4.1
3.08
Electricity:
15.01
10.66

NPower:
Gas
8.2
9.94
Electricity:
15.92
12.86
----

I'm assuming (she's out now) that she got this from Southern Electric .

Is USwitch up to date?

I expect lies from door to door salesmen but not from the company itself.

Can anyone shed any light on the sales practices of Southern Electric?

1carminestocky

Moglex wrote: »

I had a salesman round yesterday from Southern Electric and when I told him that I always used USwitch to check for the cheapest price he told me that "these sites are sponsered by energy providers".

I sent him on his way but noticed that he was at my neighbours for a long time so did a check on USwitch and found that nPower were considerably cheaper than the Southern Electric. So I emailed my neighbour and got a reply as follows:

---

Apparently the internet site is not uptodate or is being payed by the suppliers.

Southern Electric is still cheaper than NPower if one compares the actual rates:

Southern Electric:
Gas:
4.1
3.08
Electricity:
15.01
10.66

NPower:
Gas
8.2
9.94
Electricity:
15.92
12.86
----

I'm assuming (she's out now) that she got this from Southern Electric .

Is USwitch up to date?

I expect lies from door to door salesmen but not from the company itself.

Can anyone shed any light on the sales practices of Southern Electric?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2008/11/dishonest_doorstep_tactics_dis.html?page=14

Moglex

1carminestocky wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2008/11/dishonest_doorstep_tactics_dis.html?page=14

Thanks for that.

It doesn't, however, say anything about people being lied to by poeple at the company's offices.

To get that list of rates and be told that the switching sites are not up to date she must have got in touch with SE.

I really need to know if other people have been told that USwitch is out of date or being paid by one of the energy providers.

I'm assuming that there is some evidence that it isn't!

jimexbox

A salesman will often till half truths and blatant lies to get a sale. They are under pressure and most likely on hefty commission, why believe anyone operating under such circumstances?

This site recommends the comparison site energyhelpline, why not try that and compare with USwitch.

sporedude

The only thing salesmen operate on is commison, They only way they get paid is by getting sales, No sales = no wages.

Moglex

jimexbox wrote: »

A salesman will often till half truths and blatant lies to get a sale. They are under pressure and most likely on hefty commission, why believe anyone operating under such circumstances?

Yes, but,, as I said in the OP, this information must have come either by email or telephone from the company itself. The salesman had long gone.

This site recommends the comparison site energyhelpline, why not try that and compare with USwitch.

Energyhelpline similarly says nPowr is a lot cheaper than Southern Electric.

What I need, though, is some evidence that Southern Electric are actually telling people lies either by email or phone. Otherwise they are going to get away with it in this case because my neighbour obviously believed them.

stewie_griffin

Moglex wrote: »

NPower:
Gas
8.2
9.94
Electricity:
15.92
12.86

I've never seen gas unit prices that high so somethings wrong somewhere.

steve8181_2

southern electric reps work out of agencys meaning they dont work direct for the company and anyhow all hes interested in is commisission so will lie....their reputation is terrible.

jimexbox

steve8181 wrote: »

.their reputation is terrible.

They are the most rude and aggressive reps Ive come across. When I politely declined their attempt to switch me, I received a sarcastic remark (cant remember exactly) in reply, and stream of blatant lies, their salesman are disgrace.

I rang Southern electric and complained.

1carminestocky

steve8181 wrote: »

southern electric reps work out of agencys meaning they dont work direct for the company and anyhow all hes interested in is commisission so will lie....their reputation is terrible.

According to the Watchdog expose in November 2008 the reps are in-house now after Watchdog complained about their agency reps in 2005.

Bluehamsterjam

1carminestocky wrote: »

According to the Watchdog expose in November 2008 the reps are in-house now after Watchdog complained about their agency reps in 2005.

Don't believe the Watchdog info. I have just been duped by a Southern Electric salesman. I did my homework, sent him away while I worked out all of the numbers to make sure they were going to save me money (not just reduce my monthly DD as most claim, only to increase it 6 months later when they realise it isn't sufficient to cover usage).
When he came back I queried the rates and asked why they weren't on the SE website, I was told they were running a special campaign so the rates weren't published - like a fool I believed him.
I wrote everything down, rates, discounts, reps name and ID in the vain hope that this would give me some recourse.
Rates (inc VAT) were:

Gas 4.2p
2.1p

Electric 11.6p
9.1p

Having just checked my first bill on-line I found the real rates are:

Gas 4.53p
3.41p

Electric 18.44p
11.95p

This meant that I was actually paying more than my previous supplier.

A very angry call to SE customer services and eventually got put through to a care centre manager, only to told, for the third time, these rates aren't real, we will take action against salesman (but he works for an agency so this will be limited), all we can do is send you back to original supplier.

SE have no control over these sales teams, I was even told by one of the customer care reps that she has written to her local council to ensure that no such sales teams are allowed in her area - not sure if that's possible, but sounds like a good idea.

Anyway, apologies for the long rant, I'm still trying to calm down.

I suppose the message is, forget door to door, only rely on published rates. You live and learn :mad: