Scottish Power door caller con?

donny909

Well it may be a con I dont really know yet or where to really find out.

But friday this guy comes to the door and asks to check the meter as a lot of them in our area (Liverpool) have been incorrectly set by the providor, this he said BEFORE he even asked who the providor was, ie in a sence posing as possably our current providor (British Gas) to just gain access to look at our meters. I was already suspicious of the guy by now as he seemed evasive in just the first 2 minutes alone.

By the time he checked the meters while asking and finding out we are on pre-pay\pay as you go card meters for both the gas and electric) he was going on about by letting him send out 2 new keys that we could save near half the cost on our electric and gas compared to British Gas. Could'nt stop myself laughing by this point only to tell him if it involved switching providor we are not interested.

But he got rather pushy and switched his attention to my partner for which i'd already told him it's all in her name etc.

I guess a lot may well guess how it goes from here except he was conning the partner with all his evasive impressive "but we are near half the price than British Gas" and "you will get a £35 credit before xmas if u switch" crap. Even my demands to see a practicle price chart where it states the prices are near half were met with an out of date march 2009 booklet which showed nothing.

So guess what the partner against my advice in front of him signed anyways. So I'm now left with the job of hunting down the facts and figures to show the partner that they are not cheaper and that almost certainly the prices and savings he quoted are lies, compared to direct debit only customers & relate to the standing charges for the meters for which I'd guess there's are per day compared to British Gases per week for the electric and I think no charge (from British Gas) for the gas meter?.

Anyone else had this from the Scottish Power guys and know where I should start to sort this mess out before they try to switch sooner than I feel they said they would?.

williham

You should probably speak to your partner first, then scottish power!

CutTheJargon

My Dad lives in sheltered Housing and a guy was in his block and knocked on his door and said he was reading the meters and could he come in and have a word with him. My Dad who is 80 let him in thinking he was from his own provider and the guy chatted about how Dad could save money and then after nearly an hour gave him a form to sign. My Dad cottoned on then that he was from a different company - EDP to be precise, and said he hadn't realised he was changing suppliers. The guy gave him a chart to show he would be saving money and my Dad signed, but after sitting down and working out the figures realises that it will cost him more.

These people should be stopped. How low can you stoop when you call on the elderly in sheltered housing? My Dad has told them he wants to cancel, but I will be taking this further should the result not be positive. I would guess that most of the suppliers have sales people who are dishonest

kippen_noedel

get your usage history either from scrolling thru your meter settings or call your supplier for them then go to any comparison site for a better idea of what is good value for you.

Ignore standing charges and tier rates, only look at the final cost over the year for the amount you use.

betwin123

Just curoius to know why salesmen have to use tactics such as posing as meter reader, pretending to be from the same company, the government has sent them, etc, etc. If they were totally honest upfront with something like:

"I am from Scottish Power. Though we are not your provider we reckon we can save you money on your gas and electric bills."

Will people not be interested?

donny909

Dont get me wrong, if SP are cheaper it's not the issue as such. It's just the way he behaved to gain entry, knowing I would'nt budge to transfer and moved onto the partner after thinking her as an easy target.

It's down right disgusting the way there people opperate and the energy company will no doubt pull the usual "we appologise and will look into improving the way our sales reps opperate and are trained to ensure this situation does'nt happen again" line. Yet I guess many have heard this sort of sales methods by most of the energy companies over the years. More so going into the xmas period where quite frankly they dont give a dam as it's all about there xmas bonus etc.

In fact even if they do turn out to be cheaper I'd NEVER go with a company that allows there sales teams to operate is such a way that they must know they do but tend always to claim otherwise!!!.

So tomorrow we will stop the process or try to, but i've the feeling they will still go ahead to try the transfer anyways on the basis of the "we never received or have any record of you cancelling the transfer" line that I know has happened to people in the past etc.

Is there any way we can get British Gas to stop the transfer, or because SP have a signature would British Gas be powerless to do anything even if we have informed both sides not to transfer?.

betwin123

Just give Scottish Power a call and say you want to cancel. There is a number of days (14 days possibly?) cooling off peroid anyway before transfer proceeds. There should be no problem but to be absolute sure ring British Gas to say you have cancelled with Scottish Power.

Will your partner be okay with the idea of cancelling though? After all its all her name and she thought it was a good idea. Will she be agreeable with the idea of you not proceeding with it? And as its in her name she may have to call to cancel and she probabaly is the one with the authority to speak to British Gas.

donny909 wrote: »

Dont get me wrong, if SP are cheaper it's not the issue as such. It's just the way he behaved to gain entry, knowing I would'nt budge to transfer and moved onto the partner after thinking her as an easy target.

So tomorrow we will stop the process or try to, but i've the feeling they will still go ahead to try the transfer anyways on the basis of the "we never received or have any record of you cancelling the transfer" line that I know has happened to people in the past etc.

Is there any way we can get British Gas to stop the transfer, or because SP have a signature would British Gas be powerless to do anything even if we have informed both sides not to transfer?.

carolinosourus

I had a similar problem with NPower, it seems they no longer cold-call but now cold-doorstep you. I called NPower to make a complaint as I was really upset with the way this guy on our doorstep behaved. If he had said, as a previous poster had mentioned, that he was from NPower and could give us a discount then that would have been fine (still wouldn't have been interested), but to be deliberately underhanded, deceptive and unscrupulous is way beyond acceptable. My BF had a look online and it seems that a regulation is being brought in to stop this and make it illegal (can't remember which regulatory body is making this ruling though).

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2048633

Joyful

If you have 2 PP meters with BG make sure you get a cheaper tariff by registering online for PAYGE click.

donny909

Joyful wrote: »

If you have 2 PP meters with BG make sure you get a cheaper tariff by registering online for PAYGE click.

Are there any certain criteria for this as I cant really find anything?. How does it differ from the current go the shop and top the card for the elec & gas?. Is it really as easy as registering online and thats it, cheaper prices every tine we go the local shop to topup?.

Just that I cant see how by just registering online it can save some £70 per year with no conditions?.

Joyful

The only criteria is to have 2 PP meters supplied by BG. No tie ins at all. It's a thank you for having both meters with BG. The tariff will change on the meter after 28 days. You still go to the shops to top up. You may be interested to know though that anyone who has a computer will be able to top up from home imminently. Training is taking place this week. This will be for both gas and electric and is independant of click.:D