what tricks are used to get you to switch?

DON79

Just had a young chap at the door asking to see one of my bills to check it! yeah right! he said he wanted a number from the back of the bill in order to check we were not being charged more than 11p per unit etc etc

Bit suspicious of his motives really and since we do all our gas & electric online, I said had no bill to hand, which I don't. He asked if we could print one off and he would come back later. I said no, can't do that.

I am a bit suspicious that he is using it as an excuse to claim he can make our bills cheaper or is trying to make a sneaky switch to another supplier without our agreement?

Am I right to be suspicious?

Plushchris

DON79 wrote: »

Am I right to be suspicious?

Yes, yes you are.

The number he wanted off your bill was probably your meter number (so he could switch you)

Dont believe ANYTHING he said, it was all lies.

DON79

Thanks very much for that, appreciate it, I didn't have any intention of showing him a bill but if he dares to show his face again in a couple of weeks time as he said he could - I will be sure to get his name & the company & make a complaint about underhand methods etc

Plushchris

Some of the other tricks these idiots use is comparing their best prices with your current suppliers standard rates (to make them look cheaper)

If you are currently on a tariff that has a standing charge they will tell you thats more expensive than their rates because they dont have a standing charge (they do but its wrapped up in a higher primary unit rate)

If you are currently on a no standing charge tariff they will compare your primary rate with their secondary rate or tell you to go on their standing charge tariff where the unit rate is cheaper (but not tell you what their standing charge is)

Comparing their unit rates excluding VAT to your suppliers rates including the VAT (again to make them look cheaper)

The best thing to do when he comes back is thank him for making you look into your bills and tell him that you have initiated a switch already (he'll like that! NOT!)

Put your annual Kwh usage into one of the comparison sites to find out who is the cheapest for you, the door knocker will try and tell you comparison sites are corrupt and only switch you to whoever pays them the most commision - this is rubbish, put your KWH in and you will get a 100% accurate and unbiased comparison (something you will never get from a company sales rep on your doorstep)

daveyjp

These people hate potential customers with knowledge who can question their statements.

It always makes me laugh how when they compare they show you a list with about 6 other companies on. When you comment that there are a few hundred different tarriffs this seems to make them deaf!

We had a chat with someone in M&S selling M&S energy using Southern. She was very reluctant to let us go with the paperwork to do our own comparisons, she did in the end and M&S are looking cheapest for us at the mo, but no mention on her list that EBICO (who use Southern) were cheaper for gas.

Plushchris

The other line they use that always makes me laugh is..

"You are on our list as paying too much for your gas and electricity, who is your current supplier and how much are you paying?"

How do they know you are paying too much if they dont know who you are with and how much you are paying?

maria6259

Another line they use is
'we're doing a survey for blah blah blah...'
I can never understand the blah blah bit and always question who they are employed by, why they want to know, what they are trying to sell etc etc. Then I tell them I dont want to share any of my personal information with them..
Or if they ask 'dont you want to save money on your phone/gas/electric/internet/mobile' - I just say NO!

Premier_2

I've just had a Scottish Power rep at my door ... and I was bored so decided to engage her in conversation. :rotfl:

Here's a few of the corkers she disclosed to me: :eek:

1. Have you recently been advised by your supplier of your lower gas prices?
Er, no. (Ebico have said there is no reduction in gas price - but I didn't let on at that time who I was with )

2. Every supplier has reduced their gas prices accross the board, except for those on fixed price tariffs, but different suppliers by different amounts. Unsurprisingly she said that SP had reduced theirs the most by 7%, compared to say 4% from Southern Electric

3. Let me work out the saving you could get from Scottish Power. Oh, it's not much of a saving because of your low usage ... about £2 per year.
(I later discovered she was quoting ex-VAT prices and comparing to my VAT inclusive prices, so would be an oncost :eek:)

4. All suppliers charge different prices for gas dependant on the supply area (just like electricity)

5. Low users, especially, are better off on a supplier's standing charge tariff compared to the equivilent non-standing charge tariff by that supplier.
The man from EnergySure apparently taught her that one (see 9 below for more on EnergySure)

6. The prices per unit for gas & electricity on a pay monthly by DD tariff with Scottish Power are excatly the same as those for pay quarterly tariffs by them. (so that was why she was continuing to use them when I told her I was only interested in paying quarterly on receipt of bill)
Strange that, http://www.scottishpower.co.uk/mediaassets/doc/SCP1492%20MARCH%202010%20for%20Web%20(2).pdf

7. Scottish Power like to keep their customer accounts in credit, but that they pay 3% per annum on each and evey credit made at the point of payment
(they actually only pay 3% on credit balances between £100 and £500, the calculation only being made once every 12 months at the point the DD payment is re-assessed)

8. IGT surcharges (where applicable) are only paid for the first 2 years of supply. She has seen a British Gas bill with an IGT surcharge added.

9. Scottish Power do not pay the likes of comparison sites or cashback sites any commission ... ever! They only pay their sales agents commission, but those sales agents must be completely impartial and only advise a switch to SP if that really is the cheapest option available.
She was monitored and controlled by EnergySure to ensure she abides by this.

10. All comparison sites are useless. They never give accurate results. She knew this since she said she often used them to check out the competitors & their prices.

11. She had never heard of Ebico ... but she has now!


and perhaps the best until last

12. Ovo offer incredibly low prices which cannot be beaten ... but you have to pay £150 p.a. membership charge which you shouldn't forget. :eek:
This was apparently confirmed to her from a number of other neighbours she had spoken to.
(Strange she had heard of the relative new supplier Ovo, but she had not heard of Ebico who have been trading for 10+ years. And she hadn't confused them with the supplier we shall not mention here, but which does require membership of as she knew about them too)
She suggested buying from Ovo was a bit like buying beer from a local club as opposed to a proper pub, hence why they offer lower prices but that you need to be a member, hence the membership fee.


Edit:
Oh nearly forgot, as she was lambasting all the comparison sites for being downright misleading, she said the only genuine way to compare all the suppliers was by going direct to the energy ombudsman website and doing a comparison there.
When I said I didn't know the energy ombudsman offered their own independant comparison service, she said no they don't, you have to use someone like Which because she said Which don't accept sales commission from any supplier.
When I asked if she meant the comparison site linked to from the Which home page, i.e. switchwithwhich, she said yes ... but remember you can't get access to that unless you are already a paying member of which.
Hmmm...

Edit 2: Yes she did ask if I had a recent energy bill, to which I said yes but denied her the chance to look at it when she said she wanted to see what the unit charges I was paying were; I said I'll give her the unit charges if that was all she wanted the bill for.
I was surprised she didn't decide to kill the discussion then ... but then she only seemed new to the job, bless!

Plushchris

LOL @ Door knockers :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Seriously though, would be interested to see one of the SP reps comment on the torrent of sh1te above...

brewerdave

I had a call at the door from a lass representing SWALEC(or so she claimed) two weeks ago; Engaged her in a 10 minute conversation about utility bills, not because I had any intention of switching ...but because she was the best looking door knocker I'd ever seen-certainly brightened up my day!!
PS She spouted a load of old toffee about as SWALEC were local they would always be cheaper in our region.........
PPS Wonder how many bored old men in the locality had changed suppliers based on the length of her legs LOL

sh9190

I am a representative for one of the 'big six' energy suppliers and am involved in the door to door sales side of things.

Door to door sales agents have an extremely bad reputation - mainly due to agency sales staff who will often stretch the truth as they are commision only based.

Part of the problem is that, on the whole, members of the public do not have a clue about how energy bills work. Many people are of the impression that doorstep callers are unable to save them any money and that they are simply there to rip them off in return for a bit of commission.

If people were not so quick to dismiss doorstep callers and actually spent ten minutes learning how utility bills worked then they would find that some of the time an agent calling at the door could genuinely benefit them.