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Bogus Caller?
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Someone came round today who I was very suspicious of.
He started off by knocking on the glass on my inner door which was locked. I had left the outer door unlocked as I am expecting a parcel. He knocked very loudly and urgently and I thought it was the parcel.
When I opened the door he apologised for knocking so loudly. He said he was from Southern Electricity and he did have a uniform and a name badge. I kept looking at the photo because it didnt look like the same person but I could have been wrong. After a while he noticed me looking at it and said that he had aged since then.
Basically he started off by saying that the supplier I am with had been taken over by his company, he had something to tell me about how I could save myself some money. He then said it would take a few minutes and he needed something to lean on. At this point I was supposed to invite him in I think but I said he could lean on the wheelie bin.
My name and address was on a list of names and addresses of the people in this road. He kind of tricked me into saying who my current supplier is. He kept asking me if i knew so and so along the road because they had taken up this deal and i kept saying no I didnt know that person. He said that Eon was a German company and if I switched to Southern Electric it would save me paying the German part of it. He said the smallprint about this was on my last bill but I probably didn't read it.
He had loads of different paperwork that he was waving in front of my nose for a second but not really explaining any of it. Everything looked either water damaged or really really old and faded. He kept showing me old newspaper cuttings about Eon and he made a few derogatory remarks about my age.
Eventually he said everyone normally agreed to it and why wouldnt I want to save myself money. It must either because I didnt understand or didnt trust him. Well, I didnt understand what he was going on about either but I told him that I didnt trust him.
He then showed me an 0800 number I could ring to ensure that he was genuine and to make sure that i wasnt 'vulnerable'. I asked him what he actually wanted me to do and he produced a direct debit form for me to complete to switch to Southern Electric. He showed me some of the forms that he said neighbours had filled out. (between you and me, he said). I said to him that there was no way that I was going to give him my bank details. He said that was okay I could fill out the form with my details leaving out the bank details and I would be phoned for my bank details later. He asked me what I had to lose as I could cancel within 7 days if I was not happy.
Some of the things he was saying included, I'm not panicking. I'm actually the manager. His attitude was very rushed, confusing and aggressive.
He then shouted across the road to my neighbour who was looking over that he was not harassing me. I then took the opportunity to say no definitely not. He more or less told me that I was a fool for missing out on the opportunity but I think because of my neighbour he kind of went off the boil.
I said to him that if it was such a good deal I would look it up on line and go for it. He then said he wouldnt get the credit for it if I did that because he was working so hard and I said I would put in a good word for him. He said that was not enough to which I said I did not want to sign up for something on the doorstep and did not make hasty decisions from cold callers. He then left.
I came in and looked up my Eon bill on line but could see nothing about being taken over or anything in the small print.
So I am wondering is this just a very bad Southern Electric salesman or a conman? I am wondering whether I should contact the police about this. I am not sure whether or not I should call the police about this or not. Has anyone else had any experience of this kind of thing? Are they going around the South east at the moment?
He started off by knocking on the glass on my inner door which was locked. I had left the outer door unlocked as I am expecting a parcel. He knocked very loudly and urgently and I thought it was the parcel.
When I opened the door he apologised for knocking so loudly. He said he was from Southern Electricity and he did have a uniform and a name badge. I kept looking at the photo because it didnt look like the same person but I could have been wrong. After a while he noticed me looking at it and said that he had aged since then.
Basically he started off by saying that the supplier I am with had been taken over by his company, he had something to tell me about how I could save myself some money. He then said it would take a few minutes and he needed something to lean on. At this point I was supposed to invite him in I think but I said he could lean on the wheelie bin.
My name and address was on a list of names and addresses of the people in this road. He kind of tricked me into saying who my current supplier is. He kept asking me if i knew so and so along the road because they had taken up this deal and i kept saying no I didnt know that person. He said that Eon was a German company and if I switched to Southern Electric it would save me paying the German part of it. He said the smallprint about this was on my last bill but I probably didn't read it.
He had loads of different paperwork that he was waving in front of my nose for a second but not really explaining any of it. Everything looked either water damaged or really really old and faded. He kept showing me old newspaper cuttings about Eon and he made a few derogatory remarks about my age.
Eventually he said everyone normally agreed to it and why wouldnt I want to save myself money. It must either because I didnt understand or didnt trust him. Well, I didnt understand what he was going on about either but I told him that I didnt trust him.
He then showed me an 0800 number I could ring to ensure that he was genuine and to make sure that i wasnt 'vulnerable'. I asked him what he actually wanted me to do and he produced a direct debit form for me to complete to switch to Southern Electric. He showed me some of the forms that he said neighbours had filled out. (between you and me, he said). I said to him that there was no way that I was going to give him my bank details. He said that was okay I could fill out the form with my details leaving out the bank details and I would be phoned for my bank details later. He asked me what I had to lose as I could cancel within 7 days if I was not happy.
Some of the things he was saying included, I'm not panicking. I'm actually the manager. His attitude was very rushed, confusing and aggressive.
He then shouted across the road to my neighbour who was looking over that he was not harassing me. I then took the opportunity to say no definitely not. He more or less told me that I was a fool for missing out on the opportunity but I think because of my neighbour he kind of went off the boil.
I said to him that if it was such a good deal I would look it up on line and go for it. He then said he wouldnt get the credit for it if I did that because he was working so hard and I said I would put in a good word for him. He said that was not enough to which I said I did not want to sign up for something on the doorstep and did not make hasty decisions from cold callers. He then left.
I came in and looked up my Eon bill on line but could see nothing about being taken over or anything in the small print.
So I am wondering is this just a very bad Southern Electric salesman or a conman? I am wondering whether I should contact the police about this. I am not sure whether or not I should call the police about this or not. Has anyone else had any experience of this kind of thing? Are they going around the South east at the moment?
The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best
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Comments
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is this just a very bad Southern Electric salesman
Probably that
just your average door-knocker using any excuse they can think of. I had one a few years ago who was desperately trying to convince me that he was from the "gas board" :rotfl: and that they could therefore supply my property with cheaper gas and electricity. Now free from the incompetence of vodafail0 -
Just absolutely completely forget about him.
Anyone else knocks like this, just say I am under contract with my present supplier, thank you and close the door.
Polite but firm.
No need to get into any protracted conversations, they wil say anything to get a sale.
Thats 15 minutes you have wasted of your life that you will never get back again.:D
Regards
Anniemake the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
Just absolutely completely forget about him.
Anyone else knocks like this, just say I am under contract with my present supplier, thank you and close the door.
Polite but firm.
No need to get into any protracted conversations, they wil say anything to get a sale.
Thats 15 minutes you have wasted of your life that you will never get back again.:D
Regards
Annie
Thanks, you are right. I think initiallly I was fooled by him as he told me my supplier had been taken over and I thought I was missing out on something but then I got very suspicious.The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best0 -
I suppose I'm just concerned if other people have fallen for it and he has their bank details.The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best0
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Southern Electric are notorious for this, if they ever come back be very quick to say you are not interested and close the door in their face.
For more info, this is the google search result for Southern Electric salesman http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1124&bih=682&q=southern+electric+salesman&rlz=1R2SUNC_enGB354&aq=1&aqi=g3g-b1&aql=t&oq=southern+electric+sal
ETA: That's pretty damning really isn't it, not a single positive story about their sales tactics on the first page of google results. That takes some doing!0 -
No need to get into any protracted conversations
But you can have so much fun with them
start by asking them if they'd like a cup of tea - after all it must be tiring being on their feet all day like that, show concern at their well-being, ask them how their day's been going so far, how's the family doing ...then immediately launch into all your (imaginary) health/family/work problems etc... they can't leave fast enough :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Now free from the incompetence of vodafail0 -
joolsybools wrote: »Southern Electric are notorious for this, if they ever come back be very quick to say you are not interested and close the door in their face.
For more info, this is the google search result for Southern Electric salesman http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1124&bih=682&q=southern+electric+salesman&rlz=1R2SUNC_enGB354&aq=1&aqi=g3g-b1&aql=t&oq=southern+electric+sal
ETA: That's pretty damning really isn't it, not a single positive story about their sales tactics on the first page of google results. That takes some doing!
Wow, I'll certainly be prepared next time. Come to think of it he didn't know who my supplier was until he tricked it out of me!The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best0 -
But you can have so much fun with them start by asking them if they'd like a cup of tea - after all it must be tiring being on their feet all day like that, show concern at their well-being, ask them how their day's been going so far, how's the family doing ...then immediately launch into all your (imaginary) health/family/work problems etc... they can't leave fast enough :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
I could tell him about my 'operation'. Although I would have to make it up it would be fun.The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best0 -
I've decided to make a complaint tomorrow.The forest would be very silent if no birds sang except for the birds that sang the best0
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