Scottish Power doorstep selling

lyndhurst25

I thought that doorstep selling by the power companies had been banned?

If it has been then it seems that Scottish Power are trying to use a nasty little trick to try and get around this. According to my dad, who has never been a customer of theirs, he got a postcard through the letterbox from Scottish Power saying that they would be calling to discuss power contracts. What the card then said is that you should reply if you did NOT want to be called on!

He did return the card saying that he was not interested, but a few weeks later a salesman called round anyway. When asked why he was calling when the card had been returned asking for no call, the salesman replied that the card "had probably got lost in the post". Anyway the salesman was quite persistent and my dad foolishly signed up to a new supply contract to get rid if him. On finding out what has happened, I have promptly cancelled the contract as luckily we are still in the cooling off period.

I think that this is despicable behaviour by Scottish Power to circumvent the law. A bit like sending out postcards saying that we will be burgling houses in the area and if you don't want to be burgled then please return the card saying so! And then ignoring any cards that are returned. Unfortunately, as he returned it, I don't have the card as evidence. I'm still considering making a formal complaint to Ofgem. Has anyone else had any similar experiences lately?

footyguy

lyndhurst25 wrote: »

I thought that doorstep selling by the power companies had been banned?

If it has been then it seems that Scottish Power are trying to use a nasty little trick to try and get around this. According to my dad, who has never been a customer of theirs, he got a postcard through the letterbox from Scottish Power saying that they would be calling to discuss power contracts. What the card then said is that you should reply if you did NOT want to be called on!

He did return the card saying that he was not interested, but a few weeks later a salesman called round anyway. When asked why he was calling when the card had been returned asking for no call, the salesman replied that the card "had probably got lost in the post". Anyway the salesman was quite persistent and my dad foolishly signed up to a new supply contract to get rid if him. On finding out what has happened, I have promptly cancelled the contract as luckily we are still in the cooling off period.

I think that this is despicable behaviour by Scottish Power to circumvent the law. A bit like sending out postcards saying that we will be burgling houses in the area and if you don't want to be burgled then please return the card saying so! And then ignoring any cards that are returned. Unfortunately, as he returned it, I don't have the card as evidence. I'm still considering making a formal complaint to Ofgem. Has anyone else had any similar experiences lately?

Please correct me if you have evidence otherwsie, but I feel that is where your argument falls down. I know of no such legal prohibition.

Indeed the gov.uk website actually refers to doorstep selling of energy e.g. gas & electricity
https://www.gov.uk/doorstep-selling-regulations

What may have confused you was that from about 2009, laws were introduced regarding a significant number of requirements that must be adhered to when selling energy on the doorstep. This was because it was feared consumers were being mis-lead by the numerous different types of tariff available. Indeed there was a standard condition 25A applied to supply licences.

As a result of all this red-tape, the big 6 at least eventually decided themselves to stop doorstep selling in 2011-2012.

But the world has moved on. There has been the RMR and the CMA investigation, the final output of which was published recently.

But is was July 2012 that the SLC 25A was abolished ... and Ofgem said it's not coming back
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/standard-condition-25a-gas-and-electricity-supply-licences

So unless you have evidence of a legal ban being in place regarding doorstep selling of energy, I think your complaint will fail as written.

That's not to suggest there are no requirements (such as the right to be notified of a cooling off period) so you would need to consider those requirements in full and decide which were not adhered to to create a valid complaint.

lyndhurst25

A Google search for "scottish power doorstep selling" reveals several hits from February 2016 about Scottish Power lobbying to overturn a "ban" on doorstop selling. This is why I was under the impression that it was not allowed. Was the ban ever a legal requirement then? Or maybe it was just a gentlemen's agreement with the regulator after the previous misselling scandals?

Either way, pushy salesmen calling on pensioners, after a specific request not to do so, isn't on.

Mrs.B.7

Hi Lyndhurst 25. I am new to this forum so please bear with me if I appear to be posting in the wrong place. My eye was caught by your references to both Scottish power and pensioners; not a good mix! I have today telephoned the company to request that my billing date on one of my utilities be changed rather than have both gas and electricity coming together as this could cause hardship especially in the winter. Their response was to say that it is more helpful for them to have their meter readers work a whole street and then bill those customers all at the same time. This is not however helpful to my trying to balance my budget. Can they really decline to do this?

footyguy

lyndhurst25 wrote: »

A Google search for "scottish power doorstep selling" reveals several hits from February 2016 about Scottish Power lobbying to overturn a "ban" on doorstop selling. This is why I was under the impression that it was not allowed. Was the ban ever a legal requirement then? Or maybe it was just a gentlemen's agreement with the regulator after the previous misselling scandals?

Either way, pushy salesmen calling on pensioners, after a specific request not to do so, isn't on.

I do understand your frustartion, particularly when your dad went to the trouble of returning the card in an attempt to stop them visiting.

But any complaint will always come down to evidence. Unfortunately there was no copy retained of the card that was returned, so no one can prove what was requested (e.g. perhaps your dad ticked a wrong box?)
Moreover, there is also a suggestion that the card was never delivered - this is where a proof of delivery would come in useful.

Now it's quite undertandable that your dad didn't even consider purchasing a proof of delivery service to return a postcard, but without it then you cannot prove the card was ever delivered.

If you don't want cold callers visiting your dad's house, have a word with him and see if this he would agree to the suggestions made in the MSE article
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/no-more-junk#freesign

Actually, if you follow the article a little further, it goes onto talk about doorstep energy sales. (the article was last updated only last month)
The aticle suggests the self imposed ban by the Big 6 to halt doortep sales is still in force (and that is presumably also supported by the news articles you found via google). It suggests a complaint may be worthwhile as you may possibly get some compo if it is upheld.

As your father was switched, I'm sure the supplier can find out where the application originated from. I wouldn't worry about the card, it would seem a red herring in this instance. Unless they can prove he actively requested the call, it is a cold call.

footyguy

Mrs.B.7 wrote: »

Hi Lyndhurst 25. I am new to this forum so please bear with me if I appear to be posting in the wrong place. My eye was caught by your references to both Scottish power and pensioners; not a good mix! I have today telephoned the company to request that my billing date on one of my utilities be changed rather than have both gas and electricity coming together as this could cause hardship especially in the winter. Their response was to say that it is more helpful for them to have their meter readers work a whole street and then bill those customers all at the same time. This is not however helpful to my trying to balance my budget. Can they really decline to do this?

Hi Mrs.B.7, and welcome to MSE. :hello:

I can see you are a newbie here as you state, but I'm not sure if you are a complete newbie to internet forums.

Anyway, it's not really considered good forum etiquette anywhere to take a thread off-topic (the only commonality here seems to be it is related to Scottish Power). Therefore if you would like to create a new thread of your own to ask this question, I'm sure you will get lots of helpful advice

lyndhurst25

footyguy, thanks.

I've already printed out some no cold caller signs for my dad's front door. On this occasion they wouldn't have helped though as the salesman approached him while he was outdoors gardening.

I'm trying to get hold of one of these sneaky Scottish Power postcards to see exactly what they say. I believe that they were just addressed to "the householder" so I imagine that all the houses on the street got one. My dad us going to ask neighbours is any if them still have the card.

Mrs.B.7

My apologies.and thanks for pointing out the etiquette.

davidgmmafan

I think if there was a ban it may have been to do with a sanction for poor sevice or a concern about a particular issue at that time? I'm reaching here though and might be mistaken.

GingerBob_3

I got one of those cards. I sent it back with a letter requiring them to disclose where they obtained my details from. After a month I've had no response. Pondering what to do next; ICO or Ofgem.


Scottish Power are Britain's second worst company (all sectors included) after Npower. Why would anyone ever want to deal with such a bunch of twits (i-->a).

GingerBob_3

GingerBob wrote: »

I got one of those cards. I sent it back with a letter requiring them to disclose where they obtained my details from. After a month I've had no response. Pondering what to do next; ICO or Ofgem.


Scottish Power are Britain's second worst company (all sectors included) after Npower. Why would anyone ever want to deal with such a bunch of twits (i-->a).

Talk of the devil! Got information from Scottish Power today that they use the CallCredit group to obtain personal details of prospective customers. CallCredit are, of course, a credit reference agency with access to vast amounts of personal data, to be used for the purposes of credit referencing. I wonder if they are harvesting this data for marketing purposes - I will be asking them forthwith.