sainsburys EDF con trick

DCHANNEL

New to the forum but a work of warning. My wife was in a sainsbury store and basically misled in to signing a contract to supply gas and electricity. She though she was simply giving details so that we could receive information. Sainsburys have admitted they are breaking the law but continue to do it. In short do not go to sainsburys

d channel

Terrylw1

Hi,

Thats an old sales trick by dodgy agents.

Suggest you make a complaint to Energywatch as she will need an erroneous transfer action to correct it.

Never ever sign anything for detauls or for a callback. They are not allowed to do that at all. It's just a con.

I would suggest you also make a compaint to the store manager.

The sad thing is though, the sales agent will just deny it and state your wife is just trying to back out. Some do that.

If you complain to EW they should just get them to reverse the registration for you.

DCHANNEL

Hi Terry

Thanks for the reply. I contacted the manager who apologised and said it shouldn`t go on. He gave me the name of the area manager who agreed. I then spoke to a regional manager who also agreed it shouldn`t happen. The area manager said they would send me a letter saying this practice will stop. At no point did they deny it was going on. I have copied all correspondence to Philip Hampton and others at edf and sainsburys. All the above agreed they are breaking the law

I will contact the store manager tomorrow and ask him where I should send the summons as they have admitted breaking the law. Should I send it to Justin King, who ever gets it is legally obliged to reply. If they want to stress me out I`ll do the same to them. They record phone messages and I shall remind the store manager that I have done the same.

DChannnel

Cardew

dchannel,
What you have pointed out is that the EDF salesman(who may, or may not, be an EDF employee) is using deception to get people to sign; as Terry points out this is not uncommon with this type of salesman.

The problem in any legal action is they will flatly deny your wife's accusation - "she had it carefully explained to her!" - I don't in any way doubt her version as it seems standard practice for some of these con men.

However how have Sainsburys admitted that they(Sainsburys) are breaking the law?

DCHANNEL

Hi Cardew

I put it to them that they have broken the consumer protection act and they have admitted that they have. At no point has anyone denied it. I would think that the salesman will be left out to dry but its not him I`m after. If its happening in their store I hold them directly responsible. To put the top hat on it someone from edf phoned up and first words he said was when did you last have your boiler serviced, how did they know I have gas CH. they then said what happens if it breaks down on christmas day ?

This is pressure selling in anyones book.

The thing is what would happen if I had been old or infirm this type of selling is totally unacceptable. If it goes to court it will go in the local papers. The ball is in their court, but I`m am not putting up with this. Interestingly consumer services at sainsburys enquired if my wife
could read ?

They certainly know how to wind people up, so be it

DChannel

dellxps

dchannel,

you've recieved numerous apologies and assurances this is going to be stamped out. I don't understand why you are sending anyone a summons. Unfortunately, your case isn't unique or shocking, it happens in pretty much every company.

Put it this way, if you had employed someone to sell for you. You trained them up properly, you informed them of company policy to be honest, deliver good service, and not be forceful or intimidating, is it your fault if this person does this? The least they should do is investigate your complaint properly and take necessary action but isn't getting a summons taking it a bit too far?

Cardew

DCHANNEL wrote: »

Hi Cardew

I put it to them that they have broken the consumer protection act and they have admitted that they have. At no point has anyone denied it. I would think that the salesman will be left out to dry but its not him I`m after. If its happening in their store I hold them directly responsible. To put the top hat on it someone from edf phoned up and first words he said was when did you last have your boiler serviced, how did they know I have gas CH. they then said what happens if it breaks down on christmas day ?

This is pressure selling in anyones book.

The thing is what would happen if I had been old or infirm this type of selling is totally unacceptable. If it goes to court it will go in the local papers. The ball is in their court, but I`m am not putting up with this. Interestingly consumer services at sainsburys enquired if my wife
could read ?

They certainly know how to wind people up, so be it

DChannel

I don’t want to get at cross-purposes here.

I abhor the way these rogues take advantage of the trusting/naïve/gullible!

My query was questioning the culpability of Sainsburys in this matter. The salesman will not be a Sainsbury employee.

I can’t see any way that a private prosecution will succeed.

Firstly it will be a case of your wife’s word against the salesman.

Secondly at the end of the day your wife signed the document, apparently without reading it; and all these contracts have a cooling off period.

If you did take the matter to court, it is a racing certainty that Sainsburys would employ an expensive legal team and the costs would be huge – and probably awarded against you. I don’t think that such a case would be covered under ‘small claims’ legislation as you are not claiming as such. Indeed even in the small claims court costs can be awarded against you if it is deemed your claim is without merit.

If you do think you have a legitimate grievance against Sainsburys, why not take it up with the local Trading Standards authority – that is exactly the type of case they deal with all the time. They will offer unbiased advice.

DCHANNEL

Hi Cardew

I agree with dellxps comments.

The law states that before entering a contract this must be explicitly stated by the salesman, It wasn`t. I don`t think trading standards would be very interested as they will probably point me in the direction of ofwat or similar, but I`ll give it a try. The salesman extracted details from my wife under the pretext of receiving further information. When he asked for bank account details this is when she stopped. He assumed , at this point, that he had a contract.

The salesman was selling on behalf of sainsbury and in their store, consequently I am holding them responsible for his actions. If someone doesn`t stand up to them they will continue with this policy. The last thing they want is bad publicity especially on the run up to christmas.

Do a search on sainsbury on this forum, unique I don`t think so

Dchannel

Cardew

DCHANNEL wrote: »

The law states that before entering a contract this must be explicitly stated by the salesman, It wasn`t.

Few of us would doubt that is true. Proving it is another matter; especially as your wife signed.

I don`t think trading standards would be very interested as they will probably point me in the direction of ofwat or similar, but I`ll give it a try.

Trading Standards are as keen as anyone to prevent this type of practice. If they won't pursue the matter, at least they will tell you why.

I totally agree with your aim; just think legal action will not succeed. I bet you a virtual pint that the various managers will dispute your version of the conversations you had with them.

Good Luck - keep us informed.

DCHANNEL

Hi Cardew

Thank you for the support I shall continue to hassle them until I get an outcome that I am happy with. It funny but I have been in tesco asda and the like and never been approached by some smart alec conman (apart from halfords but he was so thick it was unreal).

Perhaps we should start a poll to see which shops allow this kind of thing to go on, then we see if martin lewis or the rogue traders gang can help out. Any takers ??

Dchannel

Terrylw1

Hi,

I agree with your anger on this. I have seen this many times over the years and the agents company just gets cut loose by the utility. Then they contract out to a new company and it goes on again. The reason it happens is simple - commission. These guys & gals most likely don't earn much as a basic or may be commission only. So, by their companies doing this there are actually encouraging it.

To win with Ofgem, suggesting it is enough. The reason is that the argument is a stalemate as you cannot prove that you were not informed of the terms and salesman cannot prove he did either. So, the regulator just asks the Supplier to cut the consumer loose to resolve the issue.

In court you will have to actually prove that you were not informed of the terms. Ask yourself if you can. The salesman (and all these companies involved) will stick together and state that your wife was made aware of everything.

The only inconvenience you have received out of this is the fact that you have had to get your registration cancelled or reversed.

The salesman and the company he works for/represents are responsible. So, thats EDF, not Sainsburys.

The reasons I said inform the store manager is so they can hopefully report back and oust the salesman from the store as he has most likely done this to others.

To hold Sainsbury's responsible for this would be ike holding a shopping centre responsible for the actions of one of these guys on a stand. They would naturally apologise and sort it but beyond that, how are the liable? If that were the case, they would be liable for any misrepresentation by an outlet in their shopping centre.

I would also question the knowledge of a store manager or regional manager when discussing an industry that they know nothing about. They have stated that it is illegal to not advise of terms, which is correct. However, they have also not considered that your wife may have been totally aware. So, maybe they shouldn't have commented on the actions of a third party selling at a stall in their outlet and put you onto EDF.

Good luck though. If it were me I would ask a solicitor though before putting money into something that is so hard to prove.