Southern Electric doorstep selling

Lakey38

Had an "interesting" experience today with a southern electric doorstep saleman myself this afternoon, and also a hard time complaining about it..
I'm at home ill - so I was in bed and not expecting anyone when someone knocked the bejeezus out of my front door and I mean the kind of knock usually reserved for people trying to tell you your house is on fire or theyr'e about to be eaten by wild dogs.

So I rushed to the door thinking something really serious was up..only to find a bloke with a clip board who flashed a card at me and said his name so quickly I couldnt make out either...all I did get was that he was from the Southern electric in a town a few miles away and "my name had come up on a printout because I was paying too much for my..."

At which point I tried to stop him by telling him "I am very happy with my present suppliers, I'm not well and not in the mood, so please go away". He didn't - I couldn't shut the door in his face as it would have been that - literally in his face because he was right up to the door frame, his hands and clipboard technically in my hallway.

He kept on telling me I would be so much better off if I signed up, asking why I was happier with my present supplier etc...I kept telling him I was not interested.....for about five minutes or more..eventually I lost my rag and told him to "please p@ss off will you, I am not interested!" and I managed to close the door on him, only to be greated with a long barage of abuse through the glass, and a lot more offensive than anything I said to him!

I opened the door and asked him what he had just called me (The gist of which was that I am an particularly uninteligent example of sexually active female organs, described in three different ways,and I should go and try to mate with myself immediately..) he looked terrified ( I'm 6'3" and 18st) and quickly skulked off to the next house without answering!

So I looked up the office he claimed to come from, there is no address or contact number for such an office, or any mention of it anywhere.. so I called up the Southern complaints line. they said they did not deal with these complaints regarding sales teams and gave me another number which turned out to be the main switchboard, after being passed from department to department for a good twenty minutes I was told they needed to take my details and someone would get back to me, possibly, once they had found the person who deals with this..despite the fact no one had actually taken the details of my complaint!

I have the feeling my details are in a bin somewhere at Souhtern Electric right now!So I've emailed them..lets see what that does..

How do they get away with sending such aggressive idiots out to try and sell you services? I don't care how cheap they are, I wouldn't care if they paid me to use gas - I wouldn't sign up with them after that! We live in a area that seems to attract sales teams, charity collectors and the like - but this is the first time one hasn't let it go once I've told them I'm not interested.and the first time Ive had aload of abuse from one..

oliverbrown

Lakey38 wrote: »

We live in a area that seems to attract sales teams, charity collectors and the like - but this is the first time one hasn't let it go once I've told them I'm not interested.and the first time Ive had aload of abuse from one..

Sounds like they are getting worse! Maybe you should inform your local Police. If you ask someone at your doorstep to leave they should go. If they do not it's a clear case of harassment.

Lakey38

I suppose I could have called the police but for one thing I could not prove it happened, for another the local police do not come out if you even get robbed in the street or broken into so they wouldn't be intersted in that..and it was only words after all...and I may bump into him again one night in a pub with a bit of luck ;-)

I'm just disgusted at the nerve of the bloke, and the kind of crap Southern electric and their agents hire - as I've learnt from reading through the other posts on here...

westsmith

The same has happened to my mum today. She is in her 70's and lives in an area populated by elderly people in housing association property. Luckily the warden was in the area and she told her. The warden then caught up with the 'door steppers' and low and behold they moved on. If similar happens to you and yours it may be worth complaining to the housing association/council offices to warn them and they may (just may) do something about it.

Lakey38

Just thought I'd pass on the latest development in the story: I got an email from Southern electric's customer services this morning. they say they take this kind of thing very seriously and are investigating who was working in my area on that day, and theyr'e sending me a hamper for my troubles! So its definately worth reporting any idiots who turn up on your doorstep.

Muchkin4114

I’ve had a guy from SE call round today - quite a beefy guy who was larger in every way to me. He started saying that even though my energy isn’t with them I still owed them money as my power is supplied by them. I was taken aback and told him that I have not signed anything with SE and that I was already paying npower - and it seemed he was having none of it! I told him to come back in one hour as I had to get the documention for proof of who I was paying. I contacted npower to confirm that they did the transfer of the power, and also SE to confirm if they sent out an agent to collect any monies - the SE call centre was fantastic - but didn’t seem too shocked at what the rep had said - he confirmed the account was not valid, we didn’t owe them anything, and that if the guy returned back- to call 0800 0155 170 with the name on the ID - he even described what the ID badge looked like! He said that if the guy did turn back up on my doorstep then to report him stating that using underlying and misleading tactics - as if this is the norm! Well, he did come back and I said I confirmed with his centre we didn’t owe them anything - to which you could see his face drop that I had the nerve to follow up his existance - and then he swiftly moved along and he said we had a de-regulatory circuit and that they would be able to reduce the costs…blah, blah, blah! So initally TELLING me I owed them money to the sales pitch - I was a bit angry. What gets me is if this guy baffled me (and I’m only 29 with a bit of savvy) then what about the elderly who generally wouldn’t question someone who was quite aggressive up front? I geniunely felt scared that this big guy was demanding payment from me - I can’t imagine what they would do to some frail, old lady..
Big thumbs up for the call centre, massive thumbs down for the sales bod.
If you need to contact the call centre it’s: 0845 7444 555

NME_2

I actually know a guy that used to be a door-to-door sales rep for SSE and some of the stories he comes out with are unbelievable!!

For instance, a lot of the time the agents will abandon their walk-list of houses they are meant to be visiting altogether and instead go "grab rail hunting" ie. actually looking for houses with access for disabled/elderly people as they know that by and large these people are easy targets.

Even if you don't agree (Remember that you don't have to sign anything these days) they all have a contact in the sales centre, they will literally just ring through and do it with their mates on the phone and have a good chuckle about it, it's a bit scary really!!

elizabeth_Bennett_2

I'd just like to say i own a company in direct marketing. I have done numourous projects over the years. Charities, telecom and energy. I have found it to be a rewarding career a fantastic and intesrting way to meet the people of england (and australia) Whilst i am sorry that certain people may have come across bad sales people i stress that my company pays a base rate and my staff our trained in house. Yes individuals may bring a bad name to our profession but the vast majority of of us are just trying to earn a bob.
I object to the way you discuss us like animals. And i find it laughable you complain about your own treatment when as i read it you have been equally rude to people simply because they are associated with that profession.
What ever happened to do as you would be done by.

Londoner9999

I just had one of these clowns round wasting my time. When politely told I would think about switching and do it in my own time, he immediately adopted the 'why would you want to wait?' attitude immediately signaling his cold-calling, doorstep spammer status.

I do have one question though, which is: Is there any truth in the salesman's claim that SE 'own' the gas supply in my area and that when I pay British Gas I am actually paying a middle man, because BG then just pass the money on to SE who is the 'local supplier'?

Because he was pretty adamant that this was the case and for him to claim this when it isn't true would surely be fraud?

Cardew

elizabeth_Bennett wrote: »

I'd just like to say i own a company in direct marketing. I have done numourous projects over the years. Charities, telecom and energy. I have found it to be a rewarding career a fantastic and intesrting way to meet the people of england (and australia) Whilst i am sorry that certain people may have come across bad sales people i stress that my company pays a base rate and my staff our trained in house. Yes individuals may bring a bad name to our profession but the vast majority of of us are just trying to earn a bob.
I object to the way you discuss us like animals. And i find it laughable you complain about your own treatment when as i read it you have been equally rude to people simply because they are associated with that profession.
What ever happened to do as you would be done by.

Welcome to the forum.

Of course you are trying to 'earn a bob', the trouble is that if you pay anyone on commission they want to earn a lot more than a bob!

They deal with a public who know little about energy prices and take advantage of that fact.

Over the years I have had a number of salesmen cold call. Not a single one was 'frank and honest'; their tactics were disingenuous at best, to downright deceipt. They all start from the premise that their product is the cheapest on the market.

One recently greeted me by name and, before I could speak, informed me they had been monitoring my consumption and they could save me a great deal of money.

So yes I was extremely rude to him.

There is anecdotal evidence from many on this, and other, websites of the disgraceful tactics they employ; as well as TV programmes that have recorded their activities.

What possible relevance is it that you train people 'in house'? Do you for instance tell your salesmen that they should tell prospective clients that there are tariffs from other companies that are cheaper? Of course you don't!

You work in a discredited industry!