March 23, 2010 in Blog by admin

Buyer Beware – “Just Energy” – Door to Door Solicitations

I was enjoying another great day weatherwise and working on some pending deals when I received a call from my mother.  We normallly talk a couple of times a week so I thought nothing of it.  As we went through our usual greeting I can sense something was off.

She then confessed that she had allowed someone who came to her door to talk her into signing a piece of paper.  Apparently she thought that our local gas company, Nicor, had sent a representative to tell her that she was paying too much for her gas heating and if she signed this paper she would be “saving money”.  Although her command of English is pretty good for general conversations she normally does not do anything  with business dealings in English.  She lets me handle all her business affairs and I have told her not to let anyone in the house or sign anything without my knowledge.

She was upset and was not able to sleep during the night.  Her gut told her she had made a mistake and she was scared to tell me.  Unfortuntely, I was upset initially – not at her but at door to door solicitors that hawk whatever services they have.  In today’s internet based world I find this cold calling door to door selling intrusive.

If you have a service, send me a letter, flyer or whatever and state your case.  If you are really “going to save me money” I will be able to make the decision without you breathing down my neck with a hard sell.

I called the city clerk’s office to find out what permits had been issued.  I discussed the issue with the city rep after she gave me the name of the company that had requested a permit.  Calling them I immediately did not get a good feeling.  Their representative did not identify his company when answering the call. When I asked him if he represented the company he wanted to know my name.  I explained the reason for my call and that I wanted the contract cancelled.  He basically told me that there were various offices doing the solicitation and that he would pass my information up to the main office.

I immediately did an internet search and what I found scared me and made me madder than I already was.

http://www.keyframe5.com/just-energy-why-you-should-not-do-business-with-this-company/

As you can see this company has a history of consumer complaints and has already been sued by the Attorney General of my state.  With its “F” Better Business Bureau rating and the television expose it was a company that you had to be careful in dealing with them.

I contacted their main office and spoke with a customer rep informing him that my mother is canceling the contract since she did not understand what she signed up for and that I had spoken to the city regarding their bad reputation when it came to door to door solicitations.  He took my information and informed that my mother’s name was not in the system yet.  I informed him that I wanted to make sure that it did not get in the system and to flag the file for cancellation if it did come in.

I contacted Nicor, the local gas company to make sure that they did not switch the account over but they could not guarantee that because if she had signed a contract they would have to honor it.  Considering Just Energy’s reputation you would think Nicor would have a procedure in place to make sure their customers understood exactly what they were getting into.

I did all I could do to rectify the situation.  My mother will be on the lookout for paperwork from the company.  I contacted my own village and informed them of the company and what had happened in the neighboring town.  Hopefully, by being proactive they will not be able to use the tactics in our area or at least people will be warned.

The link was shared with the city attorney’s to see if they can do anything legally to protect the local citizens from further solicitations.  Best thing to do is to put a sign stating that “No solictors allowed” which I am going to find and place at my mother’s home.

So please, for those of you living in Illinois, be very careful signing with a company that tells you that it will save you money from your current gas provider.  Check your bills and see how much your current provider is charging you per therm and see if the new company will charge you lower price.  Just because gas was high in 2008 does not mean that its the same rate in 2010.  Gas prices fluctuate monthly and are hard to predict so please make sure you are fully aware of what you are signing. A five year contract for this type of service may not be the right decision for you.

Buyer beware as always is the only way to make sure you are making the right decision no matter what service you are buying or what product you are purchasing.