Maybe it’s where I live, but we do get an awful lot of door to door sales (as well as illicit cold phone calls). Reading this article in the Times spurred me to write here. As in the Times article, I have had Talk Talk around trying to get me to sign up wit them, but I find Southern Electric a much worse culprit.
Only this weekend a man with braces (on his teeth) came knocking on my door. He started by telling me that I was paying too much for my electricity and that Southern Electric ‘supply’ the power to my home (which I know is not true, it’s EDF who maintain the infrastructure around here), which means that they can give me cheaper electricity. Apparently he had a ‘special’ deal for people in the area. I told him I wasn’t interested, not wanting to enter into discussion. He then persisted to ask me if he could have a look at my meter. ‘No!’ I told him, ‘Why not? We own it!’, he said. This is a blatant lie, it was British gas who came to fit a new meter recently, and it clearly states on it ‘Property of Capital Meters Ltd’. And even Capital Meters couldn’t just turn up on my doorstep to look at the meter. So I told him that he couldn’t come in whether he owned it or not, and sent him on his way.
In the past Southern Electric have used other tactics, like telling me nothing will change when I switch providers (yes it will, my money will go to someone else, and probably in different quantities), and that I should compare prices after I have signed up with them (before would be more sensible). What concerns me is that a more vulnerable person could be trampled all over by salespeople like this. My advice: Never sign up to anything from cold caller, tell them you’re not interested. If you want a better deal, do the comparisons in your own time.
I have had bad experiences with Southern Electric trying to heavy handedly sell to me. I live in Upton Park London
They used to come and visit me every six months; today they seem to have moved it up to every three. I actually enjoy it, because I have the same pointless argument with the same guy every time – I do think that knocking on doors and lying to potential customers is a dreadful way to do business though..
I have literally just had a man from Southern Electric at my door. He was very rude to me and wouldn’t leave when I told him I wasn’t interested. I had to tell him about 6 times and hinted several times that I was busy. It was hard for me to stay polite. He demanded reasons why I wanted to stay with my current company and wasn’t satisfied with “because I’m happy with them” I eventually had to outright say “I’m busy, can you leave now?” and he still didn’t really take the hint. ‘m so annoyed. In the end when he left he left in a huff saying “fine, pay your higher rates, goodbye”
It was like he was trying to bully me into changing to them. If I was a weaker willed person I might have done too. But luckily I know better than to switch companies without doing my own research. Every company is going to claim they are the best, aren’t they?
I had a guy coming to my door, and saying he is from Southern Electric.
I told him that I am not interested to switch.
He asked me for my name.
I told him that I will not give him any information at all.
So he rang the bell at the flat upstairs (I live at the ground floor)
I said to myself, I will wait a moment rather than closing the door in his face, so I will wait for the upstairs neghbor to come down.
Guess what the Southern Electric guy tells me?
He sais “Now you go inside” with a low tone of his voice.
Well, I just sanpped. I could not take that kind of affront quietly, so I took him by the colar of his winter coat and pushed him out of the front garden in the street.
This guys, once they step into your front garden, they are on private property, therefore if they are not invited, they are uninvited guests.
If they do not want to live, just use reasonable force to put them back on the public road.
Nobody can accuse you of anything for doing that.
It’s been 3 hours since, and I am still full with anger.
I would like to add I also work for scottish hydro electric and we are not all the same we are there to advise that you may be paying a higher tariff in 70% of cases the reason for it is that we own the largest share in transo now known as gas networks so your gas is now running along our lines it has been released from the regulators of gas and electric ofgem that we are the cheapest duel fuel and had advised customers to consider switching because these other companys are ripping the p*ss. After all the are owned by foreigh companys so ur mostly gtting your bills from a billing company and paying more doing it that way.
What I really cant understand you all moan about how much ur paying but you fail to do anything about when u have the chance!!!!
Aswell we are only doing our jobs do we come to ur work and man handle you out the door or shout abuse please have some tolerance. All of my customers are more than happy with what i do for them. Can I add im also female with morals and would not work for company trying to rip people off. Im 100% confident in what we offer our customers.
i would also ilke to add i work for edf in field sales. i agree with hydro saying that people moan about how much ur paying but you fail to do anything about when u have the chance!!
we happen to be the cheapest in our area for a dual fuel as we are the local supplier down here in the south east. i dont see why people would want to pay a 3rd party for gas and electric who get it from us and who then pay us?? you get people saying they dont want to save money each month and would these same people walk past a £10note on the floor in the street i dont think they would.
My elderly mother just had a visit from a guy from Southern Electric. It was not clear until she let him in that he was clearly a salesman, as his initial pitch made it sound like he was from our current supplier, EDF, and he could not leave until he had spoken to her.
I listened in from the next room as he tried to convince her that EDF is actually the French Government, who are charging her 20% more than she should be paying. And that Southern Electric supply this address anyway. This is a lie – the cable/infrastructure in my area is EDF.
There may well be savings to be made by switching, but as this salesman was prepared to spin any lie to get the business, I’m not even sure the figures he quoted weren’t complete bull anyway. And as a matter of principle after what happened today, I will never switch to them, nop matter how cheap they are.
As a utiities sales rep with years of experience, it worries me that people in the industry such as Hydro and rugratz can be so wrong.
Firstly, TRANSCO is now known sinmply as the National Grid and as you might expect from the name are owned by (yes you guessed it) National Grid. National Grid distribute gas to most of the UK.
SSE own only a 50% share in Scotia who bought two gas distribution networks from TRANSCO in 2005. They are in no way a part of, or owners of, TRANSCO or National Grid.
SSE still have to pay to use the Scotia network just like any other company would. This is to ensure the market remains competitive. You will notice that SSE chsrge the same for gas supply on Scotia’s network as they do on National Grid’s network.
Having said that, SSE are generally very competitive on price for gas and in most of the UK for electricity, unless you live in an SSE area (Scottish Hydro, SWALEC or Southern) in which case SSE will generally be a more expensive option for electricity.
rugratz seem to think EDF will work out cheapest in their own area. In fact the opposite is true. Electricity companies are generally much more expensive in their own area, so EDF will be expensive in the South East (SEEBOARD area) the South West (SWEB area) and London (London Energy area). EDF are generally competive out of area though.
As a general rule the old monopoly electricity supplier in each area is the most expensive for electricity and British Gas is most expensive for gas.
The problem seems to be not just sales reps who know better but still lie but also a case of inexperienced sales reps being poorly trained or deliberately misled so that they go out and sell on price in areas where their employer is not competitive on price.
My other half answered the door this week to be told “I’m from Southern Electric…” (the website is offline, by the way – I tried to complain to them)…”I’ve seen your gas bill (how?) & we can do it cheaper…your neighbours saved £20/month” (I’m sure they’d be delighted that she was discussing their business) then the best bit…”can I look at your bill?”…I thought you’d seen it. When told we are not interested “why not”!! Why do these amateur cold-calling idiots persist in lying & pressurising in the face of no interest? I train sales people & would shoot anyone who used these tactics. Anyone know How I can get in touch to complain?
Just had a Southern electricity ‘salesman’ at my front door. Very aggressive, with a “we know stuff about you” attitude, and just wouldn’t except “no thanks” as an answer. Ended up having to close the door in his face (literally no other choice other than just stand there at the front door watching him arguing the same rubbish over and over).
Door to door sales should be outlawed. Especially when the ‘salesman’ use verbal obfuscation techniques to try to convince you they are something other than a salesman on commission.
I have to add i am a distributor for the Utility warehouse. Where as other companies have sales personel doing door to door for them and 9 times out of ten dont have very good knowledge of the services offered, i dont work for the utility warehouse, i am an independant distribtor and work self employed. I personally don’t canvas door to door as i don’t like it as much as the next person, and frankly all these canvasors don’t really give you a good name. The utility warehouse distributors won’t argue about your current supplier and who is cheapest as we know that nobody else can make the same guarantees as us. And on top of that you won’t be tied in any contracts, thats how confident we are and dont feel the need to go cold calling every day as people just as easily come to us. Why can’t other companies do that instead of bothering you at your dooor every couple of days.
I have too had this problem, i guy turned up at my door, spinning something about him being from my energy suppler (which as far as i’m consirned is British Gas as they are who i pay my bill too)
He asked confusing questions and was generally intimidating.
Don’t let these people in!!!! Say your not the one that’s sorts out the bills and that they are away.
I switched to southern electric about 2 years ago and i am saving huge on my bills because they are cheapest in uk and true british company. Most people in england dont have clue what they paying towards their bills because they are too busy chatting shit and making critics. Its free country every 1 has full rights to change their company so why not change and try it. Well you lot change your clothes everyday so why not companies to see what suits you better. Thats what british people dont know. They think we are british cos we are with british gas when in actual fact British Gas is owned by france. That explains all…….
I’m a gas and electric door to door salesman (not for southern though) i believe that they use a script that they get trained to use on the door saying they “believe your are not claiming your deregulated rates” and ask to look at your bill….circle the unit rates etc. it’s very clever as they use a lot of body language i.e. looking at their wrist watch when saying “it will take 2 mins, can you just get me a bill please” when doing this they also leer towards the door ready to wipe their feet etc so the customer will let them in. I have friends who have worked for them before and aparently they had a whole week training course in scotland to learn this script word perfect. A few of the guys have come over to the company i work for now as they said they got told off if they DID NOT use the script!
I have had to SHOUT at Scottish Power door to door sales persons to get them to leave my property.
I am getting extremely fed up with hard nosed power salesmen/ women. They arrive at the door claiming not to be selling anything. They also insist their rate is the cheapest, when most of the time this is patently untrue.
Their training must be to get the person answering the door to talk and then to never give up no matter what. This is extremely illegal very very high pressure cold calling selling methods.
I have told them they are HARASSING me and I will call the POLICE if they do not go. Even this is not enough to deter them, nor is threatening to report them to the council.
Even this does not always work. PLEASE CAN SOMETHING BE DONE ABOUT THIS SORT OF TACTIC. PLEASE!!!!!!
I have just had an appalling little oik from EDF banging on my door. I was upstairs so went to my son’s bedroom window which looks over the front door, opened the window and barked “Yes?” I have a sign in my door which I bought from a shop and it clearly states that we do not do business with ANYONE for anything at the door. I find this works very well with the exception of one group of people – utilities salesmen. Their aggression, intrusion and arrogance infuriates me! “Mrs ……?” said this man, using my name, and consulting a clipboard. This is enough to get my hackles up on its own. I said, “Who wants to know?” He turned to the trainee oik he had in tow, rolled his eyes, turned back to look up at me, held up his little laminated card with his ugly mug on it and said, very slowly, as if he was speaking to an idiot, “I’m xyz, manager from EDF. I need to discuss your tarrifs”. I said, “There is a sign on my door saying I don’t deal with doorsteppers. Please leave”. He said, “I don’t read signs on doors”, so I said, “Well I suggest you bloody well start then. Get off my property”, and shut the window. Cheeky sod! Just who the hell do these people think they are? And how on earth do they think they’re going to win round potential customers by being rude and aggressive? It doesn’t matter what power company they’re from, they’re all the same. My husband even chased one moron from Scottish Power down the road, after he had the temerity to swear at him when he said he wasn’t interested and why had he ignored the notice in the door! My husband is six foot two and gets very cross when his dinner’s interrupted. It was so funny seeing this little squirt running down the road in his cheap suit! I suppose the lesson is, don’t get into conversation with anyone at the door, just say, “Not interested” and shut the door on them, don’t feel bad about being rude – they’re being rude disturbing you in the first place. If you really want to look into changing suppliers, I would go on the internet and do your own research.
Hi,My name is Johan,I’m a young white male from South-Africa.Two years ago just after finishing school I went over to the UK working for SSE as a door sales men.
I never knew what I was in for…..Doors getting shut in your face,screaming at you etc.
I had friends that was like most of the comments up here,lying and talking shit just to get that deal.
I wasnt like that,besides all the doors getting smashed in my face I had the best time of my life,coz all I did every day was to say to my self”I’m getting paid to talk to people and making friends” And just by having that attitude I signed more deals than the best”knockers”in the office.
The people didnt sign because I lied to them,it was bassicalyy because the liked me and I was honest.Wearing that jacket and badge was just an excuse to get into the house and make friends,that was it.
Till today being back in S.A I still have contact with 80% of the people I met during my knocking days.
There’s not a day that goes by that I dont miss it.
If the opportunity comes I will definately go do that again,if not something simmilar.
YOU British people are the BEST!!!!!!!!
Regards,
Johan
johan.duplessis2@bmwdealer.co.za
Recently we have had four people come to ‘read our meter’ and after the third caller we got an estimated bill for £247.00 … so I went down the cellar and took a reading and then used the automated service (EDF Energy) to give the new reading …. our bill arrived and it was £28.84 for our summer usage.
So of course when the Fourth little snot came calling at the door to ‘read your meter’ I would not let him in. After several moments of arguing on the doorstep he tells me he is from The National Grid, although at no point did he offer me his identity card and I saw no indication of who he worked for on his clothing.
I will never let anyone into my house again unless with prior arrangement, and I don’t care who they are, especially as I still got an estimated bill after they had read the meter.
The point is anyone could get hold of one of those little black boxes with numbers on it and enter your home pretending they have ‘come to read your meter’.
“Its not like you wake up on a saturday morning and suddenly decide to change your gas and electric?”
British can moan to the f****** moon and back!
I’m in G & E sales at the moment, and honestly, it all boils down to the same price at the end of the day, as long as your not with British Gas, so why have a stick up for door to door salesmen? Just sign up, cause we make a commision, if you ask, we will leave your direct debits the same, and in a quarter, just phone up your previous supplier and change back. We’ve made our commision, your not paying anything more, and you’ve made someone very happy, maybe even had a laugh with the knocker!
Hey, lets all help eachother! Most knockers are foreign, and can definatley make you laugh, thats what majority of the people I meet need, and they seem to all be British. Smile, and don’t be sorry about it! Have fun with randoms showing up at your door, there all good, but you’re attitudes towards us drive us to occassionaly bend the truth to breaking.
And we all know you don’t research it on the internet, only after you’ve changed, might you have a look on the internet, cause we’ve peaked your interest, its all just a learning curve!
I’ve just had a run in with a Southern Electric gimp, who had the appearance of a crack addict. Same old line about “we supply your energy, blah, blah, blah…” Wanted to see a bill. I said “No, thanks. I’d rather speak to my own energy company.” He didn’t even have the correct name for my address on his list, rather someone who hasn’t lived here for years. I was reasonable, but had to close the door in the end when he wouldn’t go. He said something very rude as it shut, like “Go on then, keep paying too much.”
I was a bit sus about him, especially as no up-to-date details and my neighbours are very elderly. Called police station and apparently cold-calling companies are supposed to notify them if they’re in the area and they hadn’t, so they promised someone would check it out. I decided to walk down the street to see where he went and saw him behind one of my neighbour’s front doors. I knocked and interrupted his pitch. I asked her – she’s elderly – if she’s happy with her current supplier and not to sign anything until she’s checked it. He denied he was trying to get her to switch companies – “then why are you trying to get her to sign that contract!” He then apparently worked for yet another company, ‘Energy One’ or something, who are an energy watchdog?
At that point the very friendly policewoman arrived and checked out his ID, then asked him to move on. His final words to me, “I know where you live, so you better watch out!” Good one, right in front of the PC, got him a warning.
I too have just had a visit from Southern electric. It was the second time they called and I ignored them the first time.
I told the guy I had flu, and he told me that he would only be a couple of minutes and that he just wanted to pass on some recent price cuts that had been made to my gas and electricity.
He told me that they supplied all the meters in this area. I told him I was with eon and he said that I must be mistaken and what was I on? A pre-payment meter? I told him I was quarterly and very happy with Eon and if they did supply my electricity he should have known what type of meter I was on.
I’m choked up and can hardly speak with flu and I said, “I’m very happy with my current supplier and I’m ill”, he then still proceeded to try to talk more at me. In the end I told him to “go away, because I’m ill and I don’t need this” and he rolled his eyes still protesting.
I too have just had a chap from Southern Electric knock on the door. Agreed, he was persistant however I did manage to get rid of him after 2 minutes and I admit he was a polite young boy. – Please remember….just say “I am sorry but not interested” – (politeness is key!)
I think there are 2 sides to the argument here! I can imagine that some sales reps are agressive and tell lies to close the deal (as yet I have not experienced this). However, I deal with customers on a regular basis and I have to admit some people are so far up there own back sides, rude, obtrusive and arrogant……..that they have just lost touch of reality!
I would hate to knock on the door of some people that have commented on this page!!!!!
My standing on this is 50/50 (I have had probably 8 sales reps knock in the last 3 years)
My wife recently had a doorstep from Southern Electric, who told hr there was some government subsidy for our area, or something like that. Something which I have now to follow up..
The point that any of the people who work for these companies seem to miss is that PEOPLE DON’T LIKE DOOR TO DOOR SALES.
The sooner these companies realise this, or at least educate their reps to the fact, the better.
If there is a special deal in our area then inform us through the standard channels. Local paper, leaflets etc. Let us make up our own minds. So what if we’re paying too much, that’s our choice! They should stop disturbing residents and then being surprised people are p***ed off with them! LEAVE US ALONE!!
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
In reply to Abdul, you are quoted as saying that British Gas is a French owned company if this was true then why do Centrica who own British Gas float on the BRITISH Stock Market? Only British companies are allowed to float on British stock market. True? Yours facts need to be checked out first! Im a British Gas customer for both Gas and Electric and always will be, top class service, great internet rates. Keep up the good work!
Also FIRST to put their prices down again!!
I’m a salesman for EDF energy, over here for a gap year and have found myself in a very memorable job!
I think in theory door to door sales is very handy for keeping companies sharp and not to cheeky.
In reality career salesmen have become obsest with money and the lengths they go to makes it harder for people who genuinly
Respect homeowners and view their dealings with them as mutaluistic.
So, to all the people that moan, sorry. By the same token though only bad news is news
And for every toff on here moaning about the inconvience of it all, a significantly higher amount of people I know for a fact
Have been very pleased with their new energy supplier.
I love walking out of house with a can of coke, sometimes if I’m lucky a smoke and if I’m really really lucky a kiss and a hug. Big smile on your face
Because the customer is genuinely thankfull for what you’ve sold them. You yourself smiling because you know its gonna make things better for them.
I’m sorry to rant and rave. Final statment homeowners. Don’t be scared of salespeople. If they are arrogant lil wankers them them to bugger off, and if they’re nice have a big
Of a yarn with them for gods sake. You only live once and smiles are infectious!! Mabey even make his day and sign the dotted line.
Ohh and one warning to new sales people.. Don’t knock house with new audis volvos or skodas driven by men. Promise you hell know better and be so boring with his average job and cheap shoes hell jump inside quick sticks for fear of being laughed at!
I am 70, until a coule of years ago finished my employed years as a cold calling sales man for electricity and gas.
When confronted by people like peter reeve at the door, i would wonder how he gets his sales people to communicate with people like him? i believe no door to door salesman wants to lie, they would just like the chance to earn an income by people taking their product if it offers a reduced cost and is the same product.
But who will let you do a little sum, to see if your product is cheaper,( as who would expect anyone to pay more), using your own bill and its units and costs,calculate units used times unit cost, plus any standing charges, equals what your bill was and would be.
Try it it peter, it doesn’t hurt.
Mick g
Just had a southern electric man confront my wife with a sales pitch full of lies. I’m a rather large fella and got the arse with Mr Southern Electric man and ended up carrying him off my land after he didn’t take the first hint of being asked to leave. He seemed unusually surprised.
whata bunch of whiney miserable gits,i have worked for sse for two years and the script that is being used to this day is expaining deregulation to customers ie it doesnt matter who your bills are payed to you still get the same services and maintenance. granted some will lie but if you werent all so far up your own arses and would change simply because its cheaper they would not have to fabricate a reason as to why.i signed an avereage of 50 a week with a maximum of 2 cancels a week so not all of us are bad yet u still tar us all with the same brush.as for edf being french it is…energies de france they are to this day the french monopoly company,like bg were to us.
well.. im about to start working for EDF. I used to work for another door to door company.
What people may not realise is that a door to door salesman gets no hourly wage, only the money he gets off sales. Ive read many stories here of people answering the door in an agressive manor (even physically agressive) this is unexceptable, this man is at your door, in his uniform, because his service has a high success rate, his service works, or he wouldnt have a job.
Secondly, understand that there is no perfect way to get a d2d man off your door, but aggression is not the right way. You do not need to DO what he sais, but if you dont LISTEN (e.g slam the door, shout, “no no no”) you will mess up his day. As a door 2 door person, my whole day can get messed up because of one person being mind numbingly rude or stubborn. So to recap… imagine you get knocked at 3pm (start time for d2d) and u go off on one coz your life is crummy anyway, you’ve jus crushed their confidence for the day… meaning… £0 pounds (remember its 100% commision based) for the day… ZERO POUNDS for being out the whole day… jus coz u couldnt be nicer.
next time someone comes to your door, dont see it as a wallett grabber, see it as another human… and you have the power to give them someone else’s money. LISTEN, to them, if THEN you dont like it, FINE close the door, but listen, why not do it, normally these guys make a decent 15-30 pounds per sale. If the deal is good, give it a try.
We had a chap from Scottosh power call yesterday.
He told me that as I was on BAND D on the local council tax band and that I got my electricity from a foreign company then I had been loosing a
discount that I was entitled too.
After he had gone I wrote to the Chairman of Scots Power telling him
of my anger in this attempt at his company trying to con me, and very dubious working practices.
A.
“Secondly, understand that there is no perfect way to get a d2d man off your door, but aggression is not the right way. You do not need to DO what he sais, but if you dont LISTEN (e.g slam the door, shout, “no no no”) you will mess up his day.”
…and if he doesnt LISTEN to me on MY property then its really going to mess up his FACE.
Southern Electric are still at it in North London. I live in a Victorian house converted into 4 flats. The Salesman began his pitch “Did you know you are the only person in this house on the highest tariff? The other flats all save money with us, don’t miss out etc, etc”. I said “If you truly have a better deal, I’ll check it on the web”. Reply. “Oh, it’s not on the web, it’s only available door-to-door.”
I said, “The trouble with your argument is that (a) I don’t see how you know what I’m paying and (b) actually we’re ALL with EDF here, so you’ve either been misinformed or are lying.” And shut the door on him.
As I returned to my flat he was busy ringing the other bells in the house; no doubt to try the same tactic. Luckily everyone else was out.
Just had two of these guys at our block of flats in Rutland claiming that everyone in our flats was overpaying on electricity, then when I said would like to look into it before signing up anything claimed that they had no promo material, no cards or paperwork (although it was the district manager and his boss ^^) when I said I didn’t deal directly with the bills my housemate did he demanded to speak to them instead etc… when I explained that I would investigate and contact them if we were interested he went on to A, hold the door open to the inner landings of the flats and B, buzz all the other flats again presumably and only reluctantly closed the door after me asking three times, thinking about getting some boiling oil or big rocks to drop from the top floor landing now…
im a door to door sales rep for gas and electric and all i can say is this,
To customers:
Don’t get so angry when someone knocks on your door, the rep is just doing their job, and in this current country’s situation with jobs and money their fucking lucky to have one. Give them a chance to see what they have to say, they do carry information but not to give out. they’re there to save you money not give out leaflets. Its true that, when you say you will deal with it yourself, you probably never will get round to it. give them a chance
To sales reps:
Don’t let customers make you negative, i know knocking 150-200 doors, speaking to about 60 people and signing up like, 3 people is depressing sometimes, but to do deals you have to always be happy, and non argumentative. If your in a negative state of mind then you will just go in a downward spiral and go home with fuck all. Make sure you have your facts right before you knock on doors as well, it goes a long long way
I’m a door to door sales rep and have a few things to say regarding ALL of the above postings:
1 – We are not all conmen. I go about my job honestly and dont lie to get into peoples homes. All is ask is to see a bill to check the tarrif a person is on, compare it with our tarrifs and shoe them the savings IN BLACK AND WHITE. I do all of this without asking to enter the house.
2 – Most people do not go onto price comparison sites as they simply get used to paying whatever their energy company tells them to. I have helped countless people save money on their bills who wouldnt have made savings as they wouldnt bother their arses checking.
3 – Please remember that we are only doing our job, and in times of recession we are very grateful to have one, even one which means we have to walk in the rain for 8 hours a day, getting grief from ‘know-it-alls’ (who more often than not know very little) for very little money. I have been threatened with dogs, knives, and physical violence just for doing my job. Imagine if that happened to you in your job – could you ignore that before knocking the next door?
4 – Comparison web sites operate on commission, too, you know.
5 – Please, give the guy at the door a chance. if he can make you a saving he should show and explain how ,in black and white. If he cant do that, then tell him where to go.
We have one of the most difficult jobs out there.
you lot havnt got a clue what your on about the most expensive company for gas is british gas and the most expensive electric company is alway the local electric company
its always been like that so all the people that have been loyal and kept it that way will always be charged more
southern electric (sse) on average are cheaper then everyone else in the uk (not in there areas though) and if the dude had braces so what ?? does that make him a lyer????????? the script is perfectly true if you live in an edf area they maintain it and make you think they supply it to the other companys they do not and because they maintain the area means more money for them to fork out sooooo now i suggest all people that have a problem go and read your little collums about one or two bad salepeople and forget the other 1000 that they have aswell who are perfect in what they do!
Im here all week
Hats off to all of the guys (and girls) on here who do the doorstep selling job. I used to sell at the doorstep for a different industry, but most of what you have said on here is the same.
To the rest of you, let’s examine some of the facts.
1: – As previously mentioned, 99 out of 100 of you haven’t checked price comparison websites and wouldn’t check them without the seller sparking you interest. If anything you should thank them for giving you the idea in the first place.
2: – In McDonalds, would it be acceptable for me to grab the poor sod selling me my burger by the collar if he asks if want “fries with that”? I know, I’ll ask USwitch! Or maybe I should start screaming at the person in the bank who asks if I want to save money on my credit card? How dare they?
3: – To those of you who will put forward the argument of ‘they are on my property though!’, here is a bit of friendly advice. Have a look through the peephole/window and see who it is. If you don’t like the look of them, don’t answer the door. Opening the door to start an argument with the seller (and yes, you do that) makes you the guilty party, not them. Last I heard, no doorstep salesman kicked someone’s door down for a sale.
4: – The salesman lied. Classic one this. In actual fact, in most cases, you didn’t listen to what he/she had to say then slammed the door in his face, probably coupled with a wee insult about his/her genitals and/or parentage. You then scoured the net looking for threads such as this and then started recalling BITS of what was said, filled in the blanks and came up with the old gem of ‘that’s what he said to me too!” Now, coupled with a small penis and unmarried parents, he’s a filthy liar too! Aren’t you clever for pointing that out?
5: – Back to price comparison websites. You are more that happy (the 1 out of 100 of you) to pay their commission, but not that of the guy on the doorstep. Here are some figures for you to chew on then. I run a website which has a link to USwitch (fact, not hypothetical). USwitch pay me £10 for every click that turns into a sale. The poor sod on the door step gets £10-£15 per service he is selling you. Question, who is actually being paid more the sell the gas and electric to you, and where does the money come from?
Anyways, I could rant on for hours about this subject, but won’t. I’ll conclude with a message directed at all of you. Doorstep sellers, keep your chins up and be proud, you are in the main doing a great job. There are bad eggs in every industry, you are not one of them. Coupled with that, the guy giving you grief earns less money than you and really shouldn’t be so obsessed with your genitals anyway. To the rest of you, be polite and treat others as you expect to be treated yourself. Tell the seller you understand he is doing a job but you honestly are not interested and thank him for the time. Or listen for a change, all that glitters is not gold, but you know what? It sometimes just might be!
just had southern electricity….
se..you are paying too much for your electricity…..
em..I am happy with who I am..
se.. yes you are with us (lie)
em.. no im not im with Atlantic
se.. yes we own that company (lie)
em… im not interested
se… but both your neighbours, have signed up to a new offer (lie)
em.. (closed the door)… 2 minutes later door bell rings…
se.. but sir
em.. F— O– (closed the door again)…
how can they get away with it???
Atlantic IS owned by SSE, I used to work for them!
As for all the negative comments on here, yes I will agree, there are some lying salesmen out there who give the rest of us d2d salesmen a bad reputation. The thing is, when these people get trained, they all get taught the EXACT same pitch and do not get their ID card until they have proved they know the pitch off by heart. Sometimes, this pitch doesn’t work on the door and it is at this time, these unscrupulous salesmen use lying tactics to bully their way into a deal. I personally am always, kind, curteous and above all professional and this shows in my cancellation rate (I rarely get one cancellation per 80 deals) – after all it is the company I work for who pay my wage so if I am mis-representing them, it is only me who is going to lose out – cancellation within cooling off period = no commission.
As the post says above, you wouldn’t drag a McDonalds employee over the counter for asking if you wanted a large meal would you?
SSE manage to keep their prices lower (and 98% of the time they are the cheapest) because they DO NOT ADVERTISE – if they spent the same amount on advertising as EDF or BG then I could understand people being pissed off at door knockers, but without SSE d2d salesmen they wouldn’t be able to get their name around and justify keeping the business going as their profit margins would be in the minuses!!!
D2D salesmen are all people too, they’re doing a job just like you, making money just like you, the thing is they are just a bit more tenacious when it comes to work. They often work on a commission only basis with NO basic wage and have to cover travelling expenses out of their own pockets. Can you imagine doing this for a living? I didn’t think you could!
I have today had a representative from Scottish Power turn up at my door asking to check my meter and a recent bill. I asked if she was trying to sell anything, and was advised she had been instructed by her company to check my bill and my meter. I explained that i was not a customer of theirs and that the bill was between me and the supply company. She was undettered and continued to suggest that in no way would they try to sell anything. But still wanted to see the generator reference and a recent bill. I again explained i was not a customer of theirs, and that i believed that this form of attempted doorstep sales was against the code of practice. I used the example of i wouldnt expect a bank or building society coming round to asking to see a recent statement – and then show them! In the vague hope it was only a cursory check to see if I could benefit from a different supplier.
I have had issues with my current (npower) supplier for energy – failing to pay the annual dual fuel discount, and failing to offer the best tariff – bu that is another story as they say.
I wouldn’t drag a MacDonald’s employee over the counter.
MacDonald’s employees don’t come to my property without permission, interrupt my privacy when I’m busy, and then lie to me to try to get me to do something I don’t want to do.
Door-to-door sales are inherently intrusive and unwelcome. If you don’t understand that, then you’re deluding yourselves.
While some of the comments people make are true about this type of sales there is also a hell of a lot of misunderstanding.
For example the poster above ‘erim metto’ thought that becasue the salesman said Southern Electric own Atlantic it is lie. Atlantic is a trading name used by Scottish and Southern Energy which incidently also uses the trading name ‘Southern Electric’.
And is also very true a lot of people have not clearly understood what the sales person said and come up with something that they thought was said then posted on the Internet.
I beleive the reason why salesman cannot be totally and utterley honest with presentation of the initial motives or the way its worded is that its going to mean no sale. If someone was to say ‘I am from a different supplier to yours and we would like to take over your supply at a lower cost’ doors are going to be slammed and no or minimal sales would be made.
Thus things like ‘deregulation’ have to be used to arose curoisty and get the potential customer to get interested in what they have to say. I would have thought reps that work for organisations that are the local supplier or British Gas are going to have a much easier time of it and less of a need to lie at the start of the presentation.
For example in the London region EDF is the local supplier. If an EDF sales person came to the door and said:
‘Hi I am from EDF, we are local electricity distributor. It us that owns the pipes, deals with leaks, and bring the electricity to your home.’
Immediately this is going to put the customer at ease because there is a ‘connection’ with the person and the company they are representing. This will allow the sales person to continue with the pitch along the lines of:
‘According to my list you are currently being billed by an alternative billing company and potentially paying on a higher tariff then ourselves. I have been sent to see you to see if we can offer offer you a better tariff’
As for other suppliers that have no involvement with the customer other then billing then its more of a hard task for the sales rep. Which is why perhaps some people say things like we need to read your meter, we are from the same company as yourselves etc. They need to find a way of showing a ‘connection’ with the customer without making misleading statements.
I suppose people do have the right to privacy some people just do not like being disturbed by such folk and perhaps they should put a notice up which should be adhered to.
Its amazing how really one only gets to read about the bad side of all this: there is very little mention of the positives. Most of the people who are successful at this stuff are articulate interesting personalities. You seldom read about ‘how a doorstep sales person came to my door though I said no to him but I had 5 minutes of really interesting conversation. That brightended up what would have been a dull day!’
Well, D2D salesmen were not bad!
Your ABUSE and ARROGANCE made them WORST!
and e1 kind and vulnerable people are being targetted by them ‘coz they need to get it out on some1!
If YOU p*** em off ‘coz u r in a better position ..
they l certainly F*** some1 who is in worse position
To ERIM METTO.
just read a brief comment from yourself.dated 7 september
You must be proud of yourself.
Nice to know that you know so MUCH about your gas and elect. company.
No wonder you dislike gas sales people. YOU actually don’t have a clue.
Spend less time slagging them and more time checking prices on tarriff sheets and MAYBE you might cheer up and have a laugh with the next sales person that knocks on the door.
I promise you that they won’t TRY a lie to you if you get more clued up.
P.s. i’m in gas sales and most of us promote tarriffs If given half a chance and really enjoy sharing a laugh with a new face at the door.
Comment to J Malone .comment dated 2 november.
Great points. Thanks. nice dealing with level headed folk.
Just been caught out by door to door Scottish Power persistant salesman. They give you short space of time to decide and then change your mind if you want to. Then if you go over that time they want to charge you for cancellation. What has it cost Scottish Power in that short time ? Very little, I suspect, so why does it need to cost me £50 to cancel ? That short time the salesman was here cost me dearly.
Someone told me that this type of ‘selling’ by the utility companies is being more strictly regulated from Jan 2010, I really hope that this is true. Beware
Southern Electric need to ensure their door to door bods are following the law, or themselves face prosecution for harrassment. After past experience of their selling tactics, I refuse to even enter into converstion with their field reps.
This week I saw someone approach my front door, so I opened it and at that point realised he was from SE so said I wasn’t interested. He retorted that I didn’t know what he was going to say. I said it made no difference I still wasn’t interested and not to return. I closed the door and came inside. He moved his position to my front window where he stood for the ensuing 10 minutes, staring into my home. I was not intimidated (choosing to go about my business and studiously ignore him), but many would have been. His behaviour was outrageous.
I have written to SE and expect an apology. If the individual comes to my door again, I will call the police and, if necessary, seek an injunction.
Today a Southern Electric salesman called at my mothers home , a semi sheltered bungalow, told her she was paying too much for her electricity and pursuaded her to sign up despite the fact that she told him that she should speak to me first. My mother is 84 , partially sighted and vunerable. He made no attempt to speak to the on -site manager to obtain her permission. It may be that Southern Electric may offer a cheaper deal – although I doubt it – but that is not the point. This type of approach is outrageous and I shall be complaining to The Ombudsman as well as to Southern Electric. 6.1.10