Energy Companies and Discount Deals

Home owners are being forced into signing up for energy deals that later prove to be more costly in the long run.‹¯¨

Door to door salesmen would trawl neighbourhoods to persuade the public to switch energy providers. This practice was branded with a bad name, many customers complained of hard-sell tactics which lead them to be conned into changing providers. Major providers pulled out of door to door selling to create a better interpretation of the company and in affect gain the consumers trust.

An investigation by Which? Magazine showed that door to door sales threats has declined and suppliers are using other means to target potential customers. The survey additionally uncovered that agents were using the same sort of methods to sell, giving misleading information and offering deals that look more attractive than they are.

This discovery could not have come at a worse time, with this cold February weather sweeping the country and the current economic climate, the public are vulnerable to companies saying they can save them money.

The answer to door to door sales bad reputation was for firms to ring homeowner’s landlines, without warning. When supplier’s cold called homeowners they were not always telling customers about their cheapest deals, the main culprit being British Gas.

Leaving the house will not let you escape these salesmen; suppliers have now taken to applying salesmen to shopping centres and supermarkets. Companies such as British Gas, now partnered with Sainsbury’s Energy, have applied there sales techniques within the supermarket, followed by M&S Energy which has joined Scottish and Southern Energy.

The information these salesman have been offering can be misleading, with suppliers suggesting a saving of between £20 and £46, but in reality customers would be between £70 and £95 more. These figures are a result of agents giving quotes without knowing enough about the customer’s energy usage.

Companies will go to whatever possible lengths to gain customers, simple comparison sites are the way forward as they give you a more accurate calculation of what you could save. Salesmen can guess a quote without the customer’s accurate usage, resulting in them being able to glorify their company’s tariffs. Take the time to check through different companies, salesmen may offer a sign up today offer, don’t be tempted to take it, go home and do your research, they are usually too good to be true.

‹¯¨