People living here are having to deal with energy retailers once again, and some of them are allegedly being very aggressive.
Some energy retailers visit homes, promise huge savings if hydro costs go up, use that possibility as a scare tactic, and sign as many customers as they can. Those customers then often pay far more on their bills than they would if they had stayed with their local utility.
People who sign contracts will often find they are not only not saving money, but that the contracts are nearly impossible to get out of.
After several years of complaints and minor fines for companies, the provincial government began to crack down on some of the tactics used by the company. The retailers of hydro had never sold a contract that saved anyone any money since they began operations when hydro was deregulated.
Ken and Lori Chatten, of Johnston Street in Fergus dealt with an energy retailer on Monday.
Ken Chatten said he was at the back of the house when he heard his wife yelling at someone to get off the property. It was someone she said was from Just Energy.
“This was a shouting match,” he said, noting that nobody dropping to sell should be that abusive.
Anyone who uses Google to look up Just Energy immediately reads, “Lock in your energy rate today and protect yourself from volatile energy company prices. With Just Energy, you can take control of your monthly budget for …”
Chatten said he has also had run-ins with natural gas retailers, and about six months ago one actually pulled open his front door and stepped into his home while he was trying to hold the dog back. He called the police, who suggested he put up a sign saying No Soliciting. He did that and said the sign was up on Monday when the retailer came to the door.
Chatten wonders why township council cannot pass a bylaw forbidding door-to-door salesmen from working through neighbourhoods.
I don’t like the idea that there’s people knocking on doors in the middle of the day,” he said. “If they’re bad guys, they know that nobody’s home.”
Chatten said he has not seen anybody in a long time, but with Smart Meters coming, it appears energy retailers are again making the rounds.
“It’s going to be popping out of the woodwork. I’m not going to get taken,” Chatten said. “But I feel sorry for people in my neighbourhood who might.”
He said the energy retailers use “the fear factor” but, “What bothered me was the rude attitude.”
Chatten said he contacted the Advertiser in the hope of being able to warn other area residents that they do not have to accept sales pitches from people who come knocking.
Last April, the provincial government laid down some new rules for energy retailers after receiving constant complaints.
The government press release stated, “In the past three years, energy retailers cracked the top 10 list of con- sumer complaints received by the Ministry of Consumer Ser- vices.”
That release noted, the Ontario Energy Board still logged between 100 and 150 consumer complaints a week about the practices of energy retailers. Some of those tactics have included forged signatures, and high pressure scare tactics, particularly against seniors.
Others with bitter experience have warned against showing a hydro bill to a retailer. The retailer can take the billing number, forge a signature and be long gone when the customer finally starts being billed at higher than normal energy rates.
A call to Just Energy was not returned.
