Consumers Make Complaints About Energy Salespeople
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A door-to-door representative of Just Energy was videotaped by KDKA Producer Matt Regan after a confrontation with Regan at his home.
Last week Regan was home in Brookline and chose not to answer his door the first two times the man knocked.
"A third knock and finally I just shout out from my couch, 'I'm not interesting in what you're selling.'
"He says, 'I'm not selling anything. I'm gonna save you some money.'"
That got Regan off the couch and at the front door he would learn as many are these days the man wanted him to sign up for Just Energy to become his electrical supplier and asked to see Regan's Duquesne Light bill.
"I show it to him, he says, 'Wow that's a whole lot. I can get it for you a lot cheaper.'"
It was a hot day and Regan invited the man into his home, but after going online and calling a colleague, Regan got cautious, said he wasn't interested and told the man to leave.
"He wouldn't leave my house," Regan said.
He finally did leave only to return with the paper work he'd started filling out with Regan's information. The man only left the porch when Regan opened the door to get him to leave.
The Public Utility Commission says aggressive sales people aren't just confined to door-to-door. They're also robocalling cell phones in the region.
"Some of these marketers are implying they are partnering with Duquesne Light, it's a Duquesne Light rebate center or we're working in conjunction with Duquesne Light - none of that is in fact true," Joe Vallarian, a Duquesne Light spokesman, said.
The calls are coming from untraceable numbers which when put in Google produces a litany of complaints from consumers being barraged with solicitations.
"One thing I want to make clear is we do not give out customer telephone numbers, we don't do telemarking, we don't do door-to-door sales," he added.
The PUC recommends if you are interested in an offer, thoroughly check out the company on the PaPowerSwitch.com website and make an informed decision – not a decision forced by pressure on the phone, or by a door-to-door salesman in person.
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