Doorstep salesmen face crackdown

Jonathan Prynn, Business Editor @JonPrynn|Consumer Affairs Editor|Evening Standard

13 April 2012

Rogue door-to-door energy salesmen face a new crackdown after an upsurge in "unscrupulous" selling tactics.

Unacceptable and "disgraceful" techniques are being used to dupe customers into switching suppliers, according to the Government-backed watchdog energywatch.

The recent cluster of complaints concerns the Southern Electric company operating in London, Surrey and Kent.

The scams usually involve a rep with official accreditation using deception to get into people's homes. Once inside, they try to bounce customers into signing contracts with new suppliers through aggressive sales techniques.

The techniques include:

Telling people that their existing electricity comes from France and that they are gathering signatures for a petition in protest. The "petition" is actually a new contract for electricity supply.
Saying there is a problem with the meters in the street, which means residents are paying too much and need to sign up to a new tariff.

Jean Shanks, director of energywatch in London and the South-East, said: "Such unscrupulous and dishonest selling practices are unacceptable, especially because an industry code of practice has been introduced to end energy misselling. Southern Electric should compensate any customer who has been duped on the doorstep."

Last year, former energy minister Brian Wilson warned that the industry would face a government blitz if it did not clean up its act over misselling. The DTI and energy watchdog Ofgem today said they were waiting to study the complaints before taking further action.

Two companies have already been fined - London Electricity, which had to pay £2million, and British Gas, which paid a £200,000 penalty. The industry later signed up to a new code of conduct that included a provision that customers whose signatures were forged on contracts would receive £250 compensation.

Southern Electric is part of the huge FT-SE 100 energy group Scottish and Southern Energy. Spokesman Denis Kerby said: "We take all complaints very seriously. When we receive one we take the salesman out of selling and get the agency which employed him on our behalf to interview that person.

"The level of complaints against us is well below the industry average."