In an investigation, CBC News: Marketplace has exposed the tactics used by door-to-door salespeople working for some big energy companies.
Most everyone has heard complaints about sales agents selling contracts for natural gas and electricity, and using their powers of persuasion to get you to sign up and lock in to a fixed price. It’s a decision that could save or cost you hundreds of dollars.
With so much at stake, the sales people are supposed to follow provincial codes of conduct governing their behaviour during the sales pitch.
The rules state they can’t mislead consumers, make false statements, misrepresent who they are, nor can they exert undue pressure.
But during sales pitches caught on tape in a hidden camera investigation, every sales agent is seen overstepping the rules.
One salesperson recorded during the investigation promises that signing up for an electricity contract would lead to savings: “In five years guaranteed. There’s no way the price of hydro is going to stay the same as it is today.”
In fact, over the last ten years, when comparing the best gas prices of retailers to the prices of the public utility in Ontario, 44 per cent of the time consumers would have lost money by locking in; 56 per cent of the time, they would have saved. As for electricity, consumers have fared far worse. Using Ontario data since August 2005, fully 100 per cent of the time consumers would have lost money by signing up for even the best retailer rate compared to the public utility.
Shane Pospisil of the Ontario Energy Association is a top lobbyist for the industry. He concedes that the pitches caught on camera misrepresent the contract being offered. “We would find this behaviour unacceptable,” and adds that “major self-regulatory initiatives [are] underway.”
How not to get had:
• Read Wendy Mesley’s tip sheet on how not to get sucked in by the high pressure sales tactics employed by some.
– Wendy Mesley is a co-host of CBC News: Marketplace, Canada’s award-winning consumer affairs show, and a regular back-up host with CBC News: The National. CBC News: Marketplace airs each Friday night at 8:30 p.m. on CBC Television.
