OXFORDSHIRE’s County Council’s Trading Standards is warning the public to beware of energy salesmen who use aggresive tactics and misleading information to brow-beat people into changing their suppliers.
Reports have surfaced in Oxfordshire of salesmen trying to claim that they have the right to see people’s utility bills, investigate a recent power cut or examine customers’ gas or electricity meter.
These cold-callers have no such rights and these are simply tactics which they are using to try and persuade people to change energy supplier.
Hard-sell headache for residents
Recent surveys of callers in some of the county’s ‘No Cold Calling Zones’ highlighted energy salesmen as being the most complained about commercial callers.
Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards team is advising residents that if they wish to change energy suppliers they should check the information available on the Internet and then approach the company themselves.
Head of Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards Nigel Strick said: ?The gas and electricity industry have had a history of problems with aggressive selling of their products.
“We would advise residents who are thinking of changing energy supplier not to have anything to do with people calling at their door.”
He added: “It is unfortunate that the energy companies choose to pay their sales staff on a commission sales basis which encourages them to use these misleading tactics to make sales.”
Report misleading statements
If energy supply salesmen use misleading statements to try and gain access to your houses please tell them to go away and then report them to trading standards on 0845 051 0845.
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