Heads up - door knockers re "energy report"

[Sue]

Just had two people call at my door, one with official looking ID round his neck on a ribbon with "staff" all over it.

They wanted to know if I had got my copy of "the energy report" or words to that effect.

Basically I think they are trying to get people to change their energy supplier, on the doorstep.

Take care people. Might be cheapest option for you, but probably isn't. Don't sign anything you can't get out of!

I just told them I was happy with my present supplier, who they didn't seem to have heard of, and they went away.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

They knocked my door two times. I ignored as they clearly cannot read since the sign on my door says 'No Salesperson' among other things.

[Alan Medic]

Love to know what else it says on your door.

[DulwichFox]

I had them at my gaff. I had literally just sat down with my lunch. 14.00 ish.

Guy told me I shouldn't be eating lunch at that time. Like WTF has that got to do with him.

I asked him why his I.D. card was turned round so could not be seen. He kind of flashed it and turned

it back so could not see it. Did not like his attitude one bit. Think he got the message.

Later this afternoon he was speaking to my next door neighbour. then said he would talk to me again.

I just went inside. Very aggressive.

Foxy

[Sue]

He wasn't aggressive with me.

They went away when it was clear I wasn't interested.

[dbboy]

Thought that door to door energy sales people had been one of the things the Govt had put a stop to, so surprised people are out doing it.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

It doesn't work 50 percent of the time as people still knock on the door.

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> Love to know what else it says on your door.

[Alan Medic]

It doesn't include 'No junk mail'. I'm surprised.

You can't actually tell how well it works surely?

DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

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> It doesn't work 50 percent of the time as people

> still knock on the door.

>

>

>

> Alan Medic Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Love to know what else it says on your door.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Yes, I have one of the letterbox saying 'No Junk Mail' I still get junk mail.

I'm often in when I get cold callers, I just ignore the door after peeping through the spyhole or looking out of the window, that is how I know they visited two times yesterday. I see no point in opening the door just to say 'Thanks but no thanks as I can use the Internet if I want to change suppliers/have a fruit box/buy fish etc'.

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> It doesn't include 'No junk mail'. I'm surprised.

>

> You can't actually tell how well it works surely?

>

>

> DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > It doesn't work 50 percent of the time as

> people

> > still knock on the door.

> >

> >

> >

> > Alan Medic Wrote:

> >

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> > -----

> > > Love to know what else it says on your door.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I have a child as well so them knocking on the door in the evenings was annoying me hence the sign.

[nxjen]

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> You can't actually tell how well it works surely?

>

>

> DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > It doesn't work 50 percent of the time as

> people

> > still knock on the door.

> >

> >

> >

I'm with AM here. You can tell when it doesn't work but how can you tell when it DOES work?

[Sue]

Ah, junk mail.

I'm never sure how that is defined.

I deliver the booklets for the Dulwich Festival to some local streets.

I take the view that people would probably like to know about it so it isn't junk mail.

Same in the past with info about street parties (to houses in the relevant streets, obviously).

Am I wrong?

[BrandNewGuy]

I've always understood "junk mail" to mean mass-marketed direct mail through the post, which of course the Royal Mail is obliged to deliver, rather than flyers, brochures and leaflets. And I agree, if it's useful information then deliver it.

[DulwichFox]

I keep Curry restaurant T/A Menus..

Everything else goes straight in the recycling.

SE22 Magazine.. Dulwich Festival. (I thought at first DF was about Foxy. ) Pizza Flyers go straight in my Outside recycle bin. Dont even get across the fresh hold..

I do not dictate what is junk.. It's all junk.

I just keep the Junk i might need.

Its a crime just how much unsolicited garbage is put through our doors.

Perhaps a 10-20p levy on each flyer printed.

DulwichFox

[Alan Medic]

Sometimes when I get the same flyer in triplicate, I'm tempted to phone the establishment and let them know that whoever is doing their distribution is cheating.

[Sue]

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> Sometimes when I get the same flyer in triplicate,

> I'm tempted to phone the establishment and let

> them know that whoever is doing their distribution

> is cheating.

To be fair, some houses have two bells and one letterbox, or two letterboxes but one bell, and it's hard to know whether to leave one thing or two.

Dulwich Fox, have you ever thought that if you widened your horizons a bit you might actually enjoy it?

[DulwichFox]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Alan Medic Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Sometimes when I get the same flyer in

> triplicate,

> > I'm tempted to phone the establishment and let

> > them know that whoever is doing their

> distribution

> > is cheating.

>

>

> To be fair, some houses have two bells and one

> letterbox, or two letterboxes but one bell, and

> it's hard to know whether to leave one thing or

> two.

>

> Dulwich Fox, have you ever thought that if you

> widened your horizons a bit you might actually

> enjoy it?

You said that about my eating habits..

For someone that spends most of their social life at the Ivy House and only likes Curry from Ganapati

That's pretty rich.

I see you have managed to take yet another thread off target.

Fox

[Sue]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sue Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Alan Medic Wrote:

> >

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> > -----

> > > Sometimes when I get the same flyer in

> > triplicate,

> > > I'm tempted to phone the establishment and

> let

> > > them know that whoever is doing their

> > distribution

> > > is cheating.

> >

> >

> > To be fair, some houses have two bells and one

> > letterbox, or two letterboxes but one bell, and

> > it's hard to know whether to leave one thing or

> > two.

> >

> > Dulwich Fox, have you ever thought that if you

> > widened your horizons a bit you might actually

> > enjoy it?

>

> You said that about my eating habits..

>

> For someone that spends most of their social life

> at the Ivy House and only likes Curry from

> Ganapati

> That's pretty rich.

>

>

> I see you have managed to take yet another thread

> off target.

> Fox

Erm, let's see, Fox.

I don't think it is me who has "taken yet another thread off target" (a thread I started, btw).

I didn't introduce the subject of junk mail. I just asked how it was defined, after other people had mentioned it.

You then went into considerable detail about what you define as junk mail, which appears to be everything apart from Indian restaurant takeaway menus.

My reference to expanding your horizons was because you said you throw away both SE22 and the Dulwich Festival programme, both of which contain a lot of information about things going on locally.

You seem to know laughably little about either my social life or my "curry" eating habits :)) :)) :))

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I'm in a lot of the times when I get cold callers. My living room faces the front so I see when people come to my door and walk away without ringing the bell/knocking which means that they must have read my sign hence not bothering me and I see the ones who do ring despite the sign. That is what I'm basing it on. Obviously I could be wrong but given that the majority I have seen come to my door and either ring my bell or way away I'm inclined to believe that it doesn't deter most of them.

nxjen Wrote:

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> Alan Medic Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

>

> > You can't actually tell how well it works

> surely?

> >

> >

> > DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

> >

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> > -----

> > > It doesn't work 50 percent of the time as

> > people

> > > still knock on the door.

> > >

> > >

> > >

> I'm with AM here. You can tell when it doesn't

> work but how can you tell when it DOES work?

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Anything Dulwich related isn't junk mail to me and I like my SE22 magazine etc.

I just don't like all the fast food flyers and the likes.

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ah, junk mail.

>

> I'm never sure how that is defined.

>

> I deliver the booklets for the Dulwich Festival to

> some local streets.

>

> I take the view that people would probably like to

> know about it so it isn't junk mail.

>

> Same in the past with info about street parties

> (to houses in the relevant streets, obviously).

>

> Am I wrong?

[Burbage]

Sue Wrote:

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> Take care people. Might be cheapest option for

> you, but probably isn't. Don't sign anything you

> can't get out of!

Bear in mind that, even if they say you can get out of it, you'll probably have to go through a lengthy formal complaint process to do so, and they'll be charging you all the while.

There are, I suspect, two possibilities here. The first is that suppliers like Opus Energy have finally broken with the 'rogue' agents and brokers who've not officially been working for them* (they refuse to divulge details, but the brokers wouldn't do it if they weren't getting paid), and those rogues have scuttled into the domestic market. Though Opus is a business supplier (so doesn't have to give out complaint statistics) I suspect repeated attention from the energy ombudsman has become expensive. Energy firms, even domestic ones, aren't supposed to doorstep customers at all, but it's not at all clear if those rules apply to brokers.

The second possibility is that, though government funding for the Green Deal has dried up, there's plenty of Green Deal work to be had for anyone who can flog it. The finance must now come through the providers, but with interest rates of 7% and more, tied to the household electricity bill rather than an individual, the returns seem virtually guaranteed. Even investors with the right sort of cash would be tempted by that, I'd imagine, keeping salesfolk (or their gangmasters) happy, even if the deals aren't so obviously good for homeowners.

Even if they are lousy for homeowners, they're excellent for landlords who can use the scheme to finance (at their tenants' expense) any improvements their properties will need to comply with next year's efficiency requirements. Landlords being what they are, however, it's probably a little early for the rush to have started, leaving the chancers to try their luck on random domestics in the meantime.

Either way, it's well to be suspicious of them. And, for that matter, of comparison sites which are also in it only for the money. If you are tempted, remember to check the rates, and terms, with those advertised on the supplier's own website, if only to make sure they exist.

* See https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.opusenergy.com - where Opus has at last begun to respond constructively to the unhelpful negativity of their customers.

[Loz]

Also a favourite trick is to ask you for your most recent bill, so they can tell you "how much you can save".

Don't do it.

On that bill is the meter number and your details - all they need to switch you without you knowing. And some of them will do it.