Npower - pushy door to door man

[SteveT]

Some door knocking asian came last Friday and said he was from southern electric who I'm with, and then started his spiel and it turned out several minutes later that as I was on tiscali there was nothing he could do for me..........

I have absolutely no idea who is the best value for money in the power stakes, as none of them will give you a cost of a cubic foot of gas or a kilowat of electricity.

Does any of the more mathematically weighted, forumista's know(?)

[elizlondon]

I had an Npower person a couple of months ago who insisted that he was not signing me up to making a change, but to getting a comparison and that I'd get a phonecall to give me more info and to ask if I wanted to switch. Caught me on an off day (I usually just say 'I never buy anything door-to-door'), but needless to say, he had indeed signed me up and I didn't get the phonecall.

When I received the letter telling me I'd switched, I called Npower to cancel and complained about the seller which they took note of. I was amused to note that the recorded info options included 'press 3 to complain about an Npower sales representative' or similar - which clearly means they know they're terrible.

[Sue]

What has his race got to do with it???

:-S

[Sue]

SteveT Wrote:

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> Some door knocking asian came last Friday

xxxxxx

Sorry, my last post was in response to the above :-$

[Jeremy]

Perhaps to help people recognise him.

Although I would suggest that the opening sentence could be worded more tactfully.

[bluecanary]

I too have had this salesman (oh no I'm not - oh yes you are). He arrived last week at 6pm and when told that I was busy with the children's dinner, he had the cheek to say 'It's a bit early for that isn't it?' I practically had to shut the door in his face to get rid of him.

[Sue]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> Perhaps to help people recognise him.

>

> Although I would suggest that the opening sentence

> could be worded more tactfully.

xxxxxx

"Tactless" is not how I would describe the phrase "some door-knocking Asian."

And - you think it might have been to help recognise him amongst - oh, how many people of Asian appearance are there in London?

Would you like to be described as "some door-knocking White" to make you more easily identifiable?

Edit: Assuming that you are white, of course :-$

[Jeremy]

I think we both agree that the language used in the original post could offend, so not sure why you're arguing with me on that one.

Although, describing someone as "Asian" will probably narrow it down to probably 5-10% of the local population. Please don't pretend that it's not PC to use race as a description of physical appearance.

Yes I am white, and strangely enough I have no problem in being described as being white.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Its not the description that is the issue as such, the issue is that the fact that the bloke is Asian is completely irrelevant that to the fact that he is a pushy door-knocker.

If you had described him a "some pushy door knocker" then fine. If you has then gone on to describe him for the benefit of other potential victims "asian bloke, 5 foot 10, moustache" then fine.

However the fact that he is asian does not make him an annoying pushy door-knocker.

[Jeremy]

I agree Michael Palaeologus, it should have been worded differently.

[Loz]

Sue,

The first line of the OP said, "A horrible, rude man called last night at 9pm, trying to switch me over.". Would you agree that it was entirely necessary to mention that the person in question was male?? Or do your sensitivities not stretch that far?

[SteveT]

It's not my fault he was a pushy, door knocking, asian looking geezer I tend to speak as I find.

But it has made me question whether I am on the right tariff with the right company, so I put my details into Uswitch and the same details into www.energyhelpline and they came up with different answers.

So now I am going to forget the whole sorry incident, and wished I had never opened the door, and I just might invest in to a talky thingy at the door, and if they are cheap enough one with a screen, even if it's only a black and white;-)

I have told you wrong about the uswitch and energyline my computer wizz said I had put some incorrect information:-$

[thedoctor740]

There you are proof that all the comparasion sites on the internet can not be trusted.

The best thing to do is get hold of a price tariff off the reps that call at the door and then do your own comparasion.

Also, so that people know Ebico is in partnership with Southern Electric.

[*Bob*]

It's interesting..

You could have a pushy door-knocking blonde, a pushy door-knocking midget, a pushy door-knocking American, a pushy door-knocking goth, a pushy door-knocking student... but a pushy door-knocking asian?

I disagree that The Offence is caused by inclusion of 'Asian' in the pushy door-knocking clause; more in the omission of 'man' after 'Asian'. A 'pushy door-knocking Asian man' wouldn't raise so many eyebrows.

I think it's because most people have memories of hearing people talk about 'the asians'/ 'an asian' / 'a couple of asians' in that general non-specific way which always seems to have negative implications. I still hear it every time I go back to The Midlands, unfortunately.

[*Bob*]

I have also noted that all current pushy door-knockers (of all colours, creeds, heights etc) are waging war on uSwitch and the like. My favourite so far "sir, did you know that uSwitch is a commercial company?" (said the man from Atlantic Electric & Gas)

Which makes me mildly suspicious of thedoctor740 (above), who encourages us (in his first post) to shun comparison sites, be wary of Ebico (in particular) and talk to pushy door-knockers. Yeah, right!

[Jeremy]

You hit the nail on the head Bob, it's interesting how terms which are not inherently offensive can have negative connotations.

[Loz]

Ebico are great! I've been with them a couple of years now. I keep checking the comparison site and I'm always at or about the best tariff. Yep, they sub-contract out to Southern - they make no secret of that. But as Southern have one of the better customer service ratings of the big boys/girls/transgendered, that's not such a bad thing. Ebico set the price, though.

Best of all, the pushy sales person of a description-that-must-not-be-mentioned didn't know who the hell they were, which made things rather amusing when it forced him/her away from their normal sales patter.

[KidKruger]

I find the 'description that cannot be mentioned' useful, since, if i get a knock on the door from some person of 'description that cannot be mentioned', I will be able to make a judgement on whether it's the likely the same person who's 'description that cannot be mentioned'.

A bit like when the dude down near ED railway station was always scrounging/intimidating people for their cash the 'description that got slated for being mentioned' was useful to help narrow down if it was the same person.

Have to say that most threads on this website seem to go off on a "ooh you did not say that in the most perfectly non-PC way possible" sort of tangent. Perhaps we could have the website modified so that folks who're interested in the purpose of the thread can stay on track and not waste too much time, but those who want to haul a poster over the coals for their contribution can press a "they have been naughty" button and proceed there unmolested (sorry, should read 'molested', but not in any bad connotation/way you understand [standard disclaimers and caviats go here]) to assassinate each other and demonstrate their articulacy and how much better than everyone else they are.

[lofty]

Well said

[Loz]

I know I didn't stick a smiley in, but I hope your sarcasm detector was working correctly when you read my post. OK, the Harry Potter reference was a little thin, but the 'the big boys/girls/transgendered' piece was a bit of a clue.

[Sue]

KidKruger Wrote:

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

> I find the 'description that cannot be mentioned'

> useful, since, if i get a knock on the door from

> some person of 'description that cannot be

> mentioned', I will be able to make a judgement on

> whether it's the likely the same person who's

> 'description that cannot be mentioned'.

>

> A bit like when the dude down near ED railway

> station was always scrounging/intimidating people

> for their cash the 'description that got slated

> for being mentioned' was useful to help narrow

> down if it was the same person.

>

> Have to say that most threads on this website seem

> to go off on a "ooh you did not say that in the

> most perfectly non-PC way possible" sort of

> tangent. Perhaps we could have the website

> modified so that folks who're interested in the

> purpose of the thread can stay on track and not

> waste too much time, but those who want to haul a

> poster over the coals for their contribution can

> press a "they have been naughty" button and

> proceed there unmolested (sorry, should read

> 'molested', but not in any bad connotation/way you

> understand ) to assassinate each other and

> demonstrate their articulacy and how much better

> than everyone else they are.

xxxxxxx

Life's too short to go into all the reasons why the original description was unacceptable, but I completely disagree that comments of this sort on any forum thread should go unchallenged (though it's absolutely riculous to say that "most" threads go off on this kind of a tangent - of course they don't!).

It's not about being PC, it's about respecting other people and describing them in a respectful way. End of.