Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Beware of energy switching scammers

Dear Crappy,

This afternoon an aggressive salesperson from IDT Energy came to my apartment to offer me a discount on my energy bills. She claimed she was from Con Edison and asked for my latest gas and electric bills. She copied my account numbers to some forms. I was tricked into signing the forms under the explanation that I'll save on my bills by choosing IDT Energy as my supplier. When I asked to read the fine print she told me it was irrelevant.

After she left, I looked up IDT Energy and realized it was a scam and I'd end up paying more; it turns out that the discounts are for the first two months only. I called IDT Energy to cancel and also let ConEd and National Grid know that I am not switching my provider.

I hope you can post this to your blog as a warning to others who might fall for it and forget to cancel.

Sincerely,
Mr. P.
Jamaica Estates

Please consult Miss Heather for more information on this scam and how to put an end to it.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

These asshats came to my house last week (I'm in Forest Hills) and claimed to be from National Grid. Asked to see my bill. I laughed and slammed the door in the guy's face!

NEVER show anyone your bill!!!

Anonymous said...

Don't ever open the door to solicitors. If you are interested in looking for an alternative energy provider, you can look them up yourself and ask them to send you information. If you get a salesman on the phone, ask him to send you printed information. NEVER sign anything, especially when someone is tryin to rush you. That means you are being scammed.

faster340 said...

I had these assholes come by my house on Thanksgiving day. My wife told them to get lost and go home to your family for Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

The Consumerist has been covering this scummy company for a while now. Check out their posts about it here: http://consumerist.com/search/IDT/

Mr. P, It's a good idea to contact the attorney general's office and make a complaint. The number is 212-416-8000.

Anonymous said...

seriously mr. p, whenever a salesperson tells you that the fine print is "irrelevant" -- don't sign it.

i'm not sure why the AG's office needs to spend taxpayer money to investigate such a ridiculously transparent con job. maybe we can use the money instead on investing mr. p with some basic common sense.

Anonymous said...

no doubt
i dragged 1 in
tied him 2 my radiator
paint-chips
aight.

Anonymous said...

A guy in a suit came to our hood (Astoria) and asked me if I wanted to save money on my con ed. I told him I wasn't the owner and he went away.

Anonymous said...

This same company was caught scamming long distance telephone customers in the LA/Orange County area back in the 90's. Obviously they didn't have the intelligence to come up with a new name for their pathetic crime ring.

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine got scammed on this too. They promised that they wouln't charge the service fee that Con Ed does. They didn't but con ed still did because they owned the lines. Don't even bother

Anonymous said...

These rude shits came to my small building in Astoria and proceeded to knock on every door like a three year old demanding candy.I told them there was no soliciting in the building and I was familiar with there scam.Nice assemblies of god mormon get up.They then laughed as they walked down the stairs and said "Ok sir, have a nice day" still giggling.God I better not see those twits by my apartment ever again.Especially when I have to work third shift.
People dont be so dumb when dealing with these cons.

Anonymous said...

They were doing this scam in Brooklyn a few months ago. Obviously, they knew that the heat was on and changed locales.

Anonymous said...

"i'm not sure why the AG's office needs to spend taxpayer money to investigate such a ridiculously transparent con job. maybe we can use the money instead on investing mr. p with some basic common sense."

It's not a con job. They're a real company selling something that's legal but they're incredibly shaddy about it. In order for something to be done about it the A.G. needs to collect complaints.

GL said...

One of them visited me last week. I punched him in the head and knocked him out. Thank you for reminding me to feed him.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know a ESCO that is good? Is there an advantage to switching to one?

Anonymous said...

One of these clowns came to my home last week. Asked me to go inside and get my recent bills. I was on to him from the start, so I came back with my shotgun and put one in his head and one in his chest. When the police came I explained who this a-hole was and they actually thanked me.

Trilby said...

"Does anyone know a ESCO that is good? Is there an advantage to switching to one?"

NO! They are a scam. ConEd tells you to look into them to save money, so consider the source. You will not save any money that you will notice but you will have a way more confusing bill.

I signed up with Columbia Energy. The promises they made to me were complete bald-faced lies. Also, the woman-scammer I spoke to assured me that I would not be locked into them, then they told me ha ha, I WAS! After many angry letters and calls, I got out of it, but my advice is STAY AWAY from ESCOS.

If you want to save on your bills, change all your lights to florescent bulbs. and dry your clothes outside.

Anonymous said...

These guys litteraly stormed into our building a year ago - several teams.

I shouted them out. It was fun.

And our elected officials dont regulate this travisty because ...?

faster340 said...

Oh did you hear now that ConEd wants to raise rates because since everyone has been cutting back on energy consumption and such just like they say to do they are short of money.

Can you believe that shit?

They tell you to conserve then they say they have to raise rates because people are doing so and they aren't getting as much money as a result..

Queens Crapper said...

Exactly the same principle as congestion pricing. Force people onto mass transit then raise the fees even more because not enough people are driving.

Anonymous said...

These pinheads invaded my building last summer. They arrived in choppers and repelled down onto the roof. Fortunately we keep the roof doors locked. A few tried to enter via fire escapes, but we just laughed and closed the windows on them. These guys are scummy and should not be trusted.

Anonymous said...

Queens Crapper said...
Exactly the same principle as congestion pricing. Force people onto mass transit then raise the fees even more because not enough people are driving.



Do you have an alternative in mind??????

Queens Crapper said...

From Forest Hills 72:

Rush hour Subway pricing: They have this in other cities (and on LIRR/Metro North). With track space at a premium, you should have to pay more for high-demand times like every other business. Try getting a good deal on Yankee tix when the Sox are in town in September. Rush hour rides are 25% more.

15% Salary cut of all MTA employees: Overpaid as it is, except the ones who work on the subway and buses. If any other company pissed away a billion dollars on nothing, there would be at least a 15% layoff.

Toll dedicated bike lanes: This one will land me in some hot water, but these bike lanes are built at considerable expense (not to mention cause a lot of congestion where they begin). Having a dedicated lane is a "luxury" (to use their car argument) that even ambulances don't have. We all share the pain and I'm sure Forest Hills cyclists would gladly fork over a few dollars a day to ride in a dedicated lane away from cars.

Eliminate the Manhattan Parking Exemption: This backwards tax break excludes Manhattan residents of the 18% parking tax at local garages. You don't need a car in Manhattan and if you insist on having one, you shouldn't get a tax break. Make the tax 30% (believe me, they can afford it).

PROPERTY TAX EQUITY!!!! How many more $2 million brownstone sales do we have to hear about where the annual property tax bill is $1200? Go through the property rolls one by one and phase them up to a realistic tax bill. If they can afford 2.4 million on a house, they can afford to pay taxes on it.

Anonymous said...

The first idea and the last one are good, but the others? Why don't we make it an across-the-board salary reduction for all public employees? The city and state budgets aren't doing to well, either. In this economy, how would you react if your salary was cut by 15%?

Salaries are a drop in the bucket when you consider the hit that the budgets have taken. Thank the IOUs George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani left behind for that.

Anonymous said...

I had to deal with these scammers over the summer. They represented themselves as ConEd and ask to see my bill. I told these teenagers with backpacks to get lost.

My elderly neighbor got scammed and signed up but I had them cancel everything and got them back on ConEd later that day.

These scumbags prey on the trusting/eldery/immigrants.

idiocracy

Anonymous said...

They were in Astoria today. I told them that I would speak to my service provider and proceeded to slam the door in the womans face

Unknown said...

I know where these Trolls live. They Go by the name of JMS Direct. It's on Ditmars Blvd near 33rd st . They are in a shitty little space they share with a junk store. I've seen groups of them together outside on the street just before they "canvass" the hood.

Anonymous said...

I used to work for this company as a secretary, it was the worst job i've ever had in my life. I'm not talking about bored, mundane office shit i'm talking sexual harassment, lack of hr and rudeness to employees. They treated the door knockers like shit, never paid them correctly (never tried to either) the managers would degrade the employees by spraying them with water guns, yelling at them in front of everyone, they would use words lke "ni**a" and bitch and c///. The office itself was small and you could hear everything. i would sit at my desk and the managers were literally watching porn in their office and playing it loud enough for me to hear. its one of the worst places in the world and the same people are still working the same jobs

Anonymous said...

I've recently been had by IDT! They charged me .2459 per kwh when met ed is .818 and others are lower. Ive been reading about this company on numerous sites about how they scam innocent individuals day in and day out, and yet nothing is done about it! Well now i need your help to put and end to this once and for all!! I want to start a class action lawsuit against them and the first step is to basically have an army of complaint to present to a suitable lawyer. So im writing this on every site ive ever read anything about IDT on! We need to stand to gether and bring light on this shady company!! If you are willing to stop talking about it and do something email me (lucid160@hotmail.com) and together we can get justice for all theire wrong doing!!