Airtricity, pushy or what?!!

coffeenuts

I arrived home yesterday and my wife was at the porch with some lad from Airtricity trying to get her to sign up.

I walked into the kitchen didnt acknowledge him and he continued his spiel with my wife.

He asked her for bills and readings etc and said it was cheaper etc..

When my wife said she wanted to talk to me first he said he'd call back later.

When he called back later his heart sank as I answered the door.

He said he'd been talking someone else in the house.

I said yes I heard all about it now I want to think about it, read up on your company and will make a decision.

Still he pressed on. I said look I dont know anything about you and wont be signing up here but I will have a look on your site and will make up my mind then. Is that Ok I said.

He wasnt happy then said yeah thats ok but I dont get paid then.

He said this as if it was goin to change my mind.

These "salespeople" are a disgrace. Pushy, pushy, pushy. :mad:

I will not now and not ever sign up to this company for the reasons above regardless of price.

How could you ever trust a company who allow their business to be put across in this disgusting manner.

I feel for old people/vunerable people and people like my wife who are too nice/polite to listen.

Rant over. I will of course be complaining to Airtricity over this and I would urge others to do the same.

Fnergg

Thjere is no point complaining to Airtricity. Their approach is to get new customers at all costs and they tolerate (if they don't actively encourage) the type of behaviour you have described.

Complain instead to the Commission for Energy Regulation. Here's a name and email address of someone who might listen to you:

mstack@cer.ie

That's the email address of one Maurice Stack who is involved in the electricity competition area in CER.

(His name and email address has been taken from the CER website and is thus in the public domain).

Regards,

Fnergg

gollem_1975

coffeenuts wrote: »

I arrived home yesterday and my wife was at the porch with some lad from Airtricity trying to get her to sign up.

I walked into the kitchen didnt acknowledge him and he continued his spiel with my wife.

He asked her for bills and readings etc and said it was cheaper etc..

When my wife said she wanted to talk to me first he said he'd call back later.

When he called back later his heart sank as I answered the door.

He said he'd been talking someone else in the house.

I said yes I heard all about it now I want to think about it, read up on your company and will make a decision.

Still he pressed on. I said look I dont know anything about you and wont be signing up here but I will have a look on your site and will make up my mind then. Is that Ok I said.

He wasnt happy then said yeah thats ok but I dont get paid then.

He said this as if it was goin to change my mind.

These "salespeople" are a disgrace. Pushy, pushy, pushy. :mad:

I will not now and not ever sign up to this company for the reasons above regardless of price.

How could you ever trust a company who allow their business to be put across in this disgusting manner.

I feel for old people/vunerable people and people like my wife who are too nice/polite to listen.

Rant over. I will of course be complaining to Airtricity over this and I would urge others to do the same.

question : do you like any "salespeople" ?

i'm not a big fan of them myself... particularly those who do door2door ( not a fan of chuggers either mind you)..financial advisers in the bank and estate agents you can add them to the list too.

however as I've got older I realised that they are just doing a job and we've all gotta pay bills.

afaik Airtricity don't do any of this door2door stuff.. its done by various companies all under the umbrella of the Cobra group (there are other threads on this board about them).

these sales people only get paid commission - hence their determination to make a sale.

If you tell them no thanks or we're already with Sky/Airtricity/UPC etc. they will feck off.. but they'll be back again soon.

Cabaal

Fnergg wrote: »

Thjere is no point complaining to Airtricity. Their approach is to get new customers at all costs and they tolerate (if they don't actively encourage) the type of behaviour you have described

Your basing this on what exactly?
The sales people are not even Airtrcity employee's they are a third party company and Bord Gais and co also employee these exact same people.

Bottom line is its these people's job to make a sale to get commission,

Padraig Mor

I don't care how cheap Airtricity are - I wouldn't sign with them due to their reprehensible policy of high pressure sales, with multiple phonecalls and agents at your door, most of whom will not balk at outright lying to get their grubby hands on some commission.

bungler

Cabaal wrote: »

Your basing this on what exactly?
The sales people are not even Airtrcity employee's they are a third party company and Bord Gais and co also employee these exact same people.

Bottom line is its these people's job to make a sale to get commission,

Are you sure Bord gais use the exact same company as airtricity? didnt think they do that

gollem_1975

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I don't care how cheap Airtricity are - I wouldn't sign with them due to their reprehensible policy of high pressure sales, with multiple phonecalls and agents at your door, most of whom will not balk at outright lying to get their grubby hands on some commission.

well good for you that you can afford to be so choosy.

I'm happy to make the saving , it was always something I had intended to do online anyway but never got around to it so when they called I was happy enough to sign up.

Irish people need to grow the cojones to tell these sales people thanks but no thanks if they don't want their services.

bungler

Never understand why people sign with Airtricity, Bord Gais is the better option for two reasons.

1. They are cheaper for electricity than Airtricity
2. They are Irish and even though the country is in ruins at least all their profits dont go back to England.

for me i cant see the point of supporting Airtricity.

I also think Airtricity are a bunch of liars,they lost some big high court case and had to withdraw all their advertising saying they are totally green cause they only produce a small amount ofwind electricity compared to the amount they supply

Stinicker

Had some Airtricity sales people too recently, tried gently backing out but they were agressively persistent. In the finish I told them I wasn't going to move as the ESB are there since the foundation of the state and that I didn't like his way of doing things.

Lawrence1895

Some weeks ago, they knocked at my door, too.

I just asked for the name of their regional manager, after they didn't understand the 'No, I am not interested' for the 125th time.

And I reminded them, that they would not like to loose their 'good reputation':p

I guess, they didn't even get that sarkasm of mine, but at least they didn't come back twice within a month.

91011

the funny thing is, if they were properly trained in how to do cold call sales, they'd earn a fortune and people who they call on would probaby be grateful.

problem is, they get no training, have no experience and are gee'd up with agressive sales behaviour

fault lies with airtricity for employing the numpty inexperienced companies that think this is the way of selling

MonicaBing

They've called to mine and i told them i have an esb meter! They werent long fecking off then! Obviously im not the type of customer they desire!!:D

melekalikimaka

bungler wrote: »

I also think Airtricity are a bunch of liars,they lost some big high court case and had to withdraw all their advertising saying they are totally green cause they only produce a small amount ofwind electricity compared to the amount they supply

all their energy created is green, the issue is that it joins the national grid which is not all green.

CiaranC

MonicaBing wrote: »

They've called to mine and i told them i have an esb meter! They werent long fecking off then! Obviously im not the type of customer they desire!!:D

What?

kirving

Called to mine a few monhs ago. Apparently, saving "10% on Gas" and "13% on Electricity" (or vice versa), means you save a total of "23%".

That's not someone who doesn't understand basic maths(which should be a requiremnt for the job!), it's straight out lying. In the end, my mam told them we'd switch over so the sales guy thought he'd get the commission, but cancelled it 10 minutes later!

bungler

melekalikimaka wrote: »

all their energy created is green, the issue is that it joins the national grid which is not all green.

Yes i agree, but the issue was that Airtricity reps where telling people the electricity supplied to their homes and business's will be 100% green which is so false. One of their tv ads said Because they where green they helped save bunny rabbits which a judge ruled that they are not as green as their marketing had suggested.

At the end of the day they produce electricity by wind but only when it the wind is blowing at certain speeds otherwise they have to use conventianal ways. And we all use the same electricity from the grid.

Im pretty sure that bord gais are producing nearly the same amount of wind generated electricity as Airtricity.

I just have a problem with Airtricity i think they are by far the worst company for aggressive selling,marketing,billing and customer services.

Rant over lol!

Jumpy

MonicaBing wrote: »

They've called to mine and i told them i have an esb meter! They werent long fecking off then! Obviously im not the type of customer they desire!!:D

*bangs head on desk*

Max Power1

bungler wrote: »

Are you sure Bord gais use the exact same company as airtricity? didnt think they do that

Bord gais use CPM, I dont think the same company is used by Airtricity

devil-80

I just got my "closing a/" bill from esb, i was very surprised, i rang them and they told my that i moved to another supplier, which is not true. Last week there was few "airtricity people" going around the houses in my estate, i just told them im not interested, But as i can see now they switched me to airtricity!! Question is how??
I mailed them, and now waitin for answer.

bungler

devil-80 wrote: »

I just got my "closing a/" bill from esb, i was very surprised, i rang them and they told my that i moved to another supplier, which is not true. Last week there was few "airtricity people" going around the houses in my estate, i just told them im not interested, But as i can see now they switched me to airtricity!! Question is how??
I mailed them, and now waitin for answer.

Is your electricity meter outside your house?
They are famous for getting the serial number,then this means they can get your MPRN number and sign you over, they have done it to thousands of people

Sponge Bob

Seeing as you are NOT actually an Airtricity customer because you have NO contract with them there is no need to contact Airtricity at all.

Contact the CER ( their regulator) and tell them you were "slammed" as in fraudulently acquired as a customer by Airtricity using some subterfuge.

Demand that they transfer you back to the ESB and that the CER confirms when this process is complete. There is no reason why any reasonable person would ever have to deal with fraudsters and therefore there is no reason to deal with anybody but the regulator.

Seeing as that won't be sorted till January some time you will get free lekky for the duration by refusing to pay for any while your account was held captive by Airtricity.

Take a meter reading every day ( starting by taking one now) so you know the start reading for your resumed ESB contract .....which should be on no worse terms than your old one or Airtricity will have to pay the difference...forever .

Fraudsters should not be allowed to profit from their nefarious activities. Lucky they slammed you at a time of high consumption

devil-80

bungler wrote: »

Is your electricity meter outside your house?
They are famous for getting the serial number,then this means they can get your MPRN number and sign you over, they have done it to thousands of people

Yes, it's outside, but how they can do that!! I wish to see one of them in my estate now. I explain everything with esb and my account will be reopen in 2 weeks.

bungler

devil-80 wrote: »

Yes, it's outside, but how they can do that!! I wish to see one of them in my estate now. I explain everything with esb and my account will be reopen in 2 weeks.

As far as i know they have access to an ESB networks site to make sure when a genuine customer wants to sign up that they have the right meter so thats probably were they are getting it from

blossom180

Jumpy wrote: »

*bangs head on desk*

am presuming the op means esb token meter,airtricity dont deal with anyone that has one.great way to ged rid of them,just say token meter and their gone.works every time:):):)

devil-80

I got mail from them:

Would it be possible for you to confirm your MPRN reference? I can then confirm the status of your application.
Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to email us.
Regards

Airtricity Customer Service

And i wrote back this words:

Hi, I'm not going to confirm anything. I didn't sing any contract with
you, so i don't need to know status of my application. I know well
what your people do when they want to have new customers. It's easy
for them when electricity meters are outside house. You are famous
for getting the serial number,then this means you can get MPRN
numbers and sign over, you have done it to thousands of people.
I just want to know why are you doing this, who signed my contract,
when and what's name of airtricity person who "made" a fake deal with
me?

beltenebros171

i worker for one of those companies employed by airtricity to convert customers, just for a couple of days mind and yes, they are told to make the sale no matter what, they don't get a basic wage and if they don't meet a 6-8 sales per day target, they woill be let go after a week or so, i quit the job when shadowing a team leader i saw him bully and harass a vulnerable woman into signing up even after she told him she owes hundreds to esb and struggles to make the payments. but then, these companies are contractors and i doubt airtricity knows or cares how they make their sales as long as its done.

vibe666

i didn't find them pushy at all, but then again i'd looked into their prices and actually wanted to switch to them because they offer cheaper gas and electricity, so it was a bit of a no-brainer when the guy called at the door offering it.

everything was explained clearly and very professionally and he filled out all the forms for me so all i had to do was sign on the dotted line so to speak.

i now have full access to my account online with a breakdown of all my usage and they even gave me a little key to open my meter box so i could do my own readings and log them directly to my account so they don't need to do any estimations so i get more accurate billing based on actual usage.

it was actually a bit of a shock to find this thread and see a load of negative comments about them as i have had nothing but positive experiences since i signed up.

i had originally moved my electricity to bord gais because they were cheaper than the ESB and airtricity are cheaper again for both gas and electricity so i don't see why people wouldn't be chewing the sales guys arms off when they call at the door personally, but i guess that's just me being a bit of a weirdo and liking the idea of cheaper gas & electricity.

Adyx

vibe666 wrote: »

i had originally moved my electricity to bord gais because they were cheaper than the ESB and airtricity are cheaper again for both gas and electricity so i don't see why people wouldn't be chewing the sales guys arms off when they call at the door personally, but i guess that's just me being a bit of a weirdo and liking the idea of cheaper gas & electricity.

Because the sales guys are ****. It's not like you have to wait for them to call to your door either. I'm sure if you rang Airtricity and signed up, they'd be more than happy to cut the middle men and take your money. Your not losing out on cheaper gas & electricity by (rightfully) slamming the door on these scum sales guys.

Personally, Airtricity will lose out because of this behaviour.

Kalimah

I made a big mistake in switching to them in a moment of weakness when they called to the door. I switched gas and electricity and now I find out that i am on a dual fuel scheme where you pay both bills in one lump. And it's a direct debit too! I'll be absolutely screwed in January. I rooted through documentation to see how I could change back to Bord Gais and I see that if I break the contract with Airtricity I have to pay them a 100 euro fee! Actually I found that out on the webite after a bit of trawling.

vibe666

Adyx wrote: »

Because the sales guys are ****. It's not like you have to wait for them to call to your door either. I'm sure if you rang Airtricity and signed up, they'd be more than happy to cut the middle men and take your money. Your not losing out on cheaper gas & electricity by (rightfully) slamming the door on these scum sales guys.

Personally, Airtricity will lose out because of this behaviour.

to be honest, i don't usually entertain any type of cold callers the majority of the time and we were getting so many on a regular basis at one point i just started saying "no thanks" and closing the door in their faces the minute i realised they were selling something regardless of what it was.

the last thing i want after a hard days work & long commute when i've finally put my feet up for the evening is to have to get up several times in the evening and listen to some plank spout off their sales pitch about whatever random bit of junk they're selling.

a simple "no thanks" and close the door in their face is all that is required, nothing more and nothing less. it's like traffic wardens, someone who does that sort of job obviously has no scruples so why offer them any respect in return?

don't get me wrong, i'm not saying you should tell them to f**k off and kick them down your driveway, but be very clear you have no interest in whatever they are selling and close the door, simple as that.

if nothing else, you're saving them from wasting their time.

djrichard

Adyx wrote: »

Because the sales guys are ****. It's not like you have to wait for them to call to your door either. I'm sure if you rang Airtricity and signed up, they'd be more than happy to cut the middle men and take your money. Your not losing out on cheaper gas & electricity by (rightfully) slamming the door on these scum sales guys.

Personally, Airtricity will lose out because of this behaviour.

This is quite an extreme view that you have. Im from Scotland but have been living in Tenerife for the last 4 years. Before I moved here I was selling gas and electric for Scottish Hydro Electric (Scottish & Southern Energy [They own Airtricity now]) and then Scottish Power. I worked by cold calling on potential customers and offering them our product. When I started the job, the industry was in a bit of a mess, there were huge problems with the billing systems between the companies and a huge amount of misselling by a company called NPower.

After many years of complaints, all sales agents had to have Energysure accreditation. This meant that if they were sacked from one company, they couldnt leave to work for another. When i started in 2000 there were around 15 providers. All new staff had to undergo a police check to ensure they were of suitable character, before being given a uniform and ID badge which would allow to access to the more vulnerable members of society, such as those in sheltered housing.

This managed to reduce the complaints hugely, and I found that after 1 year of Energysure accreditation being in force, that the vast majority of householders I had spoken to, had regained some faith in the changing process.

The reason I came across this post, is because Im strongly considering making the move to Ireland, perhaps Dublin or Cork, to start selling it again. Although the amount paid per sale is much lower in Ireland compared to Scotland, I was under the impression that there may be quite a lot of money to be made. I averaged over £1000 each week in Scotland, but I was very good at it. It was actually quite rare that householders would be abusive to me, and I was rather insistant when trying to enter the houses. The reason for that, is its much easier to get a sale whilst in the house, business on the doorstep is a waste of time.

What started me in good stead was the 3 day training course everyone got. This was not so much about the product itself, but rather the psychology about selling. The methods used to gain trust, and what not to say. About not asking open and closed questions, basically, they taught you how to stay in control of the entire process. So I never found that people complained about me, in fact, most of them would be grateful that I had somehow managed to get into their house and spend some time talking to them. As I was filling in the application forms to change them, they would often state that now they realised how simple it all was, that they wish they had done it years ago, its just that no-one had managed to explain it to them as they were very tough at the front door.

As far as sticking with what you know, and staying faithfull to the electric/gas board, well thats just not sensible. All of these huge companies are only interested in your money. Its important that people change to allow competition in the market. Imagine you only had one mobile phone operator, or broadband provider?? No thanks. From what Im reading in the media, Irelands economy is struggling and things are surely about to get worse as taxes rise etc. I would expect that as the purse strings tighten, that people will start to look more actively at ways in which to reduce their expenditure.

I think as long as the salesman is polite and well informed, that there should be no call to assume they are all scum and a nuisance. I accept that in Ireland many of the procedures to protect the consumer may not yet be in place, but they will surely come.

So, does anyone have any opinion on how a young Scottish man such as myself, will be received on the front doors in Ireland? I only hope I get the same welcome that my good friend from Dublin got when he was working in Scotland doing the same job, all the girls loved his Dublin accent!

Also, Im quite excited to visit Ireland and live there, its such a beautiful looking island, and perhaps I can even try some of my Scots Gaelic and see if anyone in Ireland can understand me! I'm originally from the Isle of Tiree in the Western Isles, so I have a litte of the language.

Wish me luck, and perhaps I may meet some of you on your front door. Dont chase me away, after 4 years in this sunshine, I might need a wee cup of tea to thaw my bones!

Richad