I was so confused by all of the agents that came to my door after I moved in. I said no to one agent and a few days later another would be at my door. I thought the energy companies were trying to do something for the environment and for me as a new home owner.

I truly regret entering the agreements now and wish I had had better information. Class action lawsuit????

Your absolutly right, I work in the call center for one taking the calls of the customers who have been scammed, I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy

our bill has been 650 dollars per month
we thought we were with embridge
but it was actually combined- with direct energy
they were charging us the current rate 49 m/3
They are the biggest cheater in the world
What is the goverment doing about this?
our average bill was 500 dollars and our house only has 3 bedrooms!
It is like day light robbery
Why are the allowed to exploit us under false pretences?
They have done this new thing
At the back of your bill it says in small print that they will create a contract for you and if you dont respond the contract will become valid!
that means they dont send you a real contract, they dont require a signature.
That is cheating!!!!!!!!!!!!
its called a negative contract!
I cant stand these companies

This is a relatively touchy subject with me. While my grandmother was living in the ottawa downtown core, a representative from one of these commercial energy companies insinuated that if she didn't sign the contract, her power would be shut off. She ended up signing the contract which raised her energy bill. It seems that a lot of these companies drop their coldcallers off in known areas with a lot of senior citizens because they are known to fall for their tactics. What is wrong with the world?

Just yesterday I was approched by a collection agency, about paying up since I had moved two years ago and thought it was all ok.

Great episode, however, did you know that the group you identified as "watch dog" - Energy Shop - make a profit off of selling those same contracts online? In fact, Energy Shop sells Universal Energy and Direct Energy contracts themselves, they just do so online. Not sure that makes them a "watch dog" per se.

My husband and myself signed one of these contracts with Direct Energy a while ago. Last year, we moved and completely forgot to transfer this account. Without even contacting us, they sent this off to a collection agency. We then received a nasty collection letter from this company. At this point, we called Direct Energy and they explained that we had signed and must remain with them during the remainder of the contract or else they will collect the money and this will affect our credit. We accepted to transfer our account back to Direct Energy.
My question is: Were they allowed to do this? Did we really need to transer our account when we moved? I know it is too late but I would like to know for the future.

We have recently been dealing with this issue and watched your broadcast tonight. You have some helpful hints about not signing up but what do you do if you are signed up and you are past the 30 days?

We certainly were mislead and coerced to believe the rates were going to increase and they were in line with todays rates. We were also told that we could cancel the contract at any time.

We are very concerned about this and want to know what are options are to break out of this contract with Universal Energy.

Any insight or assistance you can give on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

I find your shows very informative.

I was certainly interested in your story, as I am sure most of us have been contacted by one company or another. One thing that was not mentioned, which I feel is really important is when your contract expires. I think it should be pointed out that the renewal comes through regular mail and actually looks like more junk mail, not an important document. I dealt with Direct Energy. Big Mistake. I did not realize the docments provided were renewal documents and was shocked to see my gas price raise from .25cents to 44.9cents. They apparantly have the option to automatically renew you for 1 year if you do not respond.I cancelled when I saw the new rates, however the company still charges 1 to 2 billing cycles after the cancellation. So you can be stuck paying the new rate for 3 months. Union Gas rate is around 32 cents, so Direct Energy is definately overcharging.

I was one of these customers that was scammed. I contacted the company many times telling them we were lied to and that they broke a million of the rules set out by the government but they did not care and we had no proof. Everything that happened on the show today happened to us. I emailed, phoned and mailed them and all they could say was too bad nothing we can do you confirmed when we called you. It would have been nice if the show would have showed us some tips on how to get out without paying the ridiculous fees.

I had this company come back to my house to try to sign me up ( I guess they didn't realize I was already a mad customer) when I seen them at my door I freaked at them and told them to get the HELL off my property not minutes later another one showed up looking for the other one and again I lost it and chased her off my yard.

A few years ago a reporter for the Calgary Herald wrote an extensive story about Direct Energy and their ways and means of signing new customers.

The story covered not only Calgary and Alberta, but several other jurisdictions in Canada and the United States.

It appears their tactics and sales pitches haven't changed very much at all. Whatever regulators there are for these situations should get their act together and take the necessary action to rein these companies in once and for all.

Is there any help to get out of these contracts?

Thank for your show tonight!! I was approached just this past Tuesday by an agent with Universal Energy. I went through exactly the same thing those people did but didn't buy any of it as I was one of the one's who got caught with Direct Energy a few years ago, so now I am always aware of people selling at my door. They need to be stopped.

I'd like to know if you have any knowledge about the company Summit Energy.

A representative of Summit Energy came to my door almost 2 weeks ago on March 11th. I read the "registration form" before signing it and it didn't mention anything about the monthly or yearly charges I may face or about entering into a contract with Summit Energy.

I signed because he said it was simply a registration only, not an official contract and it was simply so that another Summit Energy Employee could call me in a week to offer more information.

I had a bad feeling instantly and knew that when this next person called I would not be entering into a contract with them.

I have not heard anything from them. After seeing your show tonight I'm paranoid my information will be used to enter me into a contract I do not want.

DO you know anything about this company?

I just wanted to share a couple of experiences I have had with these people, which wasn't good. I would ask who they are and why they are at my door - 2 told me they represented enbridge, which was an outright lie. After I said I wasn't interested I was spoke down to, insulted, told I was an idiot for not wanting to save money. I had to literally yell at them to get off my property. Who should have to go through that at their own home? I'm glad you have done a show exposing these people. Sadly it will continue - but when they come to my door, they will be told in no uncertain terms TO LEAVE.

Hopefully alot of people watched your show and will be more informed now. I truly don't know how they get away with harassing people in their homes. It's disgraceful.

I love your show :)

do these companies not realize that when the 5 yrs are up they are going be losing a lot of customers?? why not keep them happy with lower rates to keep them and eventually make more money

Although I have a large "No Soliciting" sign on my front door, I've been visited by fixed-rate gas salespeople twice since last September. Each one opened their pitch with, "Do you have your latest gas bill handy? Could I have a look at your gas bill?" Does this sound familiar?

I asked what they were selling, and each salesperson said they weren't selling anything. But they continued their pitch about how a contract with them would protect me from fluctuating gas prices with Terasen, which would most certainly go up. I mentioned that this sounded a lot like a sales pitch, and that they were soliciting at my door and defying my "No Soliciting" sign, but they both responded with the obviously coached response, "I'm not selling anything, so I'm not soliciting."

If this happens to you, get the name of the company and give it to the police with an account of your story.

The sales people at my door were too pushy -- a red flag for me ! If it's such a great deal why push so hard...obviously these sales people were the only ones with something to gain by my signing up...Glad I said NO!

I applaude this segment on energy retailers. Just last week a supposed "Enbridge Representative" was at my door trying to sell me their annual percentage savings. I said I would call Enbridge myself the following day and discuss this savings with them directly. It was then that the agent disclosed he was not with Enbridge but rather Universal Energy and to obtain the savings I would have to sign up with Universal. I said "No thank you" and shut the door. This is a very typical scenario in my neighbourhood and it happens to me at least one every two months. I was nearly mislead into signing something once and from then on I became informed about these very pushy door to door agents who are only out to mislead unaware people. I feel this segment should air on the nightly news so that more people can me made aware.

I have just watched 'Power of Persuasion'. I too was visited by a salesperson representing Universal Energy, along with everyone else in my new subdivision. The rep was very pleasant, answered all questions and did go away with my bill stubs (I did not give him the complete bill) but no signatures. I reviewed the paperwork and chose not to sign up with them. I did receive my stubs back but not before a follow up call from a Universal rep, who tried everything possible to encourage me to sign up including telling me that I would have to 'accept the consequences of not signing up', that I was losing a 'great deal' and finally that I would regret my decision. This was not said politely. Since then I have also received letters and literature asking me to sign up. Consumers should be aware that the sale doesn't end at the door.

The agent came to my door asking if I had recieved a Provincial Rebate and that many people had missed out due to a system error, and Direct Energy was going door to door. He told me he was part of Enbridge when I questioned Direct Energy dealing with Provincial issues. He began filling out his paperwork but was extremely clumsy to the point where I invited him in to work at our table. When all was filled out with my info, I questioned the statment at the bottom stating "by signing below you confirm you are entering into an agreement to buy natural gas from us". I was extremely upset at being mislead and he told me this was the form being used for the rebate and not too worry that I was not entering a plan. He was obviously lying, but I was also home alone with 2 young kids, and he was persistent so I signed. We complained to the BBB with the result that the agent was reprimanded.

I was glad to see Marketplace following up on door to door energy sales. I found the comments from the umbrella association very frustrating. It is not the people at the door who are to blame!

I had one too many Direct Energy people at my door so I followed up by sending an email to Direct Energy. The response asked me for the name of the salesperson, the time and place of the encounter. I refused to give her the information because, I said, it is not the salespeople who are the problem. I told her that I had received the same story from several salespeople. It has got to be the training they receive or company policy. It is far too slick and scripted.

She responded the usual - that they don't support coercion and would investigate.

Thanks to Marketplace for exposing this.

Juanita Sauve

Thank you for the very, very imformative article about Direct Energy. On Monday, I am phoning to find out when we can get out of the contract. The web site that you direct us to is theirs but I could not find anything to do with these contracts--both hydro and natural gas. But you got our attention to say the least. Have a grand day and keep up the good work--you are both fantastic at what you do.

Good program tonight. It's about time someone publicized these practices. Door to door marketing activity will only increase as the province starts to use smart meters to charge time differentiated rates. It's certain that retailers will draw comparisons between their fixed prices and the most expensive on peak rates - a very misleading comparison. Something needs to be done before this occurs, and before many more customers are fleeced by unnecessarily high energy bills.

Somehow a lady pretending to be an Enbridge rep got my cell #. She said all I need to do now is to verbally agree to change an Enbridge package. I told her no, don’t call again. Every two weeks I got a call from them. I finally I told them I will report them to the police if they continue this nagging. They stopped.

Based on the rates noted, the average customer pays over $40 per month more after signing with a Retailer. The question we need to ask is why the Government and the Ontario Energy Board continue to allow this activity. This has been going on since 2002. Time to outlaw this!!!

Some time ago I had a Direct Energy rep come to my door. I made the mistake of allowing him to look at my gas bill before telling him I would think about it. On my very next gas bill it should that I had signed a 5 year contract. I actually started to think that I may have signed it without thinking. I called the company and was told that I was in fact on a 5 year contract. I asked to have a copy of the contract faxed to me as I miss-placed mine. After I received the fax I realized that the sales rep had forged my signature, he had misspelled my name when he signed it. I called the company and told them I wanted out of my contract since their rep had forged my name. At first they refused but they soon backed down after I told them I would press fraud charges.

There are many big companies out there that are doing the same type of business practices.

Regards Rolf Joss

I have a sign in my door that says "No Solicitations of Any kind" When these people come to my door I point out they are illiterate because they fail to understand the meaning of the note and tell them this is the reason I will not deal with them. As many of these people are from cultures who just do not give up I also keep a very nice baseball bat behind my door. My offer is get the F... off my property or I will help you off. They always leave.

No one should have to deal with this type of marketer and just because they have a nice association backing them up I WILL NOT ever deal with these morons. In fact the association should be disbanded because they are just as bad as the idiots who come to my door. The only difference is they wear a tie and jacket.

Very interesting programme on energy retailers. My own experience was with either universal or ontario energy. Basically" what do you not understand about saving 10 to 20%". Would not accept that their price only affected a small portion of the bill. There is delivery, storage, transportation which are fixed. As was said on the programme the effort was to make me feel as if I knew nothing. Even when I asked what part of 'No' he did not understand he kept up the pressure. I knew where I stood so I let him continue but he was determined to make a sale and when one did not materialise he left the door step very angry. Consumer beware. Read the information provided by your utility.

My 5 year contract with Direct ran out last June I was supposed to get a renewal notice...never got it....my contract reads "If you don't accept the renewal ,you will pay for your gas at your utility's price". Direct says they can renew automatically without notifying me for 1 year and the rate went from .2740 to .4390. Nowhere in the contract does it say they can do this. More to the story than I can tell in 200 words.

I was hoping that someone would end to this frustrating situation.Currently I am being harassed by Universal energy to put my name on the credit bureau for a contract I have no clue about.I made endless number of calls to say I never signed their contract...the property was not in my name,I had just sold it and still ...I am totally fed up...I say to every homeowner....DO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR TO UNIVERSAL ENERGY...THEY ARE SCAMMERS...AND I MEAN BIG SCAMMERS AND FRAUDSTERS!!

Sales reps from Direct Energy have knocked at my door countless times over the years. My response to their knock at the door now is simply "get a real job". They should be ashamed and I am happy you have exposed them for what they are - scammers.

It's about time something is done about the door-to-door salespersons pressuring and lying to homeowners to sell their energy contracts! I can only hope that something will, in fact, be done about it. I know first hand about their tactics. I signed a contract with Direct Energy a number of years ago; subsequently spent many hours on the telephone with them and with others trying to convince Direct Energy to honour the contract which they chose not to do. Firstly, I never received the $50 signing bonus that was promised. Also when the gas prices rose they charged me the higher price which was approximately double what their contract had promised. Even after the years of fighting with them, they did their utmost to tie me into another contract. I hope something can be done to prevent others from having to deal with the horrible stress of dealing with these companies.

We have been lied to by Universal Energy. We were told that if we sign up that if the price went lower we would always get the lower price and if it went up we were locked in at the contract price. I even made my parents who live next door sign up. Now we are getting our bills and they are higher than they have ever been. I called them and I told them I want out of my contract and was told that I would have to pay a $1000.00 fee. I flipped, I am now waiting to speak to someone in the Compliance Department. I am going to call them tomorrow morning, Saturday, March 21, 2009. I will keep you posted. If you can offer us any help we would really appreciate it as my parents are pensioners and really cannot afford these sky rocket prices.

Tina and Alfred Cilia

After watching your show tonight (Power of Persuasion) I decided to look at my Enbridge Gas Bill and was horrified to see that Direct Energy was my gas supplier. I have fought these utility and gas suppliers off for years. I have been tricked, bullied, warned "I was making a grave mistake" and been blocked in my driveway by a supplier sales persons car while they went to the neighbours after I told them very clearly and angrily that " I AM NOT INTERESTED"

I immediately phoned Direct Energy to find out how I we had been signed up and was told that in 2001 we signed a contract and signed up again by phone in 2006. I said this was not possible and also how could we be signed up when the bill is not even in our name. It's in my father-in-laws name who does not live at this address but owns the house. I want my money back. can you help?

I have just recently gone through this with a company called Ontario Energy "Savings" L.P. I got sucked in and for 3 years paid $100 extra on my hydro bill every month. I thought I could cancel after 3 years but no I was told even though my contract did not state 5yr that I had agreed to 5yr on phone. To make a long story short. I wanted out and spent over an hour on phone with these people to get out of this without paying at least 400 fee plus 2 months to actually cancel it from my bill. I talked to hydro, to them, and to the OEB. I would have to pay unless I could prove that I did not say on the phone that I agreed to 5 years. I ask for a copy of taped conversation 2 months ago I have yet to receive it. I caught a sales rep at my daughters yesterday trying to get University students to sign up for this I practically through him out on his ear.They need to be stopped!!!

These energy resellers used to descend on Grimsby like pigeons. It got so bad, my standard response was to tell them they were trespassing and to get off my property before I called the police. Some of the techniques shown in your show were mild compared to the intimidation tricks I have seen. I have not seen any of these vultures for quite a while. Of course, I have never signed up and cannot understand how reasonable people would ever consent to show them any utility bill in the first place!

Thank you for your show on misleading energy sales tactics. This has been going on for years! I have been regularly pestered since 1996. One thing they do is introduce themselves as being authorized by the Ontario Energy Board, sort of a cop approach to get you to hand over your gas and hydro bill. I was scammed in 2001 by Direct Energy. I seriously debated shutting off our gas for three months in the summer to get out of the contract. Your show was bitter nostalgia but well worth it for the sake of whoever avoids this misery.

Last year l called to try and get out of my contract ,one female stated l would have to pay $4,000 to get out of it the next day l called again and a male person stated it would cost me $200. to get out of it .Please let we the people of Ontario know how we can get out of our contracts.

Direct Energy gained entry into a secure condominium complex and went door to door. Our condo complex has young families and older aged people. The rep knocked on our door and did not move till my wife, alone with a 9 month old, was forced to get a bill and sign a contract. I complained to the police for unlawful entry and to the Ontario watchdog. Statements were written but nothing done. Its great having all these rules and laws but Government following thru on them means they are as worthless as the paper they are written on!

Hello,

At 8pm two months ago, a representative rand my doorbell to offer me great savings on my gas and electricity bills....upon entering my home, he spoke of deregulation, insatybility in the market and getting caught paying high rates when I could lock in and save money. He told me to sign up now before I got caught, appealed to my single parenthood and said I needed to do it now as he was leaving town 3 days later. After rec'ng my 1st bill at 2x last years bill, I contacted the supplier to question why, what and how to make it stop. I was told I needed to pay $800 in contract cancellation fees in order to go back to what I was used to and that I should have checked things out before signing....yes BUYER BEWARE. Was this unethical...yes, high pressure...yes, unfair...yes. How long will it take me to recover $$$ wise from their cost savings offer on my single income..months, Amanda

THIS HAPPENED TO ME

….luckily I have never signed up.

Almost everything in that show has happened to me from at least four different so-called “sales people” over the past three years that I have owned my home.

The scenario is almost identical. The sales people arrive, barely introduce themselves and very quickly flip some kind of badge at me which is almost impossible to read unless you get right next to them.

My biggest complaint is that they always start off with, “...I’m here to make sure you’re getting the price protection…”

Then they always want to see my bill right away so they can see if I’m getting the “price protection”.

I always very politely decline and they act almost insulted that I have said no to them. “…so you want to go on paying high prices?!?!, ….the price is only going to go up!!” Some of them have said that. Word for word.

I politely decline again and after a few more minutes of their “sales tactics” they leave shaking their head.

(I guess they’re upset they didn’t get their $ 100 commission.)

I have worked for both these companies the problem is one company is trying to prevent these statics from happening. You should see how hard it is to work right now with Drect Energy. The other company has not changed a thing my friends still work thier and they said nowing has changed on how they work.

While viewing your program about the Universal Energy door-to-door sales tactics I realize I am one of their victims. If you know of a lawyer who is interested or who has experience in dealing with these cases I would appreciate hearing from you because I absolutely will not give in to this company's deceitful manoeuverings to steal customers. In no way will I be paying my bills to Universal Energy. They can send someone to my door to collect and heaven help them when they do.

I am writing about this show(Friday March 20, 2009) to express my feeling on the Energy retailer business, in fact, since my family had moved to our new home, we had about 5 or 8 salesperson trying to convince us to sign a energy protection plan. I did not have a good experience with them; they were pushy, aggressive, and some times rude to me in my own house. One of their tactics has been asking me to show them a copy of my utility bill; I found this request was not right, then, when I told them NO they got very angry to me. This show has been very informative and will help more people to understand the nature of this business.

Thank you for this great job

Its UNIVERSAL POWER not UNIVERSAL ENERGY like youve been saying this whole show, get your facts straight

Good Program! I was also a victim of this scam and having sick and tired of paying so high, I had to break the 5-yr contract and paid the early termination pay. I just literally sent the ($1000+)cheque 3 days ago before this show was aired. Bottomline is, authorities should really stop these companies who are promising low charges when it's really not. This TV info may have helped but will not be sufficient to inform everyone to beware of this scammers. We need a public notice like that of Police posting a wanted criminal!

One of these guys came to my door last week with a clipboard and a London Hydro bill attached. He said he just had to check my London Hydro bill to see if the delivery charge was half the...(who knows what)...I said I'd call London Hydro, who said this person was trying to sell me an energy contract. If you want footage of the scams these companies pull, do set up in one of the White Oaks area townhouse complexes...easy pickings to find disreputable tactics.

This is exactly what happened to my wife and I. Three years ago we were approached and the sales rep. gave his word that we would save money. I let a couple of bills pass and then called Universal Power to complain that I wasn't saving, but paying more. Their response was that savings would occur down the road, not immediately...when I pursued the "promise" I was basically told that it was my fault for signing. As for breaking the contract, I pondered that but was told that it could cost me as much as 700 dollars in penalties. So, I have been stuck with Universal Power for the past three years. Needless to say, when they come around asking if I want to "blend and extend" I decline...And the same goes for Direct Energy (who are even more pushy). Fool me once I guess. I try not to think about it too much because it makes my blood boil.

I just finished watching the Marketplace episode of Power of Persuasion, and would like to know if there is a way out of the contract. I signed up and was told everything on my bill would remain the same with my local public utility. But it did not, I was on equal billing and when I switched to Universal Power, I was no longer eligible. I had already received my phone call saying I was approved. Your program showed exactly what I experienced, how I was manipulated. When I tried to contact them to discontinue and complain to Universal Power, the individual told me I had to send an email or fax. I tried emailing numerous times and it was always undeliverable. I have never felt so RIPPED OFF and taken advantage of. I am a single income parent and something needs to be done. I will not make this mistake again. I am hoping after many people watch your program things can change.

I lost lot of money with direct energy during the first 5 year fixed rate term. After expire date Iwas called frequently from direct energy salespersons telling me that Ottawa Hydro rate are going to increase to a much higher rate. Direct energy will save a lot of money for me in the long run. Needless to say I was being misled. Direct energy
does not save but cost more. In Ottawa Smart meter are intalled. Direct energy does not reconize the smart meter's
purpose of saving energy. Direct energy charge strait rate
for every consumption. I'm seeking help to cancel my cantract with the company. I did not sign any written contract but tricked by the telephone call.

Thank you for reading this letter

We always watch Market Place

A few years ago, Direct Energy reps constantly came to our door. One of those first occasions occurred while I was at work. My wife answered the door & signed up thinking that it was a rep from Manitoba Hydro offering some sort of savings program. I discovered this only when MB Hydro sent a letter saying that they were going to change our primary provider. So I paid a visit to Direct Energy's office & had them cancel.

I thought that my wife had exercised poor judgement at 1st. But after reps visited again, I listened to the pitch before declining them. Indeed it did sound like people could be easily mislead by their tactics - many of the same ones shown on Marketplace.

I think EVERYONE should ALWAYS decline door-to-door sales reps or telemarketers when they throw pitches your way. I've had too many bad experiences with them even if I didn't buy.

I watched with great interest the show on the energy sales persons, Direct Energy as been a bad taste in my mouth since July 1999, back then they would come to your door and ask for money claming that you would receive refunds for 5 years. I received nothing until I posted a letter on our mail box and a lotof individuals who were scammed contacted me, those names were forwarded to them, I told them that I would send the info to the TV and the Radio, that prompted a cheque for the grand total of $10.00 and until this day I do not know what happened to that cheque but I did not cash it.

I was scammed by Energy Savings MB LP and intimidated through scare tactics to sign a contract, which doesn't expire until 2011, paying $0.439. Manitoba Hydro charges $0.268!!! I was promised, by the salesperson at the door, that if the gas price dropped,I could call them and they would reduce my contract price. I called and was told they could not reduce the price! I can't afford to pay out the contract...

I didn't know I had signed up for anything. I thought it was an audit. When they and I am not sure who "they" are came to my door, I was distracted and they were persistant. I assumed they were from the gas company. I asked about what happened if gas went down and I was told my bill would go down. Huh!

Is there anyway to get rid of them without paying a penalty? And get the money that I overpaid for my gas and electricity for deceptive practises.

I was set up in 2006 by Universal Power at a rate of 9.59. When comparing with my neighbours they are at a rate of 5.00. I am paying double that of my neighbours. My rate is at least $100.00 more per month. In the summer we do our best not to put the air conditioner on and have reverted back to fans on the really humid days. All the neighbours still use their air conditioners and still pay less than us. After watching your show tonight I can tell you the sales representatives have not changed their presentation. I feel I was scammed however, stuck in a contract.

I got a phone call from Direct Energy last summer. We agreed on the contract over the phone and I got the contract itself by mail. He told me oil would be $170-$200 a barrel by fall and gas would skyrocket. I had also heard this on the news. I am paying $10/jg for gas that is worth $4.50 and 12c for electricity that is selling for 9c. I cancelled and the penalty is $250, plus, since I was on a budget amount, I will have to pay the inflated unpaid balance for the winter which will be another $200, plus the inflated price to the cancellation of the contract. That will be another $100-$200. I am a senior living on a fixed income. This is fraud. I contacted the GOA and they have no comments.

Is it possible to get a class action suit against these $%^&@#$% who have been scamming us for years. ? Let's try

I work for a major Ont utility and talk to dozens of customers weekly who have been lied to. You have barely scratched the surface. He is a small example:

1. I have to take your bill to ensure that you get the rebate cheque.

2. Brokers go to new surveys and tell customers that they must sign the contract or the service will go off.

3. Brokers tell customers they just need their signature to show their boss they've been at the door.

4. Customers are told their meter is going to be changed and their signature and account # is required to ensure billing is correct.

5. The marketer told the customer he was from the security department of their local utility and need the check the account number.

6. Customers have been told the utilities computers are down and they have to go door to door to collect bills to get back on line

...so much more but no more space - very sad

People who complain about being scammed into signing a contract are advertising their stupidity since any reasonable adult would read, understand and research any contract before signing it. I am also aware that these companies conduct third party verification calls at the time of signing a contract, do these people not listen to the questions?

I work for the only one of 3 energy retailers in Alberta that does NOT do door-to-door solicitation in the residential market and I would like to comment that after seeing Wendy's story tonight, I am convinced that the scripting used by the Direct Energy reps is part of the formal corporate training provided to them by Direct Energy (not isolated tactics used by a handful of reps). I say that, because we receive hundreds of complaints from our customers who have been scammed by Direct Energy reps at the door, and those customers quote the same verbatim misrepresentations that Wendy's investigation demonstrated tonight. The fact that we're on the other side of the country would indicate to me that it is a more formalized training process that is at play here. I take particular offence to these tactics as it gives the entire industry a bad reputation.

I live in Calgary and I had a phone call from someone representing Direct Energy and they were very persistent so I said to send some info.I find out in a letter that they send me that I had been signed up as of Sept1,2008 and they would notify Enmax and Direct Energy Regulated Services to transfer my account to them. I forgot about it and they started sending me bills and I was paying 12.990000 a gj for gas and o.108070 kwh for electricity. I paid the bills for Sept, Oct and Nov. and then they send me a bill in Jan and they put me on a budget and they wanted 3 times the previous bill cost. I called and they didn't get me a supervisor until I called again and complained. I was talking to a man called Don Carter and he tried to reassure me that December was a cold month and meters were not read so they guessed at it. I paid what I could and I am still arguing with them. I have been had.

Hi. I saw your show about the gas marketing people. I have several experiences with them, specifically Direct Energy, and none of them positive. My first experience was when I worked for the old gas utility. They no longer do billing, Direct Energy does that now. A long time customer running a small coffee and bagel business went on holiday for two weeks. They were never late with payments. The bill came the day after they left. After 1 week, Direct Energy cut them off for non-payment. The grace period is longer than that. It nearly killed the business. I've seen very rude Direct Energy sales people. My third experience involves my mother. Direct Energy was calling on the phone. She just wanted to hang up, but before she did, she said 'yeah, whatever'. This was a sign that she signed up. They started to double bill. When she didn't pay, they threatened legal action!

I have recently experienced, both at my door and by telephone calls, the pressure of Direct Energy. I must add that I am already a customer of Direct Energy, ie I pay their bills monthly for gas. None of their "sales" people can explain why I have to sign something to get a better rate from the same company. Direct Energy appears to be my only source of gas here in Calgary, either acting as agent or as supplier, and I have great trouble as a consumer understanding why their sales pressure is so great to change from one system, that, by default I am enrolled in, have no alternative supplier, and should switch to some other plan they tell me they have that will save me money. It is very confusing to understand what they are trying to sell you, as you are already a customer. I wish I had an alternative, as Direct Energy foes not deserve my business.

2 weeks after signing a natural gas contract with a rep from Direct Energy, the price of gas was reduced significantly by the commission, not raised, as espoused by the salesman. I believe Direct Energy hit the neighbourhoods signing people up, knowing that the price was going to go down. I was also told that at any time I could call the company and negotiate a better price if rates continue to decline but when I called to arrange this, I was told this policy only applied to Alberta.
Terasen Gas in BC should remove Direct Energy from their booklet that advocates suppliers as they are totally unethical.

I have already been burned by energy providers. Now what?
It's been 9 months since I signed. I have moved to a rental house and cannot use the electrical service at my present location and the company is demanding me to pay a penalty to exit my contract. What Do I Do? What are my rights at this point? I feel I've been misled...

Why didn't they show the hidden video of the agents that actually tell the truth and don't pressure people into these contracts? This episode was NOT representative of the whole picture. They simply targeted a few employees who were dishonest which happens in every company and they admitted that these employees were then terminated, just like the girl and the guy sitting in the interview room.

Thank you for warning people about these crooks. I signed under false pretenses,thought better of it and on the follow up call to confirm told them I declined. Three years later I find out I've been enrolled in the price "protection" plan. Now not only will it cost 531.00 to get out,DIRECT ENERGY claims it will take atleast two billing periods to happen.WHY? The dishonesty only starts at the door to door reps. and keeps going up from there. How many more elderly or less fortunate people is DIRECT ENERGY scamming? Unfortunately nobody wants to stop them.

In reviewing the report it is easy to see the whole system needs improvements;however at the end of the day all this has shown is people need to be babysat. The Energy Associates need to get kicked in the A-- for their ill morale behaviour, the ones reporting as well. They could have easily made the choice to educate themselves and sell appropriately. The people that signed the Contracts need a kick in the A-- for not knowing what they are buying and just blindly signing.

Commodity rates have never been rocket science or a secret. The price is listed right on the same bill the door to door sales associates are asking for. Read what you are doing idiots.

I am a long time Contract holder of Electric in Alberta and despite the inadequate reporting of Marketplace and not showing the flip side of the Contract. I have saved substantially and stand to do so for the term of my Contract.

I had one of these folks come to my apartment, got tricked with the bill thing and signing something... Luckily for me the fellow stayed in the building for a few minutes while i reviewed what i didn't know was a 3 year CONTRACT.

I confronted the guy and talked to his superior who tried to hard sell me over the phone. Bad move.

By the time this incident was done, I had the door-door guy feeling so embarrassed he himself ripped up the contract right there and handed it to me.

I wasn't rude, and did not cuss at anyone. I simply told them both that they lied to me, and did not appreciate the hard sell attempt on top of it. I told them it was disrespectful and I will not be doing anything with them.

I encourage others to take the same approach.

I am very pleased that this is finally coming to light for the public to view, but i want to know if this is a scam, how can people get out of it, is this legal, and are they obligated to the contracts that they signed?

My sister who lives in Merritt, B.C. was approached by these people and signed the contract, after she thought about it, she realized that she had been pressured into something she didn't know anything about, and she opted out. Fortunately she got out of it, but on the other hand they had her all riled up. Glad you did this show, this was evidence that she did the right thing by deciding not to go through with the contract. Thank You.

Yep I too am getting ripped off by Universal Energy,not only am I paying 9.59 cents/kwh, but also 10% more than 9.59 cents ,Universal says thats in the fine print they are allowed to charge !

Thank you so much for doing this investigation. I wrote to you in October regarding Universal Energy I sent them a certified cheque for 460.00 in November to cancel my contract, my last bill in February 2009 Universal Power was still on it. They are now telling me it will not be on my next bill it had better not be.

Thanks again for doing a great job.

im another iraite customer of direct energy i renewed my contract with them not knowing it was going from 25 cents to 39 cents.my last bill for one month was a 360.00 the government has given them a license to steal and their dam good at it for me to get get out of this contract they want 800.00 im unemployed right now living on what i make renting an apt in my basement and they took half of it to heat my home so i guess i dont eat this month thanks direct energy. and thanks market place for getting the word out on these bandits hopefully this broadcast gets out to every home owner in canada and maybe the government wishfull thinking will step in and revoke their licence

I actually play a vital role in an energy marketing company.I feel the agents that you documented were entirely inexpierenced. And the process that takes place to sign up for an energy contract was misrepresented. You blaintantly disregarded the fact the consumers had to reaffirm these contracts over the phone.

Having first hand experience with Direct Energy, I can say that they are without any corporate integrity. No matter what they say about not condoning agents bad behaviour, they turn a blind eye and are complicit.
In a related incident, as a business owner, I had purchased a contract at a good rate with an indepenent for my business location. Direct Energy purchased the company and immediately raised my rate the the maximum. Despite producing evidence by way of a contract, they insisted they had no record. I could not change energy providers and if I did not pay the inflated rate, I could have had my power cut off. Months later and $5000 overcharge paid, I won in small claims court , and they ignored me refund demands. My money was returned after a threat to garnish Direct Energys accounts as allowed per court rules. Bunch of habitual crooks. Excellent work you do,thanks

last summer i had one of these gas sales guys come to my house in Vancouver. I answered the door saying, "if you're trying to sell me something I'm not interested" to which he responded "oh I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm just here to make sure you're signed up for the plan...." making it sound like this was a province-wide initiative and that i would have to sign up for this sooner or later. This was a very inconvenient time for me, as I was at home alone with my 3 month old twins, and my 2 1/2 and 5 year old sons. I was breast feeding at the time of the door knock. I signed up for this knowing that i could cancel within the 10 day cooling off period, and i did cancel. It makes me mad all over again to think how this guy took advantage of my distracted, vulnerable state and how he misrepresented himself. I felt like such a sucker. As my husband says, you're never going to get ahead when someone comes knocking on your door--they're ALWAYS selling something.

I made the mistake of signing up with Direct Energy for $11.29 per GJ. Talk about a stupid move. When I signed up I was under the understanding that I could cancel at any time with a $100.00 cancellation fee. Shortly after I signed with Direct Energy, Terasen Gas lowered their rate to $7.54 per GJ. My gas bills are now costing me between $70.00 and $100.00 more per month. When I tried to cancel my Direct Energy contract and pay the $100.00 cancelation fee, I was told that cancellation was not an option until my lst anniversary. Does anyone have any suggestions how I can get out of this contract.

Another excellent episode of Marketplace! I was chocked to find out that people are posing as representatives from other utility companies. Your segment on the Health Check was also vital and great to re-visit from last season. This marks their second case of false advertisement that you have revealed. Something needs to come of this and I believe that the Heart and Stroke Foundation should step forward for an interview to explain. Far too many people rely on the check without knowing the facts behind it being on the box or menu.

I worked as a Direct Energy door to door salesperson and I can say, hands down...it is the most unethical way to do business. The lying, misleading and deception I used to get contracts has me feeling very sorry for the people I did sign up before I quit. I would contact them to apologize, but do not have access to this information.

I worked at that very same Direct Energy office for about two years. This hardly shows how bad things can get. I wish they had went undercover into that Direct Energy office and looked a little deeper at the people running it.

After watching last nites show I couldn't sleep. I feel so stupid for getting scammed. This is the first time I've signed on to something that was sold by a door to door salesman. He was very convincing that I was going to save alot of money and also he stated he worked for the government. Anyone know how I can get out of my contract and who would I switch back too? I use to be signed up with Direct Energy.

Hello;
I enjoyed your exposing of the Direct Energy marketing people. I am one of their victims. Sadly the first two five year contracts I had with them were beneficial and problem free. When my contract expired on 31 Oct 07, I did not renew. However,in 2005 The Ontario Energy Board had passed legislation allowing direct marketing companies to renew automatically for a period of one year any contracts that were not cancelled in writing. The onus was on the Marketing companies to advise their customers in writing of this important change. Because my mail somehow did not reach me I was forced to remain with Direct Energy for an extra an extra five months at an increased rate (15 cents more) per cubic meter than I had been paying under my old contract. I also ,later, had a person at my door selling Universal business who filled out an application form and told me brazenly that it was not.

If anyone comes to your door that you don't know bring your phone with you. If you have a camera phone use it. If you don't look like you do. Call yourself so the phone call will go to your voide mail and now you have a voice recorder. Ask them to identify themselves and the organization they work for. Then ask the address of the organization. If they do not follow through on any credible information (I am a girl scout selling cookies) then call the police. In our town you need to have a license to go door to door. In the town next to us this is how the home daytime break-ins begin.

A really nice guy came to my door. I was told I would save money (a lot) & I would be protected by Universal Power. Fear of energy prices going up was a great tool. I asked the sales man if I could get a lower rate he laughed & say no. I am a stay at home mom & I try everything I can to save hydro (for the environment) & money. Now we are paying almost double. I wrote to Universal & they stopped charging me for a couple of months but they have started up again. It is harming us financially. I have lost sleep & cried because I have trapped us by these criminals. I am saving up the +600 to break the contract. I am getting this money from our food budget. I am dyslexic & I will never sign a contract ever again without other people reading it to me & properly explaining everything to me. Do not sign up with these people. I was a fool please do not become one too.

Thank you

What does the price protection do? It freezes the commodity rate at a fixed price. Depending on market conditions commodity rates change. If you would have locked in your mortgage rates before the mortgage meltdown crisis which brought the whole world to its bailout rescuing knees and trillions of dollars worth of government deficits around the world, you would have locked in at a much higher rate then if you would today. Is that a scam. I agree that some door to door agents are using some guerilla marketing tactics that are way overboard. I also believe the government has safe guards in place so that someone can not simply commit you to a contract by signing a piece of paper at your door.

Before signing up with Universal I checked with neighbors who were convinced they saved a lot. Since I was planning on moving to an apartment in the future what would happen with the contract? The obvious answer was "no problem". OOPS. Yeah should have checked the fine print. First response from Universal was a barrage of threatening phone calls and letters. I had great difficulty finding somebody who would actually talk in plain English as to the situation without threats. I finally followed all their procedure to get out of the contract, by sending all kinds of documents. On May 22/08 they said they were satisfied and case was closed. 2 months ago, they started all over again. Called the agent from last year who confirmed case closed. Called back to "cynthia" at Universal who explained that somebody else decided it wasn't closed and here we go with more threats to ruin my life.

My 80 year old father was recently visited by one of these pushy sales people from Summit Energy. He reluctantly signed up because he was made to feel sorry for this individual. A young man that put pressure on my Dad without properly explaining what was involved. He kept insisting my Dad would "save money." I feel this salesperson preyed on an older person, with limited English, to simply make a sale. He did not care about the possibility my father may not understand exactly what he is signing up for. I was outraged and immediately contacted Summit to cancel the agreement my Father signed. PLEASE KNOW THAT YOU HAVE 10 DAYS TO CANCEL a signed agreement. They said they would accept a fax from me on behalf of my father (without his signature). Alternatively they said they'd accept an e-mail. I will be following up to ensure that indeed it was cancelled. Be warned!

Why does our Government allow this type of door to door sales approach. I am at home and do not need to be bothered by door to door salespeople, if their product is so good then sell it from a store. Answering the door to this type of pressure should be a crime and not allowed in the society we live in today. It is quiet a different thing to buy a chocolate bar form the neighbourhood child to support their sporting event.

I feel stupid and duped!! I signed up with "Ontario Energy Savings" in 2006 and was led to believe by the contractor that this was an Ontario Hydro initiative that would save me money! I signed up for 5 years!! Besides increasing monthly costs to my hydro bill, one of the reasons why I knew that I was scammed in 2006 was when, last year, a guy showed up at my door and asked to see my hydro bill and asked if I had received my $20.00 in the mail. I listened about my incredible savings and how could I not want to save money! I took all the info then called and complained to his company and of course, I was told that they do not support such sales pitches! I just got a bill for $394.00 for 2 months supply of water and electricity for a 3 bedroom apt!!!

The electricity contracts are a scam which make it impossible to save money. If you read the fine print in the contract you will notice that there is a separate charge called the "provincial benefit". The so called benefit is the mechanism where all price increases occur. Most of the power generated in Ontario is contracted and thus the price is quite stable, Generators participate in the electricity market to recover their costs of generation, however if they are unable to get enough money from the market then their contracts are topped up to their contracted price. A good example would be a wind generator contracted at 11 cents, they recieve 6 cents from the market and 5 cents from the "Provincial Benefit". Electricity retailers are only selling the electricity you pay the "provincial benefit". Whereas the price offered by local utility (about 5.5 cents) includes the provincial benefit

Great show. It is about time someone busted these guys. An electricity marketer once signed up my dead grandfather - these people have no shame. We need a do not knock list to go along with the do not call list!

I am a 70 year old widow senior. I signed up with Direct
Energy 4 years ago. I have lost hundreds of dollars on
this contract but I have never tried to get out of the
contract because I would have to pay a penalty. I had
someone come to my door to sell hydro and I told him NO and
to please leave because I was losing so much money on the
gas. My contract is up April 2010. I am planning on
canceling next April. How do I go about it?

My son and his wife were taken in by... Direct Energy, here in Alberta. I'm not sure what they can do to remedy the past bills at high prices for past consumption. However, upon phoning the call center about 3 weeks ago, they were able to renogotiate the contract at lower prices for gas and electricity with a 30-60 day out, if they didn't like the new terms. Apparently, the company knows it has a big problem with this nonsense it has allowed and doesn't want an investigation into its business practices. Or, the fact that if all their customers leave, they will be bankrupt once again. Perhaps Marketplace should have a look at Direct Energy's past performance.

Thanks for bringing this "scam" in the open. When they have you sign this contract they don't tell you that the price per kwh goes up as soon as you sign. For example, my neighbour, who did not sign up, used 204.51 kwh more than I,but paid $48.56 less than me. I believe that these solicitors should be stopped and the mayor of this town should do something about it. Thanks again. You may contact me by Email if you wish, but I prefer to remain anonymous.

I am a middle-aged, single woman who bought her first home circa 1937 in 2003. I was bombarded with Universal Energy sales people who not only promised that I would save $1,000 over five years but had articles from the Globe and Mail and other media predicting soring costs of hydro in the next few years. One of my concerns in purchasing the home was the cost for utilities and I signed up in 2004 for both gas and hydro and have been paying high prices ever since. I tried to end the contract but did not have the lump sum payment required to do so. I am thankful that you exposed these companies and hopefully they will not be able to attract more unsuspecting customers. The program last night stated that in 100% of the cases no matter when you signed up there was no savings in hydro costs. I wonder where the media got their data that offered these crooks the amunition to dupe the public

Correction to my comment - I signed up in 2004 not 2006.

Thanks

this completely JUST happened to me!!! omg! & i expressed my disinterest in making a decision while he was at my door multiple times but he kept pushing! even talked about my neighbours all signing up, used their names, children's names etc... both my kids [2 under 2] woke up & started screaming etc. but he would not leave!!! this makes so much sense now! i knew something was up but did not trust my instinct! it is even more confusing in alberta as the company is also called direct energy but they claim to be a different version/division of the original direct energy & make you talk to the person on the phone right there! i am absolutely disgusted with this & will be taking all steps necessary to cancel immediately! thank you for this story - it confirms everything i suspected! thank you market place!

I'm so glad you've dedicated the time to expose these energy companies. I've been visited by direct energy reps plenty of times and always thought their tactics shady. I had actually been lied to by two agents who had came to my door coincidentally on the day I called Enbridge to hook up my service. I had asked them if they were there in response to my call to enbridge and they hesitated and said YES.

Thank you, Wendy, for your work. I have a rule: "Do absolutely no business at the door or with people I don't know!"

Last year we trusted someone and got scammed but good: we advertised an industrial generator in the "Truck Trader", made arrangements what turned out to be an untraceable "pay-as-you-go" phone, then accepted a CERTIFIED CHEQUE which later turned out to be totally fake, $12,000. gone. Ouch, that hurt. TEveryone we have talked to has never heard that a certified cheque can be fake, have you heard?

Your story was much appreciated. I work for a non profit housing organization, and these door to door sellers prey on our vulnerable tenants with the tactics that you caught on film. We advise tenants to call the police if they see them in the building, since they refuse to leave when tenants ask (we don't allow door to door solicitation). If we find out that these salespeople have been in a building, we send out a flyer to all tenants advising them of how to get out of their contract. We have written to the Ontario Energy Board to complain, but with no results.

Thanks for bringing attention to this issue!

I was fooled by a rep claiming to be from Horizon, he even had the badge. I made sure to read the contrct I was handed, as I had past visits from various companies. The contract stated that if you didn't call them to confirm in 10 days you would be removed from list. I didn't read my copy for 2wks, but when I did check it said that if I didn't call within 10 days I would be signed up for 5yrs.

I was lucky as my bro-in-law works for horizon, and was able to convince them to cancel it!

Energy retailers are in business TO MAKE A PROFIT. Simple logic should tell anyone about to sign up that they will be losing money on the promises of those companies. If rates benefited customers as they imply, those retailers would all go bankrupt. You are protected if you stay put with your real energy provider and pay the real cost even when they fluctuate.

I have information that may assist you in this investigation...I worked in this business since july/04... I have since stopped marketing this product...I had focused mainly on commercial gas agreements, in BC. But also worked in Alberta and Ontario for a short period. Please contact me directly if you require my assistance.

This has been going on for quite a few years now, and you would think that we should have smartened up,,perhaps the exposure to these high pressure border collies will help prepare us for other scams ,,,,,,,

This Universal Power outfit is a real scam and I would like to know how our Provincial Gov. lets Co. like this get away with what they are doing. I signed up with there hydro account after the guy came to my door and said that the Government had approved for the increase in hydro rates and that the rates where going up before the end of the year that was Sept. 2005. They still keep comming to the door and you almost have to throw them off the property.

I am so glad you did a show on this and it's high time someone brought a spotlight to this despicable scam.
From the first visit of the door to door salesperson right up to the managers it is a game of convoluted word manipulation and deception.

Our bills literally doubled! The worst was when Universal Power renewed our contract through a phone call which occured after receiving repeated calls from them during the day while my husband who is a police officer who works mostly nights was sleeping. I finally called them backed and yelled at them to stop calling. They asked if they could send out an "information" package to which I replied, Do what you want but stop calling here! That was unbeknownst to us a "renewal" package (we had thrown it out). They claimed I had never said "No" to them, only to stop calling, which to me meant a resounding NO!!

I had gotten screwed by them years ago, and it took me a good 9 months to get out. My bills had doubled, and when I compared with my sister's bill...she used double the amount of electricity, and was paying less than me...I figured it out to be approx. $0.11 a Kwh...yeah, savings all right!!

Just a question about the "Power of Persuastion" episode. WE live in B.C and have a company trying to get us the "protection we need " as well. The company is called NRGFX energy matters. I am just wondering if you have heard of them ? Thanks.
Marlene

Great show on energy retailers! We've had 3 different companies at the door in the last two years and all 3 implied they were from Teresen (B.C's company)and then outright lied about what was on offer.

Since we would never hand over one of our bills to a stranger at any time they never got the info to switch our accounts as we've heard they do to the more trusting. The first guy then used anger as a method to intimidate us. While he blathered we copied down his name and company name from his name tag and reported them. We'd noticed right away that while he said he was "from Teresen verifying we had the best coverage..." his name tag said otherwise.
Keep up the terrific work you do! Kudos!

I work in the call centre for one of these companies. I speak to customers on a daily basis who feel they are getting scammed. I am appalled by some of the stories I have been told about the salespeople that go into the neighborhoods. I have never seen them in action until this broadcast. The salespeople definitely need to be trained more thoroughly, and strive to maintain the integrity of the companies they represent. In my job, I cannot GUARANTEE the customer anything. With such a volatile commodity and market, how can a door to door salesman be able to GUARANTEE something that a Customer Service representative cannot? Customers need to be better educated on the nature of these consolidated energy plans (as they are not a bad idea),as well as regulation and de-regulation. I feel it would empower consumers to make the right choices for them. Remember - CUSTOMERS ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE!

Perhaps the door-to-door sales agents should be licensed and carry business cards indicating their name, position and who they represent. They then could face serious consequences for misrepresentation, anything from loss of their license to fraud charges. This is the way insurance agents work and it keeps fraud very, very low.

Wendy, are you folks going undercover with one of their recruiting programs to see that their Training and Certification Programmes qualify their talk as per Shane Posposel's statement per your programme?

New subdivisions are prey to these folk... right after receiving our first billing they were knocking! You know, the friendly neighbour or family ring - where their finger pumps the door bell??? So of course you open the door, and it is hard to close it! There is a sign on my door now that states "No Soliciting" so that if I get a call at the door and I don't like them, I just point and say "goodbye".

If these gas and electricity contracts are such a horrible scam why is Manitoba hydro/gas company now offering it to their customers??? This is all becoming very confusing for the average consumer, how are we supposed to know what is right and what is wrong when there is no one out there that has the fortitude to be honest? Who is scamming who????
Jen0

Like many other people, I have gotten confused over what to do when one of these companies come to the door. I am afraid we have made some choices that have proved not so good for us in the long run. I would like to know now how to end any obligation to these companies or if contracts are automatically renewed.

The spirit of ENRON is alive and well in Canada. The entire marketing concept for the last five years has been based on deception and fraud. Today, there is probably not one single contract that benefits the consumer.

The OEA is the lobby organization to sweet-talk the Government.

The purpose of the primary suppliers - usually foreign owned companies - is to achieve higher prices than the regular market.

The Government should not allow direct marketing to continue.

I really enjoyed your recent story on energy marketers. Strangely enough we had a visit from a "green" energy marketer a couple of weks ag and the first thing she wanted was our bill. My instict said no and she didn't get it. After watching your show I'm glad I didn't hand it over!

I would like to point out that the energy portion of the power bill is less than half of the total bill. Delivery charges, Regulatory charges, and Debt Retirement charges ($0.07)actually exceed the energy cost ($0.56) per kwh.

Secondly, the consumer needs to educate him or herself. Think about the savings these people spout off about. Imagine savings of $ 1,000.00 per year and assume you use 150 kwh's per month. That would mean the price they offer would have to be lower by $ 0.55 per kwh!

Anyway - thanks for the great article. You did a great job!

Houston we have a problem! When the President of the highly-respected, industry-wide Ontario Energy Association says the behaviour of the energy retailers he witnessed on the hidden videos was "unacceptable" - we do indeed have a problem. How widespread a problem, who knows? But it needs to be fixed and that will require action from the government and regulator, in addition to the training and certification initiatives being undertaken by the industry itself.

Your investigation into door-to-door energy marketers reminded me that we once signed a contract at the door because a sales rep fooled us into thinking that we had to sign a sheet to prove we had declined to switch carriers! I love that Canadians are some of the most polite people in world. I hate that our own companies try to take advantage of that.

I am one of the people that are getting ripped off by these people...

This report was a real eye opener!! My daughter's boyfriend just began working for one of these companies last week. He lives about a half hour east of Toronto and worked four days this week. He left the house at 8:00 am and was home at midnight each night!! In four days, he put in 64 hours from door to door. His paycheque?? ZERO!!! They are keeping him motivated but motivation will not support the grandchild that is on the way. I am just waiting to see him now and show him this report online. I mean REALLY...how many people would work for 64 hours and receive NO PAY?!?!?! Is he an idiot?? NO, far from it but just like thousands of others right now just needs work. He doesn't even have enough money to buy lunch and with these 16 hour days you would think that at least meals would be provided!! I can't wait to get him out of this scam!!

Hello, I know of some people that have been tricked into signing an agreement with Universal Energy for five years. I have compared my bills to theirs and I can't believe that they can get away with that rip-off. My question is how can a person get out of the contract and go back to Hydro One. I think that these companies should be punished by the Government of Ontario for misleding consumers. They should be refunded the difference between then and what Hydro One would charged which is for a fact much-much less.

Amazing documentary, I am watching it right now. 21 March - 6pm MST..
Can CBC do a similiar documentary in Calgary as well please?

I have just finished watching your "expose" on door to door sales. And I must say I do not fully agree with the way in which are representing this industry. Your reporter has an obvious bias and does not keep an open mind regarding the subject on which she is investigating. I also fail to see why you would feel the need to try and attack the techniques of these people, why would you be shocked that door to door representatives have been taught ways to maximize their results? Of course they have! No matter what your industry your employer would train you for achieving optimum results. However as far as companies not completing proper quality control calls following a sign up I agree is the fault of the company and not right. However knocking doors is a challenging job and those that go out there and do it are made of stronger stuff than most.

I'm glad Marketplace has decided to focus attention on the problem with energy marketers. I have had many experiences at the door with aggressive marketers who provide misleading information. They avoid telling you who they are with, demand that you present your last utility bill so that they can see whether you've received the rebate you're entitled to, and to lead you to believe that you'd have to be nuts not to sign up with them. Several years back I encountered a Direct Energy sales rep who was so aggressive and so misleading, I complained to the company. I also submitted a complaint to the Ontario Energy Board. To this day, I have never heard if or how the OEB acted on my complaint, despite following up with the OEB representative who was supposedly assigned to my case. I gave up and have since had many more sales agents at my door using many of the same tactics.

Two close neighbours and I signed contracts with sales persons using tactics that you noted. I signed up with Alberta Energy Savings last September, for 4 byears.

Is there anything we can do with a class action?

Outrageous behaviour on the video clips. All of these parasites (aka energy retailer sales agents) should be fired. Unacceptable as the industry spokesperson said, but what's more outrageous is that little, if anything, has been done about this over the past few years.

I looked at the Ontario Energy Association's consumer protection recommendations (on your website) and MPP Ramsey's private member's bill and clearly real solutions have been out there for some time. Hopefully your broadcast will provide some momentum for this bill to be passed, and passed quickly.

I would appreciate it if market place did a survey on watertank heaters. There are 2 issues. When purchasing a home with waterheaters that are rental, one usually does not ask the previous owner how many years the contract is for? Its important to know that because Direct energy will keep charging you eventhough you have no contract with them. Secondly, I purchased a rental property and the waterehaters were owned. But because I rented the property out I did not know that Direct energy was charging people in the units rental fees. I have the sales listings of the home and there was no mention of rental water heaters all the way back to 1995. I have asked Direct energy for ONE piece of evidence, a copy of the signed contract between them and the renter, they say they do not have it, but I remain responsible for the rent of the water heaters even without a contract.

I notice that so far you haven't published my e-mail comment from yesterday regarding being told by Direct Energy salespeople what I had heard the "experts" and the media say that oil was going to be $170-$200/barrel and natural gas was going to "skyrocket".

That's not surprising but it doesn't make me feel any better. It's still going to cost me $500 that I am going to have to borrow or cash in money market savings to pay out that contract with. Guess that serves me right for listening to experts and the media. Y'all won't fool me again. Maybe you had better check out Marketplace and the government and other media for misleading people.

Amazing but not surprising that neither of the two energy retail companies were available to talk on camera. But their own industry spokesman summed it up perfectly - totally unacceptable sales behavior warranting termination. If these are isolated incidents OK (that happens), but if this is a systemic issue these companies should be kicked out or fined by the Energy Association asap.

I just had a salesman at my door 2 days ago. He misrepresented himself as being from Terasen Gas. He carried a binder with an info sheet that had been mailed out 2 years ago by Terasen about the option of price protection. I had to ask him several times if he was from Terasen before finally admitting he wasn't when he saw I had noticed the emblem on his jacket that I believe said Eurostar Energy. He did start his spiel but I cut him off as I am familiar with this info and told him we weren't interested. I had to repeat this several times before he left. This incident reminded me that my 71yr old father-in-law had told me that last year he had been harrassed by an energy salesman to the point where he had to threaten to throw him off his property before he would go away. Obviously this is a widespread problem. A simple solution could be to make these companies stop paying by commission.

Energy shop sells energy products like everyone else - why are they an "offical source"

I have been waiting 7 long years for someone to take these crooks to task but fear it is too late. Since the electricity market opened up in 2002 it has made my job hell as I work for a hydro utility as a customer service rep. Day in and day out I hear complaints from people calling about their high bills as they have no idea what they signed for. Wake up people and educate yourself. Yes it was your govt. that thought this was a wise move but in fact was the biggest mistake they could ever make as now roughly 17 companies have a license to steal. Before you sign anything call your local utility and ask the rates, make the comparison and then decide. Do you really want to be paying double for the price of your power. The rate in 2002 was 4.3 cents per KWH and 7 years later is only 5.6 cents per KWH for the tier 1 rate. If you sign with them you are stuck paying 9 cents or more.

My husband and I have recently been taken advantage of by Universal Power. We were outraged to find we were spending an extra 60 dollars on average each month because our rates were locked in with these scam artists. We decided to pay the $290 fee to break our contract instead of staying locked in at our current rate(8.99)for another 3 years. We ended up paying this amount on top of the $444 hydro bill that we had due to the over payment to Universal each month on our budget billing.
We were told by the sales rep that when the Gov't rates went down, our rates would go down as well which was completely misleading(gov rates are 5.6). When watching Marketplace we were hoping to have some kind of solution to our problem, but although they were busted, it seems that there is nothing being done about this misleading sales presentation.How are they allowed to do this? Is there any way to fight?

Last week, after just getting out of the shower, I heard a loud bang and my power went for a second. I heard the banging again and looked out my window to see a man at the front side of my building. I quickly got dressed and went to my front door to see what was happening. He asked me if I had spoken to a man that knocked at my door a few moments earlier. I said "No!" and he handed me a bag of booklets and told me that he had just installed my new "Smart" meter from Horizon.

Apparently, smart meters, together with time-of-use rates, are being implemented by the Ontario Ministry of Energy but have not yet announced a date when billing begins. One booklet says "Between now and 2025, another says " we expect that it may be in mid-2009" and another says " comes into effect sometime between now and 2010". Is this legit? Why haven't I heard about this before? I'm in the dark. Diane Lutomsky

Universal is definitely a scam for sure ...no money saved for sure my hydro actually doubled after signing up with them. I am in receipt of CPP Disability so apparently I thought it would be a great idea to save money...Not the case ..when I moved they actually wanted me to pay 1800.00 and reported me to the credit bureau..I gave them all documents they required to cancel my contract inclusive of a letter from CPP stating I had been a recipient since 1991. They deemed my documents to be "invalid"...Very interesting since its actually from the Federal Government ....In the end they did cancel as a "goodwill gesture"... Many thanks to Jaqueline Meyer of consumer protection found at www.ontario.ca/consumerprotection

Not being an avid TV watcher, I regret having missed several of your great shows; but whenever I catch the programme, I have found your content invaluable.

Having been stung by both my gas and hydro "brokers", I am in the process of terminating my contracts, which runs out in about 18 months or so. I found the spokesperson for the OEB to be covering his "you know what" very skillfully, knowing they have a responsibility to both regulate the brokers AND protect consumers from such operators.

My question is, if I choose not to pay the early termination penalty, what grounds do these organisations have to enforce their arbitrary contracts? Think of AIG and the outrage it has triggered. The energy scalpers are just as bad sending young people door-to-door on commission, knowing that the spoken word, scripted or not, is borderline legal.

I am a door to door energy sales man and I am disgusted by the dishonesty that has been used. This sort of shady behaviour makes my job even harder. Truth be told I never push the contract, the open market is the best way for a consumer to save money as prices are currently the lowest they've been since 1998. I hope anyone reading this becomes more aware and not close minded or ignorant to the idea of a person genuinely wanting to help you at your door. Stay away from locked in rates at the moment...

Thank you for doing this show.

Unfortunately, people who work for local utilities, who really understand the negative impacts to the customer, are not allowed to pass comments on retailer activities.
It is extremely frustrating and upsetting to constantly see customers mislead into signing an agreement that will do nothing but cost them more money. In many cases, it’s the people who least can afford it.

It would be interesting for you to do a follow-up to see if anyone who works for local utilities, provincial politicians and especially all the staff at the Ontario Energy Board, has signed contracts with retailers. You will find that none have.

The provincial government, the Minister of Energy, and the Ontario Energy Board know that retailers offer absolutely no value to residential customers, but they continue to allow them to operate in this market.

These are the same agencies that profess to be so concerned about energy costs and protecting the customer.

It’s disgraceful.

thank you for exposing the horrible tactics of energy sales. i too was scammed years ago. a young man came to my door, said he worked for universal energy but that it was a sort of gov program to make sure everyone was protected against rising costs of gas/electricity. at the time i was pregnant and very hormonal, he almost had me in tears saying i would be putting my family in jeporady if we couldn't afford to pay our energy bills.he provided info and websites as well as a brochure with a pic of a famous hockey player.he said all my neighbours were members too. he had me convinced and i couldn't sign hte contract fast enough.he said i could terminate hte contract at any time i wish without penalty and if the price dropped, it would automatically be lowered. 4 years later and they want me to pay almost 1000.00 to get out of contract, i feel like i've been robbed.

I have a serious issue with the retailers in the Electricy market.

They tell their customers that they are offering "price protection" but if consumers end up paying more for their electricy 100% of the time when signed with a retailer then what is this protecting them from. The truly ironic part is the the OEB has now begun a study on how to help Low Income consumers that have trouble affording Electricty but no where in their discussion papers to they address the issue of low income consumers that get mislead into signing a contract at a much higher rate than what they pay throught the electricty company.

If the govenment was truly concerned about Low income consumers that can't afford Hydro and how many are paying retailer prices................This whole thing is a scam that the OEB knows about and allows

Excellent information in the "Power of Persuasion". One area that you did not appear to explore was the fact these Retailers are regulated by the Ontario Energy Board.

Where is the Ontario Energy Board in all of this? They dictate the rules including the wording that goes on a customer's electricity bill.

When you talk about misleading statements - how about the Ontario Energy Board revoking the words "Protection Plan" as the words to describe the Retailer Contract on a hydro bill - talk about misleading. It is the low income and the elderly that are being preyed on.

l have had the same experence that was on your show.all my neighbours signed up so they said.they all most forced there whey in my house.wanted my gas and hydro bills.l was under a lot of pressure to sign. l have called them several times asking about the charges.they tell me l am getting the best deal...what do l have to do to get out of this ................................not happy bill

Thanks Wendy and the team for airing this segment on these independent 'deregulated' energy marketers. I have been hot on their trail for over two years now and have been trying to get some of these swindled homeowners their money back...

This is really interesting but you should see the way these companies recruit their sales people! Its completely misleading. They never tell you what the job is like or the job title or what exactly you will doing, even during the interview. All they will tell you is that you are 'educating people on energy plans". The recruiters speak so fast and it makes you think they are in a hurry yet the whole point is to get you to agree to the job and get out of the office without giving you a chance to ask any questions about the job. It happened to me! Very funny experience

I got told by the energy guy that he was with the government.

Wendy Mesley and her team should be congratulated for this long overdue expose. You have to wonder why the politicians here in Alberta keep pushing deregulation when, for example, your data clearly shows that consumers in Ont haven't benefitted from signing fixed price contracts for electricity ,etc.

As a long time resident in Kelowna we have been bombarted by these energy retailers (gas). I have signed up with them over a year ago. How do I get out of this contact now? Terry

"Direct Energy says it has a "zero-tolerance policy for misrepresentation by sales agents." In an email sent to Marketplace on March 20, 2009, Direct Energy’s spokesperson said its sales agent shown in the program’s hidden camera footage “was terminated on March 10 for misrepresentation.”"

One would think Direct Energy would be choosing their words carefully instead of opening themselves up to defamation lawsuits. They should be careful given that they have sponsorship agreements with companies such as Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment who i am sure would no want to associate themselves with a company that makes false and misleading statements.

I used to work for Direct going door to door. Recently they have been sending trips out to Alberta and surrounding provinces. On one trip in particular we were promised food money and after stepping off the plane they informed us they would not be paying for food. When I asked them to correct the situation I was fired and left stranded in Alberta with no money or ride home. Later they said it was for fraud. In that e-mail Direct sent I know that girl was fired for a different reason. I worked along side her for a long time. She was looking to work for another company when they found out she was fired. The company teaches us these techniques and I find it disgraceful they turn around and target individuals after the fact, saying the agents are "misrepresenting." The company should step up and take responsibility for their own actions.

I once worked for a company that had a contract for the call centre for Toronto Hydro and I'm so glad you exposed these unscrupulous people. One situation that wasn't mentioned on your show; I've had people call on behalf of their elderly parents who said someone came to their door saying they were from Toronto Hydro and they had to sign a form otherwise they'd lose their power.

We regularly get approached by salesmen claiming to be sent by our hydro or gas provider and insist on "reviewing" our bill to "ensure" we're getting the proper service.

Several have actually told me that I was "REQUIRED" to show them a copy of my bill. I'm amazed they get away with it.

I feel that Direct Energy should have a class action lawsuit put on them to let there customers out of the contracts. I would be the first to join. My bills are running $100-200/month more than before.

Thanks for this segment! I've had the displeasure of having these guys at my door almost once or twice every 5-6 months, and there was always something about them that screamed SCAM.

I really appreciate the work you guys are doing to protect consumers like us and I will continue to do my best to promote you guys as much as possible

Dear Wendy, I was promised to save money for Gas and Electrical usage by signing up with Direct Energy. What is more disturbing is that the young girl Rachelle Bertrand who sold me the plan, left photocopies of newspaper clipings with the Ontario Logo stating that consumers save. SHAME ON YOU ONTARIO GVMT. I was aghast and insulted by these deplorable lies. I have compared my bills with neighbours who did not sign up with this wile and devious company. Of course, I pay almost twice as much as they do. When I called Direct Energy to say that I wanted out of my contract because they lied to me I was told that I would have to pay a lump sum to get out of my contract. I literally asked the women:> YOU OWE ME money for promising lower rates and then charging almost twice as much. I've called several times to speak to the president. I still await his call.

The show was great. If anyone has complaints or concerns about the retailers please contact the Ontario Energy Board at 1-877-632-2727 or 416-314-2455 or email BoardSec@oeb.gov.on.ca. The Ontario Energy Board does not know what is going on unless the public informs them.

The people who deregulated the energy market and allowed this 'selling of nothing' by electricity retailers are your duly elected provincial representives.

The people most vulnerable to these schemes are the lower income/ fixed income consumers.

So now what are our Ontario MPPs doing? they are proposing a program called LEAP to use tax dollars to help these people out who have signed up and now can't afford their energy bills.

Looks like someone is lining someone's next egg here....and the tax payers are footing the bill.

Call your MPP and demand answers and enforcement!

Thanks for your expose, however you have only covered the tip of the iceberg. I signed 2 contracts (home and business) with Universal Energy and discovered that my costs had increased by $3300.00 in 10 months. Although I terminated legally based on the OEB and Consumer Protection Acts they demanded over $5000.00 in early termination fees. Litigation is pending including counter-claim for my damages. Basis for termination and counter-claim is false and misleading statements on contract and brochure: "flat rate", "competitive rate", "no risk - protected up and down", "termination fees = liquidated damages". All false or misleading contrary to the Electricity Retailer Code of Conduct, The OEB Act and the Consumer Protection Act. The OEB takes a laisser faire approach to their predatory practices and so far the lawyers I have approached have refused to take this on as class action.

To Cheryl: it depends where you live whether the contract can "follow" you. In Manitoba, for example, the contract is automatically terminated in the event of a move.

To everyone else with a horror story, you should contact your provincial regulator: Ontarion Energy Board, Alberta Utilities Commission, BC Utilities Commission, Manitoba Public Utilities Board, . They will have information that could help you, but unfortunately it is difficult to get out of a signed contract. There is a dispute resolution mechanism in each province. The marketing companies are also required to follow a code of conduct. If you can prove that they breached the code, you should be able to get out of contract.

Dear Wendy,

Thank you so very much for your episode concerning Direct Energy. I was not aghast or surprised by it. I have been comparing my gas and electricity bills with neighbours who weren't intimidated into signing a contract. I tried to reach the President of Direct Energy last summer (2008) It took almost 2 hours to get to speak to a supervisor. I have tried again today, Monday March 23rd. Two hours later and I spoken with a supervisor who hung up in the middle of the conversation. I spent another 1/2 hour to finally speak to a customer service rep who put me on hold only to come back and ask me to call back later because ALL the supervisors and managers were busy. Shame on you Direct Energy. What a wile and deceitful company ! Wendy did you speak to the President of Direct Energy ? What can consumers do to get out of a contrat sold by intimidating and deceitful lies.

My husband and I are fighting energy contracts through Direct Energy for both gas and hydro. Our story sounds very similar to others written here. It is very frustrating to try to deal with these companies. What they are doing should be illegal! We are a middle income family and this is a struggle. I hate to think about what happens for low income families and seniors on a fixed income. As other people have mentioned in their emails "What can we do about contracts that we were roped into?" We have been in touch with the Ontario Energy Board but will they really do anything to help us resolve this issue?

I also got stuck with one of these contracts, from Universal Energy. I signed up at my old house, then moved, and was sent a bill for almost $ 1000.00, for gas and electricity. I was able to get out of those two bills, but not my new contract. These companies are scamming us and there seems to be nothing we can do. I was wondering if we could start a class action law suit against these companies.

From 2003 to 2008, we were a customer of Direct Energy and during the final three years of our 5-year contract we were definitely saving versus the Utility's rate. But that's where the good news story ends. In June of 2008, I happened to look at our natural gas bill (which I rarely do) and noticed our price had suddenly jumped from 27.5¢/m3 to over 40¢/m3. I called Direct Energy and was told we had failed to reply to their renewal notice and were therefore on a 1-year contract at the high price. I told them we never received a notice, and wanted out. They refused. So I did some research and found a website (www.riterate.ca) that gave me a lot of of very helpful and honest information. We got out of our contract and right now we're paying the Utility rate. We might choose to go "contract" again, but IT WILL NEVER BE WITH DIRECT ENERGY!

I have never felt so cheated in my entire life! These
"crooks" take advantage of anyone they can out there for $100.00 each contract! I am so angry and have been racking my brain on how to get out of this contract. I felt like such a SUCKER, but I see that there are many people out there that have been affected by this SCAM! I tried calling Universal Power/Energy to understand how they get their calculations for billing and their "balancing charge" and they tell me to read my terms and conditions and my contract as it is stated in there...but they don't provide me with the data on how they get to the charges! Even without the economic crisis that we are in this is just completely ridiculous! HELP GET US OUT OF THIS MESS!!!

Thanks Market Place for the episode to give others the heads up on this!

I too failed to respond to the Renewal Notice. This last weekend I only just noticed that in November of last year my natural gas contract had been "renewed" by Direct Energy at a rate 22% higher than my existing contract. The rate per cubic metres went from 38.9¢ to 49.9¢.
When I called today to ask how much to get out of the six months remaining on my contract - they replied that the estimated cost to break the contract would be $7174.00. By the way my monthly bill comes to $195.

The solution to the problems your program has revealed lies with the Ontario Energy Board and the Ontario Government, not the Ontario Energy Association. While the Association's Training and Certification Programs and Consumer Information Brochures are all helpful and beneficial to consumers, it is the regulator and the government who have the power to hold energy retailers accountable through fines, licence withdrawals, publicizing bad behaviour, etc.

The OEA website has a document that recommends a number of changes to David Ramsey's proposed bill - all aimed at further strengthening consumer protection and further strengthening Ramsey's proposed legislation. Why, after 6 months is this legislation still languishing. Let's get on with these incremental consumer protection measures. Dalton, what's taking so long?

Embarrasing program to watch. Why would anyone what to sign a five year contract they hadn't adequately reviewed or thought through. Laziness perhaps. Buyer beware.

Looked at the Ontario Energy Association's website, this all looks like some pretty helpful stuff. Bad apples fired and enhanced consumer protection brochures, contracts and industry accountability, not sure what more a trade organization can do. READ THE CONTRACT BEFORE SIGNING folks, they're now in plain language given the Energy Association's efforts.

Excellent documentary which showed real face of these BIG Companies' CHEAP & Dirty tactics !! I am one of the person interviewed in this Video. Direct Energy Sales reps do confuse people by telling themselves associated with ENBRIDGE.... no doubts about that. I am victim of such business malpractice but fortunately i was lucky that i was able to get out of contract as soon as i found that sales rep has made false promises.
On an average one is paying $40/month extra which makes $2500 extra by end of 5 years. If you stay with contract you have to pay that extra $2500(avg.) doesn't matter what.... AND.... if you try get contract canceled before 5 years you have to face penalty ranging from $600 - $1500 depending on the remaining months of contract + your household electricity/gas usage.
Simple RULE to remember always- DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING AT YOUR DOOR!!

I used to one of those salespeople back in the '90s when the industry had just been deregulated. The pitch was completely different then: all about how signing up to be part of a buying pool to increase the pool's buying power in order to lower rates. We were sent to London ON for a week, and D.E. would pay your hotel accommodation if you made your quota. I didn't; I actually had a guilty conscience for the few people I did sign up and got out right after.

Found your program very informative but unfortunately for me to late.I wondered why my winter hydro bills were so high, called Ont Hydro and was informed I was still with Direct Energy, who I thought I was finished with, upon calling Direst Energy they informed me my contract had been renewed for another 4 years, unknown to me. now I am locked in again until 2012. Is there no way this kind of fraud can be stopped?

We signed with Direct Energy and are canceling our contract. We have launched a formal complaint with the BC Utilities Commission. Direct Energy said we could only cancel on our anniversary date. BullS**t. Do not make the same mistake. Stick with Terasen. I have researched this law (Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act) and I am unable to to find where this is written. Also, not on our contract that we signed, the only mention is that we can cancel and pay 100$ for blood money.

Thanks for the show... keep up the fight!

Kris in East Kootenays

So much bashing of Direct Energy, problem is the Ontario market. I'm living in Alberta and I signed up with Direct Energy a few months ago and I couldn't be happier. It's exactly what the Agent who was from an Alberta Office said it would be, infact he even advised me AGAINST going on to a 5-year fixed rate contract, and rather suggested I proceed into an open term contract, where all I did was consolidate my Gas and Electricity into a single statement, and save around $100 a year as a bonus to the convenience.

Needless to say I'm now recieving my new bill and he was completely telling the truth. Problem is people have to pay attention to what the salesperson is saying and what they're doing, because I had someone from an Ontario office who's crew comes to sell in Alberta, tried to trick me into a 5 year plan through deceptive means.

In Short, PAY ATTENTION DON'T BE AFRAID.

I signed up for 5 years with an Ontario gas retailer in the late 90's for about 7 cents (m3), and the price went up to over 30 cents during those 5 years. After the 5 years I renewed again for another 5 years for 24 cents, and the price went to over 40 cents! I saved thousands. And on top of that, I never had to worry about my price going up. It's no different than a fixed price mortgage. So do your homework, because most people save. They even said that in the show that over 60% of the people saved money over the 5 years.

First off all looks like this program is funded by riterate...,who also sells natural gas,definetly there have a better rate.In every buying and selling ,customer will never pay or make 100% profit,likewise here too with a open market and with utility prices customer pay with no knowledge and no control over prices,but with these companies customer have a choice,control and budget his bills for long term,there are different kind of customers,smart customers who know what he/she buying and then stupid customers,all the people above are complaing are for sure not smart enough for sure.Once again people dont buy everything which is sold,buying is not mandatory its an option,even with local utility people have to pay bills,if tomorrow for some reasons prices hit all time high then customers wont have an option,utilities wont guarantee prices,cust should get educated

Superior Energy has a 'contract' which neither my husband nor I signed. It appears to have been signed by our minor son who insists he doesn't recall signing a contract. (he thinks it was somehow photocopied from something else he may have signed.)

Somehow, with this signature they have been paid for two years as our natural gas provider. They are offering to 'reimburse' us, acknowledging this is obviously a void contract.

How could any official have accepted a signature that is not that of the bill payer/home owner? Doesn't the company billing us have any responsibility to ensure the contract is valid?

Unbelievable.

...I can't beleive how many people were duped just like me - we have been stressed struggling to pay these extra charges and it makes me sick to my stomach that I actually believed these salespeople. This has taken money away from where I need to spend it- on my children for food and clothes - unbelievalbe the government is allowing it! We must speak up!

I was absolutely stunned at the increase in my electrical bill after signing up with Summit Energy a year ago.

It is difficult to comprehend how the OEB can allow such a wholesale scamming of consumers, and it is predicated upon the deceitful tactics of the door to door salesmen. I am embarassed to have fallen for this tactic not once but twice, and it is because, like a lot of people, I do not keep track of the rates on my energy bills (until now!!). And also because I had a sense of trust that these marketers were presenting themselves with my best interests in mind (forgive my naivete!!!).

Tonight Direct Energy called me to offer me a floating rate 5 year contract. I told him that I'd watched the Marketplace special on energy marketing scams and I was not interested. He hung up pretty quickly after that.

Class action lawsuit PLEASE!! This story is the big kahuna. Please follow it up on how to help those of us out who have gotten duped.

I really liked this segment. I wish there was more of this kind of awareness that could be presented to the public. Publish this awareness in every newspaper everyday. These sales people are just as rude and forceful as portrayed. I experienced first this first hand. They should be shut down.

My wife was approached by one of the gas agent 2 years ago to lock the gas for 5years to 41.9cents. When he visited convinced my wife to show the gas bill for inspection. Then he asked her to sign the document as a confirmation for visit. Until Enbride informed me last month I didn’t aware of this. Then I contacted the Agent Company to show me the signed contract. In their 2nd document they have forged my wife signature. Now they agreed to cancel the contact & refund the over change money. I would like to see how they arrive their refund amount. Is there any way I can obtain the market rate for last 2 years?

You are all misinformed! EVEN FROM THIS SHOW. Think about it, they stated 44% of consumers "LOST" money! They went to the wrong source! Anyone who fulfilled a 5 year GAS contract saved money!(Ontario) HOWEVER, if you have signed up within the last 3 years you have lost, and no hydro program has worked, YET ! But your contracts are not complete. I have been with a retailer for a long time, in fact, with my gas I still pay $0.16m3. How? I did my homework. Research when prices fluctuate. During the winter, the price of gas increases due to the volume being consumed over the season, during summer months, hydro increases because of the use of a/c. (I have yet to sign a hydro contract, because they have not lifted the government subsidy on the rates) we are paying ARTIFICIAL rates on hydro, it will stop, hence the new SMART METERS. Do your homework in depth please. And these programs do work.

Shame on Marketplace and it's hidden camera. I am a 4th year journalism student and I am ASHAMED that this is called "journalism." This is sensationalism at its best. I even know the direct energy girl that is depicted in this segment. She does this job most legitimately, and it was only marketplace sensationalizing what she said through editing and music. She was categorized with those other two universal agents, who actually where "shady" agents. Notice that marketplace always "busts" their subjects? Seems they had to put a negative spotlight on this girl because it was the only footage of a direct energy sales agent they had. How damaging to her reputation!! Even when Wendy goes to the Ontario Energy Association the examples she shows are only of the universal agents. That's because the blonde girl ACTUALLY did nothing wrong. BUST the Companies NOT the INDIVIDUALS Marketplace!!

Having done this business myself, I know first hand that it is very sketch business that prayed on innocent people.
I did this business for 8 months rather successfully from sept 07 to june08. It was not a bad way to make money. I started as an agent and became a manager of 25 people earning overides and training. It was decent money.

The most annoying parts about the business from an agent's standpoint was payroll. None of us were ever paid properly. I still made decent cheques as a manager (net of about 1000-1500 a week) but given my sales and overrides, i expectWed much more (2x to 3x more). Everyone suspected the distributor siphoned money out of our cheques. Nevertheless, everything in the report is true. We used to nickname individuals who were easy sales as "laydowns".

I used to train my agents with boiler-room like pitches. I hated the job but I needed it at the time...

There's only two solutions to this:

1. Force the energy marketers out of the door to door completely because there is no way to monitor this or change the incentives in such a way that agent's dont fell compelled to scam ppl.

OR

2. Do what the OES rep says and ultimately result in no changes. They have been at this for 10 years and it fails year after year.

The products are too easy to manipulate and the cusotmers are too gullible. Having done this very successfully, i can testify to that. I did not enjoy it but endured it for a long 8 months.

I signed up with Superior Energy last year after I moved from Northern Ontario. I have done everything in my power to get out of this contract ever since by contacting the Ontario Energy Board and sending a copy to Superior Energy. I contacted my MPP who advised me that he was advising all his constituents through newspapers etc. until he got a phone call from one of those companies that they were suing him. EVEN MPP's HAVE NO AUTHORITY IN THIS MATTER.

It's time that provincial governments take the matter into the legislature and outlaw these companies.

The matter is still not resolved and I can't see it being resolved anytime in the future.

I must say, I used to work for a company that 'represented' Direct Energy & to be honest these companies trick and hire the most desperate people out there. Imagine working 12 or more hour days often not eating, walking for hours rain, snow, sleet or shine. Being dragged out to the middle of nowhere (always without a way to get home).... No, not looking for sympathy, I did bad things. Anyway, these companies are horrible... Government's not really going to do anything, honestly if they felt it was SO BAD this type of marketing/sales would've been banned a long time ago!

Please, PLEASE, contact you Provincial Minister of Parliament and voice your opinion on this matter.

Every MPP has constituents entangled in this mess. If they get enough complaints they will have to outlaw these companies.

I'm an energy consultant specializing in Ontario electricity and can state with confidence that NO Ontario residential electricity offering has or will likely ever provide a benefit to the homeowner. The same statement can be made, with slightly lesser confidence, for electricity in other jurisdictions and natural gas in all jurisdictions. The best way to see for yourself is to do some research on the web, concerning energy marketers profits. Info from at least one states that their per-year gross profit per residential consumer ranges from $ 150 - $ 200. Once you get past the run-up in natural gas prices from 2001 to 2005 and into an up-and-down timeframe, fixed-price contracts are extremely likely to be losers. This is all made worse by the facts that the Ontario Energy Board is fairly toothless.

i just want to say what a great show i hope you plan on running this again every home owner in canada needs to see it. with any luck they wont sell another contract and be put out of busness. just another poor home owner scammed by direct energy
r reid

This is a mere glimpse into the world of energy sales. Yes, like with all things in life, there are dishonest people who will stop at nothing to get a sale. This is NOT the case for all Direct Energy employees. Yes, we are given scripted pitches but we are in no way allowed to misrepresent or pressure our clients. Any such behavior will result in immediate termination and potential fines and jail time. I love this show but it has always had a distinctly glass half empty approach to everything. For once couldn't you commend the rest of the door to door sellers for doing the right thing? But I guess the fear-mongering media has to appeal to the ignorant masses, it's a shame really.

Unbelievable! Everyone's story is pretty much the same, as is my own. I will be out of my contract next year - and can't wait for the day they come knocking again! They will hear a lot of unpleasant words from me! Marketplace really opens our eyes to the truth! What an amazing show! I to, have tried to get out of my contracts and have had no luck unless willing to pay a huge lump sum of approx $1000.00. Knowing that due to the economy, the gas rates are going down even more; my family will be paying triple what the current rates are! I am so appalled by what these people are doing!

If you want to get out of any of these scams /contracts, just ask a friend if you can use their name for your gas or electric bill with your home address. The name on the contract is what they follow ... not the home address. Then they will call and harass you for the money you owe for breaking the contract ... it's nothing but blood money. Hang up or ignore the calls.

I was with Universal and this is exactly what I did with great pleasure to them! Now they call and it doesn't bother me as much as it bothers them ... they've been calling me for 2 years!

Good luck to all who were scammed too ... it's time to fight back and not pay another cent!!!

your an idiot if you sign up at 9 cent a kwh for electricity. Simple, Friendly and Direct.

Shane Pospisil, Mr. Ontario Energy Association: What are you doing representing these shady characters? I first met you when you were ADM within the Ontario Ministry of Energy and, my friend, your are a public servant NOT a mouthpiece for these BS artists. Come back from the Dark Side, Dalton could surely use you and your smarts rights now.

O.K., for all of us who have been scammed; what's the answer? Is there an energy ombudsman? Someone who can help us get out of these contracts? Salespeople lied to us; we're paying more for electricity; haven't saved a penny. Where is the protection for the consumer?! Perhaps Marketplace could use its clout to pressure these companies to play fairly.

I was an agent with Universal Power for 6 months. I had to quit after I realized how badly we were scamming people. The management that works there is completely ruthless! The pay is also so well that you really work hard to make these deals. If the media ever wanted me to come to them I could reveal so much more as I was close to being a manager.

My husband and I were also scammed by a company called Active Renewable Marketing Ltd. when the salesman came to our door and presented himself,we listened to him and before we signed the contract I asked him 3 times whether the contract could be cancelled at anytime without penalty, no matter whether it was past the effective date or not, he said yes, but he also said that if the gas rates go down that all we have to do is call the company and they will adjust the rates. I made notes, and when he had us talk to the people in charge to confirm the contract, I also went over the promises of the salesman on the phone. As it turned out when I called to cancel the contract or have them adjust the rates, I was told that there would be a $800.00 penalty for cancelling and the rate would not be adjusted. I agree with everyone that there should be a class action suit against these marketers.

Thanks for the info.

The thing that bothers me the most is how these sales peple represent our public services and yet scam us into signing contracts. Making false prominses leading me to sign a contract. I have made numerous phone calls to Alberta Energy savings to let them know of how the sales person gave me false information their response was you had 10 days to cancel. ...all we have is 10 days to realize the trap we are caught in. I wish someone would help all of us who paid through are intestines for utilities that should never have happened. A class action law suit is needed so no one else gets hooked on lie that will cost them dearly and not save them anything.

Someone please help us settle the matter that is crippling so many people.

Wow, I didn't know about this until watching this show. Great report. Keep up the good work.

Great show. I work in the customer inquiry department of a local Hydro Company. We get many calls a day from low income, disabled and elderly people who are scammed by the retailers. Check out the Ontario Energy Board website. Under the "what's new" section from Jan 21/09, Universal Power and Summitt Energy were fined large dollars for misrepresentation. The Ontario Electric Authority must know this and are playing dumb. Who is protecting the rate payers? The government answer is to develop a fund called LEAP. The premise of this proposal is to increase the rates of customers to fund the low income population. You will soon see higher rates on your hydro bill so that people who signed with retailers can pay their bills, all under the guise of helping low income people. What a joke!

Excellent show, very informative.

I learned a long time ago to avoid these people like the plague, they will do anything to get your name ona contract.

I am helping my secretary's mother sue Direct Energy...

I hate to admit this..both hydro & gas are with Direct Energy..contracts up Dec.31/09 & Jan.31/10..called them about ending them now. .how much? they will send me a letter,she then asked..What's the reason? I said one word.."Marketplace"..she then offered me "lower rates"..
I thought that was nice of them to offer..after the show aired,NO THANKS !!

A BIG question is what can be done to cancel or get-out of this "contract"? Can another CBC investigation inquire about this as a follow-up topic. It seems a lot of people signed under undue pressure.

Thank you for bringing this report on March 20, 2009
about Direct Energy. It happened exactly how Wendy explained in the report. We pay $10.89/gj. My husband signed
the contract for 5 yrs, in Sept 2007. We had direct Energy people since twice at the door. The last time it was in Feb 2009. I yelled at them and they were so annoyed, they went no where else in the neighbourhood that day. The line is also over $6000.00. We are seniors! My husband is 70 and I'm 69. It's good he seen this show because he tells me all the time, NOT to buy anything at the door. But he did!
No matter how old we get, we only can learn from such shows.

P.S. I'm a handicap

...Summitt Energy...when we complained to the OEB, they told us that as it is our word against theirs, they would side with Summitt! I was flabbergasted!!! So much for consumer rights... Complaining to the OEB is a waste of time.

The only way to get out of a "contract" without paying the penalty, is apparently to move house...or change the name on the bill. Unfortunate if your bill is in both your names, as in our case.

I renewed a contract with Direct Energy after they muscled out a salesman from Universal Energy and then one of their own salesman came and resigned me knocking off the original Direct Energy agent - so,yeah,it is obviously highly competitive for the salespeople regardless of which company they represent, - the commission is the bottom line.Thank you for airing this controversial subject. I won't be signing up again!
Another area of dubious sales representation is insurance.

I have been approached by every company including my bank, Sears, Canadian Tire, CAA etc,etc,etc, to purchase some form of extra personal insurance to ensure my ability to survive all kinds of catastrophes including the possibility of not being able to pay my insurance premiums... Therefore, I hold no other policy than my group medical insurance from work.

WE ALSO HAVE BEEN SCAMMED BY UNIVERSAL POWER AND ENERGY ,WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY HAD THE LIKES OF "TIE DOMI" AS THEIR PITCHMAN THE CHANCE OF SAVING MONEY WAS NO MORE A PIPE DREAM THAN THE "LEAFS" WINNING THE CUP IN OUR LIFETIME.WE FINALLY GOT OUT OF OUR CONTRACTS WITHOUT PENALTY AND WILL BE GETTING REIMBURSED FOR THE DIFFERENCE IN THE RATES AND WE HAVE RECEIVED CONFIRMATION FROM PAUL CRAWFORD AT THE O.E.B.THANKS TO HIM FOR COMING TO SUDBURY AS WE WOULD STILL BE IN THIS MESS HAD HE NOT INTERVENED ON OUR BEHALF.
ANYBODY ELSE IN ONTARIO WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH THIS SCAM SHOULD CONTACT HIM .HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS paul.crawford@oeb.gov.on.ca

I was watching your show, and started to think about the encounter I had had back in September. I'm a student at the University of Western Ontario, and a man around my age came to the door and offered to help out the students in the area with the rising prices of London hydro. Of course I was interested, being a poor student and all, but what I didn't realize is that he was trying to sell me another hydro company, not just trying to help out the students. I was never told about a 3 - 5 year contract, or any other major details. He totally conned me into thinking they were trying to help out. It wasn't until I saw your show that I thought holly shit I've been had by one of these companies! Seeing that we only live in our current house for 2 more months, I'm now starting a legal battle...I obviously know I’ve been had, and just want to get out of this mess!

Please do a follow up on the companies.

It took me six months of calls and faxes to Universal to cancel and it was only through the intervention of the Consumer Dispute people at the Ontario Energy Board that I was finally able to cancel the contract.

Throughout this time I was being charged excessive rates for electricity. I also discovered charges in excess of their actual contracts with me (and probably many others). I finally received a refund in the form of a cheque which had stationers' printing on the back: "By cashing this check I agree that my dispute with Universal is resolved in full." What legitimate company needs such cheques? I scratched it out and inserted my own comment.

This company exists only to transfer money from consumers' pockets to their own.

Fixed rate mortgage or floating. Minimum insurance or full coverage. Cell phone contract, or pay as you go. Fixed rate natural gas or market rates. Your decision! I signed up for a fixed rate years ago and happy I did. As mentioned in the report, I like the majority of customers who signed gas contracts actually saved money. This was a piece about the conduct of some select sales people. I have had bad experiences with car sales people as well in the past, yet I still bought one! Lets keep some perspective please.

Considering these companies are underhanded and unlawful I will tell you how to get out of the contract. Its not entirely honest but there is a lot of your money at stake. If you are signed into a natural gas contract, call the utility, (union gas for me) and get the name changed on your bill. Change it to your spouse’s name or maiden name, not the name on the contract you signed. If asked say your spouse moved out. This will negate your contract since the person who signed it is no longer associated with your address. I too was signed up with a forged signature, after receiving a copy of the contract it was not even my name signed. Union Energy still did not want to cancel it. After countless time wasting phone calls I simply changed the name as outlined above. Do it..........

I too was confronted wiht a sales contract that was signed by my mother. Luckly for me it was within 1 day that it was signed and phoned quickly to cancel it. I asked for the contract to be nullified and it was and not heard from them since. After reading these statments glad that I did.

I missed the episode but reading the notices gets my frustration up. I am in a contract, but it is not with Direct Energy. In Alberta Atco turned over their billing services to Direct Energy and after 2 years of fighting and struggling with the most incompentent, low intellect employees I welcomed the only way to get out of having to deal with this company. My husband reminds me constantly that we are paying more, but my readings are consistent, correct when I have had to contact Alberta Energy I actually get a competent knowledgeable person. Maybe this is one of those, you get what you pay for. I'm not saying these sales tactics are right and there is a part of me that regrets paying a higher price but at the same time I am not (I hope) contributing to the pockets of Direct Energy's executives. I say this because they obviously do not invest attracting & Retaining competent people.

Once again I think it's great that Wendy Mesley and Erica Johnston are doing bringing to light all these problems that we have, but should Canadians rely on these two women bring the truth behind all these things. I mean you should investigate before you sign up to anything, you should never send money to people you don't know, you shouldn't think that some machine can cure cancer. This show used to be good but it makes me more and more aware how stupid Canadians are and are getting.

Direct Energy is one of these companies that have these high powered dishonest salespeople. I was hounded at my front door and shown bogus newspaper articles recommending to use their company when in fact they were company written and made up to appear as news articles. This is false advertising and the rates have gone through the roof. I have already paid over $350.00 this year alone in additional fees to Direct Energy and we are only 3 months into the year. I paid over $550.00 last year in additional costs. I am a single parent and can't afford these rates. These people need to be stopped! I called and wrote emails and was basically told too bad, if I sign for another 5 years they would decrease my payments by 2 cents...no wonder we are in a recession with companies, such as Direct Energy are doing corrupt business practices! Melanie of Tottenham ON

FIRST OF ALL!!!..you CAN get out of your contract if you are over 65 years of age! I was scammed by Universal to protect my Hydro prices. When I realized that I was paying DOUBLE my neighbours who had NOT signed, I tried to get out of my contract. When I was told about the cancellation fee, I lost it and told them I would take them to court. All of a sudden, the rep that I was speaking to changed his tune and stated that since I was 65, I would be allowed to terminate my contract. It took three months for it to finalized..but finally I was free.

In the meantime, I am in Direct Energy's clutches for my gas and that contract is up this August. I will NOT be renewing.

Two Universal "cons" were at my door a few days ago and I told them to get off my property and never darken my doorway again!!!

I signed a contract with Direct Energy after they assured me that I would be able to get out of the contract at any time with no cancellation fee. After the first month I called to cancel and was told that they charged an administrative fee of $200 to terminate the contract. The representative said that this was not a cancellation fee! After several months of speaking to Direct Energy representatives and supervisors and after lodging a complaint with Alberta Energy Utilities Board, a body that can look into matters but apparently does not have the power to require the energy company to act, Direct Energy offered to reduce the fee to $100. After my refusal and several more weeks, Direct Energy waived the entire fee.

Our daughter and her husband got hooked into one of these contracts, but we refused to sign anything ourselves regardless of what the sales people had to say. As the show said, it looks wonderful but there are hundreds of dollars in hidden fees that one does not discover until its too late. Their bills were nearly triple what we pay, thanks to the hidden fees, and the two homes are very comparable in size.

We found a way around the contract, but still have yet to see what the longer term repercussions will be.

With so many people being out of work, these contracts are getting much more difficult to deal with. As the economy changes, so must the providers of basic necessities change.

i honestly pitty the next sales agent from one of these companies that comes to my door. anyone ever seen 'silence of the lambs'? i'll be locking them in my basement for minimum a month. i foolishly signed up in the summer and have lost at least $1000 since. i've been forced to move home just to get out of my hydro and gas contracts.

My husband signed a contract with direct energy . They told him our rates would not change. He locked into a 5 year contract hydro sells at 0.05/kil and direct charges us for 0.09. Our hydro dill has doubled. Last month our bill was $1100.00. More than a mortgage. When he called to cancel out the contract, they told him there system was down and he would have to call back . He called back and got the same song and dance again. He advised them we would buy out the contract and wanted to know how much it was.They said they would mail out the info. That was 3 weeks ago. We still cant get a straight answer from them. Its absolutely ridiculous that a company should be able to hold up a household and bleed people dry, especially since we are willing buy the contract. Something needs to be done before people cant afford to live in their homes anymore.

hello . thank you for the show , I have the same kind of story with Summitt energy , I just sign with them on 13 02 2009 .big mistake . I made complaints to O.E.B O E A and B.B.B of Ontario, and a letter to mpp David Ramsay who I think has a bill in relation with this kind of cases.we have to keep fighting and stay in public eye ,force the mpps and goverment to take action on the behalf of the consumer. If their companies were so good, I think ,people will line up in Mississauga to sign with them , they didn`t need door-to door agents. I move to Canada not to long ago , thinking that the social sistem works for the consumer ,not that scamers are free on the streets with legal papers .

Thank you for doing the show, I feel empowered with this information. We are signed up with Direct Energy and have been approached by Universal Energy. I'm looking forward to them coming knocking on my door again so I can give them a piece of mind and not feel intimidated any longer.

I work with low income clients and have seen over a hundred people in the last few years that have signed contracts due to the unethical tactics used by the Energy retailers. I was very happy to see that a segment was done on this issue becuase the footage that you played is the stories that I have heard from all of my clients. I have been able to get clients out of their contracts. If someone is low income (social assistance), is a senior or in rent geared to income housing with proof of this they are able to have their contracts cancelled without a penality. I think that a follow up to this should be done. There needs to be more information and copies of reaffiramtion calls that take place be exposed. I think that there are other companies as well that should be mentioned. The Ontario Energy Board also needs to be involved because they let these companies get away with whatis happening

I work for a utility in Ontario and have seen first hand the hardship the electrity retailers force on our customers. They prey upon the elderly, misinformed and economically disadvantaged.

Some points:

-As an electrical utility, we continue to serve our customers well, but every week we sent THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to the retailers for misleading our customers.

-As an electrical utility, our rates and expenses are regulated, reviewed and scrutinized for accuracy and fairness. Is the same required of the retailers?

-I have conselled retailer enrolled customers and the analogy that I find effective is: " If your bank offered you a mortgage that would never increase, but the rate was 10% and all others are paying 4% - would you sign?"
End note - if someone has to sell something door-to-door - is it a viable product?

Kudos to Wendy Mesley and the CBC! Please continue these efforts!

I'm not surprised at the volume of comments your show generated. However, as another viewer commented, you only touched the tip of the iceberg. For one thing, you did not mention the provincial regulatory bodies (such as the Ontario Energy Board) to whom people can complain. I think you need to do a followup show on the legalities (and the illegal things going on) with respect to contract renewals (both hydro and gas). You also need to name a few other companies engaging in these practises - Direct Energy and Universal Energy are not the only ones!!

I worked for the guy who runs Direct Energy's door sales team...and he laughs at all of the people who sign up at these very high rates. I used to get contracts from other companies for him by pretenting I wanted to work for them. Stay away from the people who say they will save you money. You will not, especially on electricity. I have left working of for Direct Energy because I cannot sell as their prices are so so high and they mislead so many. Thanks so uch for running this segment, hopefully people will realise who the real theifs are today.

I am finding a few people on these boards incredulous that people would be willing to show their hydro bills to someone at the door. I should explain. I am on a fixed income – yes that means welfare. I lived with and cared for my bedridden mother for 6 years who was also on a fixed income. When you are on these incomes, you are frequently asked to present ‘proof’ of your bills. This includes hydro bills. Failure to do this when asked means you can get cut off from further assistance. You can bet we learn to ‘present’ whatever we are asked to whoever asks us whenever it is asked. True, these government agencies (that have a legitimate right to demand these papers) do not, as a rule, come to the door but they have been known to. This ‘conditions’ us in a way to situations that others might consider a breach of privacy at least and highly invasive at the most. It is not right, nor wrong, but it is. I came home one night to find them sitting with my Mother. She may have been bedridden but she was by no means stupid. Somehow, they had convinced her that they were part of the ‘Government’ and were advocates that had to ‘check and make sure’ we were getting the ‘Ontario Energy Rebate’. I remembered the cheque the Government had sent to all low income people to aid with heating costs and assumed that’s who they were. It shames me to admit that this assumption and their failure to disabuse me of it when they had numerous chances were all it took for them to completely scam me. My mother has since passed but I am still struggling like a fish on a hook. I believe that the above is just one reason of many that makes a target of fixed income people.

Thanks for last week's episode. I ad a similar experience with Superior Energy. Yes the guy game with "Enbridge" written on his shirt. He got my wife sign some papers and we were supposed to get a call from their office to confirm the contract. No one called, but 2 months later I started receiving bills at higher rate. When I call them I was told about the contract. I told him we did not have a contarct as they were supposed to call us before starting to bill. After 4 months repeated fax and telephone calls and couple of letters to the Ombudsman, they cancelled the contract and paid me the refund.

Two months later a Direct Energy guy comes and asks for my bill to check whether I have been billed correctly! He too said he was from Enbridge. I told him to get out.

One of the agents told my wife "you will pay at the current rate of 28c, but if the rate goes over 41c, you will pay only 41c!!!!

Scoundrels.

LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THIS EPI

DONT OPEN THE DOOR TO STRANGERS
DONT SIGN ANYTHING AT YOUR DOOR


DONT EXPECT SOMEONE TO KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR TO SAVE YOU ANYTHING

Shame on Market Place is right. They are crappy sensationalists that belong at the checkout counter at the corner store. They dont care about anything except trying to make their egos think they are in the league of broadcast journalism. CBC is cutting 800 jobs...Shame on their crap, and shame on us taxpayers footing their useless attempt to tell a story. It is always, always one sided and I pity the people that believe in what they do. I therefore will be surprised if this gets published.

I had direct energy agent come to my door (I had to ask him who he worked for). He asked for the "yellow" piece of paper that "should have" came with my hydro bill. Not knowing what he was talking about and he with the look on his face of wondering why "I" did not receive one then asked me to go and get my gas bill. Then the light bells went off as I have experience the PUSHY direct energy agents before. He had no ID tag showing. I told him to leave and I phoned my local hydro office and they gave me the number of the Ontario Energy Board to phone in a complaint. Terry, Fergus ON

We just discovered that my 73 year old Mother was scammed by ... just this week. On Jan 8th 2009 an agent came to her door and misrepresented himself as the Hydro and Gas man for Guelph and was checking if her bills where in proper order since she had just moved into the house.

My mother with her limited English trusted the man and did as he asked. She not only has signed for her Gas but for the Hydro as well.

I am have talked to Summit and they said to fax a government issued ID to show her Date of Birth to show she is a senior- however he said they only consider senior over 75 for a possible cancellation. I faxed it in and sent the same letter by registered mail. He also said it would take up to 45 days to review the case.

Do we wait - or do we continue to bully them just like they did at the door. Taking advantage of ourselves is one problem but going after our senior ??

There's a reason these things were once regulated.

i have a sign on my door i printed up with my computer

1)NO Agents or Solicitors

2)Door is under Audio and Video survellence

3)I have Anger Management issues and a baseball bat

still want to knock??

the agents still come to my door but leave quickly and NEVER knock ,wonder why

put this type of sign in your door and never be bothered again!!!

It was great to hear and see the rip-off "DirectBuy" is on your Friday Mar 27 show, but- and this is a BIG but why does CBC promote this company by repeating endlessly their commercial. You are doing your viewers a disservice by giving the impression that you think the company is a good deal. Please accept responsibility for some of the bad results to your viewers..

When my husband and I bought into this 2 years ago now, we just cringe at the thought of what we went into, because of pressure, sign or else you can't come back!! Well this is our story, we were looking for particular Stoves the old style The Heartland series. Well the so called slow moving salesman, old but that's here nor there, Brought us a brochure about it and said we'll call the factory and see if they handle this particular model, which we thought was great, but this turned out that it was 4:00pm here in Edmonton but down east it was 6:00pm they were closed, but asurred us we'd have an answer tommorow when we'd come back. Well after all day pricing fireplaces out and we went back and remember they caught us, we had signed before we left the first time and when we had a talk with them the next day to see what they had found out.Well the manufacturer didn't make that model anymore,

So to continue from last left off about they didn't have it at the manufacturers they didn't make that model anymore. So then we asked them why do they hold the catalogue, that false advertising isn't it. Well after we had signed the legal document...., just so fustrating that they can get away with it. Nothing positive about the whole ordeal. Not impressed at all. Got a real expensive lesson there.

A 90 year old friend of mine signed on with Direct Energy. Sometime later another company came to her door and signed her on with their company at about the same price she was paying to Direct Energy (much higher than market value). Before long a collection agency was billing her for the balance of her Direct Energy contract. She paid the collection agency out of her embarrassment that she had forgotten her original contract. So she's being dinged twice.

In my most recent visit from DE I as usual declined and was asked if I didn't want "Peace of Mind". I replied that I didn't NEED peace of mind. .... I'll say anything to get them off my doorstep ;0)

I signed up with Direct Energy in 2007. I live in a small 2 bedroom house and my energy bill are over $200 in the winter and $80 to $100 in the summer. Before signing up I was lucky to have a bill of $25 in summer and $180 in winter. They said they could guarantee I would save money, but instead I am paying double.

Is there any way to get out of this? I make minimum wage and this is really hard to pay.

I too work in a call center handling escalations for one of the companies in this article. Its absolutely horrendous how these consumers are mislead by door agents. I have even had a fraudulent sign up for hydro rates... Fortunately as in insider in the company, I was able to have my contract canceled fairly easily as I simply said I know what a bloody rip off it is... I work for the company! With some companies its more the utility rate protection they have been signed up for, there are appliance repair protection plans... with their own stiff contracts and cancellation being signed which claim to cover you from costly repairs... but in reality the service rates are very high in comparison with smaller repair companies and the plans dont cover the most costly repairs AT ALL.

While this and the DIrect Buy piece are wonderful, heroic examples of the worth of Marketplace, I wish your music editor would cool it on the hiphop underscoring Wendy's voice-overs. All those percussive swish-chaka-chaka sounds war with the human voice, and make it hard for the listener. As a musician who has written for film, I know this to be true.

By the way, in my days as a satirical songwriter for CBC radio, I mentioned Marketplace in one of my songs. If you'd care to see the lyrics, let me know.

Unfortunately for all those who are calling for a clas action lawsuit, most of the larger law firms are making so much money supporting the electricity market in Ontario they are unlikely going to step up to the plate and cut their own cashflow. If someone was willing to actually take this on, perhaps the suit should be launched against the Government for starting this and not putting an end to it. Additionally, they could sue the OEB for not protecting the consumers as they continue to claim is one of their key responsibilities.

Wow what a long list of stories. From now on, if I answer the door & it's a stranger, I'm grabbing my digital camera. This is ludicrous that these crooks can get away with ... & get rich too.

i too fell into this scam, it was direct energy with all the sales pitch and showing the bill. Then u don't pay attention, u get the bill u pay it. then about a year later i got a call from another energy company, so i signed up over the phone...there was a recording on the phone for the contract that went on for it seemed like 15 mins. then i get a letter from direct energy telling me i own over 300.00 for cancelling. i called the local hydro company and she told me i should not have signed up as would be paying more in the long run. i called direct energy and they told me i had to prove that i had signed up to another company. i then called the new company and told them that i got a bill as i had forgot that i had signed up by mistake as i had forgotten.. they agreed to drop me as didn't want to intrude on another company. they sent me a letter to fax to the other company. and thank

cont.. and thank god that the wires got crossed with the 2 companies and i am back with my local provider. Lessons learned, but the time wasted in going back and forth and the stress was not worth it....thanks for yr show, at least i know i am not alone.

Ah, so that's why they want to see your bill. I'm glad I never handed mine over and always thought it was a funny question to ask.

On another note, I've run into a few of these door-to-door guys and seen some of the pathetic sales tactics they used. The best one to-date was when someone wanted to dump some newspapers from the Vancouver Sun and Province on my doorstep without telling me first what it was all about. Boy, was he unhappy when I withdrew once he asked to see my credit card. :)

Easy Solution: Close Electric/Gas Account Under Locked Contract Name. Open a new account under another person's name. Probably have to go without power or gas for a couple of days.

I work in the hydro industry and i have had lots of expereince dealing with the fall out after a customer has signed with a retailer. Yes the energy rates change every six months but they could go up or down, it is very sad the way the energy retailers take advenatage of customers who are unware of how the energy pricing works. It is also important to note that anyone who has signed with a retailer would not be elidgeable for the the Time of Use Pricing that many ontario utilities will be switching over to, which means they would not be able to take advantage of cheaper rates at different times of the day/week. for more infomariton see www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/For+Consumers

I too was a electricity Direct Energy customer until today when I realized I signed a contract with them for 8.5 cents per kilowatt. I will be invoiced for $303.80 to cancel the contract wow! But it will be cheaper in the long run since Cambridge Hydro charges between 5.6 and 6.5 cents per kilowatt. I have over 3 years left on my contract so I will save money in the long run.

Deregulation should be stopped immediately. Ontario customers are being ripped off by foreigners coming to the door offering great savings. It is time our governments stepped in and regulated these services so we will not be paying the wages of customer service assoicates (fancy name for a telephone solicitor)in Puma India.

Can anyone help? I in for any class action suits against these ripoff (scam) artists.

They are at it again. They say the represent the Government. I asked the guy 4 times and each time he said yes he worked for the government, I called his company Universal Energy, they said they were sorry that this employee said that. I mean really people, they are still at it, can't say now they don't know about it after Marketplace.....??????? ...

How do i get out of my contract with universal energy?
This show was purely about there tactics and basically is a warning to the unsuspecting. I got burned, i want out. How do i do this without encuring a penalty.

Hopefully i don't have to resort to violence. :D

There is another energy company called "Ontario Energy Savings" that does this exact same thing in Ottawa. They use the same language - "I have to see your bill to check if your rates are protected" and so on. In our old residence near downtown we would get these merchants every week or so, and once my fiancee signed up in a flu-induced daze. We had to call three times during the "cooling off period" to cancel; they made it such a huge hassle.

I mostly just feel sorry for the poor kids that are paid commission and are thus pressured to make sales like this. These companies are the worst.

I too was scammed. they told me that if i signed up within 10 days i could cancel. so i called and cancelled.
in fact they sent me $50 credit gift card which i never took .because of my signature, i have been paying hundreds and hundreds of $'s to get out. i called last week to cancel the gas and they charged me $288.00 for the final year.
then when i called back regarding the hydro... they told me that the $288.00 was the hydro payout not the gas, now i owe $380.00 .. and that's only for the 1 year remaining.
these people are idiots and scam artists... because of my signature i am stuck and i have no proof i called to cancel.
can't some lawyer out there sue these people and help us.
they lied to us at the door...don't put your signature on nothing.... or you're stuck....

So how do you go about cancelling the contract via change of name?

Currently, the bill is under my wife's name (maiden name) and I would like it changed to my own.

Does she call them or do I call them? How does the contract get voided?

I once worked in the call centre for Universal. Some thoughts: 1. Remember, signing at the door is NOT final. The companies by law have to call no sooner than 10 days later to reaffirm the contact verbally. Otherwise, no deal 2. Believe it or not, a gas contract is not a bad idea - I've seen many instances of people locking in very cheap rates and saving tons. Electricity? Not so much 3. Unspoken rule with Universal is to let someone out of even a verbally reaffirmed contract if you call and cancel within 24 hours. This is no guarantee - it is at their discretion. But it was the policy when I worked there 4. Seniors over 70 and those on fixed income they will let off the hook - after a hassle

Within the mandatory cooling off period, the consumer has the opportunity (and responsibility) to carefully review the written agreement they chose to sign, and cancel without penalty if they have any reservations. Caveat emptor!

I worked for an energy company over the summer, so I'd like to offer another perspective. Agents who come to your door are puchy because they get paid on commission- they make no money off of the customer directly. The service itself is not a scam, merely an option. A good agent will explain the pros and cons of the plan to the customer at the door and leave it to them to decide what's best for them. When I worked this job, I was paid on the sign-up, not the confirmation (and the sign-up at the door alone is NOT legally binding, so you have little to fear), so I did not push for the confirmation. I genuinely wanted to help people, so I left them with all the information and options I could, and told them that there is always the chance that a protection plan may not in fact save them money- depending on their circumstances. I made sure they understood exactly what they were getting into.

The problem here is two-fold. First is the agents who are not as scrupulous and will resort to any means to make the deal. When I was an agent, I was warned very strongly against such practices, but I saw it happen all the time. Agents absolutely do not have the right to lie to consumers or to coerce them into signing anything they don't want to. However, when I was an agent, I was very clear that I did not have all the answers, and it was up to the customer to decide for themselves if the plan was right for them. Many are happy with their plans and have saved money- read the fine print and decide if the plan is right for you BEFORE confirming. Listen to what the agent has to say, but do not take it all at face value. Agents should be held accountable for their actions, but if you blindly sign a contract, you can't complain when it does exactly what it said it would do. Buyer beware.

Thank You for this episode! I cannot tell you how angry I get when I think of these companies! What really gets me angry is when they automatically renew your contract if you don't reply to the letter they say they send out. That is such crap! Goodlife does the same thing and it should be totally illegal! We need a law that says they need written authorization by the person who signed the initial contract to continue with the renewal. I went to the Ontario Energy Board who conducted an investigation and we got a call this week saying we would get a refund. I'll believe it when I see it! Who shows up at my door a few days ago? A guy wearing a badge I couldn't read with a copy of someones hydro bill, telling me that we could receive a refund and that he wants to see my bill. I had to ask him if he was offering an energy plan contract before he actually told me the truth. Never again!

My Wife and I were renovating last fall when universal energy came to the door and wanted us to sign I was very busy so told him I wasn't interested and went out side he cohersed my wife with scare dactics to get her to sign higher cost etc. then called back later and talked to her and again using there tactics got her to agree. at the first visit as we were packing we couldn't find the last bill so he couldn't find out if we were signed with somone else. This happened in aug well in march we recieved a bill from a collection agency and now owe direct $610 and after contacting universal they will only let us out of the contract if i give them $850... is there any thing I can do

These are systematic abuses by agents who are commissioned and encouraged via their pay and incentive structure to break the rules. Door to door sales, like telemarketing, opens the Pandora's Box of abuses and fraud. Both practices should be outlawed.

That said, don't be a sucker with contracts. Every long term study shows that sticking to market variations means less cost to you in the end, either on utilities, mortgages or other loans. Fear motivates people to lock in. Don't be controlled by fear, and you'll make smarter decision.

And please put these companies out of business. Direct Energy had a successful class action against them in the U.S. Both they and other energy retailers in Canada are long overdue for the same here.

my husband signed the contract now we are in a hole we can't dig out of. At the beginning of november my Mb hydro bill was owing $70.70 by the beginning of Feburay we owed $940.40!!! I made payment arrangements right away.I pay $150.00 every 2 weeks.We even put more on thinking let's get it down sooner,we had our bill down to $625.00 by beginning of March. We were feeling optomistic unil a couple of days later....A new bill came, I read my own meters they are never estimated,so my new bill in March brought our current amount owing $899.40 I almost fell over we are a low income family, my husband only works and we have 5 kids. When he signed the contract he was told he'd save money and it was a good thing seeing we have a big family saving is GREAT, and how he should act fast,don't hesitate only so many contracts are availale.This company is a scam.Anyone know how to get out of it):

all i can say about universal energy and their agents is that they are liars and thieves !!they will say and do anything to get you to sign ,,i also was guaranteed a lower rate by nov1 but when it didn,t happen they would do nothing about it ..sorry about your luck you signed and that,s it.and the ontario energy board that governs these companies is about as useless as two t--s on a bull..

I would like to express my thanks and admiration for the wonderful job that Wendy and Marketplace do. I nearly purchased a Direct Buy membership. Thanks to your program, I have chosen not to.
The dedication and focus you have lent to this venture, have provided many Canadians with sound advice and information, that they can use to make informed decisions.
Keep up the good work!
Welcome Erica, you have the opportunity of a lifetime. I hope you can emulate Wendy's success.

We too were tricked into signing. I say tricked because they do not divulge important information such as once you sign on to a contract you can not take advantage of the much lower pricing of the smart meters. They also promise rebates but we never see any unless we call and complain and spend money to send them copies of our bill. One rate should be paid by all no matter what.

I to fell for the line that hydro was going up. They lied. Now that all this is out in the open, and we know they lied, how do we get out of it? Our hydro in London did not go up at all. Can you get out of it by their lying or are you stuck for the full 5 years?

I also fell for that line from Ontario Energy savings about hydro going up. I am usually skeptical about door to door salepeople, but at 84yrs old I must have let my guard down and let them in, now I'm stuck with their contract. I emailed and complained, to no avail. Is there anything we can do about their lying and get out of this contract? My hydro bill has gone up considerably.

I watched your program on energy sales people. Having just moved from a provice where these companies didn't exist I wasn't aware of the scam, so signed with direct energy, for gas. The representative told me he was representing the gov't & being naive I believed him. My contract expires this Dec & I will NOT be renewing it. As for Universal, they were far more aggressive then Direct. I was pressured into signing, my electricity bill more then tripled. I called them, with little to no satisfaction. Until I was lucky & had someone who was obviously more honest then most & it was suggested that I write a strong letter of objection as to the tactics used. I still had 3+years left & after 2 billing dates Universal disappeared & my hydro is back to a normal amount. My daughter has now become a victim of Universal. They are targeting rural properties now. They need to be stopped.

My father passed away last year on April 2 and about a month later I received a bill from a collection agency stating that Direct Energy was the new supplier for his natural gas and if he broke the contract he owed about $1250.00 to Direct Energy for the remainder of the term of the contract. I contacted Direct Energy to clear this matter up and the sales representative told me that my father had signed the contract about the middle of April!! I was stunned by this but he assured me that this was true. I asked him if they used a Ouija board to contact him as he had passed away on April 2. Things quickly went downhill from there and he hung up on me. When the collection agency started with their usual threats and intimidation I informed them that my lawyer would sue them and Direct Energy for fraud. Since then I have received no more threats from Direct Energy or the collection agency.

I worked for Ontario Energy Savings Corp in 2003. I didn't ever deal with hydro, so I wont make any comments on hydro. I can answer any question for anyone that would like an answer from someone that is bipartisan/ubbias on the matter. I've looked at every single angle on the "locking in" of gas rate, since Ive had the job, and feel I am much more informed than the average person.
There are pros and cons to it all. Bad agents, lying, etc, and the cons. Protection, potentially saving money are the pros.
The bottom line is that it is protection in case the rates go up. When I had the job in 03. Everyone saved money back then, because the gas rates were continually going up. Now it is more of a protection in case of rates going up. Natural Gas has taken a s**t, and probably wont be doing the crazy things it did back then.
The best example I can give is my own

Continued from before.
The best example I can give is my own situation.
I locked in last year. I locked in a few cents/m3 higher than what the floating rate was. The gas usage on my bill, only makes up about 50% of my bill. The rest of the bill is set by union gas, or other utility.
So if, at the end of 5 years, the floating rate never goes up. I have spent a few cents per cubic meter than I had to. Which will work out to a few lousy dollars extra I spent over 5 years. I personally consider that a low cost to protect myself, if gas prices were to skyrocket.
Unfortunately, there are many agents out there, that are scum. They don't explain it this way, and that is what is wrong with it all. Bottom line. If you have a fixed rate mortgage, you are a hypocrite to not lock in your gas rate.

Thank you for your broadcast on Universal Energy.3days after watching your show a salesman showed up at my door,I told him in no uncertain terms to get lost that l had just watched about universal on Marketplace.He semed quite surprised and went on with his dialogue to persuade us.I finally told him to get lost that we weren't falling for their scam.I watched your show every week and have learned alot about the market place from your show.Its too bad that they prey on seniors and low income families.Thank you for all your information.

I am appalled, our Government should be doing something
about this "Energy Savings" company. I was led to believe
I would be saving on my gas bill.,I thought about it for a
couple of days then phoned to cancel, the girl on the other end says Oh please don't cancel she said WE"LL drop it from
9.49 to 9.29 . So what do I know about deregulation of gas
at the well. Absolutely nothing. I am a senior and can ill afford this. Maybe a law suit or something? Please keep this going , THANKS

Well their product is no scam. Their sellers are lying I can agree. I was myself a powerseller in Norway, and fixed prices like this is historicaly not good. How you can even sign a contract like this actually shows how stupid people are. If you dont understand that noone can guarantee and know the price on a product 5 years from now... You should get your head checked

Sorry to say that I too signed up for the hydro and gas agreement. I called them about three days after and asked to cancel but they said that I had signed the papers and that there wasn't anything that I could do about it. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how I could cancel the contract.

Yes, I am one of the consumers that signed up with UNIVERSAL
but on my contract they wrote May 5/07 but it was last May 5/08. They then told me that they called me at 10:15 PM to verifty the contract. Again they did not phone me. My gas bill has not gone down at all, infact it keeps going up. When the barrel of oil is going down, exceptially this year how on earth can they keep raising it. I contacts the BCUB and explain my contract with them and yes the COMMISSION denies the request from me as a consumer, I wondered to myself if they get a payoff. Just to let you know I rent and if I move, the owner has to cancel the GAS. He never signed it, I did. They are pathalogical lairs to all concerned. I have not finished and just letting this go. If you live in B.C. get awhole of you MLA or put it on 'THE INTERNET. or phone GLOBAL they have received many conplaints. Christina Bratus

I moved to an apartment in January 2006. A couple of weeks after I moved in, Universal Power sales reps came to my door. They said that in order to continue to receive hydro I had to select a private supplier as that was the new system. When they talked about the "5 year savings" I asked what happened if I moved to an apartment where I didn't pay hydro and they said "that is no problem". They used most of the tactics shown in the marketplace clip as I was reluctant to sign right away. Now, 3 years later, I live in an apartment that does not require me to pay hydro. Shortly after moving here I received a letter stating that I owed in excess of $490 in cancellation fees. When I called them, they said it was their mistake and they would void the contract. They did not and I have received letters from collection agencies ever since. It is affecting my credit, but I do not want to give in!

I too was scammed. I have been a homeowner for many years and never signed an agreement with one of these companies, although we have been approached many times. Recently we moved into a new home and were approached again, this time he explained a different gas plan. Although this was about 5 cents more than the going gas rate, he explained (and drew me a chart) of how every three months the rates change, if Union Gas rates go down, they will match it, but if it goes up, mine will too, but be capped at the agreed rate. It seemed reasonable and he seemed to know what he was talking about. Unfortunately after the first three month my rate didn't go down and when I called they had no idea what I was talking about. They agreed to review my file, but I have yet to hear from them. I am not an ignorant person and worked for a public utility for many years. Needless to say, I am fuming!

I recently watched your show on these energy companies selling locked in rates. I just wanted to say my wife and I were both conned into this by direct energy and summit energy, at different times, if only we had this information your show provided sooner. My question to you is, so if they are leading us with false information and are breaking these so called rules, why are they still allowed to go door to door conning more and more people, and where are their consequences for this and why are we the consumers stuck with this con ??. As far as i can see we should be able to be released from these bogus contracts, I thought here in Canada there was a law against misleading the public into bogus sales. If anyone has more information for us as to what we can do to rid ourselves of this nuisance we would be greatly appreciative. By the way great show Wendy... keep up the good work.....

I am so embarrassed to have let myself be taken in by these people! While I'm really sorry that many of you have also been scammed, I'm glad I'm not alone - now to figure out how to get out of this contract.

Re: The Power of Persuasion - Energy companies. I asked three times if there would be a penalty if I moved from my rented apt and three times was told no, there would be no problem, just cancel. I am moving and am now being charged $600 for the gas and the same for the electric. This salesman caught me at aq very streesful time in my life, he lied about a number of other things as well. I am not paying these bandits. My credit record is being comprimised.

I felt sick to my stomach as I was watching the hidden cameras video tape these scams. It was almost like reliving the experience on the day that they came into our home and ripped us off. The tactics used were identical. I have since canceled my account with my energy provider because Universal would not even acknowledge my attempts to cancel the contract. I did things exactly as I was advised by Universal Energy. I had phoned, and was told to email the information. When I emailed, I was told to fax, in an email weeks later. When I faxed, I was told to send it by regular mail. All the while I was being billed for more months at about 40% higher than my local rates. They never did acknowledge my letter, so I was forced to cancel my account. I now have a collection agency harassing me several times daily. I refuse to pay. They collected their fees in the months that they kept billing me.

A month after Hydro 1 removed at my request the service and meter to a shed I own, I received a bill for $643.21 from Universal energy as a penalty for cancelling a contract for them to guarantee a price for 5 years. I had agreed to allow Universal Energy to provide my power.This agreement I signed DOES NOT have any provision for any early cancellation penalty.I called and told them I would not pay it. I received numerous calls and mail requests from a collection agency that eventually threatened to ruin my credit etc...I complained to the OEB which filed a notification with Universal Energy who then conducted an investigation for 21 days.I got a call from a very nice girl at Universal Energy that I had to Pay $643.21 I explained to her that according to their calculation procedure I owed nothing since My hydro was off during the time of the contract and I disconnected it to save money.

Direct Energy is the company responsible for providing service for my Samsung washer and dryer under the warantee. My experience to date is terrible, including no response to calls, a one-month wait for service, a no show on an appointment date for which I had taken a day off work, and a service person who was unable to detect a simple problem. They had the nerve to call and ask for my feedback on their service but did not offer any remedy for the problems I identified, nor did they answer my letter. I will never buy Samsung again and deeply regret purchasing an extended warantee covered by Direct Energy.

It feels like it is time to take this into our own hands.

Next time they come to my neighborhood, I will boot them off my property and then follow them around door to door and politely discourage every one of my neighbors from signing up with them.

Anyone else up for this?

A windmill in the backyard and solar panels on the roof are looking pretty good to me. It is great that people can share their troubles. Sometimes part of the problem is getting people to talk because they are embarrassed or feel badly. Identifiying the problem(s) is surely the first step. But now what? Maybe we could be like those folks in England who found the Google car taking panoramic photos and they chased them out of town. How about a tracking website? I wonder where today they are targetting people. Summit Energy was in the Cobourg, Ontario area this week using the same tactics described over and over again here. While I believe people need to be educated consumers, it has to be said that people do tend to trust others and it isn't always evident that you are being mislead - that's how it works though.

A solicitor for "Green Energy" came to my door at 8:30 at night and asked me to show her any enbridge bill from within six months so she could see if there was a form on the third page. I was in the middle of moving and told her I wouldn't be able to find one, but thanked her anyways. She insisted rudly that I find one and stood there waiting. I asked her nicely to leave and she said that she wasn't going to because she needed to see the paper! I told her to leave or else I would call the cops. She again said she was not leaving and she was a licenced agent and that the police wouldn't do anything...and still she stood there! I finally chased her off! But really who deserves this type of treatment...it is my house, my property, and my time. I have called enbridge but of course it was after hours. Something needs to be done about this type of harrassment.

I moved into my residence in 2004, I had an energy retailer attend my residence he was of russian decent and treated me with ignorance and disrespect. I ended up sending him to speak to my boyfriend in the backyard who felt pressured and signed a contract with him. I had to call the company and send them a letter to have the contract stopped. He had entered a contract with them and he was not the owner of the residence. How is this even possible? My gas is supplied by enbridge and I am still paying less than the amount that they were offering the contract at that time. Homeowners beware, sometimes it is not a better deal! Great expose!

Would like to contact a Mr. Dave Kelleher to be able to brake away from my contract with Summit Energy.

Thank you.

My contract with Direct Energy expires in October 2009.In the last six weeks I have been contacted by them and they have offered three different rates for a renewal contract.I decided to phone them and they offered me a still lower rate.The person I spoke to knew I was angry and agitated at the price I was paying versus the the current rates being charged.Based on the number of complaints , why does the Ontario Energy Board continue to grant Direct Energy a license?The Toronto Star recently published an article saying that Direct Energy had been fined $15000 for misrepresentation.The Ontario government appears to be taking no action in dealing with these con artists.

Regarding water heater rentals ... My spouse pays the bills and it is only in the last week that I've noticed that "Direct Energy" is the company renting me the water heater.
It's more than 15 yrs old, but the "buyout" price is still $100. If I owned stock, I suppose I would applaud this as good business, but it pains me when I do the $PV of the rental payments. Sigh.
Web searches led me to the recent Competition Bureau ruling that soundly thumped Enbridge for their business practices in this area. More searching indicates that Enbridge sold off/divested themselves of the rental (and retail) businesses 5 or so years ago - but the trail seems cold as to whom these [profitable] divisions were gifted. Follow-up story opportunity here.
Also, I read on the Direct Energy web site that they are up for licence renewal. If I knew how to manage a petition, I'd start one.

Maybe you people should start reading and stop listening as much. There is no proof of what the agent says during the conversation with you. But the contract is what carries on forever. Smarten up, bucketheads.

How to deal with door-to-door salespeople:
Just when they start to tell me their tales, I say "Wait one second, I'll be right back". Then I close the door.
Some stay on my porch for 5-10 min and leave.
Some ring again, and all show repeats.
No one called more than 2 times.
Have fun !

Direct Energy tried their sleazy telephone scam on me here in Alberta. Fortunately there was a 120-day period for me to cancel, which I did, after discovering this ethically bankrupt company was charging obscene amounts for electricity - double what Epcor was! It does not surprise me that Direct Energy and other companies are using sleazy high-pressure sales methods - they did this to me on the phone - and even forging signatures. Thanks for exposing the dishonesty of these ethically bankrupt companies.

Same thing happened to me.

We were moving in, and I was directing the movers, so you can imagine things were a little chaotic. Someone in a hardhat with an "Enbridge" sticker on it said that he was checking the meter and needed my personal information to get the gas flowing (I'm a first time homeowner and didn't realize that Enbridge doesn't actually send people out.)

Now, apparently, I'm a Summitt Energy customer! They claimed that I confimed a followup call - of which I have absolutely no recollection. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened. I called the Ontario Energy Board at 1-877-632-2727 and they advised me that I needed to get a copy of the signed contract AND a copy of the confirmation phone call.

Time for a class action lawsuit, methinks.

I have created a Facebook group for this called "Canadian Energy Utility Fraudbusters". We need to get together and organize.

I fell for it three years ago. I've recently discovered that, not only am I paying much more than the utility price for electricity and gas, but that because of something called "historical usage", they are charging me even more than the agreed-upon rate. The Univ. Energy representative I spoke to was unable to tell me what figures were being used to determine my historical usage, and said that I could fax my bills to their customer service department and "ask for a refund". Won't hold my breath on that. Can they really charge more than the contract price?

Hi ,

My husband and I decided to follow our lifelong dream of traveling. The closing date of our house was May 29, the same date to shut the utilites off. When contacting Union Gas to tell them of our move, the rep. told me to call Universal Energy to also let them know. Why? She told me they would charge us a fee. I told her we would not have another house because we purchased an R.V. and would use that as our home base. I sent an e-mail to the customer service dept. at Universal Energy. They never replied. I resent the same message. No reply. Last week, we received a letter advising us to contact Universal Energy with our new address. I called the number specified on the letter to let them know that we would not have a home until we came back from traveling. The rep. told me we owed them $397.34 for breaking our contract. The same issue for the electricity. What do we do??

After seeing Wendy's show this morning it brought back bad memories as I have also been scammed by Superior energy in B.C. Can you tell me how I can get out of this contract? I contacted Superior energy when I was first signed up because the gas bill was so high. They stated that I must wait one year until the anniversary date & then pay approximately $600. penalty. Since then another salesman contacted us he told us the easy way to get out of the contract is to cancel with the parent company (Terasen Gas) & then re sign up with them under my wife's name. Is this true? I have decided to bight the bullet & get out of this contract but I'm not too sure the best way to do it. Can you help?

Universal Power was employing my son last year. Well after working for this company for a few months, it turned out my son owed them a few hundred dollars. He signed people up everyday and came home telling me all this money he had made, to find out the employees who do the call backs were not doing their job, or said the people were cancelling, or not home. At the end of it all, I was signed up with this Universal Power,at my home and at my business. I ended up selling my business. At which time Universal got a hold of me to tell me I owe them 2000.00. I now knew this was or is a scam, I told them to do what they have to do. I am not paying them anything. I have not heard from them since. But I am still under their contract at my home. I have learned the hard way about people coming to my door making it seem that they are sincere. If people see this program, please dont sign.

just the other day I had a woman come to my door and was persistant I give her my bill so she can check to see if I got the price drop promised by hydro one, when I refused she tried to make me feel like I was an idiot for not wanting to ensure I am saving the money she claimed I was suppose to be saving,,,,,I refused and she left but I followed her to my neighbors house and made sure they didn't give her there bill either,,,,,if Hydro one which she claimed she was representing wanted me to save money I am sure it would have came in the way of a letter and not a person whom would annoy people

To all of you who want to get out of these deceptive contracts: Put your energy account in someone else's name immediately - the new person whose name is on the account didn't sign anything!!! Make sure your bill is paid up so they can't come after you.

I just saw the program on energy company pressure tactics. I complained to the energy company and they "blew us off". I am still trying to encourage our community to "ban" their presence.
If anyone would like us to testify as to our experiences with one of the companies highlighted, then contact us.

It almost came to a physical confrontation.

I found the story very informative. I just wished there was more time spent on what to do if you feel you were misled. I was equally frustrated when I tryed to get out of my contract when I realized I had been misled. 10 days if not sufficient time to know this.


FYI.


Regards
Linda

Some time last fall our developmentally delayed son, who lives on his own and pays his iown bills mentioned that he was going to have a smart meter installed. We discussed this with him because we have had one for sometime. A couple of weeks ago he called, very upset, to say that he had received terribly high electricity bill. When we looked into this we discovered that he had signed a five year contract with Ontario Energy Savings at a rate far higher than he was previously paying. He was under the assumption that he was dealing with someone from Hydro Ottawa and that he had to sign in order to get a smart meter. It would have been very obvious to the salesman that our son had no idea of what he was getting into. We are going to try to get him out of the contract. If we can't, I'm sure that he/we will be out many thousands of dollars in the next five years.

CBC need to follow up on this program, at least repeat the broadcast once a month. For the past weeks, Direct Energy have been pounding the doors at Constance Bay area and they don't take no for answer. They insist on seeing our Hydro bill, and want to access our computer to show us their sale pitch.

First let me say, that couple years ago, my daughter in Kingston was scammed by the same company. There is no way, I was going to make this mistake. What I object to is the aggressive sale approach, way to pushy for most senior.

It is time, we legislate these people out of business.
I do understand that some averaging of energy cost would be benefit to senior. Our home was originally, a cottage, hence we have electric base board heating. Hydro One provide us with a equal 12 monthly billing, and I would encourage all senior to consider the plan.

Where are the ones who do it properly?
Are news conglomerates getting so tied up for time that they can't show two sides of the coin? Seriously. Most of the time that I'm at the door with customers is spent clarifying the previous job of another agent. My card, I ALWAYS hand to the customer so they can look at it for awhile as I present myself. Also the Consumer Acts require us to re affirm with you. READ the consumer act, It shows YOUR rights, if you can't understand the person talking to you. ASK for the Supervisor or someone you can understand. I ALWAYS tell people this. At least I now know where NOT to go wrong. Thanks Marketplace! (This isn't sarcasm. I'll be watching this again and writing notes.)


P.S: Also, show some good agents next time and rude people.

I DID IT! It took me 3 months, but I got out of my contract without exit fees with Universal Energy. They had broke the Provincial Code of Conduct at my door, but they would never even entertain the thought that their agents made such errors. The key was to remain calm and keep stating my case. Eventually their phone agents made gross errors in conduct and judgment, even at the last moment they only wanted to split the amount that a canceled contract would have cost, but in the end, after many phone calls and 7 letter directed to everyone involved in Energy, THEY finally gave in. A tip for those who are letter writers, UE is only in 2 provinces that I am aware of, I would let the Ministers of Energy in the other provinces know how they treated you and why you think they should not be allowed to do business in their province, that was how I an option I was considering.

I have been talking to a man who complained to me about the huge amount he was paying for insurance at his bank. I asked him to provide me with more details. He now tells me thathe paid %00.00 per month for the last 3yrs for income protectio on his wife who has no income. The Bank told him it was his mistake and they will do nothing to reimburse him...

I had three different people within one week come to my door when I first moved into a new development in Oakville one year and a half ago. These people were so insistent on seeing my bill and even said they would "wait while I looked for it". I told all of them the same thing..."if you want to give me a quote for your services, that's fine, but that has nothing to do with my present company rates, which is none of your business. This was the DEALBREAKER for them. It was like their kryptonite. If you ever get them at your door, tell them your bill is none of their business. They can't go any further without it, because it contains all of the info they need. The last woman who came to my door, I actually had to close the door in her face while she continued harrassing me and telling me I was being "foolish for not caring about saving money". Protect yourself too!

hey guys i worked for one of this gas company and in couple of the week i didn't like disturbing people, they train you to force the people to sign the contract holy god i've moved from there.

I have another story about gas company ripoffs - Summitt Energy was in the area and signing up for the Green Programme costing $12.99 a month in addition to charges. Foolishly I signed, believing I had 10 business days to withdraw according to the representative. I e-mailed them that I did not want to participate and received a bill for over $800.00 for "withdrawing from the programme". I would be happy to forward documentation if you are interested. All I really want to do is return to Enbridge and never have anything to do with Energy direct or their ilk ever again.

We have had a couple of experiences with door-to-door marketers. Once I answered the door to have the salesman tell me he was with my natural gas provider, when I told him no he was with summit energy, he responded no. I just had to laugh as I told him he was wearing a name badge from summit energy. With that he left.

Second time, Direct Energy came to the door. My wife could not get rid of him, finally had to threaten to call the police. When I contacted Direct Energy they refused to confirm he worked for them, going as far as to say they did not have anyone in the area that day.

My husband and I unwittingly signed up for the Direct Energy Plan. After paying an outrageous rate, we called to cancel the service. Even after the service was terminated, they still have not switched our account back to Enridge. This has transpired over 6 months and we still haven't been switched back.

Tom and Leslie Middleton
Markham, ON

Please help me and thousands of others who were scammed by Universal Energy.

The UE rep came to my home and promised me discounts. I beliebed & trusted that she was honest. She said that UE can offer discounts and price protection because they purchase massive amounts of electricity and gas, so they get discounts which they pass onto their customers. She said that UE would guarantee that I would save money with them. Now, after your program, I realise that they committed fraud to get my signature on their contract.

They are actually making a profit on my energy use and on the energy use of thousands (hundred of thousands?) of others like me who believed that they were performing a service for us. Do their reps receive training to commit this fraudulent business practice?

Surely, there is something the government or WE can do to charge these companies with fraud.

I have been reading all of these comments and I find it hard to belive that everyone has negative thoughts about it. Didnt the show say that 44% of the time you would loose money....doesnt that mean that 56% of the time you would SAVE money? I would go to vegas on those odds anyday of the year.

Just a thought

Will any of our elected representatives do anything about this at all ? I very much doubt it. They are hand-in-glove with unscrupulous utilities and will do everything to dip into the jar as it accumulates with our hard earned money.

My situation is exactly like that of T. Good. I don't know if there is any recourse but I do want to feel that something is being done to put a check on this kind of business activity. What can people in this situation do now?

i have been looking for a job for a while, and i applied to one of these companies they gave me the interview right away.Feeling so happy i was like lets research about them,cause the lady on the phone was not telling me what i am going to be doing.Now i know thank God, i am not gonna scam poor people, thanks Wendy. By the way the interview is today and i am not gonna go, matter of fact i am not even gonna call them...