Alternate Gas/Electric Suppliers?
Periodically salesman show up at our building trying to pitch us on alternate suppliers of gas and electricity indicating “big” savings possible. Do any of you have significant experience in this area? How do you know if you’ll really save money? How can you be sure that they won’t give you a reduced rate for…
Periodically salesman show up at our building trying to pitch us on alternate suppliers of gas and electricity indicating “big” savings possible. Do any of you have significant experience in this area? How do you know if you’ll really save money? How can you be sure that they won’t give you a reduced rate for a few months and then hike your bill up a la all the promo offers from Time Warner, Vonage etc? What are the risks?
I have a company called Ambit energy that guarantees you savings on your bill. There are some months the bill will be higher and some months it will be lower but they do guarantee that the usage cost will always be lower than companies like Con Ed and National Grid.
There are no contracts to sign so if you feel you aren’t saving you are free to go back to your old provider with no penalties from Ambit. Furthermore at the end of the year if you want a comparison from what you paid with Ambit vs what you would have paid with Con Ed they will compare the rates and if you paid more they send you a check for the difference.
This company offers some great benefits. If you would like to learn more email BrookeCancel@gmail.com
I look forward to talking with anyone who is interested in saving money.
Take care.
Consumerist, the official blog of Consumer Affairs, has done at least a dozen stories on these energy companies in Brooklyn.
In a nutshell, almost anyone coming door-to-door asking to see your energy bill and offering you savings is part of a scam, whether they know it or not. For some reason, Brooklyn is the #1 location for this nonsense.
Don’t show them your energy bill, even if they claim to be from Con Ed or National Grid. They are paid on commission, and some will copy your account number and illegally change you to their energy supplier without your consent. Don’t listen to them when they say they have a limited time offer that will expire. Tell them to mail this amazing offer to you in writing.
Don’t show them anything, don’t sign anything, just tell them to mail their offer to you and then close the door.
http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20&search=esco
exactly right… a word of advice, please stay with what you have now, they will want to see your bill and tell you about saving 10 – 15%, in reality you will see that for a month or two but then everything goes up and you will be holding your head in regret, stay with what you got, there have been numerous complaints, check with the BBB and see if they are accredited and go through their reviews, most of these are like pyramid scams.
“How can you be sure that they won’t give you a reduced rate for a few months and then hike your bill”
AFAIK that’s their business plan. Guarantee trivial savings for two months and then double or triple your bill. Even if you catch on the first month that happens, they’ve gotten enough for their scheme to be lucrative.
I believe there were previous complaints by people on this site about the negative practices that you’ve mentioned. The salesperson may also ask to see your bill so that might help you to reduce your rates. This is a ploy to see the account holder’s name, address, and account number in order to switch you over to their company without your permission. I never open my door to door to door salespeople.