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I forget the exact name of these scumbags but they're not ConEd. They visited my block in September and got me to change to their service, but after some research shortly after I realized who they were and fixed the problem the next day. The nice thing is that you have a few days to switch back to ConEdison without any kind of fee if you do fall for their trickery.
Edit: Kiwi Energy were the guys that bugged me. They haven't bothered me since.
These are ESCO's. While some are genuinely good companies I believe most are just trying to make a quick buck on people who don't know any better. You have no obligation to give them your business and no they are not Con Edison.
These people can just call up Con Ed, and ask them. There is a website they give out listing their escos and their rates and terms, plus phone numbers. But I guess if your elderly, new to the country, or just first time on your own, you are pretty vulnerable.
That is why threads like this are good. And you can set up everything directly on the ESCOs websites too. Just give them Name, billing address, choose rate and term, and Con Ed acct #.
I wish the whole ESCO thing was a smoother clearer process. I tried to be a little more proactive once but looking up rates and getting quotes, etc is PIA. For me personally if my con-ed bill is a relatively affordable and it is I'm not gonna make a big fuss about switching.
Those are pretty bad. I hope people stop letting these people into their homes. Here's another story from 2013 where people pretending to be ConEd employees set up a real scam, where "Victims would be offered discounts or power bill vouchers if they paid their account balance to one of the people posing a Con Edison employee, the utility said. Then, the scammer would attempt to pay the account balance using a fake checking account and tell the customer their bill had been paid."
Those are pretty bad. I hope people stop letting these people into their homes. Here's another story from 2013 where people pretending to be ConEd employees set up a real scam, where "Victims would be offered discounts or power bill vouchers if they paid their account balance to one of the people posing a Con Edison employee, the utility said. Then, the scammer would attempt to pay the account balance using a fake checking account and tell the customer their bill had been paid."
Yep. I've gotten those a few times now. One time it was a young guy and two girls. One other time a young girl and the last time a young guy. They always start out saying something along the lines of "Do you know about the new law that can save you money on your utilities? Do you have your con-ed bill with you? I'd like to show you something on the back."
I tell them I'm not interested, and they say "they are not selling anything. It is to get the public informed".
I feel like they are trying to get you to switch to one of those third part utility payment companies. I don't know much about the subject, but maybe someone else does.
I always tell them to get lost.
Last time a guy came into my building he said, "Oh, your neighbor Mrs. So & So just switched." I have no idea who any of my neighbors are so he was probably just making it up. He also wanted a copy of my bill. I don't know you at all and I'm supposed to go look through my stuff and find a bill?
I don't pay gas but I do pay electric and I am paperless anyway. I am pretty sure they scammed my MIL into switching.
Ever since my building got FiOS, they also come once every few months. Bah.
A few years ago I turned these energy company reps away quickly and they still signed my up for their service somehow - they switched my normal con ed service to their service, an act called "slamming". It happened 3 times. The first time I thought okay maybe there was some sort of error and I called in and got it switched back. The second time I called in to make a slamming complaint and to demand that Con Ed never change my service unless the request comes directly from me - basically to lock my account. It took two times of this before my account stopped getting slammed. I have a lot of disdain for them but now I just firmly say not interested and close the door. I haven't been slammed in over 3 years since my second complaint and account lock down.
I've been visited a few times too. Some are even pushy and refuse "I'm not interested" as your answer. They would respond "let me see any electric bill, it'll be fast". In my old neighborhood which I moved out off in the late summer of 2015 it was more common. My new neighborhood very rare.
Yep, this happened to me in my old condo. They knocked several times, insinuating they were from ConEd and asking to see my electric bill, kind of flashing a badge. I showed them one the first time because I thought they were really from ConEd. She did get pushy and I kind of had to shove her out the door practically. I never answered again when they knocked.
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