We have just heard from a trusted reader of Roseland Online about a possible electricity scam being targeted at residents in our area which we feel would beneficial to share with our readers.
He told us, “We have just received a call from a company purporting to be ‘Select Energy’. They rang to say that they have been asked to call us by our electricity supplier because we had either recently changed use, changed meter, or moved into our house.
“He said that as a consequence, our electricity supplier had put us on a new more expensive emergency tariff. I smelled a rat and asked him to tell me who he though supplied our electricity (i.e. who had asked him to call me).
“After about a minute of waiting, he came back and said we were with EDF (which is correct). He was insistent that we provided him with our meter details. I said that I would take his name and phone number, call EDF to check this out and then call him back. At that point he hung up.”
Anyone who supplies information like this could find themselves with a new supplier, even possibly without their consent. Whilst a new tariff may not necessarily be more expensive, it is all very underhand. For those who have a Feed in Tariff for Solar Panels, it could become very complicated indeed.
We recommend that you be wary when talking to ‘cold callers’. If electricity companies phone you, they should be able to provide you with proof of who they are by giving you your account number or meter number. If in doubt, put the phone down and never give out any financial details over the phone.
Same thing here. Back in 2013 we had a call from ‘Commercial Energy’ pulling the same shady tactics. From what we can tell, Select Energy are an arm of BES Utilities – they claim to be an independent broker, but they’re not. We’ve just expanded to a new premises of whom BES were the former suppliers and are objecting to the change of tenancy. And we’re getting a lot of calls from ‘Select Energy’ with this huge sense of urgency about emergency tarrifs etc. Basically, its all bull. Find your own supplier and do it that way – don’t deal with these guys.
We were contacted by the same company, who told us that we had been on an “emergency tariff” since moving into new business premises. They then try to pressurise you into a 3 year contract at a cheaper tariff, (but still more expensive than normal), agreed verbally by a recorded telephone conversation, during which they read the Terms & Conditions so quickly that you cannot follow or understand the “small print”. I believe that they target businesses specifically because they have less opportunity to cancel contracts during a cooling off period. My advice is to steer well clear of the likes of Select Energy. Even if you are on an “emergency tariff”, which you probably aren’t, a few days extra to check up and shop around will save you a packet in the long run.
We’ve just opened a B&B, had the same conversation as above. Convinced me for a short while, although I refused to give out any bank details. I contacted British Gas who promised to investigate.