An epic sale FAIL: Summitt Energy Canada came a-callin…..’
I decided that rather than try to paraphrase my experience with a door-to-door salesman from Summitt Energy Canada, I’d simply repost the e-mail I’ve sent to them. And I plan on linking to this through my Twitter account and through Facebook, so hopefully more people can slam the door in Summitt Energy’s face when they come calling.
Here’s the text of the letter:
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To whom it may concern:
I am writing to relate a recent experience with a door-to-door sales agent for your company who may have possibly created the worst experience I have ever had with any representative for any company. Fortunately I have the name and representative number of this employee.
On June 23, 2009, a Mr. Shaun Nichols, whose representative number is JT 1003, came to my door and identified himself as being from Summit Energy. He asked if I was on Summit’s price protection plan, and advised me that it was something that should have been done shortly after I moved in. He asked to see one of my recent utility bills, which I did not have to hand but knew full well that the name Summit Energy was nowhere on these bills. He again implied that Summit Energy’s protection plan was a matter of course and that if it hadn’t been put in place before, that it was a mistake and we could get underway immediately.
He asked me if I knew where energy prices were going in the next 5 years, and, given the fact that I do own a car and keep tabs in the news on oil and other energy prices, said “yes”. He then showed me a graph that was intended to explain how Summit’s price protection worked. It was implied at this time that my energy prices per unit would be fixed at the current rate for some time.
Upon advising him that I did not have either my gas or hydro bill immediately available to him, he told me that I could sign the registration form, and that in a few weeks he would call back to fill in the account numbers from my energy bills. I advised Mr. Nichols that I do not sign anything without researching things first, at which point he proceeded to get very argumentative, assuring me that nothing would come of it if I just signed now. I again told Mr. Nichols that I do not put my signature on anything that quickly, and he decided to ask me questions like “You are aware that energy costs are going up?” and “So, you researched London Hydro before signing on with them?” in an almost insulting tone of voice. In fact, I did research London Hydro even though they’re the only game in town, so to speak, and actually learned I’d be helping pay off the former Ontario Hydro’s debt. Good to know. I told Mr. Nichols this, and his answer was “Do you like paying those costs?”
In the end, he handed me the registration form, filled out except for my signature and account numbers, some information, and told me he would return for the registration form later.
Fortunately, he didn’t come back.
Being conversant in legal language, reasonably intelligent and cautious, I first decided to look at the fine print at the bottom of the registration form. This is what I learned:
1. “This agreement is with Summit Energy and is not with my local electricity or natural gas distributor.” Mr. Nichols implied that Summit Energy walked hand in hand with London Hydro to provide these “amazing” prices and that signing up is simply a matter of course. In fact, your company is a licensed electricity and natural gas retailer, which means that the only hand London Hydro would have in this is distributing the product and handing me a bill.
2. “Unless agreed to in writing by Summit, no amendments, either written or verbal, to this Registration Form or Customer Agreement with Terms and Conditions will be accepted.” So, quite literally, if I had signed, I would have no rights except the legally supplied one to cancel within 10 days. The month that Mr. Nichols had given me is over that 10 days, by which time I would be legally bound to switch over to you.
3. “I authorize my utility to provide Summit Energy my account number, which we may include in the space above.” This would mean that if Mr. Nichols had called me back in one month, and I refused to give him the account numbers and said I did not want service from Summit, that your company has every right to contact Union Gas and London Hydro and get the information anyway.
As you can see, Mr. Nichols gravely misrepresented legal information in attempting to get me to sign. Sign here, and I call back in a month to be told “Well, sir, you had 10 days to cancel, which you didn’t do, and you gave us the right to get your account information. Welcome to Summit Energy.”
Further research revealed that my price would not be fixed at the current regulated rates, but at a fairly higher rate that I would presume is a median between now and 5 years from now. I would not be saving any money initially, but possibly breaking even over a 5 year term, with your company reaping the benefits. I am guessing that your company also reserves the right to adjust the fixed rate higher in certain circumstances, but I did not research Summit further than this. The point being that Mr. Nichols did not advise that initial rates would be higher than the current regulated rates.
Mr. Nichols lied about the very nature of Summit Energy’s business, omitted key legal and pricing information, argued with me about the use of my own signature and outright mocked the fact that I research companies before entering into a legally binding contract, and attempted to lock me into said contract by doing an end run around Ontario’s legal requirements in such matters. In fact, the only thing he did correctly, required by law, was to give me the “Important Information about Customer Choice from Ontario Energy Retailers” pamphlet, which was informative after the fact.
To be blunt: I never, ever wish to see Mr. Nichols or any other representative of Summit Energy on my property again. Should someone show up, I will be obtaining their name and rep number and contacting you after politely asking them to get off my property. I am also considering forwarding a copy of this letter to the Ontario Energy Association, and I hope never to be contacted in any way, shape or form, by your company in the future. I will be tearing up the registration form.
If Mr. Nichols does not represent the common sales practices of your company, then I hope he is suitably disciplined for his actions.
Thank you,
Jason Norwood
[Update: I did receive an apology from Summitt Energy, but it was so form-based that I really don't entertain much hope that the agent in question will ever hear about my complaint.]
From what I know about the Ontario Energy Board regulation, if you had actually signed the agreement at the door, it would have simply expired after 61 days unless you confirmed you wanted it later over the phone. This gives you time to look through the information.
It would NOT have automatically kicked in after a couple weeks. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Nichols didn’t just politely explain this to you, rather than getting argumentative!
Possibly. I just get really queasy when I read legal lingo like that–even if the OEB has certain regulations, a lot of times it’s still a major hassle to point that out to the offenders
When I found this I had to laugh because I am going through something similar with Summit. I was a new home owner barely moved in for a week and they came around telling me they were with Innisfil Hydro. I havent even got in my first bill yet. I said I dont have any bills yet to give you. I look back now and think how stupid I was. Long story short I signed the agreement which is on carbon paper. They did not say it was for 5 years and the part that says 5 years on my contract was not filled out at all. My contract looks like I signed to my name and address, yet theirs is filled out because they got my info for my accounts. It has nearly doubled my hydro bill and my gas this year. And i didnt realize they were a retailer I honestly thought they were with innisfil hydro. And they were naming off my neighbors names telling me this is how it is here. I have bought many energy saver appliances this year. The Summit on my bills is so tiny I never noticed it. For how much it has cost me more this year alone I would barely break even in five years. They are scam artists and I have the OEB involved now. They want 1300.00 to cancel my contract. But I did sign, but my contract i signed too is not filled out. And that phone call i remember saying many times I do not understand. I hope I can get out without paying the fee, I have been seriously screwed.
Hi, how did you cancel the contract? I had the same problem too and they wanted a lot o money for cancelation fee. It’s been a year and more since I signed the contract and I’m paying way too much for gas bill. I don’t know what to do. I’d really appreciate your help if you can give me some advice. Thanks
I think it follows a general trend with a lot of contract based companies that they’re going to get their money regardless of whether you keep the service or not. Think of your cell phone contract–you get a cheap, good phone when you sign a 3 year contract, but break that contract and you usually wind up paying extortionate amounts for every year (sometimes every month) remaining on the contract.
Same here with Summit Energy–once they have you trapped in the contract, you either stay with them for the term of the contract and pay way too much for gas, or you break the contract, and pay their outrageous fees to do so while paying your regular monthly bill to your proper energy supplier.
I also just had an unpleasant visit from Summitt. My sales rep told me because of deregulation Enbridge was not allowed to be a supplier only a distributor. Summitt was the company that supplied gas to my area. He really pressured me and I signed.
I went and did some research and then learned the truth. I sent a fax and email to Summitt to cancel this policy right away and then sent a complaint to the Ontario Energy board. I am still waiting to hear back from both.
I’d like to shed some light here. Being very new to Toronto, I applied for an ad looking for ‘Customer Care Agents’. I was called for an interview at Summit Energy, and while they asked about people skills, at no point did they say this was a door-to-door sales person job. They also said the salary would be $600 – $800 per week, depending on my capabilities.
I got the job, and was asked to come two days later to start. First they give you a contract to sign, which states that you are not employed by Summit Energy, but are an ‘Independent Contractor’. Then they bundle you off with your ‘team leader/manager’ for training. Which is in effect door-to-door selling. It was only at this point they said that the salary was exclusively commission based.
I tagged along just for the hell of it, and much like this post, the entire sales pitch is a bunch of lies.
Firstly, the sales person rarely says that he is from Summit. Instead, he makes it seem as if he is sent from the government, to check your bills. If the customer actually shows an old hydro or gas bill, they say that the customers price has not been protected, but the sales guy will ensure that this is done. At NO point do they state the customer will have to pay a higher price for at least the first three years.
Even if a customer refuses, they then ask if they could fill up a form with the customer details, so that they can prove that they did their job by coming to their doorstep asking to ‘protect their prices’. The signature is supposed to be just to ‘verify that the information is correct’, and the customer is routinely told that they will get a telephone call within 10 days TO VERIFY THE INFO ON THE FORM, and that they should SAY OK TO THE VERIFICATION.
This is how customers end up paying more than what they are used to, and how customers unwittingly sign the ‘agreement’, and agree to it over the phone.
They have another scam called ‘Green Energy’, which is pretty much like the above, but you end up paying $12 a month to help build wind based power plants somewhere in the distant horizon, and customers are routinely told that if they are not part of this programme, ‘MANDATED BY THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT’, they will be liable to pay a ‘carbon tax’. Only on occasion are customers told that there is a fee, and that the fee is 32 cents (which is a daily fee, but that too is kept secret). Here, the over the phone confirmation happens instantly, with the same lies given as for gas & energy, and a poor customer is stuck paying $12 a month for wind mills.
Needless to say, I never went back, but I did some unfortunate, well meaning souls getting caught.
Guess what! They are here in BC too. I came home during the charade. Everything they said was a lie, but i did not know it at the time and as we were trying to save some money in our new home I agreed to it and my wife signed the agreement. By that evening I knew it was a scam and phoned and canceled the agreement and followed up with an email. Summit responded with a confirmation that the agreement was cancelled ( i have the email). We followed up with a phone call to Terasen (gas delivery company) and they said they would put a note on the file. We also followed up with BC Consumer Protection and was told that as long as I cancelled within 10 days I would be fine. That was in June, It is October now and they are still showing up on my gas bill. To intentionally put forward a cancelled sales agreement is FRAUD and I am now pursuing it on that basis. I have sent emails to the senior management at Summit, BC Utilities Commission, BBB, BC Consumer Protection and Now my lawyer and hope to pursue this as a criminal act and I am willing to spend my own money to get these scammers off my back. Why does our government do nothing and let these scumbags rip us off like this?
PS