Direct Energy Addresses Sales Complaints

When two men knocked on the door of Ali Brown’s Fenton, MI apartment and wanted to talk about her energy bill, something made her skeptical.

The men identified themselves as employees of Direct Energy, a supplier of electricity and natural gas products. But when Brown asked to see their identification and paperwork, the men said it was in the car. Then she got angry.

“They were petting my dog and asked if he bites," she remembers. "And I said ‘Yes, we have an even bigger one inside.’ It was a total lie, but I just wanted them to go away and stop coming around,” she said.

Brown said she reported the two men to her landlord. When the men came back that same day, she said, they were kicked off the property.

An investigation by Patch reporters across the Great Lakes region found a pattern of similar visits. Residents in other Michigan communities, including nearby White Lake and Holly reported similar incidents last week about "pushy" soliticitors from Direct Energy. Complaints surfaced in Rockland and Westchester counties in New York about persistent solitcitors and in southeast Pennsylvania as well.

Deregulation, Followed By Hard Sales

During the past decade, deregulation has offered alternative energy companies direct access to customers who previously had limited choices when it came to service. The sales approach often involves face-to-face communication.

”People are skeptical and rightly so."

But that tactic has brought with it complaints around the country that the energy workers are too aggressive in their approach. Patch found numerous reports of Direct Energy workers misrepresenting themselves as employees for the competitors. In New York state, the complaints are directed towards employees of a number of smaller energy companies, but the experiences were similar: "Pushy" company reps knocking on doors with vague credentials.

But what has most unnerved consumers in reports across these states is the unexpected request that consumers show their electricity bills to the salesmen on their doortsteps. Usually the company rep does a quick scan of the bill, identifies places where the local could possible save money, and then pressures them to sign up for a competitor's energy service on the spot.

"They do this at my business all the time," Kathleen Davis, a citizen of Fenton, MI, wrote on Fenton Patch's Facebook page. "At least three or four times a year. They come in and some ask, but some demand to see the gas bill. We send them packing."

And some say the solicitors are not just knocking on doors.

Lee Holland of White Lake, MI page said that the company's outreach includes repeated calls.

“They call every few days...," he wrote on White Lake Patch's Facebook page.

Lt. Don Nankervis with Michigan's White Lake Police Department said residents should never hand over bills or personal information to people going door-to-door.

“Close the door on them,” Nankervis said. “If they don’t leave your property you can call the police.”

Illegal solicitation in Westchester, NY

Closing the door or calling police is exactly what some New York residents are doing.

"They are aggressive and do not like to take not interested as an answer," Lois Kyle posted about an encounter in Sleepy Hollow, NY. "Finally [I] just closed the door in their face."

A Facebook posting by Rick Reimundez, in Tarrytown, NY said when the "very aggressive" solicitors wouldn't leave some of his family members alone, he "threatened to call the police." 

Many New York Patch communities have local ordinances outlawing door-to-door solicitation unless a permit is granted. In Michigan, White Lake officials said they may soon be considering one, too.

Direct Energy Stresses Customer Education

Direct Energy officials contacted by White Lake Patch said they are investigating all complaints of poor door-to-door sales service, directly calling each consumer who has voiced concern.

"People aren't fully comfortable with that sales channel," acknowledged Bethany Ruhe, senior manager of public relations for the company, which operates in 46 states and 10 Canadian provinces.

Ruhe says consumers' negative responses are part of a misconception about the way the market has changed.

"People are skeptical and rightly so," she said. "They are used to shopping for insurance, cell phone rates ... they are not there yet with energy. They don't have their brains wrapped around it."

Ruhe said it has a lot to do with "market maturity and customer education", something she finds lacking in states like Michigan, which got the authority in 2000 to deregulate, allowing for more competition, and in some cases stable prices, for energy services.

Ruhe acknowledged that she is aware of media reports of allegations of Direct Energy workers misrepresenting themselves.

"We have been using this as a teaching opportunity to revisit this with our agents and do some additional training, she said.

Ruhe said in Texas, for instance, which has been deregulated for about two decades, a pitch to switch gas companies would be no surprise to a resident.

Post-deregulation, established energy companies are trying to get the word out about their more aggressive competitors. Consolidated Edison, the largest energy provider in the Harrison, NY area, issued a statement warning customers to be on the lookout for impostors showing up for meter readings without proper identification.

"No one should feel pressure to sign anything," said Debra Dodd, a spokeswoman for Michigan's Consumer's Energy. "If someone comes to your door and you are thinking about signing, you can always ask that they leave the paperwork with you." 

You can find more articles from this ongoing series, “Dispatches: The Changing American Dream” from across the country at The Huffington Post.

Patch Local Editors Brooke Meier, Zach Oliva and Kevin Haslam and Associate Regional Editor Jessica Nunez contributed to this report.