IDT?

[micky]

Two or three times I've had guys from IDT? or some similar name come to the door wanting to sell me electricity. They always want to see my old bill, and I know their bosses want that so they can get the account number and slam me.

What I don't know is how often the door-to-door guys are part of the crime. Anyone know?

A couple days ago I got a call from someone very persistant. He said he was paid by the hour so didn't mind waiting while I looked for my bill. He said it two or three times but I found him too persistant to believe him. He said he didn't want my account number, just some number related to what electricity vendor I wanted. ??? Probably just as bad to tell him that, right?

I don't show anyone my bill.

And the BGE (once Baltmore Gas and Electric) has been the worst utility webpage for 15 consecutive years now. Yesterday and today , couldn't see my bill online like I used to be able to do. It insisted that I enrol, but when I filled out the form, it said I was already enrolled.

[DerbyDad03]

They don't seem like such a bad organization...

[TomR]

Wow, that link shows a lot of very negative reports about IDT!

I have a friend who is a rep for Viridian in New Jersey and we have talked a few times about the possibility of me buying energy from them through him (I see him at some shift changes and ask him about it). No pressure, no hype. When he explains the level of compensation that their reps actually get per conversion, it is really very low. So, for people from IDT to be going door-to-door and cold-calling people on the phone, makes me think that IDT is a scam. That would be too much time and money for an honest rep to invest unless they were getting big bucks for slamming people to a new provider.

[micky]

There has defnitely been scamming going on in NYC, by people using their name.

I don't know about Baltimore yet. I haven't heard anything but I don't read the local paper or watch the local news. Still my friend reads the paper and I called her and she hadn't heard anything. She usually knows everything that's going on.

There is definitely competition in Md. now between BGE, or whatever their other name is, where they buy electricity, and other vendors. She signed up with Dominion. She says she saves about 3 dollars a month.

But the guys in person had simple ID cards that said IDT on them. It wouldn't be hard for anyone to print hem. These days, on one's own computer. Maybe their sales technique in Balt is so bad just because they're new at sales, and of course most will never be good at it. It takes a nack. Or maybe they're scammers, with or without IDT's help/.

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[Ed Pawlowski]

Check out who is selling electricity in your state. You can probably find a link on the utility's web sit. Some will offer a teaser rate, but is will jump in 90 days. Others may be slightly higher, but will give you that rate for a year.

[micky]

Thanks. I often just do whatever my ex-girlfriend does. She has a lot of patience and checks things out dilgently.

The guy on the phone promised the rate wouldn't go up for a year. He might have been legit, but his style was so bad, i wsan't interested.

I don't watch my junk mail carefully, but my friend says there have been letters about buying electricity. I'll check them out. She says it only saves 2 or 3 dollars a month.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Depends on your rates. They are high here and I save at least $12

[TomR]

I am just curious which company you went with for the savings (if you don't mind mentioning the company name). And, did you figure the $12/month +/- savings from your actual bill, or do you do the actual calculations of the rate you pay per unit of energy compared to the rate that your regular utility company charges?

I am not sure, but I thought I remembered that you are in New Jersey (North). I am in South Jersey and have PSE&G for several different properties. And, as I mentioned previously, I have a friend who is a rep (an "Independent Associate") for Viridian. I am thinking of switch my accounts over to Viridian through him -- not so much for any savings, since I don't expect much, but mostly to help him with his business. So, I guess I am also curious if you have PSE&G where you are and if you happened to have switched to Viridian.

One thing that I noticed somewhere (I can't remember where) is that some of those companies charge either a late fee or interest on late payments on utility bills through them. With PSE&G, I don't think there is any charge for late payments. I have good credit and pay all of my utility bills, but I do sometimes overlook them and then pay them off when I notice that I missed prior payments. So, if I did that with a private company, I would probably lose any savings due to late payment fees or interest.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'm in CT and the power here is CL&P. I'm buying from Dominion, one of the larger companies, but ConEd had some good rates. They are good for a year.

The savings is from the generation rate compared to the CL&P normal charge. Savings, of course, also depends on how much power used total. I'm in the 800 to 900 KW range per month. I know people that use half that.

Next year my rate will be about 1¢ less.

Look for a link from the power companies web site. There should be a site with a full listing. Some will be higher than your published standard rate too, so choose with care. My preference had been for a fixed rate for a year, but there are plenty of variables offered too.

[TomR]

Okay, thanks.