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Electricity solicitors in Brighton

Anyone else encounter door-to-door solicitors for electricity service in Brighton? Talked to them yesterday. I don't know if they're legitimate, but they were pretty keen on seeing my electric bill and left once it was established that it's online and I couldn't remember my password. They left me with a business card with no business name or website, a gmail address, and an address that didn't appear on GMaps to be a permanent office. No website, pamphlets or info to review. Heads up, could be one of those scams where they want to see your bill to get enough info to switch you over.

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Comments

...how does one post a new topic/question on the main Universal Hub page, like this anonymous poster was able to do? I haven't been able to figure it out.

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At the way top of the page us "Post!"

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...but what are you supposed to choose to get on the main page with just a general topic? Would that be the "Article" option? I think I've mistakenly chosen "Blog entry" or "Ask a Boston question" in the past..

The choices that come up with the "Post!" link are:

24-hour listing
Add a listing for a Boston-area business or service that is open all night.
Article
Post Boston-related news and comment.
Blog entry
Add a blog entry.
Question
Ask a Boston question.
Restroom
Post a description of a Boston restroom open to the public.

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I haven't been able to figure this out either; within the past couple of weeks I tried posting using the "blog entry" option and have no idea where my posting went.

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I'm sure Adam can answer definitively when he sees this, but from the URL of the post we are on, it looks like its a Question. I would assume Article also ends up on the front page, though maybe Adam has to approve them first.

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I follow an RSS feed for "questions" posted here (which, as Brian noted, the original post is), so I know when they're posted and can take a look to see if they warrant going on the front page. I don't have a similar thing for blog posts, but will set that up.

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So it sounds like each of the links under "Post!" will get your attention? If so, swell!

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Yep, we get these constantly, both on the phone and door-to-door. NOT legit.

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These people knocked on my door (in Brighton) a few weeks ago, which was odd because they didn't buzz my unit and I didn't let them into the building. They talked really fast and I didn't even know what they were trying to sell me. It seemed really scammy. I told the guy several times that I wasn't interested, but he wouldn't go away until I told him that I had an appointment that I had to go to. He told me he'd come back in a few days, but I haven't seen him again since.

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It's pretty common. They get the info from your electric bill and then sign you up at their company without your permission. It's called slamming. The company charges you more, and the scammers get a cut.

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The reason they want to see your bill is not "... to see how much money you can save .."

The real reason they want to see your bill is they need your account #, full name and mailing address and other details so that they can fraudulently sign you up for something.

The "slamming" term came out of an older scam where this was done with long distance phone service providers but it applies now as well

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was wearing a black trench coat over a black long sleeve shirt, black cargo pants, and tall laced black leather boots. His identification was a pair of poorly-laminated inkjet-printed business cards hung on a lanyard around his neck.

They do not communicate clearly what exactly they're "selling," and desperately want a copy of your utility bill, insisting that there is no sensitive information on the bill and it isn't something I should be concerned with sharing.

Hahahahaha no. Get the hell off my porch.

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This sounds like a scam, all right. Glad you didn't rise to the guy's bait!

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Yeah, the guys I saw made it sound like they were working for a subcontractor of National Grid--they said something like, "We're working with National Grid," which seemed weird since you'd think NG wouldn't need to see a copy of my bill. Anyway, NG did NOT send these guys to show you how to lower your bill.

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well known around Eastie, and VERY aggressive. Thankfully I haven't come across them yet, but there are a lot of stories all over the Eastie FB groups. They're very good at getting into buildings with a locked main door (all it takes is one person to let them in), have been known to use their feet and legs to stop you from closing your door on them, and there have even been stories of them walking right into people's units.

As someone noted above, it's also been reported that they want to see your bill so they can get your info and sign you up without consent. I can't confirm but also feel like I remember seeing something about them being caught going through mail last summer.

Best thing to do is to tell them no and avoid letting them into your building/home. If they refuse to leave, call 911.

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Agreed.

I had to threaten one with calling the police as my husband walked up the sidewalk and he still wouldn't leave until my husband came up the steps and basically made him move with his glare.

They aren't easy to move off at all.

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Some of these guys used to canvass my neighborhood (Dorchester) but I haven't seen much of them over the past year. I remember company names such as Just Energy, Spark Energy, and Green-something, and completely clueless young salesmen -didn't know what a kWh was among other things. I researched it at the time after they scammed one of my elderly neighbor by saying that they were from "the energy company" and got her to sign a multi-year contract. She was able to cancel before she got locked into it. If I remember her it right, a common strategy is to lock the customer into a long term contract by starting with a price per kWh that's slightly lower than Eversource, but after that initial period their rates can fluctuate wildly. Doesn't seem worth the trouble or the risk. Much better to invest time, knowledge and money in reducing one's electrical consumption. It's also worth repeating to elderly folks or anyone who may be vulnerable to this kind of scheme to never-ever give any private information or sign anything to people showing up at your door.

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Paging the AG's office. Hello?

Helllooooooooooooooooo?

Oh sorry I forgot too busy on international travel and campaigning to care.

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Why do these jokers ALWAYS try to scam the people least able to afford it. Shouldn't they be like WIllie Sutton, doing their act where the REAL money is.

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They ring every bell in buildings and invariably someone is foolish enough to buzz them in without checking who it is. This is trespassing, even if the fault of some moron in your building. Do call the cops to chase them off each time it occurs.

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In some of the suburbs (Sudbury?) there are signs when you enter town saying all door to door solicitors must register with the town. Is such a ordnance legal? If so Boston should join the club.

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Braintree has such rules. They have to register and pass a criminal background check to solicit in town, and are supposed to display company photo ID with company contact info while out around town.

From listening to the scanner, it seems to be working, occasionally a concerned resident will call and either they aren't registered and are sent packing, or they are and they can continue their business as they've followed the rules.

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Ask them what the name of the business entity is and what state they are incorporated in. Then, google that state's corporations search on the secretary of state's website. If it doesn't come up in their records, ask the solicitor. In some cases, it may come up in their records but could be redflagged as an entity not in good standing. Again, instead of them asking you questions, start asking them questions. It's fun to watch them stumble and fumble for an answer. Show them the door.

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This may work, but it also may not. They can (and do) claim to be entities related to service providers who are legit, and honestly, getting registered as a business entity is disgustingly easy. Essentially you just pay the fee and submit standard corp documents. You are more likely to get flagged for not paying a registration fee than anything else.

And on the off chance that someone is legit, they my not know where their parent company is incorporated. I have no idea where the company I work for is incorporated, and if someone asked me I don't know what I'd say.

For us, when they were all over last summer or maybe the year before, we just had to repeatedly say we did all our billing online.

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Report people like this who knock on your door to the police.

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Please don't call 911 about a solicitor knocking on your door.

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Please do call. For starters they are breaking the law just by being there uninvited. And secondly their company, or whomever they are contracting with is in violation of the law as well. And thirdly, many house robbers use this same method to gain access to places they want to rob from.

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The Boston Police have made it clear on many occasions (various community meetings, including those regarding loud college parties) that they want us to call 911 for all police matters, not just emergencies. They've said it makes dispatch and event record-keeping easier.

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They prioritize the calls so they may not come quickly if there are more urgent matters.

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In Boston's case, I guess 911 isn't the emergency number like every other area that sets it up. They use it for all calls, and then use the 911 system capabilities for triage and dispatching. I wonder if non emergency calls ever get in the way of emergency calls.

The problem with this is that anyone from anywhere else in the country won't feel right calling 911 for a non emergency, and people who get used to calling 911 for non emergencies in Boston might call 911 for a non emergency when on vacation somewhere and be severely reprimanded.

I would think there would be some other method of tracking non emergency calls other than using 911

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If it saves one life, its worth routing all calls through 911.

Sometimes people think something isn't a big deal, or they don't want to make a big fuss, but they still want to report it to the police. So you call the business line from your cell phone and halfway through that call, that sketchy looking solicitor is attacking you, but the cops have no way of knowing where you are because E-911 only works when you call 911.

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When 911 was initiated it was set up for emergencies but that was also at a time when there was also a different land line for non-emergency calls.

The police and even city reps now tell you to call 911 for all needs that may require police attention. for anything else there is the 311 line.

Indeed if you call your local Boston police station they will tell you to call 911 or otherwise they will pass it off from there. That does not get it any additional priority by the way.

The 911 line now prioritizes all calls as needed and also that system is being used to develop statistics that will eventually assign or re-assign law enforcement needs as the calls may show. So if you have people speeding on your street day after day, make the call. If a dead animal is in the street use 311. Common sense dictates.

As to the energy company scammers... be aware that the Boston Police now ENCOURAGE such solicitors to stop by and show their ID and give them a heads up that they will be working a neighborhood so they will have a feeling for who is legit or not. If you think it is a scammer call the police and have them come out to check on them before someone gets taken unnecessarily.

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They were in JP a while ago and somehow kicked in the door to our apartment. At the time me and my wife's door had a weird lock so they were able to get inside. When we got home the door was wide open to our apartment and our bills had been tossed on the floor as well as opened and her engagement ring I gave her was missing(we absolutely should have insured it cause it was a family heirloom worth around 10000 and combined income we can't even afford to buy a similar one.) I will summarise the rest of it with don't bother with the police just save your breath for something more productive like screaming into the void.

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But it's very important that these things are documented with the police, and your landlord needs to know about crime in your building, (and in this case knows the pretext for entering the building.) And the police, and therefore the community, have more valid crime statistics. Would it be a good thing if electricity solicitors are committing burglaries and no one reported it?

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Most recent round was about three years ago, so we are due again on my street.

Thanks for this head's up...I have a few new neighbors who need to be warned about this scam.

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I keep getting telemarketing calls to my mobile phone from these dirtbags. It's illegal two different ways: One, it's illegal to telemarket to a cell phone, and two, that number is on the federal do-not-call list. Finally, they're wasting their time, because my electricity is provided by a municipal light department, and those are exempt from the requirement to be open to competition.

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This happens a lot all over the City of Boston. Either Mayor Walsh or the Boston City Council should adopt Solicitation Rules for these people so WE stop get flimflamed.

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