# Airtricity"Door to Door" marketing: very cheeky young "so and sos"!



## jasconius (18 Jun 2013)

Just had two young wimps knocking at the door wearing Airtricity jackets and asking 'can we convert you back to Airtricity?' I told them No! They said then that they wanted to inspect my meter. I told them No!
They then said 'Are you over 18'?   I am 61 years of age!

I spoke to several neighbours afterwards who are older people - they had the same so called soft soaping as I did.

I am very surprised that Airtricity lets these very cheeky young so and sos out to insult people in this manner.

OK rant over


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## Sue Ellen (18 Jun 2013)

6oc is their time to call here, usually just as dinner goes on table, if its not them its Sky.  Both given short shift


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## Knuttell (18 Jun 2013)

Sue Ellen said:


> 6oc is their time to call here usually just as dinner goes on table, if its not them its Sky.  Both given short shift



Incredible timing,just as you lift knife and fork,this evening it was some charity looking for my bank details in order to pay their CEO his/her massive tiger salary,losing the will to be polite with these time wasters,the second the door opens they are into their not to be interrupted spiel.


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## Latrade (19 Jun 2013)

I like how they actually see us all sat at the dinner table while calling and how they react so sensitively that you may not be interested in half an hours worth of sales patter at that moment in time. 

The sky people can be hilarious, they claim to match what you're currently paying, so tell them that you work for UPC and you get it all for free. The ones with a bit if cop on laugh and say goodbye, those who are stuck in the sales training keep in their loop of "match current package". But I find the sky folks harmless.

The airtricity ones on the other hand can be pretty agressive, so there must be some difference in their training. The still claim they can save me €350 on my elec bill, which is great as my overall annual bill is only €400 so I'm really interested in how I can get it down to €50 for the year. But they seem to fall short on that math.


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## michaelm (19 Jun 2013)

Airtricity won't be interested once you tell them that you're in arrears and you don't do Direct Debits.


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## delgirl (19 Jun 2013)

We had a guy claiming to be from Gorta last year who actually put his foot in the door when I interrupted him mid-spiel to say that I don't give anything at the door.

He was very agressive and 'smart'. I wrote to Gorta the next day to complain about his approach and didn't get an answer.

I think there's a law in the US where if you put a 'No Solicitations' sign on your front gate, it's a trespassing offence to enter your property.

We get a couple of calls a week from driveway cleaners, guttering cleaners, Sky, Airtricity, Eircom, beggars etc.


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## Liamos (19 Jun 2013)

Also had a guy from Airtricity the other day claiming I could make savings. I told him I wasn't going to sign something without researching it myself first. He actually said to me "I suppose you don't want to save money so"!

I was shocked by his attitude and just closed the door.


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## The_Banker (19 Jun 2013)

I had a great one a few weeks ago with some guy calling to try and sell me some on line movie package. He said it wasn’t netflicks but some Irish version of the same type of service… Some company I have never heard of before or since. I did a websearch for them and again nothing so this guy was definitely a chancer. 
The recession really brings them out! 

He kind of snuck up on me. I drove the car into the drive with the kid in the child seat in the back. I got out of the car and as I always do I went and open the front door first as its hard to open the front door with the kid in my arms.
I turned to go back to the car and he was standing at the back passenger door with his elbow on the roof and a broad smile on his face. I kinda nudged him out of the way to get the small fella out of the car while he went through his spiel. He was what some women might describe as a bronzed Adonis. Suave looking, gelled hair and dressed in a suit that you might see on George Clooney. 

Him: Hi, my name is Brad and I am here to offer you the deal of a lifetime, yes sir the deal of a lifetime… (while he spoke using 1950s American lingo he had the accent of a West Cork farmer… seriously)
Me: No thanks
Him: Sir, I kinda understand your busy and I can see that you have your hands full there with that young whippersnapper but please hear me out. 
Kid: Dada, whose that?
Him: Sir, our records show that you have a high speed internet connection in your lovely home and I am here today selling a product that will utilise that high speed connection to the maximum.
Kid: Dada, whose that (getting louder)?
Me: No thanks
Him: I can see your sceptical sir so let me explain. You have heard of netflicks haven’t you? Well I am here today representing an Irish company that does the same thing as they do, only cheaper and faster! Yes Sir!
Me: No thanks
Him: Netflicks charge €25 a month (I knew he was lying here) but we charge a mere €19.99.
Kid: Dada, I said whose that!
Him: He’s got a voice on him. And that’s the glory of this package sir, there are so many movies on this package for kids that he will just have a dandy ole time.
Me: Nobody son
Me: No thanks
Him: Well sir I didn’t want to play this card but you’re driving a hard bargain so you are forcing me to play it. Sir, this package of movies has 100s and 100s of porn movies. 100s of um.
Me: (Hesitating for a second or two…) Eh… No thanks 

Door closed!


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## Purple (19 Jun 2013)

Post of the week The Banker!

I had a guy from Dogs Trust call once. When I said that I didn't give money to animal charities you'd swear I'd told him I drowned cats for a living (I don't, it's just a hobby).


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## TarfHead (19 Jun 2013)

It's the repeated callers selling SKY who annoy me.  I try to avoid getting narky with them personally; they're usually just kids trying to earn some money.

I now lie to their faces and tell them I already have a SKY dish and box. The houses on our side of the road have the dishes at the back of the house, so the caller at the front door is no wiser.

That usually clears them off my doorstep in a few seconds.


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## callybags (19 Jun 2013)

I had been contemplating getting Sky broadband and around the same time they started ringing me at random times (They must be telepathic).

I answered one of the calls in work and told them I was interested in the broadband but couldn't really talk. They offered to ring back that evening after six and I said that would be great.

That's about three weeks ago and still no call. Go figure.


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## rustbucket (19 Jun 2013)

Have had the ESB, SKY and Gorta at the door in the last 2 weeks. I dont want to be rude to any of them as they are only doing their job but sometimes they just dont take 'sorry, not interested or sorry, am happy with current provider'.

Also am irked with all the crap coming through the letter box, especially as I have a 'no junk mail' sign on the door. Maybe it just encourages more to be put through


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## AgathaC (19 Jun 2013)

Great post The Banker!


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## Time (20 Jun 2013)

Signs saying "no junk mail" have no legal force and actually encourages some of them.

As for people selling electricity, I tells them I has a token meter. That gets rid of them fast.


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## DB74 (20 Jun 2013)

On the junk mail thingy, some fecker put a newspaper in my post-box last week. The newspaper was too big for the box so it stuck out of the top and obviously the lid couldn't close properly. Then it lashed rain and ruined the rest of my genuine post.


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## Time (20 Jun 2013)

That's awful carry on. There really should be laws against unsolicited junk mail.

Actually an post are the biggest offenders in my area. Somedays all I get is junk mail.


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## gianni (20 Jun 2013)

Liamos said:


> Also had a guy from Airtricity the other day claiming I could make savings. I told him I wasn't going to sign something without researching it myself first. He actually said to me "I suppose you don't want to save money so"!
> 
> I was shocked by his attitude and just closed the door.



I had exactly the same experience with an Airtricity rep. He sneered at me for not wanting "the best deal in the market" when I wouldn't entertain his sales pitch at my door.


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## Knuttell (21 Jun 2013)

DB74 said:


> On the junk mail thingy, some fecker put a newspaper in my post-box last week. The newspaper was too big for the box so it stuck out of the top and obviously the lid couldn't close properly. Then it lashed rain and ruined the rest of my genuine post.



Raise you a broken letter box,on a recently varnished door,took some searching to find the exact match for the slimline letterbox but it fit like a glove saving a new paint job,cost the guts of €25,just because some lackey with a sack of rubbish couldn't be bothered to take a bit of care.

If I went into the city centre and started throwing leaflets and flyers about the place I would be fined at at a minimum yet its perfectly legal for someone to trespass on your property and litter your hall with rubbish?

Junk mail and unsolicited cold calling both to the door and on the phone should be banned,99% of it is nothing more than rubbish you now have to pay for to bin.


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## Latrade (21 Jun 2013)

Liamos said:


> Also had a guy from Airtricity the other day claiming I could make savings. I told him I wasn't going to sign something without researching it myself first. He actually said to me "I suppose you don't want to save money so"!
> 
> I was shocked by his attitude and just closed the door.


 
Given I've heard that line from them every time, I can only assume it is part of their training and sales pitch. I know they probably work for a 3rd party sales company and not Airtricity, but most people like to think about the pros and cons of switching providers and not just based on cost. Constantly calling on people over their dinner, not letting them get back to their dinner and then condescending them for not wanting to make a snap decision all seems to be a deliberate ploy, but also means (out of sheer bloodymindedness) that I'm not going to ever consider switching to Airtricty based upon the sales people they gave the contract to.


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## DB74 (21 Jun 2013)

The best line I ever got from a salesman was a guy from Irish Life who was trying to sell me Income Protection (plus a few other things that I didn't need). It was a few years ago and I told him that I had just taken a 20% pay cut due to the recession and couldn't afford it. He comes back with the classic line

"the good thing about that is that because you now have less income to protect the premiums will be cheaper"!


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## HMC (21 Jun 2013)

I said to an Airtricity seller that I would have to think about it. He had no literature to give me to read either. Then he said "sure what's there to think about, it's a no-brainer".


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## Betsy Og (21 Jun 2013)

HMC said:


> I said to an Airtricity seller that I would have to think about it. He had no literature to give me to read either. Then he said "sure what's there to think about, it's a no-brainer".


 
Reminds me of travelling in Bali and we "won a prize", turns out it was a sales pitch for a time share (apparently a well known tactic but we were a bit green!!). Anyway this Kiwi chap, says in exasperation as we were stalling "What are you going to do, go back to the pool and talk about it?", I thought (cant recall what, if anything, I said) - Yeah, that sounds emminently sensible.

If only he'd known I'd put the Scots and the Cavan people to shame he could have saved himself a lot of bother!!


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## xeresod (22 Jun 2013)

Latrade said:


> The sky people can be hilarious, they claim to match what you're currently paying, so tell them that you work for UPC and you get it all for free.


 

Love this - now I'm going to tell everybody that knocks at door or phones that I work for their competitor and pay nothing!


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## Black Sheep (23 Jun 2013)

I just ask them why they would want to save me (a perfect stranger) some money. I've spent half my life saving so now I'm spending the other half spending that lovely dosh on anything I choose.


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## DerKaiser (24 Jun 2013)

xeresod said:


> Love this - now I'm going to tell everybody that knocks at door or phones that I work for their competitor and pay nothing!


 
Yeah, it's a good one!


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## MrEarl (25 Jul 2013)

The Airtricity sales people call to my door, approx 3-4 times per year and usually in the early evenings, around meal time... as others here have described.

Despite me having left Airtricity and written to the company to convey my clear dissatisfaction with their extremely poor service, to include poor customer service and irregular billing etc they still continue to try and get me to sign up - it's borderline bullying on occassion and at least as annoying as when you get one of those bloomin' "chuggers" hastling you in town.  

Clearly, Airtricity are training thier sales staff in this manner, which reflects badly on the company ... not that anything would suprise me with that shower.

I think I'll put a note up in the front of my house, indicating that people attempting to sell me services such as Airtricity that I do not want, will get a bucket of water thrown over them .... if I subsequently throw a bucket of water over them, could that be considered assault though ?

I have a big dog with big teeth but clearly if I set him on them, it will be troube so thats not an option ....

Any other good suggestions for getting rid of them once and for all ?


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## PaddyW (25 Jul 2013)

Let them know you've a shotgun out the back and that they should be gone before you come back to the front door??


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## TarfHead (25 Jul 2013)

Ditto for SKY and VODAFONE.


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## Leo (25 Jul 2013)

I was traveling around the Dingle peninsula last week and spotted one of these guys going door to door out around Camp, where next door is often quite a walk. Spotted him again on Wednesday evening obviously suffering badly from blistered feet. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost!


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## DB74 (25 Jul 2013)

TBH when you get about 5 phonecalls a day from guys who are [insert stereotypical foreign accent here] "ringing to you to speak to you about the online presence of your business" or "we have had a lot of customers calling us because they don't know what type of business you do" then the Airtriicity guys aren't all that bad


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## Duke of Marmalade (26 Jul 2013)

Two years ago Airtricity approached me.  I was highly dubious.  I thought initially that my electricity supply would depend in some way on these wind machine things and when they also offered gas my skepticism soared.  But when I was finally convinced that nothing would actually change, that I was using the same grid, it did seem a no-brainer so I signed up.  

Last year Electric Ireland's turn, still slightly skeptical (Electric Who?) but signed up when I became convinced again that nothing would change in respect of my supply.  

Last month Airtricity again.  Signed up without demur, real easy, just made those silly signatures on his hand held machine, and he already had all my bank details.  The sales patter, not that he needed any this time, was _"why not? sure you can dump us again this time next year._"

The fact is that these deals *are *no-brainers.  There is really no effort whatsoever in switching and you get a perpetual introductory discount - nothing at all changes physically with your supply.

I want to ask the broader macro-economic question.  What possible added value is being brought to the country by this phoney competition in utility supply?


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## RainyDay (30 Jul 2013)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> I want to ask the broader macro-economic question.  What possible added value is being brought to the country by this phoney competition in utility supply?



Very interesting question.


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