Arlington Heights police received a report Thursday night of three female solicitors working door-to-door to sell services for ‘Just Energy’ a program that is proposed to lower gas bills. The three females who claimed they were working for ‘Just Energy’ were described as a female/white, a female/Hispanic and a female/black. The offenders soliciting without a permit valid for today’s date were last seen on the 0-99 block of East Hintz. Solicitors are required to check in at the police desk on the day they work door-to-door. The police had no record of such a check-in by Just Energy for today.
Research of the Better Business Bureau on December 31, 2009 shows that Just Energy has a BBB rating of ‘F’ on a scale of A+ to F.
The Better Business Bureau reports that the reason for the rating is the following:
562 complaints filed against business
Failure to respond to 77 complaints filed against business.
45 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
Overall complaint history with BBB.
BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business.
Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints.
One serious complaint filed against business.
The numbers fluctuate at different dates.
The BBB also reports that complainants allege they were subject to misleading sales practices, such as unauthorized enrollment in the program offered, and/or misrepresentation of contract length, and/or guarantees of savings, and/or ability to cancel the contract after the initial three day period.
Consumer complaints also allege that the sales representatives from US Energy Savings represented themselves as working on behalf of Nicor and/or People’s Gas, consequently misrepresenting their identities. Additional complaints allege that consumers who did not speak and/or understand English were likewise solicited and their signatures were obtained, enrolling them into US Energy’s five year contract, despite these individuals’ failure to fully understand what they were signing.
Other complaints allege that upon signing up with the company on the premise of savings on gas, consumers’ bills did not decrease, but instead increased substantially.
See the Better Business Bureau web page on ‘Just Energy’ for more information …
Just Energy BBB Review Chicago, IL
Check in at the police desk? That’s why they’re working without permits! lol