Dumb
I did something dumb yesterday,,,,really dumb. As background, my state legislature deregulated the utilities,,,electricity and natural gas, several years ago. They wanted to do away with those terrible monopolies that had kept the electricity and gas flowing with little interruptions for longer than I remember. Those terrible monopolies that put up the delivery wires and buried those pesky pipes and maintained them. They allowed companies to be formed that would buy the electricity and gas from those terrible monopolies and resell it to the consumer,you and me. Those companies didn't have to string the wire and bury more pipes. They just used what was already there. Never seemed fair to me that they could use other companies' material to try to undersell them. I'm loyal and figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Okay, now to the dumb. A young man knocked at my door with an electricity fixed rate program agreement, saying that I could get power at a lower price. The document had the delivery company name on it(the legislature had split up the infrastructure part and the delivery part.) and he said it was the same company I had. I had told him I was perfectly happy with my company and didn't want to change and he said I wouldn't be.(BIG LIE). There was another name on the form and he assured me I wasn't changing. He even asked to see my old or current bill which I didn't have, thank goodness. Then, after I had signed the agreement, he said he needed to use my phone to verify the agreement. Luckily, my social security number couldn't be verified or so he said and the action couldn't be completed. He said he'd have to come back after it was verified and he left. It did seem odd that he had to use MY phone to verify so he got in the house(Never should have let him in. Why didn't he have his own phone if that was needed every time?) Then, I got smart. I called my provider to ask them about the guy. They told me that he had been trying to change my provider! Well, I told them I was perfectly happy with their service and didn't want to change. And, I told them to put on my account that I didn't want to change and not allow anyone to change it for me. Then, I called the other company to tell them I didn't want to change and how the guy had told me he wasn't changing my provider and he basically had lied to me. And, I found out the real reason he couldn't verify. They had wanted a very large deposit that he, probably, didn't want to fool with. Let this be a warning to all. If your provider has a new rate deal, they will include it with your bill or send you an ad in the mail. And, no one should have to come into your home to use your phone to complete any transaction. Beware!
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