A couple of years ago when I was trying to decide what to do for my career I answered one of those little ads in the paper "Young company experiencing massive growth is recruiting exciting people NOW to make lots of money!" purely out of interest to see what the deal was. I phoned them up and an excitable chap asked me to come in the next day for a chat and they'd see what they could sort me out with.
I arrived in a suit at an expensive looking office in London and there was a long presentation about the company and how fast it was growing, how much money this guy had made, then how much this other guy had made but no hints as to what the nature of the business was. There was a short lunch break and we got to meet some of the guys who worked there, who were waiting for us in another room. They all had clip boards and little packs of stuff and were basically ready to go out and do business. We were told we'd be out shadowing them as they worked to see what it was like.
It turns out they were out reselling electricity plans for Npower, basically cold-calling businesses on a preplanned route. They got a commission from every shop owner who switched to Npower. It was a roasting hot day and I was in a black suit so I was boiling over. After about an hour of watching this guy get no business I decided my scope for earning money here was nill and to call it a day. I sarcastically wished him luck and went my own way.
I'd never really heard of Npower back then but since I've learned first hand that they are a pain of a company to deal with. If you've ever had dealings with them I can almost guarantee you've had problems and you'll be swearing never to go back to them no matter what their carrot on a stick offer is. Family and friends have had similar problems and we are all happy with our new power suppliers.
A couple of nights back, in fact it was 7pm on Sunday night, there was a knock at the door...
"Hi, it's the electricity company, please can you let us in?" (I live in a flat)
Strange time for the electricity company to call, especially since I am on a direct debit and I call them with my meter readings, so I put my shoes on and went down myself. Two guys in suits standing at the door, clipboards and little packs of stuff.
"Hello we're from Npower and we were wondering if..."
I cut them short and told them I wasn't interested.
"but..."
No, really, I'm not interested.
"Are you with British Gas?"
A cheap shot. I closed the door at this point. In hindsight I feel like I should have been really rude to them on the doorstep. People like this are a nuisance enough but when they are from a company who almost everyone I know has had problems with I can't believe they still have the cheek to send out mugs like these guys to try and reel me back in. I hope others are clever enough to see through the ploy.
I arrived in a suit at an expensive looking office in London and there was a long presentation about the company and how fast it was growing, how much money this guy had made, then how much this other guy had made but no hints as to what the nature of the business was. There was a short lunch break and we got to meet some of the guys who worked there, who were waiting for us in another room. They all had clip boards and little packs of stuff and were basically ready to go out and do business. We were told we'd be out shadowing them as they worked to see what it was like.
It turns out they were out reselling electricity plans for Npower, basically cold-calling businesses on a preplanned route. They got a commission from every shop owner who switched to Npower. It was a roasting hot day and I was in a black suit so I was boiling over. After about an hour of watching this guy get no business I decided my scope for earning money here was nill and to call it a day. I sarcastically wished him luck and went my own way.
I'd never really heard of Npower back then but since I've learned first hand that they are a pain of a company to deal with. If you've ever had dealings with them I can almost guarantee you've had problems and you'll be swearing never to go back to them no matter what their carrot on a stick offer is. Family and friends have had similar problems and we are all happy with our new power suppliers.
A couple of nights back, in fact it was 7pm on Sunday night, there was a knock at the door...
"Hi, it's the electricity company, please can you let us in?" (I live in a flat)
Strange time for the electricity company to call, especially since I am on a direct debit and I call them with my meter readings, so I put my shoes on and went down myself. Two guys in suits standing at the door, clipboards and little packs of stuff.
"Hello we're from Npower and we were wondering if..."
I cut them short and told them I wasn't interested.
"but..."
No, really, I'm not interested.
"Are you with British Gas?"
A cheap shot. I closed the door at this point. In hindsight I feel like I should have been really rude to them on the doorstep. People like this are a nuisance enough but when they are from a company who almost everyone I know has had problems with I can't believe they still have the cheek to send out mugs like these guys to try and reel me back in. I hope others are clever enough to see through the ploy.
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