Complaint

0
David Estrada
Country: United States
For the past week or so I get phone calls at work from what appears to be a telemarketer; when calling the number there are no details given on what the company is, not even the name. The calls are coming from 800-919-8021.

Comments

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  • 0
    tj
    Telemarketer ignoring the Do Not Call list.
    Allegedly calling for various alternative utility companies.

    https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-919-8021
  • 0
    jim
    Found this on a church web site.

    Gas Bill Savings - If you are a customer of Semco, GTE, Consumer or Michigan Gas
    Utilities, you can call (800) 919-8021, ext. 225 and get 12% off your natural gas bill.  Leave your name and number with Stacy Vander's voice mail, and mention the Customer Choice Program.  Have a copy of your gas billing ready when you talk to her.  She will need your meter number and account number information.
  • 0
    jimb
    | 2 replies
    and from craigslist

    MOST OF YOU ARE AWARE OF THE 'CUSTOMER CHOICE' PROGRAM DOMINION OFFERS. ITS BEEN GOING ON FOR A COUPLE YEARS. SOME OF YOU MAY NOT KNOW, DUE TO TOSSING OUT THE FLIERS INSTEAD OF READING THEM.

    I AM WITH LAKESHORE ENERGY SERVICES, AN AUTHORIZED SUPPLIER IN THE 'CUSTOMER CHOICE' PROGRAM. CALL ME AND CASH IN ON YOUR SAVINGS TODAY!!

    YOU KEEP DOMINION AS YOUR UTILITY, YOU JUST GET A CHEAPER RATE! EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ENROLLED WITH A DIFFERENT SUPPLIER, AS A CUSTOMER, YOU CAN NOW SHOP AROUND FOR THE BEST RATES. JUST CALL TO GET THE CURRENT RATE FROM ME!

    **EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A DOMINION CUSTOMER, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THE CUSTOMER CHOICE PROGRAM, YOU JUST HAVE TO GO TO YOUR UTILITIES WEBSITE AND LOOK FOR SUPPILERS THERE!!**

    1-800-919-8021 EXT 388
    NICOLE WALKER
    • 0
      David Phillips replies to jimb
      | 1 reply
      They have jacked their rates to over three times the rates of Michigan Gas. Their phone system does not work, no way to contact them in order to switch back to Michigan Gas. A complete ripoff.
      • 0
        EMTurner replies to David Phillips
        I agree with the complaint about the natural gas prices My gas bill for March was over $500.00.  My provided was Lakeshore
        Energy in Troy Mi. I know I have been rob without a gun. I have been rip off and no one cares about the poor.
  • 0
    Frustrated
    I got the same phone call... When I called back, I still couldn't make out which company this was.
  • 0
    Curly
    I am receiving calls from the following numbers here at my office and do not know who they are.

    330-409-0368
    404-974-9170
    443-390-1500
    972-773-1046
    4430390-1400

    What can we do to stop these calls?
  • 0
    Gregory D
    My only complaint when it comes to "Energy Choice", is this. I wish more people would become aware of their options. I work all day on behalf of the largest independantly owned aproved and authorized natural gas suppliers in the state of Michigan. I am able to leave work daily feeling good about the people I have helped and educated about "Energy Choice"
      The one thing I can say is that when you are selling a product or service that is superior to the many choices a customer has it instills confidence within you. On the other hand there are so many suppliers of natural gas out there that are absolutely distasteful! Yeah, I am talking about you Universal Energy, Vectren and anyone else with a guilty concience. I wish you all would close up shop so a supplier that is truely providing their customers savings, lower than market rates and positive experiences in a "Buyer Beware" market could actually get a customer to listen to whats available to them when they are called.
       "Energy Choice" is an opportunity for customers residing in deregulated states. You just HAVE to be sure what you are being offered is a good, clean, honest deal. Yes, it will most likely be a phone call to enroll you into the Program. It hasn't been cost efective to send people door to door, mail colorful brochures or even send out contracts for signing, returning then verifying all over again in years! Besides, it all comes down to what you pay for the natural gas itself. If a companys choice is to spend more for marketing, who ends up footing that bill? That's right, you, the customer!
      Long story short, there are plenty of reputable natural gas suppliers around. You may have just hung up on the person who would have saved you hundreds or thousands of dollars anually. When you start to add it up over a life time you'll wonder why you didn't educate yourself sooner. Happy hunting! Just remember, you don't have to pay the market rate. And, if you get an offer that's lower. Ask questions, because it's your money and there is no reason to burn it up.
  • 0
    FCC Church of Three Oaks, MI
    | 1 reply
    A call came from phone number (888) 651-3380 claiming he was from Lakeshore Energy Services   asking to speak with the person in charge of our Natural Gass Bill DATE 8-11-10.  I explained to the Gentleman that a Church Trustee handles the utility bills, He wanted me to give the persons phone number to him.  I said send us something in writing and I will turn it over to the trustees, He got very angry with me. I said to him any legitimate business proposal would be able to be sent in writing, he starting getting even more angry , I asked for his name, he would not give it to me.  I asked him to put us on the DNC list, he said I was robbing the church from extra money in the collection plate by not giving him the trustees phone number, I started to boil at that point , told him to please stop calling here and place us on the DNC,  JUST TELL THEM SEND IT IN WRITING
    • 0
      Business Secretary replies to FCC Church of Three Oaks, MI
      I can't believe they had the nerve to say you were robbing from the offering plate...that is just rude.  If they know so much about how a church runs, then they should understand that most important decisions are made by a committee, and that those commitees are comprised of volunteers within the church membership, that have a right to privacy.  I just had a very terse phone exchange with one of their managers.  I don't like the high pressure tactics of this company.  Firstly, leaving a message that says "You need to call me right away about your Consumers Bill" sort of sets me off--if they are legitimately able to offer a significant savings then there is no need for high pressure tactics.   I think it is naive of Lakeshore Energy to think that anyone who has never heard of them before is going to be pressured into comitting to a contract with them over the phone without something in writing--even if one is familiar with the company, how do you know that it is really them you are talking to on the phone? Also, I don't have the time to help them with their market research...if they want to know how much the other guys are charging, they need to get that information elsewhere.
  • 0
    Annoyed
    go to this link and call the sales people cell numbers  and call them everytime you get a call from the 1-800 number   https://www.seminoleenergy.com/affiliates.aspx#lake
  • 0
    Lakeshore Energy
    Dear Customer,
    We are sorry to see that your concerns do not seem to have been addressed after Lakeshore Energy’s Manager of Customer Relations responded personally to your e-mail to our organization.  We apologized for the inconvenience and immediately distributed the telephone numbers you listed as prohibited for calling by all agents who call on Lakeshore’s behalf.

    The 800 number posted on this forum belongs to a third-party call center who contracts with dozens of energy companies who service areas all over the United States and Canada.  The link you have posted to Lakeshore Energy’s parent company’s website is only associated with our organization who services customers in Michigan and Ohio.  If a customer is called by this 800 number and does not live in those areas, this link is useless to them.  Likewise, this link is only for one of a dozen or so companies who service Michigan or Ohio, and this narrows down the usefulness further.
    Please understand that the link you have posted to Seminole Energy’s website will lead potential callers in states other than Michigan and Ohio to a contact who will not be able to address their concerns.  Having said that, even callers in Michigan or Ohio, who may have been called by the third-party call center and who contact a telephone number from the Seminole Energy link you have incorrectly posted, would be contacting someone in a department who is not connected to the small commercial/residential business unit.   Directing customers to do what you have posted will lead them on a wild goose chase.  Others who have posted on this forum before have done the legwork and found the name of the company via a reverse lookup.  If you search their name, you will find this link which is far more helpful to a frustrated customer than giving them false directions and frustrating them even further.
    For anyone who does not wish to be contacted by the third-party call center and placed on a Do-Not-Call list, please contact (800-919-8021) to be removed from future campaigns.  If you do not call this number, you will not be taken out of the database, but rather only off the list of the energy supplier that the call center is currently working on behalf of.
    To the poster of this original message, if you have any further questions, you know how to contact me.  
    Thank you for your time.  
    Manager of Customer Relations
  • 0
    Reception
    We have two lines that phone calls come into because we have two parts to our business. Lake Shore Energy called the first time on our one line and asked to speak with the person involved with our Consumer Energy bill. I asked what this was regarding to and she said Info in regarding the bill. I knew they were just fishing trying to talk to someone about how they can "reduce our cost", so I patched her to our acct payable. I don't know if she left a message. Then a minute later a guy called on our other line saying the same thing and I told him someone had just called from their facility and what the call was really regarding to. He said a reduction on the acct. I said well you have to leave a message if you want someone to call you back. What I don't like is how they try to make it sound like they have some part of Consumers and our billing. I know better but someone else might not. I think its deceiving how they come across.
  • 0
    Reception
    The problem is how these people come across when they call. If they give me a fishy answer when they call or they sound shady then they don't get past me. There are way too many scammers out there. I am not saying who you work for is a scammer but there are a lot of them so people are on guard. If the place you work for comes across sincere and not shady then good for them but being a receptionist I get a lot of shady people calling trying to scam us. So that could be why people may hang up. You can't blame people for being on guard. The vultures have been out in full force especially in this recession. I have had some pretty interesting calls and some down right scary. I am sure its frustrating for you because you are proud of where you work but as a consumer we don't know that. Thanks for your post though.
  • 0
    CBOT Broker
    | 2 replies
    Yeah, you're the secretary. I'll tell you my name and company. We're calling to talk to your boss, not YOU. You dont make his financial decisions. We're not here to talk to you. Most people have no idea how the markets work and they are too afraid to ask and think everyone out there is trying to scam them. Tell ya what, you might want to listen to someone who calls from the Chicago Board of Trade as it is the WORLDS OLDEST AND LARGEST EXCHANGE. Do not take calls from California, Florida, Texas, etc., as these states do not have trade floors. I've been in this industry as a runner, phone clerk, and stood in the pit since I was 18. I am 46 now and still amazed at the stupidity of the American Public when it comes to investing.
    Sure, you could work with a local broker and walk in to his office and shake his hand and look him in the eye, but my dad always told me too that someone could look you in the eye while shaking your hand and be lying through his teeth to you.
    Let me ask you, would you rather have a broker who has NEVER set foot on a trade floor working for you or someone who has had the experience of actually standing in the pit?
    • 0
      PatLG replies to CBOT Broker
      CBOT, you just guranteed that I would not deal with your company with that attitude.  I handle the bills and supplier contracts for our office.  I also answer the phone on occasion when we are short staffed ("just the secretary" some days and some days "just the receptionist" on some others - but ALWAYS the person who makes the final decision on a supplier contract).  My husband owns the company.  Without something in writing, there is no contract that we will even remotely look at when we are comparing service providers.
    • 0
      anonymous replies to CBOT Broker
      Your elitist attitude will get you nowhere. What you ran into was a gatekeeper. If you want to talk to the boss, you have to shmooze the secretary. In fact, by treating the secretaries you meet like junk, you are in turn creating a bad name for the company you represent. The secretary will talk to her boss, tell him how you behaved and that you refused to provide information to pass on. The boss will then refuse to do business with you.

      Also, the fact that you automatically assume that the secretary is too stupid to understand what you are selling is simply ridiculous. She's probably more educated than you.
  • 0
    CBOT Broker
    | 1 reply
    Send you something in writing? What the hell for? You're not the one in charge of the bills? Give the guy the number of the person responsible for the bill payments, its HIS decision to make, not yours.
    • 0
      Why? replies to CBOT Broker
      So you can waste more of our time?
  • 0
    beancounter
    I don't like how try to make it sound like they are from DTE either.  I just moved to another company and now they are threatening me with some kind of fee for cancelling that I never agreed to.  I've asked several times for something with my signature on it but they just keep sending me
    blank contracts with no signature to review.

    I told them I never signed that nor was it discussed when they called.  They have been emailing me all day with threats but still won't produce the proof I'm asking for.  If they think they can bully me into giving
    them money they aren't entitled to they have another thing coming.  I'll
    build a whole website and campaign against these tactics.  I'll call channel 2 and 20/20 if I have to.
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