Jackson Heights Life

Hey guys.  I don't know if there's already a thread on here about this but Astorians.com does.  A very well dressed young gentleman got into my building twice and has been knocking on doors saying he's from Con Ed and asking for their bills.   Do not give him your bill.  These guys are not from Con Ed nor are they authorized to do this.  The trick is they'll say they're from Con Ed and are trying to help you save money.  They'll ask you to sign something and in reality you are allowing them to switch you to another electric company and your bills will go up.  This is a well documented scam and Con Ed is aware and has warned the public.

I didn't open my door the first time around but he came again in the evening and I got mad.  I opened the door and told him he needs to leave the building and stop conning people.  I told him he's not from Con Ed and Con Ed did not authorize him to come.  He tried retorting with a dumbstruck look but I shut the door in his face and told him to leave.  Ugh, these people are such scum.  He must be canvassing Jackson Heights - be warned.

Here's the thread on Astorians.  http://www.astorians.com/community/index.php?topic=21772.0

I live in the 90th St/Elmhurst section of JH and I've seen them come around numerous times in the past 4 years that I've lived here.  I've seen them multiple times this year, and in fact, they just came to my apt this evening.  Tonight was the worst instance in that there were 4 of them(!) at my door - all of them looked about 16 yrs old.  They asked if I have certain verbiage on my electric bill, to which I responded no because I didn't care, was hoping they would leave quickly, and I already knew this was a scam.  They then responded that since I didn't have it on my current bill, it meant I didn't have a service provider (huh??).  They asked to see the bill and claimed they could save me money.  Needless to say I did not show them anything and declined their offer.  Ridiculous that these people are getting into the building so frequently and that there are KIDS involved in this scam! 

This has happened one too many times now.  Next time I will tell them that I know this is a scam and that unless they can prove otherwise, I will call the police if they do not immediately leave the building.  I suggest that everyone else do the same.

i actually read foobah's link to the laws of new york and found these two entries:

2. Any person who sells or offers for sale any energy  services  to  a customer for or on behalf of an ESCO shall (a) properly identify himself or  herself and the energy services company or companies which he or she represents; (b) explain that he or she does not represent a distribution  utility; (c) explain the purpose of the solicitation; (d)  provide  each prospective  customer with a copy of the "ESCO consumers bill of rights" developed by the public service commission,  in  consultation  with  the   Long Island power authority, the state consumer protection board and the department  of  law;  and  (e)  provide any written materials, including contracts and the "ESCO consumers bill of rights", in the same  language utilized to solicit the prospective customer.

9. The attorney general, upon his or her own motion or upon referral from the public service commission, the Long Island power authority or the department of state, may bring a civil  action  against  any  energy services  company  that violates  any provision of this section and may recover (a) a civil penalty not  to  exceed  one  thousand  dollars  per violation; and (b)  costs and reasonable attorney's fees. In any such proceeding the court may direct restitution.

so if these con men are posing as con Ed reps, they have violated the provision and you should call them out on it. since they are to properly identify themselves, i would ask for their business card and report them (not that i expect anything will really happen). go vigilante me!

so if these con men are posing as con Ed reps, they have violated the provision and you should call them out on it. since they are to properly identify themselves, i would ask for their business card and report them (not that i expect anything will really happen). go vigilante me!

Yes, that's right.  If they are claiming to be from con ed, but aren't, that is definitely illegal.  I've had 3 or 4 different ESCOs come to my door, and they always start by saying they don't work for con ed.  So I assume that most of the people going door-to-door are more-or-less following the rules.

These creeps were my bldg at least once as well. I wish we'd put a sign up saying door-to-door sales are considered unauthorized tresspassing. Of course then the sign looks like garbage..