Sometimes our readers leave comments that we think are worth of posts. This is one of them. Of course, it has to do with IDT energy scammers. The irony is that the person who was scammed is a former IDT employee. He/she does not identify the neighborhood, which could be anywhere, as they are everywhere:
Here’s a fun fact: I was recently a victim. Best part? The people involved were my ex bosses. A few months ago I got a knock on the door. Some guy representing my old company IDT, their new energy department. Automatically I foolishly trusted the guy. He asked to see my Con Ed bill and said it was too high (which it was, but that’s because I had two ACs cranked all day long… I work from home btw), and then explained that I might qualify for cheaper energy rates. All I had to do was sign my name on some form to get the process started, and that I would be contacted in a few days, to be told if I was indeed a candidate and to formally sign me up.
Weeks passed and no contact, but I didn’t even notice it. Then some other dude showed up, saying the same basic stuff as before. I explained that someone had come previously but never follow-up as promised. He apologized and then assured me that this time he would definitely follow-up. Once again, I was asked to sign something… which I did once more, without bothering to look what it was. Again, no phone call, but I did get an email from Con Ed stating that they received my request to change my energy provider, and how if there was ever an emergency, I could sill call them. I dug out the thing I had signed and looked at it closely for the very first time: it was a contract, which I was completely unaware of. I called Con Ed and explained that I had signed up under false pretenses, and the person couldn’t give me a straight answer for a variety of reasons, but basically indicated that its been happening a lot. I was then told that there was no problems changing back my energy provider, it was my right as a consumer, though there was always a massive fee involved.
I next called IDT, and instead of yelling and screaming like I normally do, I played the cool as a cucumber card, but also sold myself as an ex-IDT employee that wants the company to do well and under the assumption that there was some kind of mistake and that I wasn’t the victim of a stupid scam. The woman I spoke with pretended to be shocked by the events and cancelled my account without a charge… though she asked like 19 times if I was sure I wanted to switch. The Con Ed person explained to me that alternate energy suppliers do sometimes provide energy at a cheaper rate… but on IDT, which was without a doubt the most expensive. So moral of the story? ALWAYS read the fine print…
11 responses so far ↓
1 Jim // Jan 28, 2009 at 11:16 am
Maybe, just possibly, this person should have known better in the first place.
2 clinky // Jan 30, 2009 at 8:34 pm
“Once again, I was asked to sign something… which I did once more, without bothering to look what it was. ”
What an idiot.
3 TEAM GREEDY // Feb 5, 2009 at 8:39 pm
IDT IS A SCAM I WORKED THERE IN 42ND DONT DO IDT UR BILLS WILL ONLY GO HIGHER……EVERYTHING IS A LIE A SCAM
4 IDT EMPLOYEE // May 7, 2009 at 3:47 pm
HERE’S THE TRUTH. . .
#1 IDT IS CON EDISON’S NUMBER 1 ENERGY SUPPLIER.
#2 WE ARE THE FASTEST GROWING ENERGY SUPPLIER.
#3 THE ONLY SCAM IS THE 4% SALES TAX ON YOUR DELIVERY CHARGE THAT CON EDISON CHARGES YOU WHICH DOESN’T IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOU ENERGY AND GOES INTO THE STATE’S POCKET.
#4 THE PURPOSE OF IDT WAS APPROVE BY THE NY STATE PUBLIC COMMISSION TO PREVENT CON ED FROM BECOMING A MONOPOLY
#5 CON ED CUSTOMERS ARE ENTITLED TO THIS SAVING & IF WE WERE A SCAM CON ED WOULDN’T SEND OUR IDT MEMBERS A LETTER CONGRADULATING THEM FOR JOINING IDT.
#6 IDT MEMBERS CAN NOT CARRY CON ED BILLS IN THEIR BINDERS & WE HAVE TO IDENTIFY OURSELVES AS IDT ENERGY REPS.
#7 OUR NEWLY ENROLLED CUSTOMERS RECIEVE CALLS FROM IDT ASKING IF WE IDENTIFIED OURSELVES AS IDT REPS & OUR BADGES SAY “WE ARE NOT PART OF YOUR LOCAL UTILITY COMPANY”
PS: THE PEOPLE WHO CLAIM THEY GOT SCAMMED ARE IGNORANT & NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND THEM. TO THOSE WHO DID NOT CHOSE THEIR ESCO HAVE FUN PAYING THOSE 3 EXTRA TAXES THAT IDT MEMBERS DO NOT PAY…
5 Gully // Jun 29, 2009 at 8:01 pm
my fiancee recently got hired by IDT to be a door to door person, and he’s completely convinced that he actually provides a great service to people. i took it upon myself to research this company… and today when he gets home I have the difficult job of convincing him that he works for scammers.
6 Mad // Aug 11, 2009 at 12:13 am
IDT ENERGY IS A FUCCIN SCAM I WORKED FOR THE ONE ON JAMAICA AVE. AND I TOTALLY MADE A BIG MISTAKE! UR BILLS WILL DEFINITELY GO HIGHER
7 bill ware // Sep 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I changed to IDT and my bill doubled. They sai m usage increased. True it did but not double. I don’t see how you can have 2 companies working for you and there is going to be a savings…It just doesn’t add up.
8 Jack // Nov 2, 2009 at 11:40 pm
IDT is terrible. u don’t need any other supply company. everyone who has idt ends up paying more money. just bc the sale’s tax might be waived, the supply rate is more, which leads to higher bills. idt is a big scam. the idt employee is the only 1 who left a positive comment. i wonder why?
9 We're Fighting Back // Dec 18, 2009 at 4:11 pm
My 17 year old daughter was given a job but when they abused her in the Jamaica Ave. office a lot was uncovered including how your bills do go up, how you cannot actually find a manager or Human Resources or any corporate information for IDT and that she was never supposed to be hired and therefore they will not pay her for the hours that she did work so far. We keep asking for the check and they keep ignoring our calls and hiding from us. Any suggestions?
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