Possible Scam - Government Energy Efficiency Service

A local Home Watch coordinator has recently brought my attention to a scam that she has been made aware of by a friend. At this time it is important to note that this scam has not been reported in the Crewe or Nantwich area and I have had this confirmed by a local Trading Standards Officer. Thus far, the scam seems to have been reported in the Penketh & Sankey areas of Warrington in the North of the county and Trading Standards are aware of this in that area. These scams can migrate as companies often target a batch of postcodes and as it has already reached Cheshire it seems sensible to forewarn our local coordinators so that members can be prepared should they receive a call from this company in the future and also know to report any contact to trading standards.

Thankfully, the individual approached in the reported incident did not buy anything and asked the company to leave. Upon speaking to some neighbours it seems that other people in their area had also been approached by the company. However the company seem to be using several pressure selling tactic such as arranging a short appointment and staying a long time, urging people to make a snap decision to sign up to a deal on the spot otherwise they won't get the deal, pushing for more and more items to be bought / looked at during their time at a persons property.

As always please urge members never to buy any goods and services from the door or telephone. Often telephone companies try and arrange a follow up appointment with the householder on an initial phone call - by doing this they are no longer cold calling as you have made an appointment to invite them into your home. If you require any goods and services source them yourself by finding several quotations, taking recommendations from friends/family and finding accredited companies to carry out the work.

If anyone has any contact from this company please make Trading Standards (Consumer Direct) aware via 08454 04 05 06.

Regards

Home Watch Desk

The information has been reported to me as follows:

One of our members got a call from a company who said they were 'The Government Energy Efficiency Service' They talked about the ways in which a property could be made more energy efficient and asked if they could call and see her, she agreed. They said the visit would take about 45 minutes but in fact was getting on for 2 hours.

Throughout the visit they kept insisting that the energy efficiency could be improved and thereby the value of the house would increase etc and that they could coat the windows, replace a couple of blown double glazed units and insulate the loft for £4,000 which was a very much discounted figure as a result of a government grant they could provide. HOWEVER the deal had to be done that day or the grant would not be available.

It would appear that they are targeting older people who after two hours of being put under pressure may well sign a lot of money away.

What we can tell you is that the man who calls you in the first place is likely to be called John and the lady who visited in this instance is called Sue Horton. It is believed that the company come from the Preston area.