The Better Business Bureau of West Michigan is warning DTE Energy natural gas customers about alleged misrepresentations by solicitors.
WOOD-TV8 reports that, "The BBB says in one recent case the salespeople for Texas-based Direct Energy misrepresented themselves as DTE employees."
According to WJXQ, "A rep claiming to be from DTE would ask if there was a Gas Recovery Fee on the latest bill, saying that it was an error. The scammer would then take the bill to remove the charge and to get a refund, but the customer is instead switched to Direct Energy Services."
Direct Energy provided RetailEnergyX.com with the following statement:
"Direct Energy contracts with third-party vendors to provide door-to-door marketing services. We provide these vendor’s sales agents with Direct Energy-issued uniforms, name tags, and photo identification badges, in addition to mandatory training that complies with all state regulatory standards. We have the ability to track agents on any given day, along with conducting a separate third-party recorded verification at the point of sale.
"Unless we know about a specific incident at a particular address, we cannot confirm the accuracy of the allegations made by the BBB of Western Michigan. We take these matters very seriously, and will be following up to conduct further investigation."
