The Massachusetts Attorney General said that Liberty Power is on the office's radar in response to a Fox 25 Boston story on the company and complaints, which included speaking with a contracted sales agent alleged to have formerly sold on behalf of Liberty.
Despite speaking with the agent, the story is actually scant on details, with specific allegations from the agent including disregarding no solicitation signs, and an allegation that the customer was not needed to complete a successful TPV and execute a switch. A separate complaint cited by Fox 25 alleges a Liberty rep represented themselves as from Nstar
"The story televised by Fox 25 does not paint a complete picture. In our discussions with the station, Liberty Power was informed that Fox 25 did surveillance of field sales agents selling on behalf of Liberty Power in the Boston area. Fox 25 noted that the agents did not enter any 'do not solicit' buildings. When the news station followed up with solicited residents they did not receive any negative feedback. In the televised report, it was noted that Liberty Power provided 'a lengthy statement' yet only a very small portion of that statement was included. The full Liberty Power statement provides more context and further demonstrates our commitment to sales quality. In addition to this statement, Liberty Power provided Fox 25 additional materials, including training videos which insists on best practices, such as not entering 'do not solicit' buildings and requiring that agents clearly represent themselves as a Liberty Power sales agent, and that they are not representing the utility. Liberty Power is providing our original formal statement to RetailEnergyX as well.
"Liberty Power is a company that has been built on a foundation of enduring relationships, each of which has been built one conversation, one interaction, one engagement at a time. Establishing this kind of company relies on a strong culture of accountability – which we define as 'doing what you say you will do, as you say you will do it.' Within this context, we set high standards of performance for ourselves which include, as a starting point, ensuring we are complying with all consumer protection rules in the markets we serve.
"We are privileged to have the opportunity to serve consumers in the State of Massachusetts, and we have been diligent in performing our obligations and ensuring full compliance with all Massachusetts consumer protection laws including the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act which strictly prohibits businesses from engaging in unfair or deceptive trade practices. Founded in 2001, Liberty Power is a licensed retail electricity supplier providing value to more than 200,000 accounts across 50 utilities, including small business owners, large Fortune 500 companies, and residential customers. Since entering the Massachusetts retail electric market in early 2007, the company has been and remains steadfast in its commitment to provide the Commonwealth’s electric consumers with exceptional customer service and an array of products designed to offer price and budget certainty all the while acting with integrity, building trust, and creating value for its customers. We’ve received numerous awards and recognitions for the service we provide to our customers, including most recently being ranked by JD Power and Associates as having the second highest overall residential customer satisfaction among retail electric providers in Illinois.
"In the fall of 2014, Liberty Power began offering services to Massachusetts residential consumers for the first time. Our marketing efforts included (but were not limited to) a residential field sales program using independent, third-party, sales channels who employ residents of the state of Massachusetts. Over the years, the company has made significant investments in our sales quality controls and processes, developing a 'Best in Class' program that goes well beyond what is required by regulation. Before a third-party channel begins selling on our behalf, they receive in-depth market-specific training from a certified Liberty Power trainer, and must sign and adhere to our Zero Tolerance Policy and Code of Conduct. All agents go through background screening before being allowed to join the sales program. Our quality assurance process continues beyond the sales visit, and includes calling customers after the sales agent has left the premises to confirm they had a good sales experience, confirming their desire to sign up with Liberty Power and that they understand Liberty Power is an independent supplier, and not the utility.
"We take many steps to ensure customers understand our products and services, but we understand that electricity choice is still a new concept for many. The lack of familiarity with electricity shopping can sometimes lead to confusion which may lead to a complaint. Despite our strong quality program, we have had a small number of cases where an agent has represented our product or company in a way that is not consistent with our training. Those cases are quickly identified through our quality assurance programs and the agent is immediately removed from our program. No matter what the customer’s reason may be for deciding that the Liberty Power program is not right for them, we are quick to honor their requests. We understand that the Attorney General’s office provided Fox 25 with a number of complaints, but not Liberty Power’s responses to those complaints, which does not demonstrate how we handle complaints and our level of our responsiveness.
"We swiftly and thoroughly respond to all complaints. There are unfortunately, on rare occasion, verified complaints. In these instances we take strong disciplinary action. The company has a zero-tolerance policy [which we provided to Fox 25] where a single confirmed complaint results in the sales agent being removed from the Liberty Power campaign. Since we began our Massachusetts residential door-to-door program in 2014, (over the course of our program) we have permanently removed 17 sales agents from the campaign due to complaints and have also imposed fines on the third party sales channels that have agents in violation of our policies.
"Liberty Power currently services tens of thousands of residential accounts in Massachusetts. Based on our records, Liberty Power’s substantiated complaints as a ratio to our sales in Massachusetts is extremely small – less than four per 10,000. We stand behind our commitment to excellence in customer service, our quality assurance processes, and the performance of our agents in the field."
