Two years ago, a sketchy sales guy came to my door when we lived in Calgary and conned my wife into signing up for an energy contract that would have cost us a bunch of extra money per year. When we read into the contract we immedietly called and cancelled the contract. I was steaming, and wrote a blog article about Alberta Energy Savings. A year and a half later and the blog article is in the top 10 search results when you search for the companies name. I’m sure when people are doing research about this company they see my blog post (and the many others as well). A tech/brand savvy company would join this conversation, try to change our minds, do some kind of damage control. Almost two years, I’ve heard nothing. But you can be sure people looking into this company hear from me through my blog.
There are over 40 comments on that article many are stories larger than the blog post it’s self. The page has become a place for people that are dissatisfied with this company (and some that think people who have been duped are somehow getting what they deserve) to share their feelings and stories. The good news is some of the comments are from people like me that realized what this company was about and had the contract voided before they were unwittingly stuck with insane energy prices. The power of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and social media (blogs) has helped many people (over 500 a month to that article alone) make informed decisions. (though somewhat one sided, my side)
It doesn’t take a web developer to do any of the stuff I describe above, it’s really quite simple. Note: it doesn’t have to be a complaint, happy news in my opinion is better reading…but hey, we have to write what we know right? Just happens when I complain it’s on subjects people are interested in…odd…
How can you make your voice heard?
1. A really easy place to start is with a free wordpress blog, write your articles use all the tags and categories they provide you with. This site uses wordpress though it’s not the free hosted version linked above.
2. Make sure your article (especially the title) contains the words you think people will use to search for your topic, repeat key words (in context, make it readable or people won’t read it).
3. Spread the word, post your blog post to Twitter, Facebook, email it to your friends with a little blurb about what the article says (if they are interested they will read it, if not they can delete it).
4. Wait, it takes time for content to show up in the rankings.
Increasingly the internet is being used by people to voice their opinions about subjects that are of interest to them, if there are people with the same interests, and your content is relevant your voice can be heard. These instructions are pretty basic, there is a lot more you can do to get your message out there. If you have questions on how you can get your voice heard I’d be happy to help.
October 9th, 2009 at 7:28 am
In spring of 2006 a boy came to my friends selling ALBERTA ENERGY SAVINGS
October 9th, 2009 at 7:57 am
In spring of 2006 a boy came to my friends selling Alberta Energy Savings lock in program. My boss had asked me to look into the program for him so I asked the kid for some information. He said I had to sign for it so I did. 9 months later my bosses home utilites come in my name. When I called, AES said I signed a contract, I told AES what happened and that I had witnesses to the fact. They still billed me a $2000 fee for walking away from a contract. I was not told I was signing a contract, I was lied to.
At the time Alberta Energy was in the news for saying an old had a contract with them – they said her husband had signed it – he had been dead for 8 years. The saleman was charged with fraud and this didn’t reflect on the company because the BBB has given them an A rating. HMMMMM I went to the utilities advocate in Alberta, who I thought worked this out. 2 years later I receive a bill from a collection agency for the $2000 contract penalty. There was never a contract!!!!! I put a claim through BBB only to find that they have done some kind of negotiation with AES and are giving them an A rating. Now isnt that deceiving for new customers. How can a company with 79 complaints in 36 months have an A rating???????????? I did some checking and couldnt find a similar type company with so many complaints. Companies like Atco Gas only have 2 complaints and a way bigger client base, or Enmax with only 6 complaints.
The fair trading act doesnt seem to reflect on them either, since I was never told I was signing a contract or the reprecussions of cancelling that contract, this agreement should be considered nul and void. AES has also refused to give me a copy of what I signed. I dont believe I signed a contract, if I did why did it take 9 months for them to transfer the utilites. I had never had utilites in that home in my name either.
I will fight this to the end, I was so glad I found this site and discovered there are alot of people with my same issue. Please if you can give me any places other than consumer advocate and BBB, I will try it. My next step is small claims, I hope a judge will put the fair trading act into play, but who knows this is a utility board.