Pushy peddlers on the rise

Residents unhappy with the conduct of door-to-door salesmen are being urged to report concerns directly to the company they represent.

The approach is a favourite of power and telecommunications companies and appears to be on the rise.

Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner Judi Jones said the organisation had received about 20 complaints and queries in the past nine months, a rise from just four in the previous year.

"By the increase in complaints we know there must be a lot of activity going on in that area," she said.

Most complaints were about salesmen providing misleading or inaccurate information, said Jones.

Four were about unauthorised switches - where companies had cancelled people's contracts with other suppliers and signed them up without their consent - and one was about a salesman accused of pressuring an elderly person to change companies.

All complaints were referred to the companies, the names of which the commission doesn't disclose, and resolved.

The Door to Door Sales Act covers sales of goods and services where the seller has made the first approach.

It provides a seven-day cooling off period, giving consumers that time to cancel if they change their mind.

A company accused of making false or misleading claims can be investigated by the Commerce Commission and charged with breaching the Fair Trading Act.

In 2005, Empower, a subsidiary of Contact Energy, was fined $30,000 for misleading potential customers about prices through subcontracted door-to-door salesmen and making unauthorised switches.

"A business is responsible for anything its staff or agents say about a product or service they are selling, whether it's on the shop floor, over the phone or door-to-door," said a Commerce Commission spokeswoman.

"Businesses need to have systems in place to ensure they are not making any misrepresentations that could mislead or deceive a customer."

In the United Kingdom, new rules state door-to-door representatives of power companies must provide a written quote. One survey found eight out of 10 Brits approached by a door-to-door power company salesman described the experience as negative.

Dr Paul Pickering, senior lecturer in marketing and sales management at AUT University, said door-to-door selling was a high-risk approach.

"There is a danger the person who has been trained to go door-to-door - and sometimes they receive very little training - will give misinformation and claim benefits that aren't true.

"It can be seen as a bit low-end. If you're getting highly reputable companies getting in to that sort of marketing, you're dealing with the stigma of poor products and pushy sales reps and, even though you might have a good service, that's one hurdle you'll have to get over."

What top companies say

Louise Griffin of Contact Energy said: "Consumers want competition and door-to-door offers simply reflect an intensely competitive market, which is clearly in the best interests of consumers."

Contact appreciates door-to-door selling "may not suit everyone", said Griffin, but "the face-to-face approach is often appreciated as a way to interact and get better informed".

Marie Hosking of Mercury said "Mercury Energy does use door-to-door as a sales channel," but wouldn't comment further because "this is a commercially sensitive area of our business".

Paul Brislen of Vodafone said the company went door-to-door only in the parts of Auckland that could access its unbundled network.

Because one side of a street might have access and the other not, the door-to-door approach made sense, he said.

"We've had very positive feedback, for the most part," Brislen said.

"Customers like the idea of being in a special group.

"I don't think we've had any negative feedback at all."