Beware of illegal door-to-door salespeople

 

By Reed Clements

 

The Town of Whitecourt issued a cautionary press release this month regarding fraudulent door-to-door solicitors. According to the release, there have been a number of cases of salespeople attempting to sell water filtration products. However, these salespeople are violating a new Alberta law.

 

As of the beginning of 2017, it is now illegal to sell energy-related products door-to-door in Alberta. This law includes water filtration services.

 

Other services covered by the law are furnaces, energy contracts, water heaters, and air conditioners. The law even includes windows. The law came into existence to combat a province-wide problem with door-to-door solicitors pressuring residents into signing up for services they didn’t need, or couldn’t afford. There were over 1,000 such complaints to the government.

 

These salespeople, and the ones recently seen in Whitecourt, used high-pressure tactics, and the companies they represented often failed to cancel contracts on request. Often, the victims of these scams were seniors or people who lived alone.

 

Now, attempting to sell energy products door-to-door in the province can result in fines of up to $300,000, as well as up to two years in jail. Energy salespeople are still permitted to use telephone, email, and other advertising techniques to communicate their services to consumers.

 

If you feel you have been tricked or pressured into signing a contract you don’t want or need, be aware that you have certain rights under the province’s Fair Trading Act.

 

One important rule is the “10-day rule” regarding contracts. Anyone who has signed up for a contract has 10 days to cancel that contract, regardless of the reason. The supplier then has 15 days to refund any payment to the customer.

 

Under certain circumstances, a consumer can also cancel after the 10-day window, as detailed in section 28 of the Fair Trading Act.

 

Anyone who encounters these salespeople should call the consumer protection line at 1-877-427-4088, or file a complaint online.