Complaint Review: Summitt Energy Ottawa - Ottawa Ontario

Nela, I can't help the fact that you were so taken in by Mr. Ray Richer Jr's false charm that you felt the need to come to his defense, but I assure you, he's a big boy and can defend himself.  The fact that he hasn't said anything to contradict these accusations is directly related to the fact that he knows they are true.

I can support your argument about proper sales techniques and good sales people etc. . . and I can even support your assertion that back in the Direct Energy days when Brandi, Ray, Skofe etc. . . all worked for Mithra, things were great. They were done by the book, bad sales techniques and aggressive salespeople were not tolerated, and it was a positive work environment within which motivated people were making good money and the offers at the time were actually saving people money.

Fast forward to the more recent situation that people have been griping about with Summitt Energt with a company run by Mr Richer and it's a completely different story.  The fact that Ray borrowed so much money from his Daddy and all the pressure was on him changed his from the man you knew and thrived under into an evil, greedy, deceptive person who would do ANYTHING to make his precious business work.  He even screwed over his business partner who was the guy the whole sales team was there to follow while I worked there.

I won't deny that you, personally, may have had a great experience working under Ray in Mithra's business, Nela, but for you to deny that others, much more recently DIDN't have a terrible one under the rule of the tyrant Ray became, is misguided and insensitive.  You can't frame somebody else's truth with the truth of your own past experience, that's just not the way the world works. People change and you never know what someone will do under pressure they can't handle.

While with Summitt Energy, Ray conned people in with a false representation of the business, with false promises like hourly wages which he NEVER paid to ANY of them, and then once he forced out his partner and things began to collapse, he turned really ugly, especially once rumours started spreading that Brandi had cheated on him with two of the salespeople.  He used everyone and ended up not being able to pay them for their work. He even drove people around in unsafe vehicles with nothing but a G1 for awhile.  I just can't possibly explain the depths to which this man sank before he closed up shop and ran away from his problems.

Anyway, that's my piece.  Peace.    

 

The comments on here regarding Summit Energy, Direct Energy, and Ray Richer and the rest of the team are completely unfounded. The comments on here are written by upset former contractors who NEVER LISTENED FULLY and never took the time to actually investigate the offer, situation, and promises on their own. All they heard was “come one, come all, easy money to be had here!”- which was never actually promised. Yes, some of the contractors made six figures yearly, most made about minimum wage.

Those that made the large sums are ALSO the ones who practised proper sales techniques and were extremely upset when “the new kids” did whatever they could to try to trick people into contracts in order to attempt to get sales that they were unable to get through honest work. This was NEVER encouraged by Ray – and actually, when he did find a contractor who was misrepresenting information or being rude or aggressive with clients, he ensured that that person was no longer working. (Please note however that it is extremely difficult to track all independent agents regularly, so not all can be caught, which is why there are so many upset (former) clients of energy contracts. This comes down to human nature and dishonest individuals seeking “easy jobs without a boss.”)

I spent one summer working for Ray as an independent contractor and I can without a doubt say that not only is the gas/electricity contract system NOT a scam WHATSOEVER, but also that I have learnt so much from the job that has helped me both in other jobs as well as in life. I came into the job as an extremely shy first year undergraduate university student with a lack of work experience, and am now a graduate student in international affairs working two jobs, one in sales, another in development, and pursuing a career in the public service.

From this job, and Ray Richer in particular, I have not only gained excellent sales skills that have helped me in other jobs and job interviews, but have gained confidence to deal with any situation I am faced with. I have learnt how not to be taken advantage of, how to negotiate effectively, and how to communicate in ways to get people to really listen to you. I have never practised dishonest sales techniques, and can for a fact say that all of the agents around me were the same. We did not make a ton of cash (which as I mentioned above was never promised), but we all learnt extremely valuable skills, I have personally learned more from this job than from any other life experience. Plus, how many people can say that they can sell you a pen cap or used gum? ;)

To all these people writing negative comments; how about instead of complaining that you did not get free money you never worked for (aka all of you who claim you're working while chilling somewhere hoping not to get caught), that you actually do work? It's not an easy job, and rewards are directly correlated to effort put in.

Lastly, so many studies have shown that when people are unhappy with a situation they will tell far more people than when they are pleased. Numbers vary between double and four times more depending on the study and the form of communication, so most comments on this website are:

1. unsubstantiated by former independent contractors who are upset because they neither listened fully, nor were able to communicate information properly and honestly in ways that clients welcome, and

2. upset clients who were treated unfairly by the aforementioned contractors.

Happy clients (who did actually save between 500-1000$ per 5 year contract while I was employed) and pleased former employees have no personal incentive to post their experiences. From personal experience, there are definitely more positive cases than negatives, both with former employees and clients. I have talked to plenty of people who were already signed up when I came to see them, and they were saving money and telling their neighbours to get on the plan.

I admit, it wasn't easy to make money, but in no way was the job a scam. Ray, Brandi, Mithra, Skoffe and the others in the office were fantastic when I was there.

- Nela Grebovic

I am in fact an independent contractor and sales manager with Summitt Energy. I also operate in Ottawa. I do not know Ray or his manager personally but have heard similar tales from an individual I have run into twice now, while working. I think it is unfair to fit everyone who works in the industry into one box as you somewhat have. I have been with Summitt Energy now for about 6 months, before which I worked for another fixed rate and green energy provider. From what I have experienced in that time I can say that Summitt is by far one of the most agent friendly, honest companies out there. Our head office works hard to make sure they follow the guidelines set out by the OEB (Ontario Energy Board) and just recently we all went through compliance testing (which I scored 100% on) set out by the OEA (Ontario Energy Association) which is a group composed of suppliers like and including us, which was created to self-regulate the profession. As for pay that should have been made very clear to you upon training and the structure set out. If so you would be aware of the contract reaffirmation process and pending process. It is all a commission based, piecework structure and not all contracts affirm right away, also more are lost to changed minds and customers already registered with a fixed rate which cannot be processed and are canceled, with no pay being issued of course. I have never had problems being paid for contracts which pass all affirmation processes. As for Mr. Richer and his operation, he works as an independent as well and as the regional manager is responsible for his own pay structure for agents working with him. In no way are any of the agents working with me, or that I manage taught to misrepresent themselves in any way, and are only taught how to efficiently and professionally inform customers on the market in which we find ourselves and their options within that realm when it comes to controlling costs and offsetting carbon emissions and the like. In no way do I misrepresent myself at anytime and I take pride in my professionalism. As for me, in the last year I have used my career to change a lot of aspects of my life that were lacking. I had no vehicle as of 2 yrs ago, now I own (as in paid off in full) 2 vans, one of which I rent to my assistants for a low fee. I have over 11,000 saved in RRSPS, and I am virtually debt free, where as 2 years ago I was far into debt, more than 8,000. I get to travel as well, not only for business, but I also have three, one week vacations a year, free when I qualify (and I always do). I was in Cabo San Lucas in April and November. In 7 days I will be in Montego Bay, Jamaica, with my girlfriend and one of my best friends (also my assistant manager) for a week, and in late August I am off to the south of Spain. All at 5 star resorts and all thanks to Summitt and some hard work on my end. Working in the field I do has made me a more open and social person as well. I have found strengths inside myself I never would have thought possible only 2 years ago. Well that was long winded but I just thought I would share my perspective on your post and although I don't believe you have no right to be angry, I feel it may be slightly misdirected if it is to suggest some misdoing by, in my opinion a fair and honest company, based on the actions of a "bad agent". I have no great amount of personal experience with any facts surrounding the case in which you talk about, so I feel unqualified to comment directly on that experience, but as for Summitt Energy as a company I do and have obviously made those opinions clear. Thanks for listening, any comments can be emailed to me directly at [email protected]

Ray Richer is not longer associated with Summitt Energy in any form what so ever.

I work at the Summitt Energy head office in Mississauga, Ontario where we recieve any general inquiry or cancellation calls. I work as the Quality Assurance and I review a large number of reaffirmation calls per day. I don't deny the claims you are making about the manager there not paying out, however, the claims you make about how they provide incorrect information to provide to the customers should not be blamed solely on the company. If you know that they are incorrect practices and false information and that you are completely aware that the agreement is an actual contract, why not take the correct information and sell that to the customer? It's just common sense. If you feel you, as the agent, is being misinformed, why pass that information off to the customer? Even when I worked as a CSR, I received several calls a day that was based on how rude or pushy the agent was at the door, or how they did these unimaginable things while on their property. Some customers, when they found out what the program was from the CSR, they were actually quite pleased with what it was, however, they did not want to be associated with a company that had such "bad agents" going door to door. It's embarrassing it be apologizing for something a "bad agent" had said or done, because rudeness or lying is not something that can be trained to someone.

As a ex employee of Summitt Energy I'm gonna tell you what they did to us and how they will do it to you. First off they claim your a "independent contractor" however the laws follow, you are not a independent Contractor when: 1. The company drives the employee(s) to and from the job location. 2. When they tell you, you have to work 5 days a week and if u miss one day u have to make it up on the weekend. 3. They give you a weekly salary or like they put it a "draw" I was working for summitt Energy for about 3 months. I really liked it there. They were nice people and we had alots of fun. However in the bottom of my heart I knew they were giving us faulse information to give to the customers. Ray Richer and Mike Scofield would makes us sell our pitch in front of the class. They gave us ways to muniplate the customers in signing what they call a "call back form" However many times I would go to a house and only to find a customer that was very upset. Customers in the Ottawa area said they signed the "call back form" but they never got a call back and they were on the plan with higher Hydro and Gas bills then they ever had before. There was one family that I really felt bad for. They were from India and had 5 kids. They were not making very much money and one of the agents for Summitt Energy said to them " don't worry will call you back, there is no committment today we just want you to think about your options". The family belived them and before they knew it there hyro and gas bills were almost at double of what they were before and they felt realyl cheated and used. This was one example of many that I have incountered. Summitt Energy is not a good company because they lie to there customers and employee(s) and they also don't pay us what they said they would pay which is $450 a week tax free. Myself and thirteen other ex employees were left behind while two car groups left to go to work. Ray Richer brought each of us in his office one by one giving us excuses why he would not pay us. Mr. Richer told me that "he was being charged administration fees and could not pay us the $450 for the last week we worked" he also said that myself and the thirteen of us were now all on commisson and he will not pay us the last week we worked. Mr. Richer owes us 4 weeks of pay which includes 3 weeks of training that they never payed us for and the last week we were cheated out of which comes to $1900.00. I feel so used and abused that it makes me sick to my stomach that a company would post job posting on www.jobbank.ca then only screw us out of money. When I was booted out of his office I grabbed my contract for one of the secretaries. I later came back into the office to tell Ray how i felt about what he just did. I was then approched by Brandi Stewart whom was Ray Richers ex fling. She asked me in a very rude way "Do you have an appointment"? I said I was here since 11:30 and waited 6 hours to be brought into ray Richers office. She was like "this is my office and I'm gonna ask u to leave and call and make an appointment" This is the way they treat people. The other articles about Summitt Energy is true. They will take advantage of you and will not give you the money that u are owed. Also they make so many promisses to only have them break them. Please if you are offered a job for this company do not take it. Do your research and be cautious because they will screw you over. P.S Ray Richer is NOT a millionaire his dad is, he gets all of his money from his daddy. Now if Mr. Ray Richer or Mike Scofield is reading this. Myself and everyone else u screwed over have came togather to fight for what we are owed. We have gone to the Labourer board and we will get what you owe us. Please do the right thing and be a man and give us what we are owed.

As a part of the administration team here at Summitt Energy, I have seen a fair share of people fail at this business. Laziness and unwillingness to persevere are only few of the main causes of this lack of success. It s a well know fact that all of our agents are independent contractors. Summitt Energy does not have employees. Even I, as an administrative assistant, am independent and well capable of managing my own taxes. Commission based pay is also a fairly simple process that pays you based on deals you make. Of course these deals have to be of at least minimal quality because they are only paid on when they turn into a sale, and they only do so once they are reaffirmed by the customers. I guess the point here is take the time to read the contract you sign once you are hired (or contracted), listen carefully during you training and there should be no confusion.

While I do not deny your experiences, I do find it odd that you took it upon yourself to compose two separate complaints. I was recently offered a job at the Toronto/North York office, and will probably turn it down because I have enough 'low end sales' experience on my resume and wish to move up in the sales/marketing/customer service food chain. However the person I met with seemed very professional and nice, and the office appeared quite professional as well (the secretary was a cutie too, but don't tell my girlfriend lol :P). Having not worked for this company, I cannot confirm or deny your experiences. To anyone who may be offered a position with this company, assuming you have a secondary source of income (ie: parents), give it a try and see what happens. I was told the average I'd be making would be $50,000 per year through sales and that there are employees making $100,000. If it works out, great. If not, look for another job but at least now you can say you have sales experience on your resume (fantastic asset).