Liberty Power Deceptive and unfair business practices Chicago, Illinois

My elderly mother was accosted by a clean cut, "nice" guy who assured her that she would be getting the lowest electricity rates if she signed up with Liberty Power. He asked to see the electricity bill so that he could prove that she was not getting the best rates at this time and that the variable electricity plan would cause her to put out more money than was necessary. Since these new, individual power companies are new to New York and consumers in general have little to no clue about the way electricity is supplied and priced, Liberty Power has trained its salesmen to take advantage of this fact. This guy promised that he would only take a few minutes if he could just come inside since he needed to make a call to his company. Instead he was in the apartment for about two hours, pushing tons of papers in her face for her to read and sign. She wanted me to handle it but he would not let her do so since her name was on the bill and he therefore was "not authorized" to talk to me. I had no choice but to stand to the side and try to see what was going on. When he left, we felt that we would be saving money on the bill.

Two months later, we have paid our very highest rates ever ever since my mother signed up with Liberty Power. When my mother called today to cancel, she was told that she would have to pay a $200 cancellation fee that cannot be waived under most circumstances. Explaining that the fee was never mentioned in the lengthy meeting and that it was simply overlooked did not help matters one bit. She got a condescending "pay up and shut up" type of attitude over the phone, along with the cancellation confirmation number. The "nice" sales guy had cleverly gotten her to sign up for the lengthiest contract so that the highest cancellation fee could be applied if she broke the contract early. I can understand a $50 or $75 fee, but $200? For what, exactly?  What these clowns don't realize is that they're hurting themselves when they do stuff like this. I'd rather stick with the regular energy supply company and not be hit with unnecessary fees. I'm sure that most would agree with me. I will never open my door to Liberty Power, or any such company ever again. Consumers, beware!