SUMMITT ENERGY: THE SCAM ARTISTS A.K.A RAY RICHER, MIKE SCOFIELD, BRANDI STEWART, RAY RICHER'S DAD Scam Artist, Won't pay emploees properly, Ray Richer is a fake millionaire who runs a cheesy business with his cheesey smile Ottawa Ontario

 
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 the 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

All of the comments made above are completely true. Being an ex-employee of the company I was able to see all of these events taking place from the inside. Ray Richer a man who says he makes over $200,000 a year is actually over $100,000 in debt to his father because he has no idea how to run a successful business.

The owners of Summitt energy are Russians who have been speculated to have connections with the Russian Mob. They bully him the same way he bullies his workers.

The typical day starts at 12 noon, workers meet for "class" typically a 2 hour droning from Mr. Richer himself, usually the same stories rotated every week. Minor details and numbers change every time the story is repeated, a sure sign that almost all of them are embellished or completely made up. Once class is over workers are driven out to various locations and knock doors until 9 at night.

During this time Mr. Richer and Mike Schofield are supposedly filing paper work and doing all sorts of behind the scenes work. This is certainly not true, after the workers leave there is actually very little work done behind the scenes.

Workers (including myself) were not paid for up to 4 weeks of work, some days being almost 12 hours in length. The job is supposed to be $10 and hour and commission based after you get yourself up to speed. Numerous employees never did get up to speed and were terminated.
If approached by any Summitt energy rep at your door, ask them to leave (politely please, I did actually do this job).

A tip as well, if you don't want to be bothered by future gas/hydro marketers, simply put a sign up in your front window stating that you have your gas/hydro supplied by Direct energy, Ontario Energy Savings, Summitt energy, etc... Unless the rep does not see the sign they will not knock on your door.

The most important thing is that you do not show them your hydro or gas bill. No matter how good the deal sounds it is just a way to charge you more for something you can get for less.

Think of a price protection program like insurance for your hydro and gas rates. You pay a premium to protect your prices against the CHANCE of them going up. If the rates do not go up then you pay more for the same service you could have got for less. If by some chance they do go up, you may save a very small amount of money.

Basically what I am trying to say is, stay away from Summitt energy and any other hydro/gas marketing company. Most importantly don't work there!