Ardent Natural Gas LLC
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Victim Location 49009
Type of a scam Utility
A woman came to my door in a Consumers Energy polo, with a Consumers Energy lanyard, claiming to be from Consumers Energy. She proceeded to explain that ‘people in our neighborhood’ were being overcharged for energy, and ‘would I mind showing her my bill’ so that she could confirm this. I explained that my bill was electronic, and she instructed me to bring it up on my laptop.
She insisted on standing inside my apartment (without a mask, in the middle of a pandemic) and waited for me to do this, while remarking that ‘I seemed surprised to see her,’ to which I responded that no one had ever been by to check our bill for this. She said this was very surprising, and that someone should be out bi-monthly to do so, but that since people move in and out of the apartments I live in, we must have been lost in the shuffle.
I would also like to note that she had a clipboard with her which deliberately covered the ‘Ardent Natural Gas’ logo on her contract, which was also not presented to me as a contract, but just as a simple form indicating she had been by to check our bill. I don’t even think the form I signed was the same one which I received a copy of (attached), because the words ‘contract’ and ‘switch providers’ would have been a red flag for me.
I can only assume that she pulled my account info off the bill I showed her, and made the switch without my approval, because a few days later, I received a notice that my gas provider had been switched. Since the apartments I live in often switch management companies, I assumed it was a formality of some sort indicating they had switched gas providers as a whole. I didn’t think anything of it until my partner found the copy of the form I signed (which she folded immediately, again stopping me from seeing the red flag of the ‘Ardent Natural Gas’ logo) and asked what it was. When I couldn’t explain, I put the pieces together.
Again, this woman definitely presented herself as an employee of Consumers Energy, down to the polo and lanyard, and never mentioned anything about Ardent Gas, a contract, or anything of that nature.
In doing some online research, I was able to find several stories on Reddit about this company doing the same thing throughout Michigan (I live in West Michigan, and they are an East Michigan-based company.) It seems they often use similar ruses to trick low-income people into switching gas providers, but often they don’t seem to lie as much as this, as many people reported a ‘thinly veiled pitch’ to switch companies. There was no pitch. This was an entire string of lies told to me by someone who came into my house, endangered my safety by not wearing a protective mask, and lied to my face, telling me she was fixing an error her own company had made.
Additionally, when she did look at my gas bill, she claimed we ‘weren’t really being overcharged that much,’ but still took down my information. So, it wasn’t even a ‘too good to be true’ situation, where the scammer claims to be saving you a ton of money.
Finally, although my energy bill has not gone up drastically yet, what is really concerning is that the contract I was tricked into signing has a $100 cancellation fee if I cancel the account before 12 months are up. As I am moving within two months, and am currently unemployed due to Covid-19, I do not want to throw away $100 on a scam like this, and I’m guessing it will hurt my credit if I refuse to pay. Whoever runs this company is a legit criminal, and I will pursue legal action regardless of cost, assuming I am unable to get out of the contract without paying the cancellation fee.
Victim Location 48838
Type of a scam Utility
Like all the other complaints against this company listed on the BOB’s site, the Ardent rep indicated he was working under contract for DTE, following up on reports of billing errors. Never once did he even hint that he had anything to do with a DTE competitor, only that he was working for them to correct an error. After reading all the similar previous complaints against this company, I am very concerned that the ScamPulse.com continues to give them an A+ rating!
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