Business & Tech

You'll Get a Charge Out of This Telemarketing Tale

Here's what happens when the state official in charge of buying electric power gets a call from one of the "cheaper" competitors in the deregulated energy market.

Written by Corey Fyke
So a salesman calls you up and wants to pitch you cheaper energy rates. But what he doesn't know is that you're a state official in charge of buying power from the electric companies for half the people in the state.

Sounds like a "Funny or Die" sendup, right? But this exact scenario played out recently, according to a report in the Hartford Courant.

Jeffrey Gaudiosi, the state's "power procurement manager" since January 2012, received a call from a sales representative from Starion Energy Friday evening. 

And of course, hilarity ensued. Like a cat toying with a mouse, because, as Courant reporter Brian Dowling wrote, Gaudiosi "might be the worst person to call if you are selling electricity and don't have your facts straight."

At first, Gaudiosi played it coy and gathered information from the rep, some of which was sketchy on the verge of being inaccurate. Eventually, he admitted who he was and asked some more questions before getting the old hangup.

In the end, he sent a letter to Starion expressing concern about the sales tactics. And he cc'ed his agency, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Check out Dowling's story ... it's an interesting read with full details of Gaudiosi's conversation.


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