A warning from a concerned Inverell resident on the local buy-swap-sell page on the social medium Facebook provoked many comments from others.

The first resident said the salesperson knocked on his door despite the enlarged A4 size 'Do not knock' sign on his door. After his wife told the salesman to "get lost", the person went to the neighbour, who had to ask him several times to leave.

According to the resident the salesperson refused to show ID when asked for, and said all residents were paying 31 c/kW instead of the IPART pricing of 28 c/kW, something the resident argued on Facebook was not true.

The salesperson mentioned his name was Sen and that he worked for Simply Energy.

It is not clear whether the complaints are all in regards to that same person, or that there were several salesmen walking around, but according to the comments people in different areas were affected.

Ross Hill, Granville Street, Ross Street, Mansfield Street and Cameron Street were mentioned, and so was Glenn Innes. 

One resident warned others to be careful, as "once they have your details, they will sign you over without your consent," she said, adding that she had nothing but trouble trying to get back to her original suppliers.

Not just 'regular' energy companies seem to be using the door-to-door sales method as one resident was approached on his doorstep by a salesperson from Green Initiatives trying to sell solar panels.

Another resident raised the concern the doorknockers were not even affiliated with an actual energy company.

The person who posted the first warning said he'd rung Simply Energy to put in a complaint and that the company's spokesperson had said they did not have anyone by that name on their workforce.

Another resident said to know that Simply Energy contracted people "for this kind of work", so that they can 'honestly' say that they don't have them on the payroll.

Consumer Action Law Centre, Melbourne-based consumer advocacy organisation stated in a press release a while ago that they were aware of complaints about the sales techniques used by Simply Energy and Red Energy, including allegations that salespeople:

* refused to leave when asked;

* misled the residents about the purpose of their visit;

* door-knocked despite being listed on the retailer's "no contact" register;

* made it seem like they were from the Government; and

* switched energy accounts over without the account holder's permission.

The organisation said the complaints were fairly typical of the door-to-door industry as a whole.

"You'd be amazed at the amount of salespeople that begin their spiel with "I'm not here to sell you something". But it's safe to say that the overwhelming majority of people who knock on your door representing a business are there to make a sale," the release stated.

Residents that don't want salespeople knocking on their door can 'ask' energy retailers to put them on a 'no contact' list.

On the website 'Do Not Knock' this can be done for all retailers at once, by one mouse click.

To opt out on telemarketing, visit the website 'Do Not Call'.

The Australian Consumer and Competition commission is the 'place to be' for consumers to make a complaint or to find out more about consumers' rights.

To check the current residential regulated energy prices, visit the website of the Independent 

Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal: www.ipart.nsw.gov.au.

Website Do Not Knock: donotknock.org.au

Website Do Not Call: donotcall.gov.au