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I've always made it policy that no one gives out any information about any types of equipment installed on our network. I've seen a lot of these types of scams, they also will call, always claiming to be from "the warehouse" or "facilities", asking about what types of light fixtures are in your office and bill exorbitant amounts for light bulbs.
Another useful trick I've found is to install a mid-sized copier/scanner/fax at each office location. Since the annual maintenance agreement typically covers the cost of toner (up to X pages/month) you don't have any invoices for toner and those that come across are fraud. (You can also tell the toner people you do this even if you don't to get them to stop calling).
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My way of dealing with them (at least in the UK) is quite simple.
Cases like this in the UK come under our civil courts system (That is none of this I have more lawyers than you horse s**t) One Judge listens to both sides of the story, goes off and consults the common law of the land and other judges, then comes back with a decision when he/she feels like it.
All the party's have to pay is a fixed fee to have the case heard.
So , I'll happily refuse to pay the invoice and invite them to take me to court if they believe they are in the right, many of them don't because they know that the judge will shoot it down.
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Bakery door opens:
Aye, yr hearth has a cozy smell this mornin' : what ye bakin', Old Man Pen ?
Well, if 'taint BugBeard himself fresh from the Spanish Main and doubloons jingle-janglin' in his tattered trousers !
That's "BlackBeard," matey !
Oh, sorry me good Sir, a slip o' the tongue, I assure Thee.
Aye, you should be sure, since aft a slip o' tongue like that 's gang agley to a slice o' the tongue that leaves a man ... mute.
Yes, Sir ! Would ye be havin' a pie today ?
Aye, I'll be havin' some of that what 'ere yr bakin' now ! How much for a pie o' tha' ?
Here 'tis, Sir, all warm, wrapped special as ye like, and that'll be a guinea, Sir.
A guinea ! What ye put in that pie: St. Elmo's Holy Toenail ? Gold dust ?
Nay, Sir, 'tis ants, the finest, sweetest, fattest, ants is 'ere been seen in these here parts. Yr tongue runnin' around yr chompers gnashin' on these ants ... well they'll feel like they're in a cinnamony heaven, Sir !
Well, aye, I got nary a bad feelin' 'bout ants, or the eatin' of 'em, and if they be tasties as ye say ... well, could be a rare pie, indeed ... but a guinea ? ... I could buy six shanghaied roustabouts ... or the high-sheriff's daughter ... for a guinea !
Sir, I suspect high-sheriff 'd give a guinea for ye to take Griselda aways 'cross the seven seas, and ne'er to see her humpback limping along the footpaths again !
Aye, perhaps, but do tell me true, now, why any pie 's 'ere worth a guinea.
I'm sorry, Sir, but, ye be a Pirate, and, well, these are the pie rates of Pen's ants.
Oh ... well ... bugger-all, Old Pen ... I'll take yr bloody pie, then.
Thankee, kind Sir !
«If you search in Google for 'no-one ever got fired for buying IBM:' the top-hit is the Wikipedia article on 'Fear, uncertainty and doubt'» What does that tell you about sanity in these times?
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Heck of a build up for a Gilbert and Sullivan reference! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Can someone get him his coat?
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Similarities between webmaster and hat-check girl; discuss.
Software Zen: delete this;
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... and it didn't even elicit a Griff Groan.
I'll make up for it <GROAN />
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
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Thank God it's atypical.
I'd hate to think they all spoke like that.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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You're all probably going to think I'm stupid for asking this, but as you probably all think that anyway I've nothing to lose.
But how does the Gas supply to your house work? Like I mean if I changed from British Gas to EDF today how does that physically work? I'm pretty sure that I haven't got a pipe that is connected direct to a British Gas plant that would be turned off and then EDF connect me up. I'm pretty sure I'd still be getting the Gas from the same facility, just I'd be paying someone else so how does this work?
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Follow the hoses attached to the rear of the nearby cows.
No ! ... not that way ... away from the cows !
«If you search in Google for 'no-one ever got fired for buying IBM:' the top-hit is the Wikipedia article on 'Fear, uncertainty and doubt'» What does that tell you about sanity in these times?
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Physically nothing changes, you use the same gas, you are just paying someone else for the administration of your account. It's all a load of rubbish designed to make us believe that we have choice in where our fuel comes from.
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What he said. I have a friend who brokers utility deals. It is just about pushing the money around. The gas all comes from the same place and is delivered via the same infrastructure (which, ultimately, the tax payer paid for).
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Yeah this was what I was driving at as being the case.
So what's stopping me from starting a company called PompeyGas and getting a share of the pie?
I expect it's because I didn't go to Eton and I'm not a friend of David Cameron.
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None, except you'd need to purchase gas forward under contract in order to get a good price from the supplier. These businesses make money on the "spread" between wholesale contract prices and what they can flog it to you for. They are absorbing part of the risk by predicting demand.
I'm not saying that there isn't some sort of shell game happening here, but it's how retail open markets for utilities work.
Now if you were a friend of David Cameron you'd no doubt say "that's free enterprise; it's good for the economy and jobs". I, like you, am not a friend of David Cameron! 
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
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I think it all comes from the same location, but you pay a utility to use it. If you don't pay anyone, then it gets shut off.
I know I am wrong on this, somewhere.
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Quote: I know I am wrong on this, somewhere.
That's OK. America is soft now. You still get a ribbon for participating.
Good job!! 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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RyanDev wrote: That's OK. America is soft now. You still get a ribbon for participating.
Awesome! 
Jeremy Falcon
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Does he get to chant USA! USA! USA! when he receives the ribbon?
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It is all the same gas, it is all the same network.
When you are 'switching' all you are doing is changing who is managing your supply/usage account, i.e. who reads your meter, who bills you and who takes the money.
Transco/National grid still own the network. Commodity suppliers then sell gas onto the market from the refineries etc.
Read this: http://www2.nationalgrid.com/UK/Our-company/Gas/[^]
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If I understand it correctly, National Grid manages the infrastructure up to the meter in your home. The company who bills you - Boiler Room Energy or whoever you use - pays National Grid for the energy it delivers to you and then charges a small mark-up [around 3.0e26%] for the privilege of being allowed to send you snotty letters because you failed to pay your bill even though they're charging you something akin to the cost of Bolivia's National Debt.
I do not like the Energy Companies. 
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: charges a small mark-up [around 3.0e26%]
That's too small, or am I just drunk? 
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What really riles me is this concept that you have to be proactive and switch the whole time. Why can't they just send me a bill for the number of KWhs I've used like in the old days. Or two, on-peak and off-peak if you like.
Instead there is an array of tariffs etc. designed to confuse and overcharge people. Why they don't legislate against this I have no idea.
I have a friend who received a letter saying he would have saved £800 in the last year if he had been on an alternative tariff (same provider). This is just daylight robbery!
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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Also, the meter is owned by your energy supplyer, BG or whoever. They are tasked with the safety of the meter and must inspect it every 2 years and replace it every 10 yesrs. Or thereabouts. When you change supplier, tadaa! The new supplier rents the existing meter from the original installer of the meter, as the meter ownership remains with the original supplier. This is all managed by a load of mainframes zapping messages between all the utility companies. To say its a dogs breakfast would be an understatement.
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