Dishonest doorstep tactics discovered
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Watchdog has discovered that doorstep sellers working on behalf of one of Britain's largest energy companies are still lying and mis-selling to people, even though the company was exposed for doing exactly the same thing in 2005.
Southern Electric is part of the UK's second-largest energy company, Scottish and Southern Energy. It has 8.8 million customers and, in common with other gas and electricity companies, uses doorstep sellers to encourage homeowners to switch.
Out of date
Rebecca Bomers was visited by a Southern Electric salesman in July 2008. He told her that, if she signed up, prices would be fixed until 2010. When Rebecca called Southern Electric a few days later to check that she'd been given the right information, she was told that the contract and leaflets she'd been given were out of date and the offer no longer existed.
Lorraine Fordham's mother Jean is in the early stages of dementia but lives by herself. This summer she was signed up by a salesman from Southern Electric, thinking he was from her own energy company. After cancelling the contract and putting an A4 card on her door saying "no cold callers" she thought that was the end of it. But a second salesperson called and she was signed up again.
A member of the company's staff spoke to us and said he was very concerned about how Southern Electric managers train employees to use "tricks" to get into people's homes. He believed that vulnerable people were being misled.
When Watchdog last featured Southern Electric, in November 2005, sales staff employed by an outside company were also misleading customers and lying to them when inside their homes. This time around the staff are employed directly by Southern Electric.
Sales pitch
Watchdog secretly filmed an area sales manager in London trying to convince someone to switch. He never introduced himself as working for Southern Electric and denied that he was there to sell anything. During his sales pitch he breached seven separate parts of the energy industry code of practice for doorstep selling and breached the company's licence conditions twice.
Watchdog showed its findings to Robert Hammond of Consumer Focus, who said he found the footage "appalling".
Southern Electric told Watchdog that it doestn't tolerate mis-selling of any kind, that it will conduct a full investigation and that it has suspended the salesman secretly filmed pending this investigation. It says that over the past three years it has reviewed and improved all areas of its direct sales training and processes and claim that it now has the lowest level of complaints about direct sellers in the energy industry. It says that if anyone is concerned or unclear following a visit by a Southern Electric salesperson they can call the company on 0800 048 3518.
Here are some tips on dealing with doorstep sellers from energy companies:
- Don't be pressurised into signing anything if someone calls at the door. Ask for some information which you can read at your own pace in your own time. Offers are rarely for "today only".
- You have seven days to cancel any contract you signed from a doorstep seller. The salesperson should inform you of this.
- Under the EnergySure Code of Conduct, if you ask a doorstep seller from an energy company to leave they must do so and must end the discussion.
- If you tell them it's inconvenient, unwelcome or inappropriate, they're required by the same code of conduct to leave.
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I WORK FOR SOUTHERN ELECTRIC AND NOT ALL ENERGY ADVISORS ARE THE SAME I DO NOT LIE TO ANY OF THE CUSTOMERS I TALK TOO AND THEY ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO CHANGE BILL SUPPLIER BECAUSE THAT IS ALL THEY ARE DOING
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There is plenty of advice on changing suppliers but this advice is meaningless for the millions of people who are ill-equipped to do the research. We all pay Council Tax. Energy supply prices depend on location.
I believe that all Councils should be OBLIGED to pass details of the cheapest energy suppliers in their areas to their residents.
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They came around my house claiming to upgrade my meter tarrif and save me money.I said I was with EDF and the sales guy said not a problem we would invoice them and they would invoice me with the savings no need to change from them.
All I had to do was sign the form and he would take care of the rest.
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I was approached by a Scottish Power rep at home, who introduced himself by saying he was looking for suspicious characters in the area, unlike himself, who were selling unscrupulous power contracts. I made a formal complaint to Consumer Direct, Trading Standards and Ofgem. [Personal details removed by Moderator]He asked me to contact him directly if I heard any future problems with his sales teams so that he could resolve the problem "at source". This would keep it out of the public domain, of course, so I kept the details for future refernce.
[personal details removed by moderator]
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As someone who works in the industry in the capacity of a door to door seller I am appalled by the actions of Southern Electric.
It is totally forbidden to either miss-sell or miss-quote a customer for any reason.
It is difficult enough to do this job without things being made worse by the actions of some unscrupulous companies.
Believe me - I come across examples of this every day and it is extremely frustrating! I could tell you some stories...
All it serves to do is paint a very poor picture of consultants like myself who work very hard (for long hours) and are passionate about the company they represent.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Back in May of this year, a rep from Southern Electric "encouraged" my 89 year old aunt and uncle (both housebound) to change from EDF to Southern Electric.
This was on the basis of him telling them that all their neighbours had signed-up. Also, they would make considerable savings.
Amazing considering their monthly DD amount was not going to change.
I managed to get this contract cancelled after several phone calls to their Head Office.
[Personal details removed by Moderator]
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I was visited by the Southern Electric Salesman. I invited him in but he would not let me take a close look at his figures and when questioned I discovered he was comparing his net figures with my discounted rates (after DD discounts & dual fuel). When I said I wanted to look more closely at the figures as I was an accountant he could not leave fast enough, if he could have climbed through the window to escape he would have done so!
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My name is Keiron and i also work for Southern Electric doing the same job,however me and my team are proud of the fact that we dont lie like that idiot,and for an ASM to be like that should also mean that the branch manager is at fault too.Most of us do our job by the guidelines but it only takes one to stuff it up for everyone,Me and our team are very proffesional and have never had a complaint yet.Please people dont let this one fool affect the way you look at us all.
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It is not just Southern Electric - I moved house this year and have a pre-pay electricity meter which NPower would not change to a standard meter.
I was persuaded to change to Eon as I was told by the sales person that they would change my pre-pay meter to a standard meter as soon as I switched.. when the switch was confirmed I called customer services to be told that I must be an Eon customer for a year before they will consider changing my meter.
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Regarding your interesting programme this evening about S/Electric which I have recently changed to by a door to door salesman and the change went through ok although about 4 Saturdays ago I had an engineer from S/Electric turn up at my door without any prior knowledge (no letter, no phone call) to say he was going to come into my home to change my meter which I thought was a bit strange, he had a uniform on and drove a S/Electric van and I said to him "what does the meter look like?" and he went and got one out of his van as I didn't know anything about this I refused to let him in and advised him that S/Electric would need to contact me to let me know why I have to change my meter he said "if I don't let him in to fit this meter then S/Electric will force entry into my home to be able to fit it.
He left some written information with me and told me to ring the number on the paperwork, which I haven't done.
Do you know if meter changes have to be done by S/Electric or in general?
Because if this is not necessary then I don't want an engineer to come into my home and do unneccessary work and if this work doesn't need to be done then I am going to change from S/Electric, one last thing if they do change the meter then does that mean I'll be charged more?
If you could reply I would be grateful, thank you.
Great programme, so glad I watched it tonight.
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4-5 months ago a man from Southern Electric called to the door. He initially said he was here to read the meter. He then proceeded to ask me if I was aware of recent billing mistakes for our area and that we are probably owed money.
I realised that his clipboard had a list of addresses but that he had the name of a previous occupant for my address. I found this suspicious and pointed this out to him.
He then asked to see an energy bill. I told him I didn't know where my husband kept the statements. He then left without reading the meter.
At the time I was pregnant and home alone. As soon as I realised that this guy was not trustworthy (from his list) I was worried about what his motives were. I felt vulnerable. My initial concern was that he was trying to enter the house to steal or attack me, and therefore I definitely wasn't going to turn my back on him to seek out any statements etc. After he left I wondered whether he was perhaps looking for personal information from the statement to use for identity fraud or for some scam. I considered calling the police in case other people might be at risk in the area but I phoned our own energy supplier first. They informed me that it was simply a sales tactic of some energy suppliers.
This made me quite angry as not only is it dishonest, but the underhandedness made me feel unsafe.
My husband,seeing how the experience had upset me, phoned Southern Electric to complain. He requested a letter of acknowledgment to confirm that the complaint had been taken seriously. He was assured that we would get one but it never arrived. Moreover, another salesman from Southern Electric called about 2 months later.
Finally, I wish say that ordinarily I am quite confident and not usually the sort of person to feel overly threatened or anxious. I seldom complain about anything (even when I should!)The reason this incident made me feel unsafe is because it never crossed my mind that any legitimate energy company would use these underhanded tactics, so naturally I was concerned that there was something more sinister going on.
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i dont think that the vt watchdog have shown is fair, not all doorstep sellers are out there to lie, just because one man did, does that really mean thousands of them do?
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I work for Southern Electric and have done so for nearly 4 years knocking doors and running a team of sales people.
It really upsets me to see that there are still some agents who have a complete lack of respect for the rest of us that really love our job and the people that we meet on a daily basis.
I don't think that you as the public actually realise what an impact you have on some of us so please DO NOT tar us with the same brush and treat us like we are beneath you.
I feel i need to say sorry to everyone that has ever had a bad experience with one of our agents.
Please do not be put off Southern Electric because of a few bad agents.
Thanks
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Hi all, i think the best one from southern reps at this time is that " there price's are coming down in jan, so you do not need the price fix you are on now".My wife was told by one, that there cheaper than who i am with! did not ask about what we have as i priced fix along time ago there is NO way there cheaper as my price is on a 2006 tariff and will be until 2010.
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I had a salesman knock at my door in Aldershot telling me that i qualified for a military discount and could reduce both gas and electric direct debits by £10 per month each. Southern Electric later informed me, after increasing my direct debits by 200%, that there is no such military discount.
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Having watched this about Southern Electric I called my mom to watch, she had been caught by their salesman and he had troubled her to find her bank book so he could take the details of it for a direct debit set up. Needless to say she has now gone back to British Gas but it has caused so much hassle!
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I work for British gas in an outbound customer retention department, some of the other companies have been telling customers we buy our gas off them, their meters are on the wrong tariff, we have standing charges and we are not British. We are regularly referred to as the middle man and people are just being told to buy their gas directly from the mail supplier. with all companies ours included you will always have a few rogue reps especially if they are being paid on a commission basis.
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I work for a rival energy company (who will remain nameless) in outbound telesales. My colleagues and myself have spoken to Southern customers who have been won over by door to door salesmen. Among the the techniques I have heard used are that Southern supply other companies for energy (therefore a switch would see the 'middleman' being cut out) and reducing monthly direct debit amounts knowing that the customer would lapse into debt. This sort of behaviour gives us all a bad name and should be punished accordingly.
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live i Wokingham and exactly the same script was used on me. I thought nothing was wrong at the time and signed up about 2 months ago. Now I am worried that I may be facing dearer, rather than cheaper bills. What can I do now as I am out of the 7 day 'cooling' of period? can I move to another supplier or back to my old one?
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I think generally SSE have been trying very hard to change the way their sales people are seen. For example not signing people up who are over a certain ages without a 3rd party. 1 Manager in 1 area is not a fair representation of the company as a whole!
And was the incident in Nov 05 concerning AGENCY salesmen? which I believe SSE no longer uses.
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Mr Taylor.....I am absolutely certain that there are very similar tales concerning your "nameless" energy company. I was told I could save a substantial amount by an energy Telesalesman. Even though he couldn't/wouldn't give me the unit rate!
We have even been billed by another company for 6 months of gas....which we don't have!!
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I live in a small housing association block of nine flats, many of which are occupied by elderly widows.
Last Tuesday (4th Nov’) I answered the external intercom to be greeted by these exact words: ‘Hello sir, it’s the electricity. Can you let me in please?’
Assuming he’d come to read the meter, when I opened my own front door to him I indicated the meter cabinet.
At this he said “No I haven’t come to read your meter, I’ve come to discuss your energy supply. May I ask who your current gas and electricity suppliers are?”
I told him that it was none of his business. He went on to knock on the doors of all the other flats.
I noticed that he was wearing a sweatshirt with a ‘Southern Electricity’ logo on it.
Later that evening one of my elderly neighbours collared me with the phrase: ‘I’d like to know who let that pushy salesman into the building!’
24 hours later I answered the external intercom again to be greeted by the exact same spiel.
This time I asked if he’d come to read the meter, to which the man replied that he hadn’t, so I refused to let him in the building.
This was not the same man, but he also did not state which company he represented.
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IF YOU ARE PAST YOUR COOLING OFF PERIOD ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS STAY WITH THEM FOR THEIR MINIMUM PERIOD WHICH IS ABOUT 28 DAYS. AS LONG AS YOU ARNT ON THEIR FIXED DISCOUNT YOU WILL HAVE NO CANX FEE. JUST PHONE UP YOUR PREVIOUS SUPPLIER AND ASK TO COME BACK, SIMPLE AS THAT. THEY MAY EVEN PHONE YOU AND ASK YOU TO STAY, THEY MAY EVEN OFFER YOU AN INSENTIVE!
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i work for a energy company in the retention inbound team and we hear some stories from different energy companies. some of them saying there prices are cheaper when there not others saying that they could guranntee to keep the power on during a power cut!!!!! current southern sales tactics are to tell customers how cheap there gas our but not show there 1st and 2nd rates and at when they drop down what then makes them seem cheaper when there not. when you get door 2 door sellers at your door it is best to contact your current supplier and check that all the information is correct any company has given you a customer service rep is recorded and must be honest were door to door sellers are not so a customer service rep would say yes we can beat that or no we can't websites like uSwtich are no better either with only recommending commision paying companies. always check any info from any source with the current supplier.
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I watched your show concerning the Southern Electric doorstep salesman and although I was disconcerned and embarassed that a Company I have worked for over the passed 20 years had been exposed for dirty dealings when most staff have only the customers interests as their first priority and to be could be poured over the hot coals when this type of thing is happening with other energy supplies, as only last month a man called at our house saying he wanted to check our meter readings and was told by my husband there was no need for this the man was very persistant and kept saying the meter reading needed to to be taken,in the end my husband had no other way but tell the man to go forth and multiple especially when the man stated he was from Scottish Power and had no rights to read our meter as our supplier is Southern Electric. So come on check what other suppliers doorstep salesman are up to.
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I have been working for southern electric for 4 years and i found it adheres to indusrial standard better than any other energy suppliers.i never recieved a single complaint.we are the company where we expect even good feedback from some of our 8 million customers and they are more happier with us than other suppliers. what as people you have seen on watchdog i'm disappointed too with that..but not all five fingers are same..because of some individuals you can not blaim 14000 employees.
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A Southern Electric salesman came to my property about a year ago, I listened to his pitch at the door and then said I would think about what he had said but that I would only make my switch online after checking out the competition. He said thank you, no problem and left, no pushiness. Although I do worry about more vulnerable people who are targeted by unscrupulous sales people.
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I am working with southern electric from last 4 years. i didn't done any of this misleading sales practice just becoz of one person no one can blame to the other employee of company or any other door-to- door sales person from differnt energy company. i can say five fingures are not same. southern elctric is a company that get least complain from energywatch than any other major energy supplier. myself and my team member are proud to work with britain's best energy company, follows the AES rule and regulation.
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I think its always few people who makes a mess for everyone.. not all advisors are like that but because of this person it can be a problem for those sales people who work in field. I have worked in energy company for couple of year myself and i am shocked to see this.
"we should always leave something for the birds"
think over this it will help anyone
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We have just had a young lady at the door with a Souther Electric Jacket on asking to do a Meter Check and see a recent bill, when my wife said we are not with Southern Electric she said that it does not matter. She said when questioned that she was not selling anything. We suggesterd that she put her request and reason for it in writing. I phoned the 0800 number you gave for Southern Electric and told there 'adviser' what had happened. She said that unless the young Lady was rude or abusive there was nothing she could do, she refused to take our address! I hope you (Watchdog)follow up on Southern Electric and stop there antics!
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Hi, just wanted to say that it's not just Southern Electric! EDF Energy did this to me earlier in the year, a big fat man with a booming voice came round and said "We supply your energy and you're being overcharged". So that was a lie. I'm actually with Equipower, which is ironically partnered with Scottish + Southern Energy. Fortunately I wasn't taking any of it and after some more talking he did confess he was from EDF Energy, but he was still trying to claim that they supplied my electricity, which they do not. He was a very imposing (and loud!) man and I would be concerned for a vulnerable person being subjected to his pitch.
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Ah yes, also I have to add that the big man from EDF steamrollered over my talking, interrupted me and then opened the door of my meter (without asking) and started saying this and that (I don't keep the meter door locked) and I felt I couldn't tell him to get stuffed. Although I'm not a vulnerable person, I still felt nervous and anxious that he was nosying into things without my permission.
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We have just had a doorstep salesman from these people saying to my wife he was here to read the meter. She got me to the door and he said he needed to see our bills to check we had the right tariff. I said we don;t use Southern Electric and he said "We are the gas supplier to this area" I said what do you mean and he said they are one of the repair contractors. I asked if he was a salesman and he said he needed to check our bills to nsee if the tariff was right. I told him we did not want whatever he was selling to which he said he was sure he could save me money.
Beware of anyone from this company. They are still trained to be totally devious and to prey on unaware housewives or elderly people who could easily give them all their identity info as well as getting conned on electricity and gas supply.
WATCHDOG please keep follow ups on your programme as their website disclaimer is just hogwash.
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I am shocked by the behavior of the Southern electricity meter readers, last week I saw one wandering around my garden, when challenged they said 'I was looking for the meter' which is possibly true, but should have knocked first, and on another occasion they have knocked and just barged in just mumbling 'meter reader'. What concerned me more was I saw an advert for employing meter readers on the Gumtree community website, and I wonder how well vetted they are, they seem to be be very rude and ignorant in the Oxfordshire area!
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its not just southern electric doing things like this. i had a salesman from british gas come to my door.caught me good. his sales pitch was 10% discount tracker, fixed untill 2010 and i only have to pay £17 fortnight for electric and the same for gas.five weeks later im now in debt with them i had a electric bill for £187 and a gas bill for £110. amazing for five weeks.dont be fooled like i was.
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Southern Electric came to my house once, and the saleperson gave me such a hard time and being quite agressive with his tone of voice because I told him I wasn't interested.
Their hardcore sales techniques are designed to scare people into agreeing. It can even start with the knock at the door where the rhythm of the knock requires an awaited response.
There is also an over confidence with these sales people by an overpowering tonal voice and body language.
When I complained, SE had no interest and said that that there was nothing they could do.
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A question - is there a way to stop the energy cold callers from visiting you? We've had Southern Electric and more recently NPower come round...
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I have just entered into this industry in the last 5 weeks, although I do not work for SSE I really could do without consultants like this. I have found it hard enough to to convince people they are making a good choice in the products I have to offer, without them having to ask them selves if I am just like that rep they seen on watchdog. I have had 4 weeks intensive training and the main focus of that was about compliance, and failure to comply with the AES code of conduct is instant dismissal. I would like to think that SSE will follow the same discipliniary procedures of the energy company I work for. It always seems to be the minority who ruin it for the majority. I am pretty sure the majority of consultants who work for SSE are honest decent people, so please do not tarnish the good guys reputations just because of one bad apple. On that note I am also pretty sure there are a few of these unscrupilous consultants working for all the energy companies. And as an earlier post mentioned, if a customer who has just switched suppliers, why not phone your new supplier to confirm details. It may be possible to be duped in your own home, but by telephoning the call centres your call could be recorded and that should prevent the call centre operator from lying or mis-selling.
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I've just had someone call to the house from Southern Electric claiming that he has been appointed to this area to inform us about "deregulation". I kept saying "deregulation of what?" and I asked him several times if he was here to get me to switch suppliers to Southern Electric, which he repeatedly denied. Then he started asking who my current energy suppliers were and was quoting his "cheaper" rates. I again asked him what this had to do with "deregulation" and again tried to get him to admit that the purpose of his visit was to get me to change suppliers. He eventually got frustrated with my challenges and walked off. I'm now half expecting him to forge a signature and for me to receive a welcome letter from Southern Electric in the near future - let's hope not!!!!These tactics are appalling and Southern Electric hasve obviously not changed their ways, even after all this bad press.
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I've just had a lady on the doorstep - Opened with "Hi there, I'm calling to give you the discounts on energy that you're entitled to. We called last week but you weren't in".
Then she asks which energy company I'm with - At which point she gets the door closed in her face.
I could see from her paperwork she was representing Scottish Power.
I actually switched to Scottish Power 2 months ago. If I'd known that they employed these tactics I wouldn't have chosen them.
NP slammed my old property a couple of years ago when it was empty. They threatened me with legal action for non payment of bills for nearly 12 months until I finally got them sorted out after resorting to letters to their Chief Executive.
Don't get me started on British Gas, I'll be here all day.
They're all as bad as each other in my opinion.
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Well it seems as if Southern Electric have got me too. I was shown a rate for electricity which was lower than there actual rate and the reason I decided to switch to them. The sales women also said she didn't have any bumpf to leave when I asked and didn't leave me with a paper copy of thier rates with the new contract. I'm stuck for the moment, but I'll dump them as soon as possible.
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