Archive for Ambit Energy
Ambit Energy buys Commerce Energy
Posted by: | CommentsWhy buy Another Electric Company?
Commerce Energy selling their business to Ambit Energy is a good thing. There are many electric companies in Texas right now struggling to stay in business and there have been dramatic changes on how some electric providers now compete for new business. A few electric companies have even stopped taking on new customers as they determine how to hedge the electricity they sell. Electric prices in Texas are so volatile it requires an electric company to have a lot of capital on hand and a disciplined fundamentally strong commodities trading desk. Ambit Energy is an MLM electric company which sells electricity through a large direct sales force. The sales force they have has to pay in each year (correction: only a one time $400 payment needs to be made) in order to qualify to continue to sell for Ambit as well as receive commissions. If you decide to join up with Ambit Energy to sell their electric service you will have to pay around $200 – $300 depending on the promotion they may have going on. This added money paid into Ambit just to sell the electric service helps keep a company like Ambit profitable with little risk and exposure to the volatile Texas electric market (these payemnts are fed back in to their sales force through bonuses and fast start commissions). Since it is risky to sell electricity in Texas as a new Texas electric provider it makes since to attempt to market and sell in the most affordable unrisky way possible. Ambit Energy has accomplished this and basically rode on the coat tales of Ignite Energy which started the MLM direct selling of electricity in Texas. Now Ignite Energy has seen a steady drop in enthusiasm while Ambit has become the name most heard when it comes to selling electricity as a home based business opportunity. Commerce Energy may have found themselves becoming unprofitable due to any number of factors. They may have not had enough capital for selling long term contracts because of skyrocketing electric prices, they enrolled too many credit risk customers who then defaulted on their electric bill, or some other reason, we really don’t know why they sold but Ambit is smart to buy them up and I will tell you why.
High Customer Churn Rate in the Deregulated Utility Service Markets
Ambit Energy, just like, Ignite, Excel telecom, Amway and similar companies like them many times experience a high customer churn rate as their followers who are also their customers and sales agents become dispassionate about the product or service they sell. They drop out of the company after a few years and do not attempt to resign their family and friends they may have asked to help them with their home based business opportunity. This is not always the case with this type of direct sales company but many times it is especially in the utility services industry. By Ambit buying up traditional seasoned electric providers during their succesfull period it may help them stay in business for the long haul. Without an outside marketing effort through tradional channels it may be hard for Ambit to keep the electric service customers in Texas they currently have.
MLM and Texas Electric Companies
Some of the other MLM work from home opportunities in the Texas electric service market are with Ignite Energy, Green Mountain Energy, Zurvita Energy, Affordable Energy, and Cirro Energy. New Age Power Brokers is a slightly different take as they are more of an affiliate program than an MLM company offering brokering opportunities to sell for Glacial Energy. Green Mountain Energy, Affordable Energy and Cirro Energy are tradional electric companies that have toyed with MLM marketing to try and increase their market share after seeing the huge success that Ignite Energy had when they started back in 2002. There are sources that claim Ignite Energy had at their peak close to 400,000 electric service customers.
Ambit Energy Company Profile
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Ambit Energy has a low deposit requirement for those with less then perfect credit but if you are looking for the Texas electricity company with the best option for completely avoiding a deposit or atleast a low deposit for Texas electricity service then hands down we recommend Bounce Energy. Learn more by clicking here to continue or call 1-866-945-8937 and ask for the “Low and No Deposit Choices”
Ambit Energy is an alternative marketer of electricity in Texas primarily selling electricity through an independent distributor network of people. Their viral marketing technique utilizes a multi-level marketing strategy which spreads by word of mouth through family and friends and weekly meetings generally held in hotel conference rooms and independent representative’s homes. Deregulation in Texas allows energy customers to purchase their electricity through multiple providers. In the past there was only one electric company and absolutely no choice to choose an alternate electric provider. Ambit Energy consultants are compensated on a referral basis as they sign up new company sales recruiters and electric customers.
Many people are attracted to the multi-level marketing approach of a work from home business like Ambit Energy. Although we are not an advocator of MLM type of businesses we do believe Ambit Energy is a good Texas electricity company and offers cheap and diverse fixed electric rate plans, green energy plans, and variable short term rates. We think Ambit Energy’s affiliate program is a better fit for many people who would like to make extra money selling Ambit but are not into the MLM business model.
Compensation Plan: MLM Referral Commission
Owners and/or Executives
Jere W. Thompson, Jr., CEO
Chris Chambless, Chief Marketing Officer
Jim Timmer, CFO
Jere W Thompson / Co-Founder and CEO
Chris Chambless / Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer
Jim Timmer / CFO
John Burke / Chief Information Officer
Jim McFelea / Senior VP of Operations
Ambit Energy a Scam or a Great Opportunity?
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Texas Electric Company Deregulation
Electricity deregulation in Texas has provided some great opportunity to investors and small business owners in the state looking for a new way to make some money. Ambit is one of over 40 Texas Retail Electric Providers in the state selling retail commercial and residential electricity. The problem is not so much of an issue for those needing to have their electricity turned on or even by the company Ambit Energy but by those who think they have a good chance of becoming a millionaire or at least rich after the process of signing up to become an independent representative for Ambit Energy, Ignite, Affordable, or any of the other direct sales and MLM companies out there selling electric service in Texas. The danger in this way of thinking is that if it is supported by some of the company’s spokesman it allows the beginning people in the MLM company to become wealthier while the new people signing up make more for their sponsor’s then they will for themselves. A better approach is to see this as a part time thing you might be able to make some extra cash with. An income report from the company showing just how many people make over six figures with an MLM company is a great way to decide if you have a statistical chance of making an opp like this work even if giving it 40 hours a week.
Not all Ambit Energy sales reps profit through their compensation plan in a dishonest way by promising new recruits hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. If you do want to sign up with Ambit Energy we encourage you to sign up with Ambit through a sales consultant of theirs that approaches the business in an honest and ethical manner. Our opinion is that you should sign up on their affiliate program which offers you the opportunity to sign up electric service customers directly without the need to build a downline. We believe you will save yourself much time and money by going directly for the customers rather than trying to make the MLM downline work in your favor. We have met and talked to a few Ambit Energy people that are honest and ethical about this opportunity and do not make outrageous claims. We believe these are the people you should associate yourself with if you decide to do this opportunity.
What you will not find in the Ambit training material are some of the tricks of the trade that some of the seasoned MLM’ers use to make the MLM opp work. Many successful MLM’ers stack sales representatives and put customer’s under them if necessary to make the whole MLM sales structure pay out correctly so that you do make money. This idea is not discussed by Ambit Energy’s corporate offices as it is borderline illegal to structure the business to primarily build up independent sales reps with no emphasis on customers. The truth is although some of the top guys stack reps under other reps to build up their sales commissions they rely on these sells reps to sign up their friends and family. All of this primarily helps these super MLM sales people. If a new Ambit Energy sales rep wants to make the kind of money these guys make they would need to pull off some of the same type of stunts. Travelling the state, stacking reps and being that charismatic spokesman for the company is usually what it takes. The problem is that these techniques are not always explained in the sells pitch and most people walk away thinking that the business will be easier than it really is. The truth is that the time it will take to make a truly succesfull business with Ambit through an MLM downline could be better spent starting a more traditional business or signing up on Ambit Energy’s affiliate plan and just sign up customers. The typical example pyramid chart showing what could be possible in a perfect world scenario is not an accurate representation of what someone in an MLM opp can expect. An income disclosure statement showing exactly how many people make over six figures would be a helpful guideline in deciding if this is right for you.
Many See the Ambit Energy Pyramid Scheme as Old Hat Hyporama
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This Office scene is very funny and kind of shows how the amazingness of the MLM compounding effect has lost some of its luster as many have tried and been burned by pyramid schemes. The Ambit Energy Company opportunity is a great way to make money if you are realistic about how much you can make with something like this and it helps if you go ahead and decide if the affiliate or MLM based business model is best for you. In our opinion Ambit’s affiliate option is the best way to go.
By the way, if you watch “The Office” and just don’t get it you are probably one of the characters in The Office which is why you may not find it to be very funny.
Reality is Many MLM Companies Like Ambit Don’t Make It
Many of these types of MLM companies go out of business or bankrupt due to a concentration on recruiting reps while the customers dry up. Excel Telecommunications was one of the more successful MLM companies of the last 20 years in a deregulated industry and is a perfect example of an MLM company growing into a thriving success only to eventually implode on itself later. By having a concentration focused on recruiting new reps the whole MLM may topple down. Because there is a high percentage of this risk you could very easily be waisting 5, 10, 15 years building a business that will have nothing to show for you when it finally goes out. This is a warning when working with any MLM company including Ambit, Affordable or Ignite Energy, Amway, Quickstar, Mary Kay and so on. You can make money with these companies but is it really worth the investment in time and personal relationships that could become ruined in the process by promising riches? If you choose to sign up with one of these MLM companies we encourage you to concentrate your efforts in signing up electric service customers and consider the downline part of the business an added bonus. By concentrating most of your efforts on building a downline you will find that most people in the business do not make enough money to justify the time spent in building their MLM structured sales team.
The downline you create may pay out decent money to some of the top people in your up-line but you or those you recruit will not see most of this money in most MLM type businesses. Instead of making money through sales associate recruiting we recommend just signing up people to the product or service in this case it being Texas electricity service.
Some other MLM or Direct Sales companies in Texas are, Zurvita Energy, Ignite Energy , Affordable Energy, and New Age Power Brokers.
Some other traditional Texas electric companies: Bounce Energy, Spark Energy, Champion Energy, Startex Energy and many more.
Ambit Energy’s Variable Rate Plan
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Ambit Energy Lone Star Fixed Rate Plan
Today I checked with Ambit Energy on what their electric rate is for the Lone Star Fixed Rate plan. They explained that as long as you use 501 – 1000 kWh you will pay 10.99 cents kWh for 12 months. Basically you will pay 11 cents kWh for a 12 month term. They will only waive the $9.99 monthly customer service charge if you use 1000 kWh of electric usage or more. Let’s say you use 900 kWh of electric usage a month. This means the $9.99 charge a month would equal .0111 cents a kWh. So if you are quoted 10.99 cents a Kwh you can go ahead and add 1.11 to that which gives you a rate of .1210 cents a kWh. This makes their apparent very cheap rate actually over 12 cents a kWh provided you use over 500 kWh a month.
Comparable Electric Rates To Ambit Energy
Spark Energy
6 Months at 11.3 cents a kWh | No Monthly Customer Service Charge
12 months at 12.0 cents a kWh | No Monthly Customer Service Charge
Startex Power
6 Months at 10.8 cents a kWh | No Monthly Customer Service Charge
12 Months at 12.3 cents a kWh | No Monthly Customer Service Charge
Best Rate Winner for November 2007 – Champion Energy
Champion Energy
12 Months at 11.3 cents a kWh | $4.95 Monthly Customer Service Charge
Lowest Electric Rate averaging .1185 cents including the Customer Charge
Should I Go With Ambit’s Variable Electric Rate?
If you call Ambit Energy they will quickly try and get you on their month by month variable electric rate. They make the argument that you are not locked into a contract term so isn’t that great! Basically the idea that you are not locked into a rate is attractive to most people. The problem lies in the fact that an energy company offering a variable electric rate will likely raise the rate gradually over time until you are averaging the same or even higher then a fixed rate. The electric provider is protected in case rates go down but you are not protected either way. The electric company could charge you the same or higher regardless of what the market is doing. The best thing to find out when being asked to switch to a variable energy rate is what the rate is made up of. Sometimes it will be partially a fixed rate and maybe 15% will follow the natural gas commodities market or perhaps the ERCOT grids MCPE index. If they have something in the energy rate that says they can raise the energy rate for any reason they so desire then I would stay away from it.
Ambit Energy Rate In Houston Texas
Right now the month to month variable rate with Ambit Energy is called the Heart of Texas Month to Month. In the Houston area they are charging 12.99 cents kWh if you use 501 kWh or more in energy each month. If you use 500 kWh or less you will be charged 13.99 cents kWh and after the first month they can change the rate to whatever they want. Be careful with variable energy rates or you may get a bill that has a much higher electric rate then you expected. It’s always best to stay with a fixed electric rate. 6 Month fixed rates are the cheapest right now followed by 12 month electric rates.
A comparable variable rate that provides a disclosure of what the variable rate has done historically is listed below.
Startex Power Variable Rate and the historical rate disclosure.
After the 1st month which is just a promo rate you can track what the next month’s rate will be here on a monthly basis from the link below:
Ambit Energy Electric Company
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Ambit Energy Company’s Comparison To The Others
Ambit Energy as of April 2009 currently shows a superior rating in regards to consumer complaints and filings over some of the top electric companies in Texas. TXU Energy and Stream Energy also known as Ignite Energy so more consumer complaints in regards to billing, slamming and cramming issues. When comparing Ambit Energy in regards to consumer complaints it is important to consider how many total customers a Texas electricity company has. The number of complaints as a percentage of total customers may add a better perspective on what Texas electric company actually has the worst track record.
The Ambit Energy multi-level marketing company seems to be a close copy to Ignite Energy but with a little less history as they started a couple years after Ignite started. The interesting thing about these Texas electric companies is their pattern of having some of the same corporate execs and marketing managers. They seem to go from one MLM opportunity to another. One after another these MLM companies go bankrupt or break a law or two and they are no more. This problematic industry doesn’t always go up in flames as we see that Herbalife is a thriving MLM business for more then 10 years and traded heavily on the stock exchange. Mary Kay is another example of an MLM business that has managed to thrive. The issue is when these companies hire unscrupulous business managers who have a history of screwing their customers and the representatives that join the organization to sell their products. Ambit Energy and Ignite Energy have their share of such help. There is a great resource to learn more about the history of these companies, how they came to being, and the background on the corporate guys running the show.
Cult Like MLM Behavior
The Ambit Energy electric company is one of those things that facilitates a bit of cult like behavior among the recruits. It is much worse then a big Wal Mart employee convention. What happens is the representative trying to recruit you as a salesmen will make you a “believer” in the opportunity. You will see how you could compound and compound the percentage of sales as 3 direct recruits each gather 3 and those each gather 3. Before you know it you are calculating millions of dollars that await you if you sign up enthusiastic MLM reps like you. You will quickly discover that not everyone is as enthusiastic as you when it comes to selling the electricity and the opportunity to others. In other words, this business takes a lot of gumption and hard work. This is no easy routine. You have to work the crowd at the meetings, make believers, travel the state and sign up customers and recruits. The goal is to sign up some highly motivated recruits that will go out and get the needed electricity customers so you can make commissions on their energy customers. These electric customers are their family and friends. Your recruits at this point are so amazed by the notion of being a millionaire that they convince their family and friends to sign up on an electric rate that is substantially higher then what is currently available among various other Texas retail electric providers. The family and friends begin to get upset after a few months of bills and bad customer service experiences. The recruit starts to realize that the real money is in signing up other recruits. A large bonus check is given each time you sign up a new rep to work the business. The electric customer that signs up becomes a small but needed part of the business while signing up new reps becomes the primary goal. Eventually the reps become unmotivated, the customers choose a different energy provider and the MLM business starts making less and less money. A serious MLM rep might make some good money for awhile but the residual money does go down as the years move on. The MLM reps who started at the beginning of the opportunity and worked it hard are the ones who make the millions and hundreds of thousands. The other MLM reps are basically paying the fortunes to the corporate execs and beginning MLM reps who helped kick start the business.
The Shame Of It All
The shame in this opportunity is that the money is not long lasting, it does take a lot of travel at meetings across the state to keep a money making MLM going and family and friends get talked into doing something they really don’t want to do. If you have been asked to sign up on the Ambit Energy electric rate you may want to check out www.powertochoose.org and compare it with various other providers. You might also want to check out www.scam.com for information on how this could be something you want to avoid. If you would like an alternative electric rate for your residential home electric needs then you should check out Startex Power who has the lowest electric rate out there right now for both a 6 month and 12 month electric rate term. There are not additional bogus customer service charges with this rate. The energy charges will just consist of the kwh rate times the amount of usage you use.
Learn more about Startex
Learn about Texas Electricity
Ambit Energy MLM Opportunity
Posted by: | CommentsNo and Low Deposit Choices
Need to sign up for Texas electric service fast with no deposit? Call 1-866-945-8937 Ask for the “No or Low Deposit Plans Available”.
No Mom I Won’t Pay More To Help Your Business!
The Ambit Energy MLM opportunity has begun to propagate throughout the state of Texas just like Excel Telecommunications, Ignite\Stream Energy, Herbalife, and the many other popular get rich quick type of businesses. I don’t have a problem getting rich quick and many of these companies reps will tell you it isn’t exactly a get rich quick type of opportunity. For the electricity customer they will usually find themselves being in a situation where a family member or friend approaches them asking for them to sign up with this new electric service. If you look at the energy rate you will see that it isn’t the cheapest electric rate around usually. If you were to go out to powertochoose today (this is the state electricity website) and look at comparable electric rates you will find many others offering better terms and electric rates.
What! More Then A Penny Off The Lowest Going Electric Rate!
I went out to the powertochoose website and pulled up Ambit Energy’s facts label. This is a reliable piece of information when comparing energy prices. The 12 month electric rate is anywhere from 12.49 cents kwh to 14.49 cents kwh depending on the amount of energy you use. This is a very horrible electric rate and the problem I have on top of that is they expect people to have their family and friends sign up on a much higher electric rate then what is currently available. As an example you could sign up with Startex Power for the same term and pay no monthly service charge and have a 12 month electric rate at 11.3 cents kwh. The rates for both Ambit Energy and Startex Power would be a fraction higher in Houston due to the congestion in this zone but would still reflect the same percentage in cost savings difference.
Ambit Energy Lone Star 1 Year
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Ambit Energy has a rate for June at .1199 cents a kwh
Ambit offers what appears to be a very low cost residential electricity rate (.1199 cents kwh) for residential customers in Texas. As of August 2009 Ambit Energy is among the price leaders and cheaper than some of the big brand traditional electricity providers like TXU and Reliant Energy.
What’s the catch?
As long as you remain on the plan the entire term of the contract which is 12 months you will avoid the early termination penalty which is a hefty $199. The rate they offer as of June 2007 is .1199 cents kwh which is very low. You must be using over 500 kwh in order to have this rate otherwise you will have to pay a rate of .1398 cents kwh. Most people use over 500 kWh so they would not have to pay the higher rate. As of August 2009 Ambit Energy’s rates are much more competitive and are some of the cheapest electricity rates offered among all Texas electricity companies.
The single bachelor in an apartment might not break above 500 kwh but most people do. It is important to check your historical usage history so you know ahead of time if you will have to pay a monthly service fee or not. Also, when the 1 year term is up be sure to go back out and renegotiate your electric rate. As of August 2009 Ambit Energy is a whole new animal having bought a traditional electric company by the name of Commerce Energy. Ambit offers several different discount fixed rate term plans a few cents cheaper than both Reliant and TXU Energy. Ambit also offers a green energy choice and a variable electricity rate plan.
The below facts label is a historical record of Ambit Energy’s electricity rate back in July of 2007. Ambit Energy has become much more competitive and a reliable electricity company for residential homes and apartments in deregulated Texas.
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