Utility Warehouse. Why did I switch?

NigeWick

smokingchills wrote: »

they undercharged my aunt for a year and she ended up with an £1000 bill

I have two phone lines, broadband, two mobiles as well as electricity and gas from Utility Warehouse and my monthly bill is at worst (last month) £146ish. I think if I were charged £63 per month, I would realise something was wrong and do something about it.

the_root_of_all_evil

UW electricity is a straight 10.5 pence pkwh

ebicos gas is a straight 3.5 pence pkwh

but

EON's prices constantly top the comparison tables, am i missing something?

Unit prices

Gas6.360p per kWh
3.466p per kWh above 2680 kWh p.a

Electricity24.53p per kWh
10.17p per kWh above 900 kWh p.a

did i make the right choices? or should i be with eon?

Quentin

Moneysaving advice is easy. Go with the cheapest! Use a comparison site to find who it is for you.

NigeWick

the_root_of_all_evil wrote: »

did i make the right choices?

It all depends on your circumstances and what you are prepared to do to get best value for yourself. Others here have quoted "the cheapest" gas and electricity to me and it was not Utility Warehouse. However, I am prepared to accept the restrictions imposed by the pre payment card and consequently pay roughly £4.50 per month less than those quoted cheapest providers. Others do not have easy access, or, do not wish to shop at the designated stores and therefore other utility companies are best in their circumstances. My advice is to check the numbers, decide what you are prepared to do to get the cheapest for you in your circumstances and go for it.

1carminestocky

Of course, if you already shop regularly at Sainsburys for groceries/fuel then the decision is nowhere near as difficult. Just been looking at sainsburystoyou online thingy and didn't realise that orders of £100 or over qualify for free delivery. Hmmmm...

PS Nige, would the 5% be payable on hardware purchases in-store as well? Like TVs for instance? We did actually visit our nearest store at the weekend (surprisingly closer than we thought plus we also didn't realise we have a separate Sainsburys petrol station which my wife passes twice every day, on her journey to and from work) and they had what looked like great offers on LCD Tvs etc. Mrs Carmine was pleasantly surprised at the prices of the groceries.

NigeWick

1carminestocky wrote: »

would the 5% be payable on hardware purchases in-store as well?

Unfortunately, only food and fuel in Sainsbugs.

From the UW web site:-
You'll save an extra 5% on everything you buy, both in store and online from participating retailers, including: Sainsbury's (on food and fuel*), Argos, Boots, Burton, Comet, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Goldsmiths, Halfords, Homebase, House of Fraser, JJB Sports (in-store only), Marriott Hotels, Miss Selfridge, Mothercare, Outfit, Principles, River Island, TGI Fridays, Thorntons, Topshop, Topman, Virgin Experience, Wallis, Warehouse...

*To receive 5% CashBack on fuel at Sainsbury's, you must have spent at least £50 in a single transaction online or instore in the previous 14 days.

No problem for me as I spend that amount often enough to get the 5% on my diesel. What it does not seem to specify is how many times one can fill up in the two weeks after that qualifying grocery purchase.

1carminestocky

NigeWick wrote: »

Unfortunately, only food and fuel in Sainsbugs.

From the UW web site:-
You'll save an extra 5% on everything you buy, both in store and online from participating retailers, including: Sainsbury's (on food and fuel*), Argos, Boots, Burton, Comet, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Goldsmiths, Halfords, Homebase, House of Fraser, JJB Sports (in-store only), Marriott Hotels, Miss Selfridge, Mothercare, Outfit, Principles, River Island, TGI Fridays, Thorntons, Topshop, Topman, Virgin Experience, Wallis, Warehouse...

*To receive 5% CashBack on fuel at Sainsbury's, you must have spent at least £50 in a single transaction online or instore in the previous 14 days.

No problem for me as I spend that amount often enough to get the 5% on my diesel. What it does not seem to specify is how many times one can fill up in the two weeks after that qualifying grocery purchase.

Thanks for that, Nige. Just checked in the small print (I'm getting like you know who :eek: ) and it's good news on that front:

In order to qualify for the 5% saving on Sainsbury’s fuel, you must spend more than
£50 in a single transaction either at the till in-store or at the online checkout
(“Qualifying Purchase”) using your Utility Warehouse CashBack Card. You will then
make a 5% saving on all fuel purchased at any Sainsbury’s petrol station when using
the same CashBack Card (or a partner card sharing the same Card Account Number)
that you used to make the Qualifying Purchase, provided that the fuel is purchased on
the same day as you made the Qualifying Purchase, or on any of the 13 days
immediately following. There is no limit to the amount of fuel you can purchase or the
number of times you can refuel during the 14 day period.

Seems like you can also get Nectar/Boots advantage points.

Will I still get Nectar or Boots Advantage points?

Yes! You earn full points on the cost of your shopping, whichever loyalty card you use.

OldGreyFox

A friend of mind who has a card told me that he gets 5% off everything he buy,s (clothes,toys,electrical etc) in Sainsburys not just food and petrol.

Nigel. Is it true they are reducing energy prices soon,and including 0845/0870 calls in inclusive minutes, his rep mentioned this to him yesterday.

1carminestocky

OldGreyFox wrote: »

A friend of mind who has a card told me that he gets 5% off everything he buy,s (clothes,toys,electrical etc) in Sainsburys not just food and petrol.

Nigel. Is it true they are reducing energy prices soon,and including 0845/0870 calls in inclusive minutes, his rep mentioned this to him yesterday.

Thanks for that, OGF. I sort of wondered if they could 'split' the bill once calculating cashback. It would be great if they DID include electricals as I have witnnessed a few electrical bargains posted on the Grabbit board. When we visited the other day they had a Samsung 32" LE32A436T LCD TV for £330 on 'special' (reduced from £430). Checking online it seems to be the standard price, but with the added advantage of £16.50 off your UW bill (if indeed they do include electricals in the scheme). Plus 660 nectar points, of course . Things like this add up without you realising it. My wife came back from Boots this evening having spent a not inconsiderable £115 :eek: Paid on her debit card. With the UW card that would have been another £5.75 off the UW bill. Or, as I would like to view it, 3 days-worth of our crazy leccy consumption paid for!

PS Can't see them including 0845/0870 calls, TBH. The only reason BT did it IMO was to 'mask' the ridiculous increases planned for the next few weeks.

PPS I would imagine they are waiting for npower to announce their cuts before proceeding with their own? No real idea how the tie-up with npower works but I was under the impression npower do all UW's energy buying for them?

Choc

Yes prices are coming down,going to be announced to our customers on next coming bill plus yes the calls to 0845/0870 are going to be included in our free global calls ..

By the way Carmine, Argos are included with the card so why not buy your TV from there?

Mark