Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

MillicentBystander

NigeWick wrote: »

Most of my family are on UW phones and so we can ring them "for free." To contact the others we use the included minutes on my mobile. I went over to Scottish for gas & electricity as their prices actually outweighed the benefits of UW's 24/7 calls & pre payment card for heat & light. They put their prices up and I have opted for a fixed price deal.

Know where you are coming from but one of our sons' GF now lives a long way away (on BT) and he does occasionally want to ring her in the day. As previously mentioned, he used his 500 mobile mins in less than 2 weeks!!! Thank God we opted for the budget control feature as the DD comes out of our bank account! If the difference is less than £5/mth I will probably go for it (we are of course already paying the club fee so that's £18 to deduct from the figure shown on the switching sites!). Love the fact we also get a paper bill with fully itemised calls (mobile and landline), which I'm sure would cost extra with other mobile operators.

MillicentBystander

Just had our paper bill through, showing our errant son's fully itemised mobile usage (it stretches over 6 pages!) and it makes interesting reading. He made his first call on 4/6/11 and his actual 500 mins call allowance ran out on 11/6/11! SEVEN days!! Since then 100s and 100s of (inclusive) text messages only! I genuinely shudder to think what sort of bill we would have ended up with if we hadn't put the Budget Control feature on his SIM. I don't think UW make enough of this feature, personally, as this is surely a massive help for parents giving their kids a mobile deal? I genuinely can't recall ever being given this sort of option with other mobile operators but maybe I missed it?

PS His new call allowance started on 1/7/11 and he must have learnt from having to text all the time last month as he hasn't used up his call allowance so far this month, lol. Even including the £1.50/mth UW charge for the budget control feature it's still an unbeatable deal IMO!

Cardew

Bad news for UW? Particularly the 'Triple Value Guarantee'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14250337





https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/45538470#Comment_45538470

MillicentBystander

I would have thought it would affect UW way less than it did any of the Big 6, personally? Maybe I have missed something obvious. We've lived in this house for many many years and have never had a UW distributor knock on our door.

Cardew

MillicentBystander wrote: »

I would have thought it would affect UW way less than it did any of the Big 6, personally? Maybe I have missed something obvious. We've lived in this house for many many years and have never had a UW distributor knock on our door.

I am not surprised you don’t recall the discussion we had a long while ago about door step selling regulations. – selective amnesia? I can’t recall which of the many names you post under to support UW, you were using at the time;)

Door step selling, as defined under the regulations, does not just cover an unsolicited visit by a salesperson literally knocking on the door(or ringing the bell!)

Door stop selling – solicited and unsolicited

Many businesses sell many of their products on a door to door basis. For example sales representatives of certain companies may be required as part of their job to continually knock on peoples’ doors and try and sell them their product. This is referred to as unsolicited door stop selling as there is no prior arrangement with the owner of the property for the sales rep to come to the house.

In other cases a business may first conduct introductory sales through another avenue such as telephone sales. An unsolicited telephone call will enable certain details of a product to be provided to the consumer. If the consumer is interested in the product, an arrangement for a sales rep to come to their home can be organised for the sale to be concluded. This is referred to as solicited door stop selling as there was a prior agreement for the individual to come to the house.

The Regulations are aimed at traders who enter into a contract with a consumer at their home or workplace and also cover contracts made at another individual’s home or an excursion organised by the trader away from their business premises.

Accordingly the Regulations do not simply cover door stop selling at an individual’s home as much of this selling can also happen at an individual’s place of work. Companies may also wish to demonstrate products to individuals at trade shows etc which are away from their main business premises. Accordingly this kind of selling will also be covered by the Regulations.

So as UW’s sales are conducted by networking, virtually all of their sales come under the definition of door step selling.

Also the main plank of UW’s sales patter is to trot out the discredited Triple Value Guarantee(TVG) which claims that UW are the cheapest gas and electricity firm, instead of being one of the most expensive in UK.

So that would surely enable all of those who have been misled to claim compensation – assuming that the scheme takes off.

janninew

Does that mean they will no longer be able to harrass you when you are out shopping in Sainsburys? Nearly every week either Npower or Scottish Power are in my local supermarket telling everybody who will listen that they are the cheapest out there!

I think its a great idea to stop door stop selling.

What about people without the internet though? How do they do their research?

janninew

Cardew wrote: »

I am not surprised you don’t recall the discussion we had a long while ago about door step selling regulations. – selective amnesia? I can’t recall which of the many names you post under to support UW, you were using at the time;)

Door step selling, as defined under the regulations, does not just cover an unsolicited visit by a salesperson literally knocking on the door(or ringing the bell!)



So as UW’s sales are conducted by networking, virtually all of their sales come under the definition of door step selling.

Also the main plank of UW’s sales patter is to trot out the discredited Triple Value Guarantee(TVG) which claims that UW are the cheapest gas and electricity firm, instead of being one of the most expensive in UK.

So that would surely enable all of those who have been misled to claim compensation – assuming that the scheme takes off.

Oh gosh not that line again Cardew! Last time I looked (a few months ago) UW were cheaper in my area (North West) for somebody with lowish gas useage than BG! BG weren't even on the first page! But BG have never been a cheap option for me, not sure why.

j-jo1970

I need help with UW. I signed up last summer, to gas and electricity only and as I was tied in with BG until end June 2010, thats when the transfer was going to be made. Only UW didnt transfer then, they did my gas in September, and than transferred my electricity without telling me in October 2010. I only found out because I got a closing bill from BG for elec in November.
When I moved house in April this year, I rang to give them the meter readings, only to be told that they had never charged me for electricity at all. The amount I was paying each month, which is what the rep told me I would be paying for both gas and elec, was actually just for gas. I then received a bill from UW in May for over £400 for 6 months electricity usage. I set up a payment plan, but was then stung with another bill for another £489!! I have rang to complain because the reason they are giving me for the large bill is because I had underpaid BG!! That means that I have paid £900 for 6 months elec usage and £340 for 6 months of gas. I have written to them but have yet to receive a reply. Is UW entitled to charge me, bearing in mind I wasnt given the chance to give a meter reading, and this is almost double what I was paying to BG?

Cardew

janninew wrote: »

Does that mean they will no longer be able to harrass you when you are out shopping in Sainsburys? Nearly every week either Npower or Scottish Power are in my local supermarket telling everybody who will listen that they are the cheapest out there!

I think its a great idea to stop door stop selling.

What about people without the internet though? How do they do their research?

I think we all agree that to ban all door step sales would be great.

However the scheme is not to stop doorstep selling, but provide compensation to those who have been mis-sold gas and electricity.

Apparently 40% of customers move to a more expensive tariff as a result of being misled.

You surely cannot possibly deny that the majority of customers switching to UW will pay more for their gas and electricity - WHICH says 20% more on average(it has been normally been more).

You also surely cannot deny that the discredited TVG is trotted out as 'proof' that UW have low prices.

Even the more principled UW salesmen on this forum do not deny that UW gas and electricity is expensive; but argue that the cash-back card etc makes paying those high prices worthwhile.

jhp

janninew wrote: »

Does that mean they will no longer be able to harrass you when you are out shopping in Sainsburys? Nearly every week either Npower or Scottish Power are in my local supermarket telling everybody who will listen that they are the cheapest out there!

I am surprised Sainsburys allow them instore, given that Sainsburys sell Sainsburys Energy.