Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Plushchris

NigeWick wrote: »

Are you unbiased?

Yes, who do you think I would be biased towards?

And despite whatever Carmine thinks, I'm not with Ovo anymore.. Theyre no longer cheapest for me..

NigeWick

Plushchris wrote: »

Yes, who do you think I would be biased towards?

Not towards, against!

I'm with npower and locked in until July. Their customer service really is abominable. My latest bill shows that they still haven't got my DD sorted out correctly. I am beginning to suspect that it will be in limbo until I move away from them.

Mr_Soft

I have the following top threes, varying from £585 to £617. Price is therefore not the most important factor. Which has the best reputation?

Variable

1. First Utility
2. UW Low
3. Ebico Std Eqi

Fixed

1. EDF March 2013
2. nPower Go Fix 11
3. Sainsburys Price Freeze Jun 2013

penrhyn

Ebico customer service billing, price benchmarking is by SSE for what its worth when I was with them they were very good, not the cheapest unless you are a very low user.

FU have a bit of an FU of a reputation elsewhere in the forum, but do your own research.

HappyMJ

Mr_Soft wrote: »

I have the following top threes, varying from £585 to £617. Price is therefore not the most important factor. Which has the best reputation?

Variable

1. First Utility
2. UW Low
3. Ebico Std Eqi

Fixed

1. EDF March 2013
2. nPower Go Fix 11
3. Sainsburys Price Freeze Jun 2013

I would avoid first:utility. You must spend over £600 a year to get the discount. You are too close.

EDF March 2013 is quite cheap and so is GoFix11 so I would pick either of those but GoFix11 has standing charges so reducing usage won't help much.

UW and Ebico are 5th and 6th in my list so you could pick either. UW expect the money at the beginning of the month and Ebico require it at the end of the month. Not much difference so it's up to you.

I would pick UW Medium user or Ebico for the gas and pick a different supplier for the electricity such as Npower BillSaver 2013 to save the most.

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

I'm with npower and locked in until July. Their customer service really is abominable......

When you were working as a uw rep you (elsewhere on the net) described the uw cs experience at times as "atrocious".

In your scale, is the uw "atrocious" service for a rep customer better or worse than the "abominable" cs you get as a mere customer with npower?

Mr_Soft

Thank you for those who've helped with my question, i'll credit you a click each. I'll try a costing with the gas and electric with two different companies as suggested and see if that makes any difference.

MillicentBystander

HappyMJ wrote: »

I would avoid first:utility. You must spend over £600 a year to get the discount. You are too close.

EDF March 2013 is quite cheap and so is GoFix11 so I would pick either of those but GoFix11 has standing charges so reducing usage won't help much.

UW and Ebico are 5th and 6th in my list so you could pick either. UW expect the money at the beginning of the month and Ebico require it at the end of the month. Not much difference so it's up to you.

I would pick UW Medium user or Ebico for the gas and pick a different supplier for the electricity such as Npower BillSaver 2013 to save the most.

Now there's a rarity on this thread - a totally balanced post I would agree wholeheartedly - UW's leccy is too expensive imo unless you are a very low user but their gas is absolutely fine. And you also have the benefit of accurate monthly billing at no extra cost and the guaranteed UK-based customer service (which is far better than any other utility company I have experienced and being an ex-serial switcher I've experienced most of them). My gas is coming back to UW in August (currently locked into EDF who have proved cheap but entirely useless) unless something earth shattering happens in the meantime. But I suppose I have an ulterior motive in that I then qualify for the 24/7 free calls as opposed to the evenings and weekends I get now.

Mr_Soft

With further investigation, the UW Low option looks quite good for me. There's a £20 rebate for my area, so it then becomes 2nd placed behind FU for my usage. I'll look again in June.

MillicentBystander

I see UW have launched a new initiative - 'Gold Status' for anyone who signs up for 4 or more of the core services at once. Any views? From the latest trading update it seems like half of all new customers take 4 core services anyway. Looks pretty good, especially on the broadcall front (cheaper than before). They are clearly pushing the multi service deal. and they still seem to be keeping their SIM only deals at the original (amazing) price despite their partners T-Mobile and Orange recently announcing price increases. Looks like 0845 numbers are now included again in the inclusive calls packages as well plus the free unlimited calls to UW mobiles is new IIRC. Phone line on its own goes up by £3/mth to £13.75 even though for Gold status customers the phone/broadband deals are actually cheaper than before.

Save more with Gold Status
The more services you take, the more you save. You get Gold Status when you take four or more services; and that means you can benefit from:


'Double the Difference' price promise
10% Extra Discount on your energy
£200 to help you switch
Free 'Peak Saver' - unlimited free 'anytime' calls to UK landline numbers, save £££s
Free calls to mobiles - unlimited free 'anytime' calls to Utility Warehouse mobiles from your landline
Free international calls - unlimited free 'anytime' calls from your landline to: Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain and USA
Broadband from just £2.99 a month
Huge savings on new phone lines - we can install a new phone line for as little as £24
A free smartphone - for members who take all five eligible services
The services you can take to qualify are: Gas, Electricity, Home Phone (including Internet Phone), Mobile (excluding ValuePay), and Internet (including Mobile Broadband).