Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

janninew

Ypaymore wrote: »

I have heard that from Jan 2011 Sainsbury,s have reduced their cashback on the UW cashback card to 3%.

I do like how the negative is accentuated on here, but you fail to mention that the card can now be used at Asda as well! Did you only hear about the reduction in cashback? Not that another major supermarket has now been added to the list! Thanks to Nige for bringing that to our attention!

Ypaymore

janninew wrote: »

I do like how the negative is accentuated on here, but you fail to mention that the card can now be used at Asda as well! Did you only hear about the reduction in cashback? Not that another major supermarket has now been added to the list! Thanks to Nige for bringing that to our attention!

Another UW distributor before his nonsense posts were removed had already mentioned that the card could be used in Asda from Jan 2011 not now,but he made no mention of Sainsburys the Jewel In The Crown going down to 3% hence my post,nor did he say Asda would only pay 3% come to that.

Brassedoff

Well I have something bad to say but cannot find the right board. We have their phone, gas, electric and broadband. The broadband is slow, but not really their fault as it the area we live in. We have a problem that we cannot move away to a cheaper supplier such as Orange as (we have mobiles with them and can have cheaper broadband and mobile) We had to change our number due till silent phone calls, they changed our area code from 02476 to 02477, which at the time we thought quite novel, the sting was when we tried to move away. Our phone is on a "unmoveable" delisted list. In other words, it is what someome at BT called "detagged" so will mean a new line install from BT to get our number changed as no one can find your phone line on the systems.

I find when I compare the gas and electric now it is more expensive than others, but as they do not adjust the DD until after three months, you end in owing money on the balance and moving will have two effects that as an unemployed person who is in and out of hospital several times a week I cannot afford, 1, a big bill for the difference and 2, move the gas and electricity will mean we lose two of the four servicesthat when combined give a little benefit. As I have lots of time on my hands, it took very little time to work out all four service are cheaper when purchased separately. Only problem is that we are trapped with them and cannot move.

If you are a distributor, do not even bother replying unless you can advise me on how to get away from the company without going to the expense of paying for a new phone line that I already know exists with BT. So I can get more value for money. Yes I know of their other benefits such as cash back, but I cannot conveniently use the system. I have no Sainsburys for shopping, a petrol station for the 5p's off is 14 miles away, so for me does it does not work.

NigeWick

Brassedoff,
Have you tried contacting Utility Warehouse, explaining your problem and asking for help? I ask as they are always telling people about how they continuously try to improve their service. I e-mailed about a blip with the pre-payment card and got a reply within 48 hours. As far as the fuel DD goes, I send in readings every month so know that my usage and bills are up to date and in the event that I want to change suppliers, I will not have any nasty shocks. I am sorry you are having problems.

I am an independent distributor with Utility Warehouse and the views I express may not be shared by the company.

Brassedoff

Yes I have contacted them only to be told that they have our number and as the CS rep told me any number that they provide on to this certain list so other providers cannot transfer you. She enfered the it was to stop unscrupulous reps dooming it. Well I said it was not, I wanted away. "sorry, you will have to apply to BT to get a new line then was her answer". As for the gas and electricity, we did phone in, but on a DD they average it, for the first year it was under the usage, thereby building up an arrears. Our bills have gone from , Scottish power + Orange+BT line rental £145pm, to £208.00 pm with UTW. They had price pledge that they would be cheapest, but five minutes of shopping around blew that hogwosh away

Cardew

Brassedoff wrote: »

They had price pledge that they would be cheapest, but five minutes of shopping around blew that hogwosh away

Not quite!!!!

No doubt you are talking about their infamous Triple Value Guarantee(TVG)

You need to read the small print for that worthless guarantee.

In practice UW have just about the highest gas and electricity prices in UK. £hundreds a year more than the cheapest tariffs for someone on average consumption.

janninew

Brassedoff wrote: »

Yes I have contacted them only to be told that they have our number and as the CS rep told me any number that they provide on to this certain list so other providers cannot transfer you. She enfered the it was to stop unscrupulous reps dooming it. Well I said it was not, I wanted away. "sorry, you will have to apply to BT to get a new line then was her answer". As for the gas and electricity, we did phone in, but on a DD they average it, for the first year it was under the usage, thereby building up an arrears. Our bills have gone from , Scottish power + Orange+BT line rental £145pm, to £208.00 pm with UTW. They had price pledge that they would be cheapest, but five minutes of shopping around blew that hogwosh away

Setting DD very low seems to be a trick utility companies are very good at to attract you in, on my recent move to EDF they set my gas DD at 8.00 per month! I had to take the responsibility of ringing up and asking them to up it as I knew my usage would be higher, this seems to be what UW have done with you. When I was with UW I was able to submit a reading every month from the start and get an accurate bill, so never owing any money, have you supplied any meter readings?

What UW are doing is the same as all other companies, if you owe them money you can not move away until you have paid. It seems a common problem on here, people are happy with a low DD payment and don't submit regular readings and then get a shock to discover you have quite a big balance.

espresso

Brassedoff wrote: »

Well I have something bad to say but cannot find the right board. We have their phone, gas, electric and broadband. The broadband is slow, but not really their fault as it the area we live in. We have a problem that we cannot move away to a cheaper supplier such as Orange as (we have mobiles with them and can have cheaper broadband and mobile) We had to change our number due till silent phone calls, they changed our area code from 02476 to 02477, which at the time we thought quite novel, the sting was when we tried to move away. Our phone is on a "unmoveable" delisted list. In other words, it is what someome at BT called "detagged" so will mean a new line install from BT to get our number changed as no one can find your phone line on the systems.

You have been given incorrect information by UW, what a suprise! Coventry's area code is actually 024.

Giving a Coventry number in the style 02476 123456 is incorrect and makes it harder for people to recognise that it is a Coventry (024) number. There are not two separate '02476' and '02477' codes, there is a single 024 code followed by an eight digit number!

Contact BT ask ask for return to donor on your line. See here

• Just choose a plan or package below and complete our simple online form
• It will take around 10 minutes
• You don't need to contact your current calls provider – we'll do that for you
• It will take around 11 days for your calls to be back with BT

One step at a time but you can escape from UW and pay less.

t0rt0ise

It's like my London number.. the code is 020 but EDF insist on adding the first two numbers of the actual phone number and making the code 02072 which it most definitely isn't. It seems that some systems can only cope with writing a 5 digit code but it shouldn't make any difference when it comes to moving accounts.

Brassedoff

espresso wrote: »

You have been given incorrect information by UW, what a suprise! Coventry's area code is actually 024.

Giving a Coventry number in the style 02476 123456 is incorrect and makes it harder for people to recognise that it is a Coventry (024) number. There are not two separate '02476' and '02477' codes, there is a single 024 code followed by an eight digit number! .

Thanks for that. I will chase it up today, I have just looked at it and if says that it is for those that still pay BT line rental and the service provider with calls. It is not the case with us. We pay UTW 100% for our telephone calls, does it make a difference? The 024 code is the Coventry area, but we a far from the city. Everyone has to put 76 in front of the number here. Our old number with BT was 024 7612 3456, but UTW changed it to 024 7712 4567, when our area code was 01203, we just dialed 123456, now it's eight digets. Now imagine the confusion we have living in an area where UTW have changed our 76 to 77! You give your phone number out and either people write down 76 thinking they have heard you wrong, in which case they cannot call you back or you go through a well rehearsed speech detailing why it is different. Hopefully, we can change without too much hassle. Not looking forward to losing my broadband for 10 days though!

Thanks for your help anyway