Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

NigeWick

julie777 wrote: »

Some of my friends swear by UW but all the comments on here are negative. Does anyone apart from selling members speak up for them?

I used to sell for them but gave up due to my laziness. It's horses for courses. Decide exactly what you want in the way of utilities, phones and broadband then see if UW has the best deal for you in your circumstances. The cashback card system works well for some and isn't worth it for others. We've only got my wife's PAYG (very little use) mobile and the cashback card at present and they pay us each month because of what we spend on the card.

Meatloaf1981

I was talked into signing up as a distributor in January as it was half price sign-up, so only £50. I sadly did not get on with the whole distributor thing and found that the evangelical nature of the training and ethos was a bit much for me. I also found that the appointments I went to where I tried to save money for friends and family were just not working out, as my family and friends did not find they would get enough value out of the Cashback Card, which in reality is the only way you're really going to save money on the services you'd be using.

The energy prices are higher than other providers (Albeit these are reduced depending on how many services you take out) and whilst the cashback is decent in terms of the percentage, you really would only massively benefit if you religiously stick to spending online or in store with the companies listed. If I did all my weekly shopping at Sainsbury's, I'd probably be laughing because they pay 3% cashback on store and if you spend over £50 in store, I think it is, you also get cashback on any fuel you subsequently buy.

In short, it CAN be cheaper overall to go with UW if you are committed to using the cashback card to its fullest extent. The cashback card charges you a £1 a month fee to use it and 30p every time you top it up, so you would need to factor that in before it become worthwhile.

I found the pressure from above to get along to the various training days and "EXPRESS DAY" a bit too much. I don't like selling, never have, and packaging it to you as "You're not selling, you're trying to save people money" will work with some people, but not with me.

Overall, I will be waiting until later this year to switch away my home phone and broadband again for a better deal. They did buy me out of my old mobile contract from O2 for £200 and if I left within 12 months, then I would have to repay that so I'm going to wait it out. I will still have my mobile phone with them because to be fair, the package isn't too bad and I'm tied in for 24 months because I upgraded my phone with them. I could always buy out of that too I guess but who really wants to do that?

As a distributor, they sell you on the idea of making money from selling services and that you get a 3.5% income from the monthly bills of each customer. If you sign up other distributers, you get 50p from the bills of each of their clients and so on. Of course, they want you to lambast all of your friends, family and colleagues to sign them all up but the reality, I found, was once I had spoken to my contacts and got appointments with them, no one was at all interested. For starters, they recommend you don't tell people what it is you're doing and instead say something like "It's not something I can explain over the phone really. If you've got a spare half hour I'd love to show you." Most people see through this and immediately start to wonder what crud you're trying to sell to them. Then when you turn up, they will show they're not interested and you've then wasted your time, petrol and money if you've been talking to them on the phone for ages before hand.

I found I could make more money from an hour of overtime at my full time job than I would with UW trying to flog services.

Cardew

I sadly did not get on with the whole distributor thing and found that the evangelical nature of the training and ethos was a bit much for me

Lovely phrase! We did have some videos of the UW conventions on this thread - now sadly deleted.

'Big Al' whipped the audience into a stomping hollering frenzy - he sounded like Billy Graham on steroids.

playaz

I won't bother going into the full story but UTILITY WAREHOUSE is a big scam...

We were charged over £1100 for two months GAS & ELECTRIC..... yes.. that is not a typo over ONE THOUSAND for TWO months!

That is a 3 bed house with two people and me who works 9-6pm.

I added a very bad review on trustpilot - but TrustPilot told me it was 'too negative'.... what?!? So I said something bad and they won't print it... UW are paying TrustPilot to remove these negative reviews.

Seriously... if anyone wants more info just ask, but do not touch Utility Warehouse with a bargepole - I actually think these make nPower look like Saints. They will rip you off at some point.... I guarantee it.

And as for the customer service..... that is a whole different story.

Shocking company... wouldn't wish these on my worst enemy.

Meeper

Massive scam, obviously. Almost 600,000 customers and winning awards left, right and centre.

The conventions and meetings are different, for sure. They focus on positivity, belief and changing lives. A far cry from the "British way" of negativity and dragging anyone down who wants to make a change.

Quentin

Meeper wrote: »

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The conventions and meetings are different, for sure. They focus on positivity, belief and changing lives. A far cry from the "British way" of negativity and dragging anyone down who wants to make a change.

Yes we've seen what goes on. Thanks to your rogue colleagues posting videos.


Big Al teaching you all how to bend minds was so embarrassing for the UW they took it down from youtube following exposure here.

Meeper

"How to bend minds"..... You are an amusement.

It's called sales Quentin. Virtually 100% of sales skills involves uncovering your prospect's requirements which may be conscious or subconscious and fulfilling those requirements. You can twist it any way you like and make it sound sinister, but really what you're talking about is simple sales skills.

Quentin

Meeper wrote: »

"How to bend minds"..... You are an amusement......

Not my words, the presentation to the UW reps (who we were told had to pay £20 each for a seat) was entitled"Manipulating minds by Big Al".


We all saw the reps being addressed by Big Al at their rally and urged when speaking to their friends about UW to "Control their mind and freeze their brain with four words..."I just found out...". (What a nice way to interact with your "friends")

Someone with a bit of sense at UW must have realised the damage done to UW by us all seeing what went on at the reps rally, and (despite urging the reps to watch it again and again) have in fact taken it down!

But we saw it and would never forget the insight we got

Meeper

It's called sales skills training. Happens all the time in all walks of life.

Quentin

Cardew wrote: »

....We did have some videos of the UW conventions on this thread - now sadly deleted.

'Big Al' whipped the audience into a stomping hollering frenzy - he sounded like Billy Graham on steroids.

We can get an insight still - they have another performer whipping up the disciples at a rally on video delivering his "mantra of persistence" which keeps him going as a UW rep. That certainly gets them off their feet!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twlwo7azz9Q