Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Robin9

Something odd here Samrwill.

When I was with UW they required meter readings from me at the end of every month - they then billed and took a DD for that actual months consumption. There were no fixed DD.

samrwill

No..it was always the same DD each month.

NigeWick

samrwill wrote: »

A couple of months ago, I receive a letter from UW advising that my account was in arrears

Did you never check your bills to make sure everything was alright? You could perhaps have swapped suppliers months ago if their prices were not to your liking.

footyguy

samrwill wrote: »

I'd like some advice here.

Just over a year ago I was approached by one of our local tradesmen, who is also a UW rep/salesman/associate, whatever they call them. He assured me that UW could reduce my gas and electric bill if I signed up with them.

I made an appointment where he came to my house, sat down with me and my last years utility bills from Ovo (which had always been around the £200 a month) and went over some figures. To sum up, he was adamant that my combined bill would be significantly lower with UW....£900 per year lower he said. I trusted his figures, we'd been sat there for a while going through paperwork and calculations and he seemed very confident of the saving.

I duly signed up with UW for gas and electricity and a mobile contract and phone and they sent me an initial letter showing extremely low monthly payments. I have sent them meter readings every month since that time.

A couple of months ago, I receive a letter from UW advising that my account was in arrears and that my future direct debits would be increased to something close to £400 a month to cover the debt and future estimated costs. I was furious.

In my view this is a clear case of misselling. The guy even went to my neighbour and told her to sign up and that he'd saved me £900 a year. He was wrong. Despite the face I had the previous years statements to hand, consumption figures and tariffs, he was adamant that the savings he was suggesting were an accurate figure.

I regret ever having switched suppliers, it has cost me money and I feel I was deceived and then pressured into taking out a contract for a phone in order to 'maximise' savings through the different plans offered by UW.

I am planning on switching to npower through our local authority crowd funding scheme, how should I proceed with UW and claiming compensation for this mis selling?

The alarm bells should have been ringing when someone approaches you saying they could save you £900 p.a on your energy bills
Not only because even MSE say the best savings for an average user languishing on standard tariff is only about £350pa (ok, you use above average, but not that much above average), but also you were with one of the small, usually reasonably competitive suppliers already (Ovo).

So what this guy was telling you was that Ovo were charging 60% over and above what this new supplier would charge you. Alarm bells?

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Why did you not check a comparison site - then you would have seen the whole of market and exactly how cheap or how expensive each supplier was and compare them to others.

If you felt pressurised to sign there and then (a) learn to resist such sales patter and (b) you are legally provided with a 14 day cooling off period for just such a reason

samrwill

The point of my post was the fact that he had grossly underestimated the cost of energy, that the initial direct debit was set far too low, that the tariffs UW offer were actually in excess of what I was paying previously and that the salesman was so adamant that his figures were accurate, NOT that I now have a huge debit to pay off, which is more than I would have been charged had I stayed with my previous supplier. I was mis sold the contract, because my energy was NOT cheaper with UW.

I will be sending details to the ombudsman once I receive a reply from UW, following my unsatisfactory phone conversation with their energy rep.

What disgusts me even more, is that this guy is probably going around mis selling to families and other vulnerable people in my village, the stress and distress this behaviour causes cannot be underestimated.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

I have every sympathy. However, the problem is, can you prove it? You signed up to a contract that explicitly stated the p/day standing charge and the £/KWh rate. Unless you were recording the conversation and can therefore prove you were mis-sold, all there is to go on is the contract, where you agreed the rates.

samrwill

Oh yes. I can prove it.

Besides:

Ofgem Licence Condition 25.1 a) states information given to the customer should be complete and accurate, and not mislead the customer.

Licence Condition 25.6 says if the sales rep tells you the new contract will be cheaper than what you pay now, he or she has to provide you with a comparison based on your current usage and costs. If that isn't possible, you should be given a best estimate.

Case studies from the Ombudsman suggest setting a low direct debit in order to get you to switch is viewed as misleading.

Cardew

samrwill wrote: »

The point of my post was the fact that he had grossly underestimated the cost of energy, that the initial direct debit was set far too low, that the tariffs UW offer were actually in excess of what I was paying previously and that the salesman was so adamant that his figures were accurate, NOT that I now have a huge debit to pay off, which is more than I would have been charged had I stayed with my previous supplier. I was mis sold the contract, because my energy was NOT cheaper with UW.

I will be sending details to the ombudsman once I receive a reply from UW, following my unsatisfactory phone conversation with their energy rep.

What disgusts me even more, is that this guy is probably going around mis selling to families and other vulnerable people in my village, the stress and distress this behaviour causes cannot be underestimated.

This is what the 'anti-UW' posters have been repeating again and again in this thread.

To be fair many of the salesmen who sell to their family and friends are clearly lacking any knowledge of gas and electricity prices. Others would deceive their Mother if it meant making a quick buck.

samrwill

I'm not anti- anyone.

All I'm trying to do is find some resolution to a situation I find myself in, where I was given a cheaper quote for gas and electricity that was wrong. I trusted the representative because I assumed he was experienced in calculating this information and that it was correct.

I was surprised and I made him go through his calculations several times, yet he was adamant he was correct. As a result I find myself paying more for energy than I could have been.

If he'd said 'this is going to work out a little bit more expensive', I'd have said 'no thank you' and spared myself a great deal of inconvenience and hassle trying to sort it out.

It could easily have been any one of the energy suppliers and I'd have done the same, it so happens it was UW and I am unhappy with the service I received. Every consumer has a responsibility to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen, that big companies are held to account for their sales strategies, especially when it is to the detriment of the consumer.

NigeWick

samrwill wrote: »

Every consumer has a responsibility to ensure that this sort of thing does not happen, that big companies are held to account for their sales strategies, especially when it is to the detriment of the consumer.

I agree totally and my point is, you could have tried bringing any miscreants to account after your first bill rather than waiting a year.