Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Cardew

Quentin wrote: »

There is a full discussion on the convuluted route (using a pre payment card which has no protection for your money should uw go bust) used by this uw rep to get his expensive bills reduced here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1437965

However even before the card was introduced, he made the same claim.

Vestra

It could be in the tenancy agreement that you have to choose this supplier for the first 28 days, happens quite alot.

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

jumping into any thread they find to give a plug without attempting to tell the full picture doesn't make sense to any of us here.

I believe I gave a more complete picture than those knocking the company. Claiming a company is expensive for utilities without pointing out that some people can actually pay less by accepting certain restrictions on where they shop for other items just gives a one sided and inaccurate picture of what is possible. All I claimed was that *I* pay less and others in a similar situation could too, if they so wished. I also declared my interest.

1carminestocky

Have to agree, NigeWick. As I have stressed on MANY occasions I am not or never have been a customer or distributor for UW but I do get a bit annoyed with the (admittedly small in number but VERY vocal) anti-UW mafia on here. The fact is clear that, if you ALREADY regularly shop at Sainsburys (let's face it, millions clearly DO each week) then you could get your utilities cheaper than with ANY other company, on any tariff, online or paper. The fact that you would also get a proper itemised paper bill EVERY MONTH is an added bonus which some people clearly are willing to pay more for, anyway. I live miles away from a Sainsburys and consequently don't shop there (although I do shop at several of the other shops UW give decreases off your bill for spend, although probably not enough to stop my obsessive cashback-induced switching for). To baldly state that UW are one of the most expensive suppliers of gas and electric for everybody is silly...especially on a moneysaving website like this.

As a family, our average spend on groceries and fuel is approx £140 per week. If we did that at Sainsburys with the UW card it would equate to a £364 annual saving on our domestic fuel bill. Let's take off £12 for the annual cost of the card and £4 for the 12 lots of 35p loading fees and that STILL nets out at a £348 discount. we did, of course, spend approx £1000 last year at Argos and a couple of other of the UW-designated stores so this figure in reality is very conservative. Making it EASILY the best deal out there, INCLUDING online tariffs.

lauraj87

Hi all -

After reading through all of this thread I wanted to coment - I am a customer of UW and I'm very happy with the service they provide. They answer their calls quickly, deal with any problems quickly and I think it's just so much easier having all of my services on 1 bill. I look at that and see what's going out each month and not having to worry about a quarterly bill that I had forgotten was due (used to happen to me all the time and i'd struggle to pay it). For the people here who are claiming they are expensive etc, do you have anything to back this up? For starters they guarantee to beat British gas....

That's all thanks! Just annoys me how people attack the UW without any information on them!

Cardew

lauraj87 wrote: »

For the people here who are claiming they are expensive etc, do you have anything to back this up? For starters they guarantee to beat British gas....

Why would we not have any information on them? their prices are all available on the web and in the comparison websites.

To back it up look at any of the comparison websites and see how expensive UW is for energy.

Their claim to beat British Gas is absolutely typical of UW's misleading claims.

When you read the small print that statement refer's only to BG's Standard tariff and excludes all of the discounts you get from BG for Dual Fuel, payment by Direct Debit etc.

Enter your gas and electricity consumption in kWh in a comparison website yourself to see how much cheaper you can get it from every other company.

Or give us the figures and your area and we will work it out for you.

NigeWick

lauraj87 wrote: »

For starters they guarantee to beat British gas...

I am a distributor for Utility Warehouse and can admit that there are companies who have cheaper gas and electricity, especially if you are prepared to forgo a paper bill and use the internet. However, I use the pre payment card as I do most of my grocery shopping at Sainsbury's, plus occasionally buying stuff from other of their partner stores in order to get the 5% of those shopping costs against my utility bill. By accepting these restrictions as well as paying all fees due, I get my gas and electricity cheaper, to the tune of about £4.50 per month than the cheapest that has been quoted to me. Many people are not in my position and buy elsewhere as is their right. You will find some here who are quite obsessed with trying to do Utility Warehouse and it's independent distributors down, even claiming that a WHICH? survey is tainted because UW distributors may have voted (I did not) and skewed the result.

I am pleased that you are happy with what you get from the company.

1carminestocky

lauraj87 wrote: »

Hi all -

After reading through all of this thread I wanted to coment - I am a customer of UW and I'm very happy with the service they provide. They answer their calls quickly, deal with any problems quickly and I think it's just so much easier having all of my services on 1 bill. I look at that and see what's going out each month and not having to worry about a quarterly bill that I had forgotten was due (used to happen to me all the time and i'd struggle to pay it). For the people here who are claiming they are expensive etc, do you have anything to back this up? For starters they guarantee to beat British gas....

That's all thanks! Just annoys me how people attack the UW without any information on them!

I'm actually not a customer but it annoys me also. If you check out the various threads on UW it's generally the same small band of bigots who basically keep coming up with the same arguments. Quentin, for instance, has been slagging off UW for 3 years!! He never seems to tire of it. Having said that, in the 3 years he's been doing this they would appear to have been one of the big stock market success stories, so that should tell you what influence he has. :rolleyes:

Let's have the definitive statement and see if the naysayers can pick it apart with FACTS.

For someone with average consumption (20,500 gas, 3,300 electric), if you are a regular shopper at Sainsburys for groceries and/or fuel and spend anything around £120 per week (and this can also include expenditure at the other stores; Argos, Boots, Burton, Comet, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Goldsmiths, Halfords, Homebase, House of Fraser, JJB Sports (in-store only), Marriott Hotels, Miss Selfridge, Mothercare, Outfit, Principles, River Island, TGI Fridays, Thorntons, Topshop, Topman, Virgin Experience, Wallis, Warehouse!) then you won't be able to get a cheaper deal anywhere else on gas, electric, phone and/or broadband INCLUDING ONLINE ACCOUNTS. You would be paying a LOT less with UW. And you would get a paper bill every month, fully itemised and one direct debit to cover all the services you take. Fact? Prove me wrong with FACTS, not bigotted rhetoric..

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

I am pleased that you are happy with what you get from the company.

Are you "pleased" that this satisfied customer has been conned by the uw worthless guarantee, so much so she uses it as her "starter" reason for posting in support?

You use her quote regarding the guarantee, yet make no mention that it is just an advertising con - she clearly believed it, and even your colleagues have previously posted that it means nothing at all, the small print provides uw with their "get out", and there is no way of claiming against it!

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

You use her quote regarding the guarantee

And explained that there are companies who at present provide cheaper gas and electricity. I went on to say that in the right circumstances, if one is prepared to accept certain conditions, one can still pay less for Utility Warehouse gas and electricity than the same services from "the cheapest" companies as quoted to me by a member here. I was challenged to use my own usage as an example and did so. I showed that *I* pay less, to the tune of about £4.50 per month for my electricity and gas, including all fees payable when compared to those two quoted cheapest companies.

If I can save money, so can many others. I am happy when others are happy. I sincerely hope that you gain some pleasure from your constant moaning about Utility Warehouse, because if you do not, IMHO, you are wasting at least part of your life and that would be sad.