Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

1carminestocky

Cardew wrote: »

If you read the 2 great posts(#417 & #419) by 'conmenot' in this thread it goes a long way toward explaining how someone can post such drivel and not be embarrassed.

I believe they were his ONLY 2 posts in his time on MSE. Now since long-gone (or has he, lol?) You get a lot of that on here. :rolleyes:

epsilondraconis, the figures ARE compelling, and like we all keep reminding ourselves on here, this IS a money saving site . We also don't have a Sainsburys nearby but have ordered online. Orders over £100 are delivered entirely free of charge on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (or £3.50 if you order over £40 but less than £100). Check out the Sainsburys thread in the new Shopping and Groceries forum to see that it appears Sainsburys (especially its Basics range) is becoming very popular.

epsilondraconis

1carminestocky wrote: »

I believe they were his ONLY 2 posts in his time on MSE. Now since long-gone (or has he, lol?) You get a lot of that on here. :rolleyes:

epsilondraconis, the figures ARE compelling, and like we all keep reminding ourselves on here, this IS a money saving site . We also don't have a Sainsburys nearby but have ordered online. Orders over £100 are delivered entirely free of charge on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (or £3.50 if you order over £40 but less than £100). Check out the Sainsburys thread in the new Shopping and Groceries forum to see that it appears Sainsburys (especially its Basics range) is becoming very popular.

Cheers. Our weekly shop is normally over £100 anyway - there is only the two of us. Well, having said that, its over £100 per week when my wife shops alone - it's less than that when I accompany her. She still isn't quite an MSE convert.

Previously I've gone down the utilities switching route and claimed the cashback which has worked well. Also we currently pay for everything on our credit card, which is currently a Tesco 0% on purchases for 12 months and so anything we buy, we don't pay for yet (only the minimum amount per month). The money I would have spent goes into savings and so make money on it that way. Moreover, we're also collecting Tesco points each time we spend on our credit card.

Whether I go down the UW route or continuing doing what I'm doing, will be determined by how much money I can save (plus provided it isn't a lot of hassle).

Thanks anyway.

1carminestocky

epsilondraconis wrote: »

Hmmm, those are interesting numbers 1carminestocky.

I could even be tempted over to the dark side! The down-side is that Sainsbury's would be a bit of a drive for us to do our weekly shop, as Asda is only a mile down the road. When our fixed term comes to an end with our current utilities provider, I'll do the figures to see if it will be cheaper for me.

My fear is that if I become a UW customer I'll end up posting like vinnyph. I don't want to die in a Waco type siege.

:rotfl: I would imagine it's only when you become a distributor that that sort of behaviour has the potential to develop. Rest easy.

Quentin

epsilondraconis wrote: »

I could even be tempted over to the dark side! The down-side is that Sainsbury's would be a bit of a drive for us to do our weekly shop

Buying expensive utilities to get the "privilege" of buying the risky pay in advance cashcard is of course your choice. This thread has highlighted the snags with the card.

And before you go the whole hog, remember there is definitely one area uw are efficient in.

Getting their bills paid!

We have heard about the problems their customers have had whenever trying to dispute a bill. They also have come up with a way to try and ensure their cardholders never have an unpaid balance on their bill.

Should you not pay a bill (or part of a bill) for any reason, and you use their risky cashcard to shop with, then all the discount you have built up during the month at Sainsbury's etc is lost (for ever) if it turns out you have left an outstanding amount on your bill. (Lost for ever even if you pay them the outstanding balance)!

1carminestocky

epsilondraconis wrote: »

Cheers. Our weekly shop is normally over £100 anyway - there is only the two of us. Well, having said that, its over £100 per week when my wife shops alone - it's less than that when I accompany her. She still isn't quite an MSE convert.

Previously I've gone down the utilities switching route and claimed the cashback which has worked well. Also we currently pay for everything on our credit card, which is currently a Tesco 0% on purchases for 12 months and so anything we buy, we don't pay for yet (only the minimum amount per month). The money I would have spent goes into savings and so make money on it that way. Moreover, we're also collecting Tesco points each time we spend on our credit card.

Whether I go down the UW route or continuing doing what I'm doing, will be determined by how much money I can save (plus provided it isn't a lot of hassle).

Thanks anyway.

You are very welcome. And I like your money-saving style :T Sainsburys have Nectar points instead of clubcard points. It's certainly something worth having a look at once your fixed deal ends, see how the numbers add up. £100 a week at Sainsburys (this is ignoring any spend you are liable to do at the other stores like Boots, Homebase, Argos, Comet, House of Fraser, Sainsburys petrol stations etc etc) on the UW card would equate to a net (deducting £1 per month card charges and 12 lots of 35p loading fees) £244 discount off your UW bill. Worth thinking about. Like I have always argued on here, UW are an interesting *alternative* supplier and *can* be the cheapest for some, nothing more, nothing less. It's a shame it can't be less po-faced on here, tbh, but such is life.

1carminestocky

Quentin wrote: »

Buying expensive utilities to get the "privilege" of buying the risky pay in advance cashcard is of course your choice. This thread has highlighted the snags with the card.

And before you go the whole hog, remember there is definitely one area uw are efficient in.

Getting their bills paid!

We have heard about the problems their customers have had whenever trying to dispute a bill. They also have come up with a way to try and ensure their cardholders never have an unpaid balance on their bill.

Should you not pay a bill (or part of a bill) for any reason, and you use their risky cashcard to shop with, then all the discount you have built up during the month at Sainsbury's etc is lost (for ever) if it turns out you have left an outstanding amount on your bill. (Lost for ever even if you pay them the outstanding balance)!

epsilondraconis

1carminestocky wrote: »

:rotfl: I would imagine it's only when you become a distributor that that sort of behaviour has the potential to develop. Rest easy.

My concern is that I'll wake up one morning feeling dirty and that I've somehow been taken advantage of. I won't know quite what it is; however I'll then undraw the curtains and expose my worst fear - I've somehow been drawn down the distributor route, I have the emblazoned mini sitting on my drive, I'm paying good money for it to sit there, I'm spouting drivel on MSE (more than I do normally) and none of my friends and family will talk to me again because I got them all to sign up to UW.

Alternatively, I could just be a happy UW customer saving myself some money and be pleased that I stumbled upon the UW MSE thread.

Which will it be?

Watch this space...

1carminestocky

epsilondraconis wrote: »

My concern is that I'll wake up one morning feeling dirty and that I've somehow been taken advantage of. I won't know quite what it is; however I'll then undraw the curtains and expose my worst fear - I've somehow been drawn down the distributor route, I have the emblazoned mini sitting on my drive, I'm paying good money for it to sit there, I'm spouting drivel on MSE (more than I do normally) and none of my friends and family will talk to me again because I got them all to sign up to UW.

Alternatively, I could just be a happy UW customer saving myself some money and be pleased that I stumbled upon the UW MSE thread.

Which will it be?

Watch this space...

:rotfl: I wonder if the customer minis have the same decals? :eek:

epsilondraconis

Quentin wrote: »

Buying expensive utilities to get the "privilege" of buying the risky pay in advance cashcard is of course your choice. This thread has highlighted the snags with the card.

And before you go the whole hog, remember there is definitely one area uw are efficient in.

Getting their bills paid!

We have heard about the problems their customers have had whenever trying to dispute a bill. They also have come up with a way to try and ensure their cardholders never have an unpaid balance on their bill.

Should you not pay a bill (or part of a bill) for any reason, and you use their risky cashcard to shop with, then all the discount you have built up during the month at Sainsbury's etc is lost (for ever) if it turns out you have left an outstanding amount on your bill. (Lost for ever even if you pay them the outstanding balance)!

Thanks - I'll refamiliarise myself with the drawbacks before considering the switch.

My current 'stoozing' route with the credit card imposes various restrictions, obviously if you fail to adhere to their T&Cs, you lose the 0% on purchases offer and they start charging interest.

As with all of these money saving opportunities, its worth doing a little research to ensure you fully understand the pit-falls etc.

Thanks Quentin, 1carminestocky and Cardew for all of the advice and the fun banter. The UW threads wouldn't be the same without you.

Quentin

epsilondraconis wrote: »

Thanks - I'll refamiliarise myself with the drawbacks before considering the switch.

Note that you never get to hear any drawbacks from the horses mouths!

Just imagine how you'd feel if you were one of their members, who signed up via your brother-in-law! (Without having read the threads here to get a better insight into the whole operation, and the tricks their reps are prepared to stoop to just to get a gullible customer on the books!)