Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Decado23

Quentin wrote: »

All very well.......BUT

Elsewhere on the net you have referred to having had "atrocious" service from uw - so you "conveniently" accept this do you?

No company I'm aware of pleases all of the people all of the time - even UW's own literature only claims 94% of the customers surveyed would be happy to recommend them. Not too bad though eh?

Quentin wrote: »

And you have told us the only way you pay the lowest price is by using the risky prepayment card.

I don't consider it to be more than an extremely low risk (although I guess it would depend on how any individual chooses to use it).

Quentin wrote: »

Surely it would be common sense to just go elsewhere and get cheaper utilities in the first place, then use another mainstream prepayment card to get discounts off your shopping?

While it may be possible to get a cheaper deal (and I believe this is not necessarily the case for all people), price isn't everything for everybody - customer service and convenience play a large part in many people's decision making processes. Personally I think UW are top notch for customer service, the single bill/single monthly payment is undeniably convenient and with all the available member benefits it can also be the cheapest overall package on the market.



UW distributor

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

Your evidence for the word "atrocious" comes from a one off incident where the complainant ended up happy in the end............ You state the card is "risky" but have nothing to show that the company promoting it, which has cash reserves, is profitable and been voted the best company by business people is a risk at all.

You actually posted that when dealing with the service team that you had "some fairly atrocious" experiences. So which is true - "some" experiences, or just the one off incident you now say? Which version is true (you wrote them both!)

It wasn't me who originally brought up the topic of the card being risky - the original source for that is of course the uw themselves who point out the risks associated with the card right at the beginning of the card's ts + cs:

By activating your Card you accept these Terms and Conditions and confirm you understand and accept the risks highlighted in clauses 2(b) and 18(d) of this Agreement.

Decado23

jimexbox wrote: »

If I did switch to UW it would be a informed decision, not one based on a 15 minute sales pitch riddled with withheld information.

Good for you! (I mean that sincerely btw, if all (or even most) consumers bothered to check all the small print and Ts&Cs for whichever company they are considering then the deregulated market may one day end up being truly competitive to the benefit of the average consumer).

You may find it interesting that one of my first customers (my neighbour in fact - 3rd customer to be precise) spent upwards of 2 hours poring over the UW tariff guide and comparing UW prices vs his bills for the last 12 months. It should be obvious that with the price changes in this period the comparison with UWs current prices was quite unfair, in favour of his previous suppliers.

Based on his calculations he expects to be a little over £100 better off than he would have been if I'd never mentioned it. This does not include the free evening/weekend calls he gets, nor does it include the offers in the benefits directory nor the cashback card as it does not tie in well with his personal spending habits. Before anyone asks, he has no internet connection, nor does he want one - any online special offers or discounts would be irrelevent for him. He was with his previous suppliers since he moved in to the property 11 years ago and had I kept my mouth shut would probably be stuck on the highest rates in the industry until the day he dies.

Since he is somewhat of a 'stick in the mud' as he puts it and he believes his family are even more so, he has told his sister about UW but they are waiting a year to see how it pans out. Assuming he saves the amount he expects (I expect him to save a fair amount more) then his sister is likely to sign up for 3-5 services, earning him an additional 1.5-2.5% discount on his bills.

Even if he is not satisfied with UW then he will have a golden opportunity to select a new supplier rather than head back to the overpriced standard rates he was on for eleven years! I'll even help him do this. He pretty much can't lose.

Now, is he better off because I spoke to him or not?



UW distributor

Quentin

Here's more from a disgruntled uw rep on youtube who followed the uw recommended path we have learnt about, "used" his friends and family then discovered they ran the other way when they saw him coming along the street towards them!

And felt he could no longer carry on ruining peoples days out at fun days etc by attracting them to a win a mini raffle but really just attacking them offering cheapest utilities/best broadband etc.

So would instead open a tv channel on youtube to show uw videos!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBCRZ0eZ-D4

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

You

I'm still just one person, and, ended up happy with them in the end.

I get my utilities from Utility Warehouse because I pay less with them than I would with any other supplier.

Quentin

No answer on which version of the atrocious service is correct?

1) The original (you said you had some fairly atrocious experiences)

2) The latest (when you say you only experienced one isolated incident)

Though we can see you have in a cynical move cleverly edited post#2221 which originally was:

Originally Posted by NigeWick
Your evidence for the word "atrocious" comes from a one off incident where the complainant ended up happy in the end............

Decado23

Quentin wrote: »

Here's more from a disgruntled uw rep on youtube who followed the uw recommended path we have learnt about, "used" his friends and family then discovered they ran the other way when they saw him coming along the street towards them!

And felt he could no longer carry on ruining peoples days out at fun days etc by attracting them to a win a mini raffle but really just attacking them offering cheapest utilities/best broadband etc.

So would instead open a tv channel on youtube to show uw videos!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBCRZ0eZ-D4

So what does this prove? Nag your friends too much and you lose them. Bit obvious really - we are never encourged to use any hard sell or nagging tactics. I've told my friends what I do, if they want to know more they can ask. Funnily enough, I haven't lost any friends over this.

As for 'attacking' people and ruining their fun days out. Erm.. that's not how it's supposed to be done. I've done a few win a mini events, had some nice chats with a few people, been told 'no thanks' by a lot of people. I certainly haven't 'attacked' anyone and I'd be highly surprised if anybody had their day ruined (although on one particular event it was very rainy and windy - not much fun but hardly UW's fault).



UW distributor

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

Here's more from a disgruntled uw rep

Had you watched the video all the way through, you would have heard that he is not disgruntled with the company. He just found that some of the old methods used to gather customers did not work for him. And, he is now gathering customers on the internet. I suppose you wwere hoping that nobody would check to see that you were embellishing the truth?

Quentin

No - read my post - you will see I point out the way ahead as mentioned at the end of the clip - all you reps are urged to "sign up" for his youtube channel where he intended to sell you all his secrets!!

Cardew

NigeWick wrote: »

Utility Warehouse has had good press from a number of independent sources over the years. In a recent survey, 83% of customers who replied stated they were satisfied with the company. The next best had a 10% lower rating. British Gas who one person on this forum mentioned as a "best buy" had a rating of 37% for customer satisfaction. .

The fact that UW have 26,000 distributors(plus friends and family) who all have a vested interest - namely cash - in voting for UW has nothing to do with the results?

All unbiased opinions?

Those surveys have as much credibility as UW's notorious Triple Value Guaurantee.

You can repeat and repeat that UW suit you,(no doubt in the hope of influencing new readers) but the fact remains that UW's gas and electricity prices are amongst the very highest available.