Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

I also signed my brother up after he checked his requirements and costed competitors for phone, mobile and broadband before putting pen to paper.

And don't forget your Mum too, when listing all your happy customers.

You could be a caring son/brother and point them towards this thread to help the scales fall from their eyes. Or maybe show them the videos where reps are encouraged to use their friends and relatives natural desire to help out when you are really aiming to sign them up to multiplke utilities!

http://www.networkerplus.co.uk/videos/practice-appointment-shannon-griffin.html

Decado23

Cardew wrote: »

Right so one way or another the prices of the UW and BT package are not far apart.

no, unless someone requires several of the optional extras, UW is considerable cheaper, while still providing a potentially faster broadband, with a larger monthly allowance.

We can argue until the cows come home which is better.

I think it's fair to say that this thread is indisputable proof of that!

I have lots of relatives abroad and I I spend a lot of time in the USA and I pay zero for the majority of my 'calls' to and from UK as I use Skype most of the time. Even using a telephone at 1.25p a min it is hardly going to cost a fortune!

great, I'm glad you're satisfied with your package. All I want to achieve with my posts is to demonstrate that UW are a perfectly valid option. Obviously the pros and cons weigh differently for individual usage.

Now this is the Gas and Electricity forum and we are all surely agreed that UW cost £xhundred more than the cheapest tariffs.

Considering this is the only place we are officially allowed to discuss UW, it's somewhat unfair to automatically exclude all but 2 services from the discussion.

regarding energy prices, cheapest for my usage is npower sign online 15 last time I checked. This is £119 cheaper than UW for me over the year, assuming I stay at least 12 months. If I leave earlier I miss out on £100-£105 (seen two sources with different amounts, don't know which is correct) discount, making it only £14-£19 cheaper over just less than a year.

Of course, that's only available online - anyone signing up via a salesman (iirc, this is the preferred method for most people according to an apparently independent survey a year or two ago) to npower would probably get put on the standard rate and pay considerably more.

even so, I think it's fair to say the other potential benefits that come with being a uw member considerably outweigh even £119 extra on energy... cashback card, free calls package, customer discount plan, great customer service, many exclusive discounts in benefits directory... despite not necessarily being the cheapest, I certainly consider UW best value. With the additional benefits I've just highlighted, they also work out the cheapest for me by a considerable margin.



UW distributor

Decado23

Quentin wrote: »

And don't forget your Mum too, when listing all your happy customers.

You could be a caring son/brother and point them towards this thread to help the scales fall from their eyes. Or maybe show them the videos where reps are encouraged to use their friends and relatives natural desire to help out when you are really aiming to sign them up to multiplke utilities!

http://www.networkerplus.co.uk/videos/practice-appointment-shannon-griffin.html

I am continually amused by your constant attempts to turn the focus of the thread away from the comparative benefits of the services. I've already discussed the training videos in this thread (you, of course, ignore any explanation that doesn't satisfy your need to hate UW at any costs) but let's go over it once again shall we...

Some of the videos you have linked do indeed form part of the UW training program. The key word here is 'part'.

Taken out of context, they give a misleading impression...

you claim that we are ecouraged to 'pretend' we need to practice in order to get friends/family to sign up.

The reality is that many distributors have no (or very little) sales experience and may be lacking confidence for 'cold market' selling. The need in this situation to practice the presentation a few times to build confidence is perfectly genuine. If friends/family choose to take any of the UW services, this is not a bad thing (assuming the distributor in question has not lied/tricked or mislead the friend/family - some people are willing to sink this low, many are not).

you claim we are encouraged to avoid going in to detail at any costs.

The reality is some distributors may feel nervous in case a potential customer asks a question they don't know the answer to. Some new distributors may feel they have to memorise all the tarrifs (phone, energy & mobile = quite a lot to learn) before talking to potential customers. The videos are designed to illustrate that this is not necessary. Most people (outside of these boards at least) aren't interested in the minutiae anyway, and if we come across somebody who is, we have a tarriff guide, t&c booklet and a phone number for exec services who can answer any query anyway.

The point of these videos is to build distributors confidence and help them get started, NOT to encourage tricking anybody into anything.

You will of course ignore this, wait maybe a page or two and then try again to use the videos to imply all UW salesmen are conmen. Pretty pathetic really.


UW Distributor

Quentin

Decado23 wrote: »

you claim that we are ecouraged to 'pretend' we need to practice in order to get friends/family to sign up.

You will of course ignore this, wait maybe a page or two and then try again to use the videos to imply all UW salesmen are conmen.

I don't make that claim.

It isn't a "claim" at all.

It is stated by uw for us all to see on the web page introducing the video:

Here's another video that demonstrates Group Director, Shannon Griffin booking a 'practice appointment', no doubt with a view to signing up a multi-service customer for at least four services, because that's what the top distributors do.

http://www.networkerplus.co.uk/videos/practice-appointment-shannon-griffin.html

The "quotes" around 'practice appointment' are put there by uw, not me!

And whatever you have to say about my contributions, you cannot accuse me of "trying" to imply your reps mislead - they are proven time and time again to do that, not just via the videos we nhave seen, but the many rogues who try and mislead us on this board.

You bring in the the words "All uw salesmen are conmen" - as you'd expect, my response to this is "if the cap fits"!

keggs

Come on Quentin - answer Decado23. And while you at it answer mikebythesea's cash card comparison. You've ignored it I notice.

Again the old saying springs to mind - he knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Steve
UW Distributor and Very Happy Customer

1carminestocky

Quention has tended to 'major' on the way UW is sold for the past couple of months (actually, since I first published my deal ). To be fair to him, he has once ventured into the arena and tried to find a better deal. Only problem being it included a recommendation for Tiscali :eek::eek::rotfl:

Quentin's a devious old soul, nothing's ever black and white or yes and no with him and God forbid you ask him to tell you who he uses for his utilities (this is almost definitely for fear of several of us googling their various ASA adjudications ). You always have to look behind his posts for the meaning. In this case, it's a way of deflecting talk away from price.

The fact that Quentin (the king of research, basically) won't get involved in the challenge tells me all I need to know about its validity. It's basically very valid. Don't get me wrong, the figures truly surprised me when I first did the number crunching. I did check them several times for fear of making a glaring error but no...

Good God, all this toing and froing to try and beat what (if we believe what some on here are saying) should have proved an easy peasy challenge. Pairing what Cardew has labelled an 'expensive' gas and electric package to a telecoms package that Cardew has also labelled 'expensive' should surely have been put to bed months ago. If nothing else, it proves what UW people have been saying all along. They provide total packages that are a real alternative to any package the big 6 and telecom behemoths could come up with. And EVEN without the fantastic innovation that is the cashback card. Add that to the equation and, for the people who's shopping habits broadly match its portfolio of retailers, the resulting package would unarguably be absolutely untouchable.

I've said all along, UW are an ALTERNATIVE to the Big 6, and an interesting one at that. Some people seem to take it as a personal affront when they find someone has joined them or is planning to. How weird is that?

Edit: Yes, Quentin also TOTALLY IGNORES every question/subject he finds an awkward one to answer/talk about/challenge. The latest example being Mike's T&Cs for the 2 market-leading cashback cards. Plus, of course, Decado23 is STILL waiting for an apology for being accused of misleading claims regarding npower online's annual discount (which Quentin got completely wrong). Tells me all I need to know about old Quentin.

Quentin

Keggs wrote:

Come on Quentin - answer Decado23. And while you at it answer mikebythesea's cash card comparison. You've ignored it I notice.

From what I can see, Decado23 has answered on behalf of NigeWick, but didn't pose a specific question.

Your mate on the uw reps forum, Mike by the Sea posted that all prepaid cards have the same risks. This is not true. He has quoted 2 competitor cards with risks. Hardly a comprehensive report covering them all. Or do you disagree with this patently obvious situation.

Not really MSE members responsibility to supplement the UW product training, however:

MSE Martin recommends the Cashplus card:

it does give you Section 75 protection, meaning pay for something costing between £100 and £30,000 on it, and the card issuer's equally liable with the retailer if something goes wrong.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Quentin wrote: »

Your mate on the uw reps forum, Mike by the Sea posted that all cashback cards have the same risks. This is not true. He has quoted 2 competitor cards with risks. Hardly a comprehensive report covering them all. Or do you disagree with this patently obvious situation.

Not really MSE members responsibility to supplement the UW product training, however:

MSE Martin recommends the Cashplus card:

it does give you Section 75 protection, meaning pay for something costing between £100 and £30,000 on it, and the card issuer's equally liable with the retailer if something goes wrong.

Interesting card, but not really a cashback card , more designed for the purpose of:

I can’t get a credit card, how can I get this protection?

and, of course, it still has the

this risky card ....every pound they put on the card is at risk (as well as being an interest free loan to .... - who have charged them for the privilege of loaning it to them!)

To quote Cashcard T & C's

13.9 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is not applicable for this Card. No other compensation schemes exist to cover losses claimed in connection with this Card. This means that in the unlikely event that AFL becomes insolvent your funds may become valueless and unusable and as a result you may lose your money.

Sound familiar ?

Mike

1carminestocky

Quentin wrote: »

From what I can see, Decado23 has answered on behalf of NigeWick, but didn't pose a specific question.

Your mate on the uw reps forum, Mike by the Sea posted that all cashback cards have the same risks. This is not true. He has quoted 2 competitor cards with risks. Hardly a comprehensive report covering them all. Or do you disagree with this patently obvious situation.

Not really MSE members responsibility to supplement the UW product training, however:

MSE Martin recommends the Cashplus card:

Wayhay! Isn't this the one used by that silly goldfish Dacouch (regular readers may remember his hilarious 'master plan' to pose as a prospective customer on here in order to lure UW reps into breaking the T&Cs by trying to sign him up by PM. Err, not one did and then 'the goldfish' revealed his less than perfect memory by stating a few days later on here that he didn't actually pay for his utilities :rotfl:).

Monthly fee of £4.95 if you load less than £1,000 per month on it. Plus an ADDITIONAL 'up to' £4.95 monthly 'Maintenance fee' if you don't use it for 4 months :eek: seems like a high price to pay to protect your grocery purchases from one of the UKs biggest supermarkets. And doesn't the 'protection' only apply to single items of £100 and over?

Decado23

1carminestocky wrote: »

And doesn't the 'protection' only apply to single items of £100 and over?

I don't know if it's single items or single transaction but the only single item I've bought on the card over that amount was wife's xmas present - £176 at argos. I s'pose if they went bust between me paying at the till and collecting at the goods counter I'd have been in trouble

As for the 'interest free loan', I topped up just before heading to the store - 25 minute loan for 5% cashback (minus small fee) is a deal I can live with :-)


UW Distributor