Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

NigeWick

markuss wrote: »

Would someone who knows please outline what they see as UW advantages?

I'll start with the disadvantages. There is a monthly membership fee of a bit under £2. There are cheaper on line providers for electricity and gas for many users. You may find individual deals that are better than any individual Utility Warehouse offering. You must make sure that you check your own figures to see if the company suits you.

The advantages are, you still get a paper bill every month. That bill is quite easy to read and will show all services you take with the company. For some people taking electricity, gas, landline, broadband and mobile phone can work out to be their best overall deal. The company also offers a pre-payment card that you load up with money. I use the card at Sainsburys mainly and pay about £4.50 less per month than I would for electricity & gas with what was claimed to be best buys. This was before a 2% price reduction. There are a couple of dozen or so more stores that accept the card. If you sign up with an independent distributor, you are virtually guaranteed a person who will want to help sort out any problems should they arise. The reason for this is that we get paid a small percentage of your usage for as long as you remain a customer. The company call centre is in London and the staff speak good English. Various independent publications have given Utility Warehouse good writeups over the years.

Some people on this forum do not like the sales techniques used by some of the distributors. They will also tell you about the "dangers" of the pre payment card as it does not carry some of the same safeguards as a credit card. The company has no debts and in fact has cash in the bank. Therefore they fund expansion/equipment from their own resources. Their shares have performed comparatively well over the financial crisis.

Any questions, just ask as there are a few distributors who frequent this thread.


I am an Independent Distributor with Utility Warehouse and any opinions expressed here are my own and may not be shared by the company.

NigeWick

SwanJon wrote: »

TBH, you can read for about 5 minutes, and then think dittos on this thread....

I think 5 minutes is a bit too short a time but even though sober at the moment, I do know what you mean. :beer:

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

They will also tell you about the "dangers" of the pre payment card as it does not carry some of the same safeguards as a credit card. .

In fact it is the uw themselves who warn anyone taking out their card that it is risky, but their salesmen consistently fail to mention this!

If you view the training videos, you will see that no getting involved in any detail is the way they are trained to sell.

These are the first lines of the uw card 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

Quentin

NigeWick wrote: »

If you sign up with an independent distributor, you are virtually guaranteed a person who will want to help sort out any problems should they arise. The reason for this is that we get paid a small percentage of your usage for as long as you remain a customer.

If you do decide uw is for you, the moneysaving route is to cut out the "indepent distributor" - they say they have over 20,000 of them, so who's to say yours will still be around when you need them!

Instead sign up via a cashback switching site (eg uk power) and get some money from them instead of just lining the reps pocket.

1carminestocky

Quentin wrote: »

In fact it is the uw themselves who warn anyone taking out their card that it is risky, but their salesmen consistently fail to mention this!

If you view the training videos, you will see that no getting involved in any detail is the way they are trained to sell.

These are the first lines of the uw card ts + cs:

The vast majority of these pre-paid cards AFAICT also have it in their T&Cs that there are the same 'risks' involved. Similarly, any credit you have accrued on your energy account with any Big 6 energy supplier is subject to the same risks but in all my (extensive!) switching between them I haven't once had attention drawn to this 'risk'. Have you?

Even your fellow arch anti-UW poster Cardew has now conceded that the risk on the pre-paid card is minimal.

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

Even your fellow arch anti-UW poster Cardew has now conceded that the risk on the pre-paid card is minimal.

Not sure exactly what I said on cashcard risks but I believe it was a little more qualified than that statement.

From memory I said something about using it sensibly and ventured that in my opinion it wasn't much of a risk.

Also using the term 'now conceded' implies I stated it was a risk and have changed my mind; again I am unaware that I have ever implied it was a serious risk(as opposed to minor risk)

As Carmine has considerable practice in researching everyone's posting history, he will no doubt dig out anything I have stated that supports his statement and post it triumphantly in this thread.

If he doesn't, you can take it that I am correct, or we will exchange 20 posts arguing semantics!

1carminestocky

Cardew wrote: »

Not sure exactly what I said on cashcard risks but I believe it was a little more qualified than that statement.

From memory I said something about using it sensibly and ventured that in my opinion it wasn't much of a risk.

Also using the term 'now conceded' implies I stated it was a risk and have changed my mind; again I am unaware that I have ever implied it was a serious risk(as opposed to minor risk)

1. As Carmine has considerable practice in researching everyone's posting history, he will no doubt dig out anything I have stated that supports his statement and post it triumphantly in this thread.

2. If he doesn't, you can take it that I am correct, or we will exchange 20 posts arguing semantics!

1. No, I won't in this case. In the glances I've had through your posts I find them more boring than Tolkien (maybe only my wife would know how much of an insult this is.) And not as well written. I can't recall seeing one post with even a whiff of humour in it. Incredibly depressing, really.

2. If you gauge 'correctness' by the amount of free time you have to argue semantics without getting bored then you are most definitely correct all the time. 100%.

keggs

Hi Markuss

I try not to give advice to anyone as in the end it can come back to bite you. But can simply suggest that you have to decide for yourself whether the Utility Warehouse is for you. Don't listen to anyone but yourself.

There are a few here who are vehemently opposed to UW whatever it says and does. They will even attack you personally accusing you of gullibility etc.

There are also UW distributors who may also be over zealous.

That's life as they say.

In reality you can only determine whether something is of value to you by weighing up both sides and ignoring the zealots and negatives here on this site. Then deciding the risk.

I am biased but whatever negative people say here there is no real risk in trying out what UW has to offer you. Most services have no minimum contract term so there is little to lose.

You would think that by signing the form for UW you were signing away your soul to the devil.

Of course some here have had a problem. Nothing in life is totally straightforward for anyone at times. That's just the way it is. However, people being people then extrapolate and state that because they had a problem everyone will have a problem.

Do you really think that is true.

Decide for yourself.

This site is supposed to be about money saving. The great guru and owner of this site recently got things wrong. He's not God. He's a so called expert. But experts do get things wrong from time to time. Unfortunately for the people who really take his advice constantly they got stuck into something they now have trouble getting out of.

Will they listen to his advice now? Maybe. But some might not.

IMHO this sort of site actually can do a lot of people both a service and disservice at the same time.

Take your own advice only and not other people's. That way you only have yourself to blame if it goes wrong. UW offers a service that's all. If you like what it offers you and think you will benefit then join. If you don't like what it offers or don't think you will benefit then don't join.

But don't listen to the likes of Quentin, Cardew or Nigewick or me. Make your own mind up.

Hope that helps
Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer.

jimexbox

Keggs/Nigewick

Contrary to what you may think, if an individual is explained the facts in full, and then makes an informed decision that UW is for them, I say great. If a person is prepared to tailor their living habits and the whole UW package actually fits their lifestyle and normal spending habits, then UW is certaily a viable option.

The problem I have is that many, if not the majority of energy users in the UK are totally ignorant of price structures, and confusion tactics used by suppliers, UW being among these. I myself, until I took the time to watch how all the energy suppliers operate were under the illusion that these companies operated in a straight forward fashion, and were honest in how they dealt with the public. UW sales technique is up there with the worst examples of confusion marketing, which I believe all too many potential customers will fall for, especially as its usually a friend telling you these 'facts'.

If the product on offer from UW is such a good opportunity, why use such 'slippery' methods when dealing with potential customer's as demonstrated in the videos supplied by my mate?

1carminestocky

Like you suggest, jimexbox, every energy supplier is guilty of 'slippery' methods of marketing. Your current supplier has certainly incurred your wrath recently with its misleading headline grabbing %tage reduction figure. I'm sure UW is no different in this respect apart from the fact they have only 3 actual tariffs (and then only because its in the customer's interests for their usage to be categorised). Would a so-called ethical supplier like Ebico, for instance, tell me on my usage there are much cheaper deals out there? On my usage, Ebico is more expensive for G&E than UW even without factoring in the other initiatives UW offer.

It's clear that compared to the rest, UW's offering requires explaining more fully. For instance, none of the Big 6 operate a cashback card and that, to me, needs explaining one-to-one. Likewise the referral commission discount customers can earn. Then of course (unlike all the Big 6 except SSE) they also offer a phone/BB/calls option and I think that also needs explaining so that the customer can ascertain how the 'free calls depending on services taken up' can benefit them (or not, of course).

But I think the main reason from UWs POV is that it's the cheapest, most cost-effective method of marketing - AFAIK the only salaried staff are contained in the Head Office, the rest are self-employed. Of course, this can lead to over-zealous reps, but the same could also be said of the commission-based door knockers for the Big 6 and, indeed, their office-based telemarketers.