Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

SwanJon

dittos


dittos



dittos
(especialy Nige - a good demonstration of copy & paste)

Cardew

keggs wrote: »

That's the whole point of the guarantee. If UW says they will always be cheaper than BG then that's exactly what they do mean based on like for like comparisons. UW doesn't include Internet tariffs or dual fuel tariffs for this. That's stated clearly as far as I am ware.

I transferred to UW from BG a long time ago via the normal channel of filling in a form. As far as I know UW have fulfilled their end of the bargain.

You might want to bring in all sorts of other factors but in my case and in the case of every other member the company keeps its word. It treats all members the same - new and old alike. The same cannot be said for the big 6.

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Steve
UW

That is no form of answer at all, and you know it!

You posted this:

Because the company gave me back an extra discount to ensure that they kept their promise in line with their guarantee. The do the same with BT. So as far as I am concerned the guarantee wasn't worthless because I got extra money back on my bill. Is that clear enough for you.

I would have thought you might have worked that for yourself. Obviously not. That's the whole point of the guarantee.

Well it most certainly is not clear enough for me! and you are correct I haven't worked it out for myself,


You are a UW distributor - you sell the products yet you post "as far as I am ware - As far as I know".

You haven't given any sort of answer to post #3151.


This is what I asked:

Details please?

i.e. How much? how often? Does everyone get this? Where is this in UW T & Cs?

Did they compensate for the Dual fuel discount - the direct debit discount - the UW membership fee?

Let us get this straight!

Are you telling us that you would have paid less for your gas and electricity than with BG?

Perhaps other UW reps might comment?

Nobody has mentioned as far as I am aware that UW give a discount to bring their prices down to BG levels.

So come on, please answer the questions above - be specific please.

Any other UW reps(Nigewick, Mike by the sea) how is this discount given and what for?

Quentin

keggs wrote: »

If UW says they will always be cheaper than BG then that's exactly what they do mean based on like for like comparisons. UW doesn't include Internet tariffs or dual fuel tariffs for this. That's stated clearly as far as I am ware.

This is not what has happened according to the discussion on the uw reps forum (which keggs has contributed to!)

A rep is upset because a "good" prospect won't sign up as he gets cheaper gas from BG (despite the worthless guarantee saying that uw customers always get their gas cheaper than BG).

The rep contacts HO to ask how come the "guarantee" is being beaten, and publishes the email reply he gets:

Thanks for your email.

The Triple Value Guarantee (TVG) still applies.

However, it only applies when compared with a like for like direct debit tariff and does not allow for any duel fuel discounts, non standard or internet tariffs.

If compared with a like for like tariff the Guarantee applies over a period of a year. It is possible at any given point within that year that the companies covered by the TVG may be cheaper. We monitor our prices against their prices to ensure that over the course of a year the customer would pay less with us than with those companies.

I hope this clarifies how the TVG operates and should be interpreted or explained.

On seeing this cop out (that the customer needs to be with uw for a minimum of a year to see the "benefit" of the worthless guarantee), the rep grumbles:

I think this is a bit of a fobb-off, but hey-ho

Wonder why keggs didn't recount this story he tells us of getting the worthless guarantee honoured to his own colleagues?

Instead keggs attempts to motivate the rep by deriding the prospect for not being swayed by the uw prepayment card:

keggs wrote:

why wouldn't he want 5% off his bills with the cashcard. Some strange people about I must say.

Cardew

Exactly!

No mention of a discount being paid to bring their prices down.

keggs

Cardew wrote: »

That is no form of answer at all, and you know it!

It is the only answer you are going to get. I repeat. I received extra discount off my bill in order for UW to fulfil its pledge to me. I repeat -- me. That's all that matters to me as a happy customer. If I am happy with what the company does for me then I am happy to recommend it to someone else. This the same as if I was recommending a good book. Knowing how the company arrived at its price is of no consequence to me. If I was a book seller and a potential customer buying a book thinks it's too expensive then I accept it. As a distributor for UW, Usborne Books, Kleeneze or any other NM company that's all my job is. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Yet you are expecting me to know how the Utility Warehouse arrived at its prices. Well I don't and I have no need to. Is that clear enough for you now.

If you don't like that answer (as the old saying goes). Tough. I am not not an energy supplier. I have no interest in knowing tariffs. If a potential customer needs to know something I'll find out the answer. I have no need to do any comparisons of any tariffs and most people except rate chasers like yourself don't either. Most people are happy to save money. If they can't then I advise otherwise. But it is the company that does this work - not me. They do the calculatiosn not me. I do not need to. But if a customer asks me to then I will do my best to oblige if I can. But that is not my job. I will do it because I want to help.

I'm sorry to disappoint you Cardew but I am not a salesman. I have no intention of being a salesman. As such I have no interest in tariffs. Very few distributors are. And to ask that we should is ridiculous.

Which just goes to prove how little you understand what network marketing is about and how the UW business from our point of view is organised. It isn't about being a sales person it's about building relationships with people. The product itself is not important. What matters is helping people get the right product for their needs and helping them and looking after them; dealing with their problems if any should arise. If they need to know the minutiae then all they have to do is contact the relevant section at HQ where their questions will be answered, quickly, politely and with authority.

In return for recommending a customer I get paid a small amount of money to cover costs that I might have incurred. I also get paid a small amount of the profits generated by that customer in exactly the same way that traditional workforces do. That's no different from BG, BT or any other business you care to mention.

The argument that by cutting out distributors then customers will save more money is fallacious. As for what other distributors do or not that is u to them. I am not responsible for their behaviour.

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Quentin

keggs wrote: »

The argument that by cutting out distributors then customers will save more money is fallacious.

Poor advice.

Should anyone want to sign up to uw for their expensive energy they will save some money by cutting out the middleman distributor and signing up direct with a cashback switching site. (EG Do two separate switches with ukpower and get £30).

1carminestocky

Know what you are saying but I kind of like the idea of being able to knock on someone's door if things aren't going well. I suppose it's only really UW that gives you that chance of such personal service.

PS Apology to nigewick? When?

SwanJon

keggs wrote: »

In return for recommending a customer I get paid a small amount of money to cover costs that I might have incurred. I also get paid a small amount of the profits generated by that customer in exactly the same way that traditional workforces do. That's no different from BG, BT or any other business you care to mention.

But you keep telling us that distributors are not salesmen, and are not employed by UW.
So, why are they paying you?
Do you complete the contract with a customer, or do you pass them to UW?
No matter how you see it you are promoting a company and getting financial benefit if a sale is completed.
That fits quite neatly with my definition of salesman.

The only issue I have with the UW method is that it is much more open to abuse by unscrupulous distributors/salesmen. I'd bet that there are more UW distrubutors than all of the big 6 'door knockers' put together.
I accept that some distributors are honest, hardworking souls who only recommend what has worked for them and don't take advantage of friends & aquaintances, but not all of them, and we've all seen them put their heads up on here and rapidly disappear when they realise we are not their target market.
For example, are UW distributors part of the EnergySure scheme?

keggs

Exactly Carmine. That's what referral marketing is all about.

1. Finding someone to help.
2. Referring that person onto the Utility Warehouse
3. Looking after them.

Personal service is of paramount importance in UW. That's all that matters to distributors. Working out how much they can or cannot save is not the province of Distributors unless they want to or not. But the company itself would prefer that we didn't because that's their job.

If you don't look after them then they won't give you the names of anyone else. Referral marketing is exactly that. People referring other people. It makes complete business sense never mind being a much more socially acceptable thing to do that traditional salesman.

Most if not all network marketing type businesses are the only businesses that aren't suffering in the present economic climate. The number of people joining such businesses (not just UW) is growing rapidly. Only NM businesses that have poor structures and outdated methods of operating are falling by the wayside.

The bottom line is if customer don't like what a company offers then they won't become customers. If they do or would like to 'try out' what they offer then they will join. Everything else is irrelevant as far as UW distributors is concerned. That's not our job.

As for people's view of the so called way of working. We don't con or lie to get customers to join. Anyone that does will have their distributorship cancelled. In any event it's counterproductive and completely against the spirit of what the business is about. We present the basic facts because that's all we need to do. If rate chasers here don't like that - tough. If potential customers want to know more then we either find out for them or we get them to ask the questions themselves. That's part of 'looking after them.'

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

1carminestocky

SJ, I know that UW claim to have 28,000 distributors but I wonder what %tage of them are active? AFAICT there isn't a requirement to re-register yearly so I'm assuming someone who signs up is classed as a distributor for life, even though i would imagine the vast majority of them probably do nothing.

Just been reading that Wigoder doesn't take a salary from the business and instead relies on share dividends for his remuneration. If only the MDs of the Big 6 were so judged on performance...