Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Mike_by_the_Sea

Quentin wrote: »

Much cheering at the UW reps conferences every time a price rise was announced we heard!

Hi Quentin

Not at the ones I attended. :eek:

chukkat

I am an ex-distributor. My former upline Marketing Director always made a point of saying when an increase in the cost of any product occurred ,its bad news for the customers but its good news for us,as we will get more residual income.

I cant believe the customers are as satisfied as some of their senior distributors would have you believe, if they are how come the total number has hardly risen over the last couple of years , despite the efforts of an ever growing army of distributors? It would appear that the 14,OOO plus distributors (?) must be recruiting new customers at approximately the same rate that existing customers are leaving. I wonder why?

chinup_3

notice the current uw distibutors have, typically, answerd my post typically true to form ie- 'gloss over, be selective and ignore'. brainwashing complete.

lisyloo

Most of the 100+ customers ive collected cannot be bothered with all this save here and then swap to save there.

Most of your customer would almost certainly be beter off with a company called EBICO.
One of the reasons they are cheap is that they are a non profit making organisation.

Of course as a sales person your "advice" is no un-biased is it?

Just out of interest how do you cope with this when selling to family and friends?

NigeWick

lisyloo wrote: »

Just out of interest how do you cope with this when selling to family and friends?

I show them the price lists and let them decide if they are interested. Usual question is "Are they the cheapest?" I tell them that where I am I get a good overall deal and that they should check to see if it is worth their while switching. Second question is often "Are the customer services people in Britain?" Answer, yes.

Quentin and some others have a bee in their bonnet about the company and nobody will change their minds. All I will say is that as a customer I have experienced good and bad service from them personally and they have always put it right in the end. As a Distributor, one or two of my customers have had something that they were not happy about and I have been able to contact the company and get it sorted to the customer's satisfaction.

This is a money saving site and people here are not only very astute, many are willing to be be switching tarts. A lot of others just are not that way. I meet those who are happy paying British Gas and BT's full prices "because I haven't had a problem." I have offered to complete the paperwork and let them check it and sign if happy, but they just don't like change. No doubt some customers of UWDC (T+) will have a complaint in the future and not be happy with customer services. Staff answering those phones are human. They will make mistakes or get out of bed the wrong side and be a bit unprofessional. This will lose the company a customer and a percentage of those who are unhappy will come to this site to vent their spleen. That's life.

I choose to be happy whether Quentin is or is not :beer:

Nigel.

Quentin

But Nigel, are you happy to be tarred with the same brush as the other UW reps who come out with things like this?

Choc wrote: »

we came out with the triple price promise to match the cheapest of the big six companies.

Both you and Choc know that this is not true, yet only MSE members who read this thread know that Choc isn't telling the truth. (No thanks to you or him).

Presumably this is what he tells his friends who will be like most folk and not expect their friends to spin them a yarn.

lisyloo

I show them the price lists and let them decide if they are interested. Usual question is "Are they the cheapest?" I tell them that where I am I get a good overall deal and that they should check to see if it is worth their while switching.

Sitting on the fence means you are not guilty of certain accusations (like making false claims), but it means you not offering them a great deal of value.

I don't see that giving someone a price list and letting them do all the research justifies the cut you are getting.

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

But Nigel, are you happy to be tarred with the same brush as the other UW reps who come out with things like this?

I do not like the idea of being tarred with any brush. I have found the company to be as ethical as most when dealing with customers, and, very strict when dealing with Distributors. That is fine by me.

I have been a customer for over five years now and have had a few complaints. These have been dealt with to my satisfaction in the end. Some will say there should ne no cause to complain, ever. True but that is not the real world and people with any common sense realise this. If a customer expects instant gratification, they are a likely to be disappointed. But if they expect a company to put things right in the end, I feel that is a reasonable expectation. Humans make mistakes and some may suffer a bit of inconvenience as a result. That's life.

As to being a Distributor, I do not rave over some of the ra-ra-upschool stuff and so do not attend meetings where I believe that this sort of thing will outweigh the information content. I get paid a small amount every month for showing people one way to spend their money on utilities, if they are interested. Most are not and I do not believe that it is anything personal, they just can't be bothered. People here are bothered and that's fine by me too.

Nigel.

NigeWick

lisyloo wrote: »

Sitting on the fence means you are not guilty of certain accusations (like making false claims), but it means you not offering them a great deal of value.

I don't see that giving someone a price list and letting them do all the research justifies the cut you are getting.

Businesses are set up in order to make money. UWDC (T+) is no different. Comparing bills against prices offered is not exactly research. I readily show people the prices and if they are interested, they can compare them against their own bills as well as any other offerings available. It is up to them to decide whether they believe the combination of price and service is value for money in their case. My mother asked me for an application so that her church could sign up. I submitted it and the company told her that the current supplier was cheaper, and declined to take the church on. I feel that is reasonably ethical.

Perhaps you really believe that British Gas and other suppliers will say "Go to XYZ company because they are cheaper" if asked for advice?

Nigel.

bendtoy_2

NigeWick wrote: »

My mother asked me for an application so that her church could sign up. I submitted it and the company told her that the current supplier was cheaper, and declined to take the church on.

So dont you check before you submit the application that you are offering a cheaper? service.Not even to your own Mothers Church.:eek: