Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

1carminestocky

Ask Quentin for a link to the cash back card he uses - good luck getting it, though, lol.

PS 27000 gas, 5200 electric?

Perelandra

Okie dokie... new question time... couldn't find the answers to this in the various bits I had, so apologies if I've missed something that should be quite obvious-

Can you use the UW cashback card if you only have one fuel with UW?
And if the discount you receive is less than you're actually spending on fuel, do you actually get a refund from UW? ("negative bills")

I'm thinking of my own situation where I have extremely low gas bills (I'm more comfortable at temperatures that other people find distinctly cold/chilly, so rarely have the heating on at all).

Mike_by_the_Sea

Perelandra wrote: »

Okie dokie... new question time... couldn't find the answers to this in the various bits I had, so apologies if I've missed something that should be quite obvious-

Can you use the UW cashback card if you only have one fuel with UW?
And if the discount you receive is less than you're actually spending on fuel, do you actually get a refund from UW? ("negative bills")

I'm thinking of my own situation where I have extremely low gas bills (I'm more comfortable at temperatures that other people find distinctly cold/chilly, so rarely have the heating on at all).

Hi Perelandra

Yes and Yes.

Quote from T&C's

Monthly Management fee: £1.00 per Card (up to six months free on all new Cards); if you do not have at least one live service provided by the Utility Warehouse in addition to your Card(s), then the Monthly Management fee for each Card is £2;

If the value of your Cashback exceeds the total cost of services (including any Club Membership fee) provided to you by the Utility Warehouse in any month, the credit balance on your monthly invoice will automatically be paid to your registered bank account. If the Utility Warehouse do not have details of a valid bank account for you, then the net balance will remain as a credit on your account with them and you can deduct it from any future payment for services supplied to you by the Utility Warehouse.

All the best

Mike

Perelandra

Ha. Thanks for that,

Erm.. but that's even more interesting. Can I take nothing from UW, except for their cashback card, and pay the £2 fee, plus the 'club membership' fee and top-up charges?

(At this point I'm talking hypothetically).

Mike_by_the_Sea

Perelandra wrote: »

Ha. Thanks for that,

Erm.. but that's even more interesting. Can I take nothing from UW, except for their cashback card, and pay the £2 fee, plus the 'club membership' fee and top-up charges?

(At this point I'm talking hypothetically).

Hi Perelandra

Good question.

As far as I can tell, initially you have to apply for at least one service to qualify for the card, but the T&C's do suggest that subsequently, as long as you remain a member, you can continue to use the card. Don't quote me on this yet.

This is from the initial communication from UW:

Cards will only be issued to customers who become members of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club and have applied for at least one service from us. If they cease to be a member or all the other services they are taking from us are subsequently cancelled, additional charges will apply and CashBack may no longer be paid.

I would need to ask the question of CS to get a definitive answer.

Any more searching questions? :rotfl:

Mike

keggs

Perelandra wrote: »

Okie dokie... new question time... couldn't find the answers to this in the various bits I had, so apologies if I've missed something that should be quite obvious-

Can you use the UW cashback card if you only have one fuel with UW?
And if the discount you receive is less than you're actually spending on fuel, do you actually get a refund from UW? ("negative bills")

I'm thinking of my own situation where I have extremely low gas bills (I'm more comfortable at temperatures that other people find distinctly cold/chilly, so rarely have the heating on at all).

The answer to both is yes. The idea of the cashback card is for people to go shopping at the partner stores. When you do you get 5% taken off your UW bill. If you happen to spend so much that the discount is more than your bill then the difference is added as a credit (so I understand) to your next bill immediately reducing that bill.

Hope that helps.

Stev
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Perelandra

Ah ok, thanks Mike.

I found some more bits in the T&Cs:

12 x) An Administration Fee of £5 per month if your membership of the Utility

Warehouse Discount Club ceases, for as long as a positive balance remains on the card, or the total Available Balance if lower than the Administration Fee;

15 a) i) If you cease to be a member of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club for any reason:

i) you will not receive any further Cashback associated with your use of any Cards on your account;

So by the looks of it-

You need to apply for one other service to become a member of the UW
Once a member, you need to pay the monthly fee.
The T&Cs imply that you can continue being a member, but take no other live services (i.e. you cancel the services, and continue paying the monthly membership fee)
If you cancel all other live services, the higher (£2) rate applies to the card.
As long as you remain a member (by paying the monthly fee), you can continue using the card, and will continue to receive cashback.
As soon as you cease to be a member (e.g. by not paying the monthly fee), you'll start getting the £5 admin charge for the card, and can't receive cashback.

While not in the spirit of the offer, it looks as though you can get the cashback card on its own from UW, as long as you're prepared to faff around a little at first. The monthly and top-up charges are then small compared with the incremental benefits that you'd get from this card versus any other discount card that I've seen...

Not sure if I'd have the cheek to ever try that though. hee hee

keggs

Perelandra wrote: »

Ha. Thanks for that,

Erm.. but that's even more interesting. Can I take nothing from UW, except for their cashback card, and pay the £2 fee, plus the 'club membership' fee and top-up charges?

(At this point I'm talking hypothetically).

Unfortunately no. The idea is for the CBC to be used to reduce your UW bills. So you have to take at least one major service.

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Perelandra

keggs wrote: »

Unfortunately no. The idea is for the CBC to be used to reduce your UW bills. So you have to take at least one major service.

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Aye... that makes sense Steve, just wondering what is meant by this bit that MIke pulled from the T&Cs though:

"if you do not have at least one live service provided by the Utility Warehouse in addition to your Card(s), then the Monthly Management fee for each Card is £2;"

Since that would imply that you can have a CBC, but no live service?

1carminestocky

LOL, this is all very interesting. I have a feeling the company need to have another look at that T&C! If not, they may even get Quentin applying (OK, I accept I was getting carried away there!).