Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

1carminestocky

Cardew wrote: »

For years on this website I have been critical of comparison websites as they are motivated(naturally) to maximise commission, achieved by getting people to switch supplier.

If they can present information in a manner that induces people to switch they will do so if possible. The recent Parliamentary Committee on Energy stated a huge percentage of people actually switched to a more expensive tariff - Not all the fault of the comparison websites of course.

That said, if you enter your consumption figures(and not £££s) you get an accurate answer.

The case I quoted was 'misleading' in that it dealt with my fixed tariff. Admittedly the answers were there if you looked for them.

It will no doubt be of great interest to you and UW reps that I put in my figures to get a comparison with UW prices. I was alerted to the misleading result when it stated that UW were only £590 pa more expensive than my BG tariff. I knew the differential had to be much more than this and when I checked more thoroughly indeed UW were £797 pa more than my BG tariff.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to point this out?;)

I'm sorry but that's a fail. In fact, as my son would say in the currently popular vernacular of youth, that's actually a megafail. You said it yourself - the switching sites use 'tricks' to get you to switch and hence earn commission. What were you thinking starting that thread then carrying on with your 'check out the switching site' mantra on here? It's almost back to French & Saunders-type embarrassment. Sleep tight....

Cardew

janninew wrote: »

Just a quick question regarding comparision sites. Do they pay all the energy companies commission? Are there any independant sites out there?

The other way around - most of the energy companies pay the switching sites commission.

To pre-empt any posts about UW, there was a long discussion on this thread about UW paying commision or not.

I believe the position is that UW themselves do not pay the comparison websites, as they are consistently near or at the bottom of the comparison tables there is hardly any incentive!!!

However as you can get cashback for joining UW through a comparison website, it would appear that an 'independent' UW rep does pay a website commission and UW 'turn a blind eye'.

As for 'independent sites', depends how you use the term. They cannot lie; however if there is any way they can persuade someone to switch without crossing that line - they will.

For instance if someone doesn't know their consumption, or states only their monthly DD, they are fodder for the sites and they will be induced to switch by very low initial payments.

However in almost every case if you input kWh figures you will get consistent results from all the websites - albeit there can be anomalies.

P.S. If you don't trust the websites, just take your consumption and work it out manually; don't forget the various discounts.

Which ever way you calculate it, you wil still find that UW have just about the most expensive gas and electricity available in UK.

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

It's almost back to French & Saunders-type embarrassment. Sleep tight....

A little rich coming from someone who posted frequently, and triumphantly, about BG Click being cheaper than BG Fixed to April 2010.

No sleep for a few hours - in a different time zone!

mech_2

janninew wrote: »

Why are you doing something wrong if you spend alot of time on the phone?! What gives you the right to say that? :rolleyes: I spend alot of time on the phone to my great Aunty who lives in Colchester (she is 83!) can't really see her using instant messaging or VoIP (what is that by the way?) I also chat to my Mum every day on the phone for upwards of an hour. I don't consider myself to be doing anything wrong just because i do things differently to you!!

It's not necessarily being on the phone a lot that is wrong (though it's probably better to see someone face to face if they genuinely need contact with you every day). It's being on the phone a lot and not finding a way of doing it for free. There are so many options. Paying through the nose for gas and electricity from UW to get some inclusive calls doesn't seem to me to count as free. In this case the simplist solution might be to get your mum and aunt to switch to the UW home phone package as I understand that calls between UW customers are free. Then you would be free to use whichever utility supplier came out cheapest for you and the calls would really be free instead of "inclusive".

Just a suggestion.

keggs

mech wrote: »

It's not necessarily being on the phone a lot that is wrong (though it's probably better to see someone face to face if they genuinely need contact with you every day). It's being on the phone a lot and not finding a way of doing it for free. There are so many options. Paying through the nose for gas and electricity from UW to get some inclusive calls doesn't seem to me to count as free. In this case the simplist solution might be to get your mum and aunt to switch to the UW home phone package as I understand that calls between UW customers are free. Then you would be free to use whichever utility supplier came out cheapest for you and the calls would really be free instead of "inclusive".

Just a suggestion.

To use your words Mech - what a load of drivel:rotfl:

As for Cardew your words to me can now be thrown back in your face - YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR DEPTH. You're hypocrisy has been proved by your own words.

For my part - what a childish discussion

janninew

mech wrote: »

It's not necessarily being on the phone a lot that is wrong (though it's probably better to see someone face to face if they genuinely need contact with you every day). It's being on the phone a lot and not finding a way of doing it for free. There are so many options. Paying through the nose for gas and electricity from UW to get some inclusive calls doesn't seem to me to count as free. In this case the simplist solution might be to get your mum and aunt to switch to the UW home phone package as I understand that calls between UW customers are free. Then you would be free to use whichever utility supplier came out cheapest for you and the calls would really be free instead of "inclusive".

Just a suggestion.

You did say if you spend alot time on the phone your doing something wrong! Has that opinion now changed? As much as i would love to see my family face to face, some of they live around 5 hours drive away, hence why i use the telephone!! And i don't pay anything to call them, i very rarely pay anything other than my set landline fee (which i believe is cheaper than BT?) I am happy to be corrected if BT are cheaper, but for bog standard line rental, with no extra's which is all i need, are UW not cheaper than BT?

NigeWick

Plushchris wrote: »

Even without the double points on fuel I still get 4% back on fuel purchases with a clubcard and the Tesco filling station near me is 3p per litre cheaper than the Sainsburys

So 4% on fuel purchases and 8% on store purchases, which I can spend on lots of different things other than expensive gas and electricity.

Back to my earlier point. What if I do not have access to Tesco but do pass Sainsbury's on my walk home?

You can in fact post as many supposedly cheaper options as you like, but, if they do not fit in with my requirements they are of no use to me personally. Utility Warehouse and the associated pre payment card are a perfect match for what *I* want. All I ask is that you and the rest of the UW detractors admit that the company can suit others too.

I am an independent distributor with Utility Warehouse and the opinions I express may not be shared by the company.

1carminestocky

Just about everyone is cheaper than BT, that's why these telecom cos. invariably use BT charges in their comparison tables, janninew!

PS Money saving guru Cardew is with BT. Oops.:p

Taking a leaf out of his book, here goes:

BTs charges are amongst the most expensive in the industry. Fact.

NigeWick

1carminestocky wrote: »

You know, the cash back card he (clearly) doesn't use, the store he buys his groceries in

Cardew once stated he shops at Harrods.

1carminestocky

NigeWick wrote: »

Cardew once stated he shops at Harrods.

This IS the internet, NigeWick. I'm actually William Gates the Third today. I believe that was a joke to deflect from stating where he actually shops (it's clearly Sainsburys, lol). And he clearly doesn't use any form of cash back card. Unless he's waiting to get details of the one Quentin keeps banging on about...and waiting...and waiting.:p