Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

mech_2

I'm with Scottish Power and I submit a reading every month and get a bill every month. That's nothing unique to UW. Plus I have the added advantage of a fixed monthly direct debit spreading the cost throughout the year. There's no point having low bills in summer if you're then hit with massive bills at christmas, at just the time you have to fork out for christmas presents.

1carminestocky

mech wrote: »

I'm with Scottish Power and I submit a reading every month and get a bill every month. That's nothing unique to UW. Plus I have the added advantage of a fixed monthly direct debit spreading the cost throughout the year. There's no point having low bills in summer if you're then hit with massive bills at christmas, at just the time you have to fork out for christmas presents.

LOL. You don't get a bill every month, you get a direct debit deducted every month which is NOT to pay your usage for that month. It can only ever be an estimate of what you will need to pay to clear your annual usage by year end. A very inexact science, in other words. Clutching at straws springs to mind here. Fact is there is no other UK energy supplier that will bill you EXACTLY (by DD) for the amount you used for the month. That would make this initiative *unique*. Agreed?

PS The cash back earned on buying all those Xmas pressies (plus all the added spending at Xmas time) will go some way to negating the increase in costs due to usage.

Ps Have you managed to find a SP tariff without an exit fee that is in any way competitive with the cheapest online tariffs?

janninew

mech wrote: »

I'm with Scottish Power and I submit a reading every month and get a bill every month. That's nothing unique to UW. Plus I have the added advantage of a fixed monthly direct debit spreading the cost throughout the year. There's no point having low bills in summer if you're then hit with massive bills at christmas, at just the time you have to fork out for christmas presents.

The way I look at it is I would rather my money be sat in my bank account in summer than UW's bank! I know I will pay more in winter, but i budget for this and put some cash aside in spring/summer to cover the winter bills.

I use to work for Centrica :eek: (many years ago!) and all the staff had their gas/electric with BG (except me of course!!). I remember the women I sat with was in credit of around 250.00 and they made it so difficult for her to get it back and she was employed by them. I just don't understand why you would want to give companies your money in advance, when you could keep in sat in your bank.

keggs

For anyone here with a UW CashBack card and shop at House of Fraser I've just found out that they are giving double (ie10%) cashback for the whole of September.

Steve
UW Distributor & Very Happy Customer

Maz

Thanks for that Steve, hadn't seen that myself. This will make my daughter very happy! (and me, loads of cashback on my bill!)

SwanJon

The pages fill up, but very little new gets said.
We have a new line though - is the pice difference for energ worth the phone pckage (purely money saving).

1carminestocky wrote: »

I'm going to put in a leccy meter reading at the end of this month

the best case scenario with the Big 6 (and the saintly Ebico for that matter) is a proper read every 6 months

Is this apples & oranges, or bait and switch?
You surely didn't think you'd get away with that one?
I can put a reading in every day if I want and I'm not with UW.

Can anyone clear this up - how often do UW* come round and read your meter? monthly, quarterly, 6 monthly?

*or appointed representatives.

1carminestocky

SwanJon wrote: »

The pages fill up, but very little new gets said.
We have a new line though - is the pice difference for energ worth the phone pckage (purely money saving).



Is this apples & oranges, or bait and switch?
You surely didn't think you'd get away with that one?
I can put a reading in every day if I want and I'm not with UW.

Can anyone clear this up - how often do UW* come round and read your meter? monthly, quarterly, 6 monthly?

*or appointed representatives.

Of course you can - but how often would it result in a new bill popping through your letter box exactly relating to the meter reading you've input? In my case it's every month. What I just don't get is this reluctance from some to admit that at least some of what UW do IS unique in the industry, putting aside all price considerations (which UW give you the chance to more to more than rectify should you choose to accept the mission, lol).

I wonder how much the Big 6 would charge for a similar service? I'm sure it would dwarf what UW charge because they need the increased income from their standard punters to fund their very temporary forays to the top of the switching sites.


Ps UW punters don't have to opt out of the regular budget plan, btw, they can pay like you do, spread over the year too. Nice to actually have a choice, though. It's something I've always wanted to do - I don't like being in debit to a supplier and I absolutely detest being in credit. Would rather it be in my account, not theirs. Surely that's just common sense? I may buy shares in the company with the 'shortfall' I am paying them in the Summer compared to what I would be paying with another supplier . The yield is far more impressive than a savings account (and certainly far more impressive than the yield you get by allowing an energy supplier to 'look after' it for you, lol.)

SwanJon

Once again, for those hard of reading

SwanJon wrote: »

Can anyone clear this up - how often do UW* come round and read your meter? monthly, quarterly, 6 monthly?
*or appointed representatives.

My point carmine was that you were comparing putting in a read (to get a bill) with UW, with a meter reader's visit from the big 6. In case you missed it before - these are not the same things (apples & oranges).
Either you were confused, or it was a deliberate attempt to confuse others. Which?

I've never had a problem with UW's innovation - mainly with their hmm lack of care of their brand - letting untrained and uncertified peopl act in their name and sell their products. They seem to have realised this and are enforcing new IDs to be trained before they can profit form their sales -fair enough. UW works for some people in the same way the big 6 work for others (and I'm sure Countrywide Farmers work(ed? - not sure if still about) for some too.

That said, I'm quite happy to play your game and point out bad arguments when they appear.

1carminestocky

Aahh, I see what you mean now. Absolutely no intention to mislead, no. The vast majority of punters never read their meters from one year to the next. Agreed? In fact the only time most of them would be motivated to read them is usually when it's too late (i.e. when the catch up bill arrives!). The point I was trying to make (albeit fairly clumsily, I accept) was that the option UW give you of paying for exact usage and receiving an actual paper bill through the post accurately reflecting that usage at least should motivate the punter to read their meter every month. And that is surely a good thing?

Of course, the 'normal' punter could still be as lazy with UW as he/she could be with other suppliers by just not opting out of the budget plan and never going near their meter, but I would still argue that the fact they are getting a monthly, tangible reminder (actually plopping on the door mat as opposed to their email inbox) of their gas and elctric charges should/could prompt them to take a more pro-active interest in what they are using. It's the old adage - out of sight, out of mind. For instance, I now couldn't imagine not having an Owl monitor showing my household leccy consumptione at any one time. It would feel mightily strange (although I'm sure the kids would love THAT to be out of my sight and out of my mind!). It's a constant reminder of usage and that HAS to be a good thing.

vinnyph

In each energy region the distributor (national grid) for the gas/electricity will arrange for a meter reading to be made. This is the same for all the energy supply companies. It is the distributors responsibility. If a meter reader does not come around then it is the energy distributor that is at fault. Sometimes no one is in when the meter reader comes around, but arrangements should be made for a second attempt. Whether a meter reader comes around 3, 6 or 12 monthly will depend on how diligent the distributor is in that region. UW is a supplier. UW will arrange for a third party meter reader to be sent out if a meter has not been read within a 6 month period by the energy distributor. Giving people the option to send their meter readings each month and pay for exact usage is an extra.

Once I had a BG person come around who claimed to be an official meter reader from BG. He gained access to the house and went up to the meter to read it and write something down. He then asked why we had swapped from BG and then tried to get me to swap back by showing me the sales literature he had. So he obviously wasn't the meter reader. The energy salespeople are not allowed to be meter readers. He gained access to my house on false pretences by impersonating an official meter reader in order to sell me BG. Not a professional way for someone to try to sell energy services. I checked with UW the next month to see if an official meter reading had been made and it hadn't.