Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Quentin

How could an "independent distributor" possibly do such a deal?

And why would switching sites enter into agreements with an "independent distributor"?

Contracts would be involved, and surely you distributors cannot enter into contracts as "Telecomplus Ltd"?

UKPower clearly lists the uw (full trading name and address) as being a company that:

pay a referral fee to UK Power for new customers to help cover the costs of operating this free Price Comparison Service.

Mike_by_the_Sea

Hi Quentin

Great questions, no answers from me.

Following the link on UKPower appears to go to an "individual" rather than the company. I would hazard a guess that the individual has an agreement with UKPower that meets their fee requirements.

1carminestocky

Quentin, if it IS an independent distributor who is doing this, I'm assuming you will be issuing a full apology for your misleading posts . As I'm hoping so will Mike By The Sea if it's subsequently proven that it really is UW Head Office who are behind this. I can't wait to see how this one pans out, tbh.

Incidentally, I've had it driven home to me today that people on this forum and their moneysaving 'obsession' very probably still constitute the tiny minority of the UK population. The lady who clips our dogs (a good twenty years younger than me, btw) I found out today has been paying BG's standard rate for over 15 years! When I told her she was basically chucking money away and to get signed up for the online Click 5 tariff she said she never buys anything online (although she has home net access) and certainly wouldn't be signing up for gas and electric online! :eek:

When I showed her that, at the moment, she is paying 50% more than she should be for her gas/electric it made not the slightest difference. I'm suspecting it's this scenario when a UW distributor could make a definite difference to someone's finances as UW is *certainly* way cheaper than the BG standard rate (and probably most non-online accounts with the other suppliers).

Quentin

Mike_by_the_Sea wrote: »

Great questions, no answers from me.

Can't you even answer my question regarding whether or not you distributors are allowed to enter t+ plc into contracts (perhaps by referring to the agreement you must have with them)?

And don't you think its a strange way to run a plc if anyone with £200 to spare can become an "indepedent distributor" and then sign contracts in the name of the plc!

1carminestocky

Poor research, Quentin :rolleyes: . Although I do note you are changing the angle of your 'attack' to include the distinct possibility that your posts regarding UW Head Office paying referral fees are misleading and wrong . Where've we heard that one before, I wonder? If you follow the link on UK Power it goes to the web page of a distributor, I can't imagine UW singling out one distributor for special attention. Have you EVER (not just on here but in life in general) said sorry when you were proved wrong?

Quentin

A uw rep posted here:

UW will not pay anyone for anything that it doesn't feel will be of benefit to either the company or its customers. That includes comparison sites. UW is on them it's beacause the site itself has included it

When I show this to be more misleading info from the rep, another rep says it isn't the company paying the website, but another rep.

What difference to the situation does that make? (If it's true, it shows us just how badly run the whole organisation is if a rep can enter into agreements in the company's name with a comparison site which is totally against the company's stated ethical position on paying for referrals - or is it just another cynical way to mislead us with more false advertising?)

And why are you accusing me of poor research? (If not just to try and cause trouble?)

You are the one who needs help with your research, as you tell us you are so happy with yours into uw you are seriously considering stumping up your £200 to swell their coffers!

1carminestocky

Quentin wrote: »

A uw rep posted here:



When I show this to be more misleading info from the rep, another rep says it isn't the company paying the website, but another rep.

What difference to the situation does that make? (If it's true, it shows us just how badly run the whole organisation is if a rep can enter into agreements in the company's name with a comparison site which is totally against the company's stated ethical position on paying for referrals - or is it just another cynical way to mislead us with more false advertising?)

And why are you accusing me of poor research? (If not just to try and cause trouble?)

You are the one who needs help with your research, as you tell us you are so happy with yours into uw you are seriously considering stumping up your £200 to swell their coffers!

Calm down, Quentin, you are so hyped up you are barely making sense. Like I have *hinted* before, if your posts in this thrread weren't from a person who is currently 'misleading' Axa Sunlife into giving you a product worth £120 for your contribution of one £6 instalment (after which you have already admitted you are cancelling all future payments) I would probably take it more seriously. You are the absolute epitome of hypocrisy :rolleyes:

Quentin

All lies.

Please retract them. Previously you have suggested this, but I have not responded to your pointless accusations. Now you are just trying to cause trouble with your abusive comments in this thread, having attempted to do so in the Axa thread.

Cardew

from 1carminestocky
You are the absolute epitome of hypocrisy :rolleyes:

Quentin wrote: »

All lies.

Please retract them. Previously you have suggested this, but I have not responded to your pointless accusations. Now you are just trying to cause trouble with your abusive comments in this thread, having attempted to do so in the Axa thread.

You are not alone in attracting attention from this person with an apparent charachter defect.

In the month he has been on MSE he has taken this approach with several contributers.

keggs

Hi all

Although I have decided not to get involved in this forum anymore (and I intend to keep that promise to myself) I would like to try and clear up a little bit of confusion that appears to have arisen. Please accept the comments in the spirit intended - to offer a suggestion why there is confusion. It is not an argument. So, please Quentin no nasty comments.

Please also note that these are my own thoughts after thinking about it for a long time. I may be wrong but I don't believe I am far out. If anyone can suggest something better please do so, but without the usual deliberate UW bashing. That is just not helpful, even if you get the urge.

Quentin is quite right in his concern over UW's ethical stance and the UK Power site (which incidentally I had never heard of before).

UW has stated and reiterated on many occasions over the years that they do not pay any 3rd party organisations to either give the company endorsements, credibility or for getting customers.

So where does the UK Power site and Uswitch site come into this?

If Mikebythesea is correct in stating the link back from UK Power is to a distributor's own site then the distributor concerned must have had permission from UW to do so. Distributors are allowed to use their own adverts and methods of advertising but must get the go ahead from the marketing department beforehand. If they don't like it they will say so and pointedly say so.

And the reason for permission is quite simple and reasonable. UK Power is not the same kind of comparison site that USwitch is.

Let me explain. Having looked at UK Power's site the company (as Quentin quite rightly points out) states that the site receives a fee for any referral made to an advertiser.The key word is referral. What I suspect happens is that anyone who clicks on the UW distributor's advert will be taken straight through to his UW site. If the potential customer signs up the UW distributor will then pay UK Power a referral fee. This is exactly what happens to UW distributors. That's basically what we receive from UW for referring a potential customer onto them. It's what happens when anyone clicks on a google advert spotted in either someone's web site or google mail email account. A friend of mine is doing the same with another advertising site where he pays a fee to them when he get's contacts. There are are numerous web sites around now that do this. UK Power is probably just the same but has a comparison calculator as an added bonus.

I see nothing wrong whatsoever in that. It's normal internet business practice and dare I say it offline as well.

What about USwitch? That's just the same isn't it? No it isn't. The site operates quite differently. Companies pay USwitch to give them favourable promotion. USwitch isn't (or perhaps wasn't or maybe still isn't) interested in giving potential switchers a proper analysis of what people can save by switching. I know that for a fact because a few years ago I tested the site's comparison feature using the same data and got several different savings quotes for the same company eg BG or Eon. The Glasgow Herald newspaper (I think it was that paper that exposed USwitch) found exactly the same thing. When they dug deeper they realised that USwitch and probably other comparisons sites bias their results towards the companies that push (and pay) the most towards promoting their business.

I hope that helps clear things up a bit.

Best wishes
Steve (I'm gone now)
Satisfied customer and distributor of the Utility warehouse Discount Club