Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Cardew

Vern190374,

2 questions if I may.

I assume you are still a UW ID? and How long ago did you become Distributer?

Sticking to the gas and electricity side. I accept that years ago UW were quite competitive and £5 a month extra with UW is perfectly feasible.

Indeed even today many people will not pay much more than £5 a month extra when joining UW.

However I would certainly dispute that you will find today "4 of the companies I compared with were actually more expensive... by a long shot."

Or perhaps you will name them?

The average annual UK gas and electricity bill is £1300 and as quoted in the Which report out today, UW are around 20% more expensive than the cheapest. So around £250 is a ball park figure and all of the comparison websites confirm a figure in that region. So £20 a month is more realistic when discussing potential savings.

On fixed line Telephony BT charge £11 line rental and £4.95 for all UK and 0870/0845 Non-geographic numbers 24/7. They also have caller ID and voice mail free.

International calls cost very little these days - if you really make loads of international calls you can get unlimited 24/7 to 40 odd countries for £8 a month. However you would need to be on the phone for several hours each month to justify such an expense.

I have little knowledge of Mobile phone tariffs, but during discussions on that subject, IIRC even UW IDs were of of the opinion that UW's mobile deals were pretty poor - perhaps others can comment? If you are to save a 'hell of a lot' on PAYG surely a contract becomes an option.

No dispute that the cashcard is the jewel in the UW crown.

forextc

Hi Cardew.

I can't remember the exact tariffs that I alluded to when I mentioned the four, but the companies where EDF, BG, Scottish Power x2. The example of the latest web deal was BG Websaver which was touted by some comparison sites as the top tariff circa one month ago. The particular user I quoted does shop at Sainsburys and makes a lot of usage from the petrol savings ( and being a woman is in Boots, Topshop all the time) As I said on the 4 quoted companies, these had all slipped to the standard tariffs and the users would have continued to have paid these tariffs, had they not been introduced to UW. They would have been unlikely however to have signed up to the regular door to door sales people that the big energy companies send round and probably wouldn't have even thought about looking on a comparison site. Maybe it's just my winning smile. :-)

I'd also point out that Which? says they are 20% more expensive than the cheapest... but thats not 20% more expensive than everyone. Only the cheapest. If everyone was on the cheapest tariff there would be no market. I haven't seen the article yet but I would suggest that a more suitable figure maybe how much more expensive they are than the average?

So for my fixed line I pay £9.90 per month... and errr.... thats it. As I have dual fuel my calls are free 24/7 and I also get free calls to 8 major countries. Thats not low rates thats free. This also include 0845/ 0871 etc which most suppliers sting you with.

I was really surprised as well when I checked out calling mobiles abroad. A 25p supplement to the standard call cost. This means that one of my customers can call her son in Malaysia, on his mobile for 25.98p per minute! Thats only 5p per minute more than most mobile operators charge you for mobile to mobile calls in this country.This is starting to sound like a sales pitch but its just how it is. The problem here is that UW phone service seems to appear nowhere on comparison sites so gets overlooked. In my opinion it is probably the best in the market place.

I would agree that the mobile tariff offerings are poor (thats my opinion) but the PrePay mobile (which I also have to show clients) is way and beyond anything else I can find on the market. To be honest I do not understand why they do not make more of this. Ok it's a bolt on product to the range but at 12p per minute to landline and mobiles and 10p for texts, thats 8p per minute cheaper than anything else I can find. Most are 25p per minute so the 12p represents over a 50% saving on these rates. Bearing in mind that most users will top up with £10-20 per month minimum, it goes some way to offsetting the higher fuel prices. So I may pay £5 for my gas but I save £10 on phone. It's swings and roundabouts. But then how many families do you know with only one mobile? Here the cost savings are tremendous. Oh and unlike the other operators you get all the calls fully itemised on the bill each month.

There is obviously a cut off point for savings that can be made with prepay but I would guess that this benefits the 'typcial' pay as you go customer as they would likely be on a tariff already if that benefited them. I think I read that something like 70% of all phone in the UK are PrePay. I guess people just like the non commital nature of the way the calls are charged.

Cardew

vern190374 wrote: »

For some people on here to be saying that they are saving £900 per year on their energy bills alone, I would question how 'expert' they are at saving money - either they have been being ripped off on an extortionate tariff for years from the dark ages (and now feel the need to preach with their new Saintly status) or they are running a power station. What would be far more constructive and honest is express their saving as a proportion of their previous spend (ie percentage reduction) or post their actual kilowatt usage etc.

f.

It is a pity you have so extensively edited your post.

It seems a standard practice for UW IDs to attack the comparison networks - pretty easy to work out why.

Care to give examples of how they are innaccurate if you feed in kWH consumption?

The best buy might change pretty regularly but certainly over the last couple of years UW have consistently been at the bottom of the table on every comparison network.

I am the person who states that UW charge £812pa more than I currently pay on my fixed BG contract that runs out on April 30 2010.

Far from being 'ripped off on an extortionate tariff for years' I have been on that tariff for 4 years. In any case I can't follow your logic with that statement.

If I were to change now the cheapest tariff would be £516 less than UW charge.

So what is dishonest about those claims? and if I am making such huge savings why would you question my expertise? Again I don't follow your logic?

Sure I have high consumption(nearly double the UK average) but as stated above someone on the UK average changing now could be paying in the region of £250 pa less than UW charge.

forextc

I quite simply have edited my post because it is 12:45 my eyes are tired and I like to make sure what I typed is legible English!

So fair comment, you have double the average usage. UW doesn't work for you.There will always be exceptions to every rule. But then if you have been on the same tariff for four years (and I don't know the history) then have you not considered changing to one of the web save offers? Would they not offer you a better deal?

Any attacks on the comparison sites is quite simply (as been laboured so many times it's boring) is because they only compare services in isolation. They do not take into account the whole purpose of the UW Discount Club which is to offer savings to multi service customers who can make use of the Cash Card. As I have mentioned I have never found their current fixed line telephony service on any comparison site.

As you stated in your previous post the average user may only pay £5 more per utlity service which is a level that multi service customers claw back and more by being multi service customers. Thats the whole point of the service.. It's not for everyone. :-)

Cardew

vern190374 wrote: »

Hi Cardew.

I would agree that the mobile tariff offerings are poor (thats my opinion) but the PrePay mobile (which I also have to show clients) is way and beyond anything else I can find on the market. To be honest I do not understand why they do not make more of this. Ok it's a bolt on product to the range but at 12p per minute to landline and mobiles and 10p for texts, thats 8p per minute cheaper than anything else I can find. Most are 25p per minute so the 12p represents over a 50% saving on these rates. Bearing in mind that most users will top up with £10-20 per month minimum, it goes some way to offsetting the higher fuel prices. So I may pay £5 for my gas but I save £10 on phone. It's swings and roundabouts. .

A couple of points.

Customers of BG Websaver do not slip to standard tariffs(they don't finish) - all the click and websavers tariffs are still extant. i.e you remain on websaver 1/2/3/4 unless you ask to be removed.

As for your PAYG mobiles, if the cheapest you can find is 12p and 10p for texts I suggest you haven't looked very hard. This from Which:

How much can you save by choosing a different PAYG mobile deal?

When we looked at a range of PAYG deals from all the major mobile networks, we found that even a low mobile user (making around five minutes of calls and sending around 15 texts a month, say) could shave around £20 off their annual bill by switching from some of the big mobile players to a company like Asda, which has a simple flat PAYG rate of 8p per call minute and 4p per text.

http://www.asda-uk.com/asda-mobile-phones.php

forextc

Sorry just looked at your post and you are on a fixed tariff so see why you have not changed. Daren't edit the post (quite what difference this makes I don't know)

forextc

Yawn! BG Websaver only offer their 6% discount for the first year after which they reserve the right to stick you back on their standard tariff. It's in the T+C's

Yes pretty good rate on ASDA's pre pay I agree. Bet the major mobile companies and the likes are quaking in their boots as evidently ASDA are going to become the next big mobile operator!

Again as I mentioned before, most users are more than happy to be delivered a 50% saving and itemised billing from the rates they are currently on.

jimexbox

vern190374 wrote: »

1. Gas and Electricity prices - Not the absolute cheapest on the market at present by a long shot. But having monitored the comparison sites the 'cheapest' tariff changes weekly and differs depending on the site you look at. Actually working out my personal usage and that of some close friends (yes I actually took a calculator and factored in the monthly club membership fee) I found little rdifference in favour of the real world tarriffs people where actually paying when comparing them to the UW tarffis. What people fail to take into account when doing 'like for like' comparisons is that a tariff may not actually prove cheaper for a user, as promised on the comparison sites, due to the way the tariff is constructed. For example tariffs with high daily standing charges do not favour the more moderate user. One leading company I notice from the comparison sites this eve, actually has a standing charge 9 times more than the UW standard tariff with the unit price is actually only fractionaly cheaper. You simply cannot rely on these sites for an accurate comparison. You actually have to look at the bill to work out the 'way in which energy is used.' and caluculate like for like usage.

You made was looks like a statement of fact, so would care to back up your claims up with repeatable verifiable evidence? Care to comment on these clickable thumbnails which show UW are 23% more expensive than the cheapest available tariff. All repeatable and verifiable.

Comparison site : Energyhelpline

I've used Bucks County Council postcode : HP20 1UA

I've used my own Eon online tariff 'save online' as the initial comparison, using Ofgems official standard user definition 20500 kWh gas and 3300 kWh electricity, paying monthly direct debit.

Plushchris

vern190374 wrote: »

1. Gas and Electricity prices - Not the absolute cheapest on the market at present by a long shot. But having monitored the comparison sites the 'cheapest' tariff changes weekly and differs depending on the site you look at. Actually working out my personal usage and that of some close friends (yes I actually took a calculator and factored in the monthly club membership fee) I found little rdifference in favour of the real world tarriffs people where actually paying when comparing them to the UW tarffis. What people fail to take into account when doing 'like for like' comparisons is that a tariff may not actually prove cheaper for a user, as promised on the comparison sites, due to the way the tariff is constructed. For example tariffs with high daily standing charges do not favour the more moderate user. One leading company I notice from the comparison sites this eve, actually has a standing charge 9 times more than the UW standard tariff with the unit price is actually only fractionaly cheaper. You simply cannot rely on these sites for an accurate comparison. You actually have to look at the bill to work out the 'way in which energy is used.' and caluculate like for like usage.
.

Typical sales patter used by a salesman to confuse prospective buyers into doubting comparison sites.

Many many people have posted on here doubting comparison sites but so far NONE have proved that the comparison sites give unaccurate results when exact usage is entered.

If you put your Kwh usage into a comparison site then it calculates "like for like usage"

Please post on here any evidence you have of a comparison site doing anything other than giving like for like usage when entering Kwh usage. You wont because you cant.

Just like UW TVG you were probably comparing like for like unit rates without including discounts etc.


Edit: Forgot to ask, how does a bill tell you "the way in which energy is used"?? Surely bills just tell you how much you have used, not how you have used it, even smart meters only give you a breakdown of how much you have used and when you have used it, not how you have used it. More sales rubbish.

AvengerSeawolf

jimexbox wrote: »

You made was looks like a statement of fact, so would care to back up your claims up with repeatable verifiable evidence? Care to comment on these clickable thumbnails which show UW are 23% more expensive than the cheapest available tariff. All repeatable and verifiable.

Comparison site : Energyhelpline

I've used Bucks County Council postcode : HP20 1UA

I've used my own Eon online tariff 'save online' as the initial comparison, using Ofgems official standard user definition 20500 kWh gas and 3300 kWh electricity, paying monthly direct debit.

Morning.

I think you've missed Vern's point, especially since you state the 'cheapest available tariff'. In what I consider to be a good, balanced post he concedes that UW are not the cheapest - so there is no need for your 'challenge'.

You guys on here are clearly very savvy money-savers - great. I have the same experience as Vern when he says that many people who will save are the ones simply not pro-active enough to tart around. There are millions of them out there, and it's not our role as ID's to point them towards every best deal, but simply to show them how UW can save them compared to what they're getting now.