Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Steve_PS

Just did a search on energyhelpline.com; Moving from Utility Warehouse to EBICo will save me 24% according to them so I've moved.

pandaonmyshoulder

I am in the throws of switching gas & elec to Ebico from UW as UW are pants! There cash offer after you've been with 'em for 12mths isn't worth waiting around for as what they fail to tell you is they take tax off it!!!!!! The service is rubbish and I can only wait and see what they are like switching from??????? Sadly we are tied in with hubby's mobile and the home phone we are staying with at the mo' as the mother in law is on it so free calls to her at least, but the clock is ticking and the phone service will be for the chop asap;)

Recently found out my brother in law is an agent for UW, well that says it all!:rolleyes:

mobilegossip

pandaonmyshoulder wrote:

I am in the throws of switching gas & elec to Ebico from UW as UW are pants! There cash offer after you've been with 'em for 12mths isn't worth waiting around for as what they fail to tell you is they take tax off it!!!!!! The service is rubbish and I can only wait and see what they are like switching from??????? Sadly we are tied in with hubby's mobile and the home phone we are staying with at the mo' as the mother in law is on it so free calls to her at least, but the clock is ticking and the phone service will be for the chop asap;)

Recently found out my brother in law is an agent for UW, well that says it all!:rolleyes:

If you moved your phone service to Primus Saver. You could phone everybody for free at E&W not just your M in L.

See : http://www.planet-talk.co.uk/SaverProducts.aspx?source=saver

This would cost you £5 a month on T-Plus. So theirs a saving of £60 a year.

NigeWick

pandaonmyshoulder wrote:

The service is rubbish

What problem did you have?

Nigel.

sikejsudjek

Be aware that if you switch with arrears UW take the whole lot from you in one go by direct debit. If it wasn't for having to save up for a couple of months to pay off my gas arrears, I'd have been off by now.

Their prices are poor, service poor, and no real reason to be with them other than to line the pockets of one of their agents...

NigeWick

sikejsudjek wrote:

Be aware that if you switch with arrears UW take the whole lot from you in one go by direct debit.

Their prices are poor, service poor, and no real reason to be with them other than to line the pockets of one of their agents...

Which other companies will let one switch when owing money?

Prices may not be THE cheapest, but they guarantee to beat British Gas. How have you had poor service? Did you contact the Distributor who signed you up?

Nigel.

bendtoy_2

NigeWick wrote:

Which other companies will let one switch when owing money?

Prices may not be THE cheapest, but they guarantee to beat British Gas. How have you had poor service? Did you contact the Distributor who signed you up?

Nigel.

Only guarantee to beat BG on a Gas Bill.Most suppliers will also beat BG gas prices.

lisyloo

I have just noticed something in the very small print on the price list for May 2006.

Those who don't have their GAS pipelines from transco have to pay an extra £2 on their standing charges e.g. new homes often use a company called Independent pipeline.

Telecom plus only introduced this extra charge in May 2006.

Note that this charge may not show up on comparison services.

utilitybroker

lisyloo wrote:

I have just noticed something in the very small print on the price list for May 2006.

Those who don't have their GAS pipelines from transco have to pay an extra £2 on their standing charges e.g. new homes often use a company called Independent pipeline.

Telecom plus only introduced this extra charge in May 2006.

Note that this charge may not show up on comparison services.

Well spotted.:T

Maniv

I must agree with the comments about the service that is provided by UW. Upon deciding to switch supplier, I had the following problems:

• The notification of an arrears charge amounting to £200 which I had skilfully been made unaware of by their sales agent, who had misled me into signing up for a fixed budget plan. UW response was that I should have scrutinised the back of every bill, despite the front page only showing the invoice amount minus the arrears charge. I must add that the attitude of their staff dealing with complaints was one of utmost arrogance. They accuse you of making errors despite it being obvious that they are occurring from their end and stop short of accusing you of lying.
• After agreeing to a new payment plan to settle the arrears amount and despite adhering to it, I was
- twice sent threatening letters from a debt collection agency without any kind of forewarning. Upon contacting UW I was told to ‘ignore’ them.
- had a cheque sent for a payment ’misplaced’ and subsequently sent an email warning
- had my card details entered incorrectly which led to a failed payment and another accusatory email with no attempt made to verify whether the error had been made from their end. Was told that I “must follow up such transactions by verifying with the bank to ensure that in fact that it has been executed”.
- had the FULL arrears amount withdrawn from my bank account despite adherence to the payment plan without permission (expect your card details to be retained , if you complain they will confidently direct you to the small print). This was refunded, after the stress of dealing with their inept customer service department.
- The latest instalment in this saga is an invoice for £68 received today for electricity used prior to my change of supplier (switched supply in December 2005). Apparently this is due to a closing reading given to them by Powergen that was above the reading they had based their bill on. Powergen however claim that I am due a credit from UW as they have taken over the supply from December 2005.

The whole experience with UW has been highly time consuming, stressful and debilitating. UW are miles in front in terms of providing the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Clearly there is an absence of customer service training right from the top down to the bottom – their focus lies solely in extracting the maximum amount of money within the boundries of thier small print stipulations by any method necessary. UW are by far the worst company out of the very many I have ever dealt with.