Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

OldGreyFox

1carminestocky wrote: »

That rep wasn't telling porkies, I reckon (OK, he could have said the mobile calls at 8p per min were the JOINT cheapest in the UK )

Joint cheapest with whom ? certainly not with UW.

Asda Payg x-net calls 8p . UW Payg x-net calls 12p

I didnt get the impression that he was deliberately trying to misinform me , it was more a case that he had been mislead.

1carminestocky

OldGreyFox wrote: »

Joint cheapest with whom ? certainly not with UW.

Asda Payg x-net calls 8p . UW Payg x-net calls 12p

I didnt get the impression that he was deliberately trying to misinform me , it was more a case that he had been mislead.

Aaaahhh, apologies, I have absolutely no interest in UWs mobile offerings so I didn't check the prices. As our little interaction has shown, it's a minefield out there and people can give the wrong info without any intention to deceive (I suppose if we were being entirely honest, you unintentionally misled the rep by saying that Toucan offered the same price line rental when in fact, like for like, they don't). Like I say, a minefield. Maybe all reps of all companies should have a voiceover man issue full T&Cs (like in the loan ads etc) in a very fast manner whilst the rep is giving info.

Ps As you haven't picked up on that part of my post and replied to it, can I assume that you now accept that UW IS cheaper for line rental, on a like for like basis, than Toucan?

oldharryrocks

1carminestocky wrote: »

Even if you take into account the £1.76/mth club fee, on a no contract and switching existing line basis (99.9999% of the market?), UW IS the cheapest home phone line rental provider in the UK market

Lets be honest if you take into account the club membership fee their are cheaper suppliers.

UW Line Rental £8.99 plus membership fee £1.76 = £10.75

Sky Talk Line Rental £10 a month

But then again UW is not all about being the cheapest.:D


UW Distributor.

1carminestocky

Don't you have to be an existing Sky TV customer to qualify for Sky talk and line rental? Just curious. And do they send paper bills?

bettyboo516

I have read all the postings about Utilities Warehouse and am still slightly confused. I get the feeling I should not be signed up with them. Can anyone please tell me if I am being foolish if I stay with them.

Cardew

bettyboo516 wrote: »

I have read all the postings about Utilities Warehouse and am still slightly confused. I get the feeling I should not be signed up with them. Can anyone please tell me if I am being foolish if I stay with them.

After you have looked at the alternatives, only you can decide what is best for you.

You must surely glean from the last few pages that UW do not compete on price for Gas and Electricity with the tariffs available from the other suppliers.

The difficulty most of us 'non-believers' have with UW is their selling techniques and misleading guarantees.

You will probably have been recruited by a friend/family member or a doorstep salesman and they gain an income from your membership; so you are hardly going to get an unbiased opinion from these salesmen.

You need to sit down and do some arithmetic looking at the tariffs available from other utility companies - particularly the internet tariffs.

Importantly take into account all the discounts available from other suppliers for items like Dual fuel and Direct Debit payments and don't forget to include the UW membership fee.

UW make a big play on their good service. Having never been a customer, and never never likely to be one! I cannot comment on that aspect. However, again, you are not likely to get an unbiased opinion from UW salesmen. Even giving them the benefit of the doubt, only you can decide how important that aspect is to you.

1carminestocky

As per usual, what Cardew DOESN'T say is usually what is the most interesting (and salient) point. If you are the type who can arsed to check that you are on the cheapest tariff REGULARLY then UW is definitely not for you (that's why it's not for me, btw), BUT if you are like the VAST MAJORITY of the UK public who just can't be arsed to do this then it's definitely worth looking at.

Why, you may ask? Well, Cardew mentions internet only tariffs and their cheapness. Yes, if you signed up for British Gas Click 6 now, you would *probably* be getting just about the best deal at the moment. Please note, you WOULDN'T get a paper bill, all your bills would be emailed to you. All is fine so far, I reckon.

But here's wht Cardew DOESN'T tell you (so he is in effect misleading you, how ironic ): The internet tariffs like Click 6 are FREQUENTLY supercreeded by a new Click product (Click 7 will be here in a few months). Now, Click 7 will be cheaper than Click 6, substantially so (they put up Click 5 by a HUGE amount on 30/9/08 then launched Click 6 immediately). Problem is BG won't automatically switch you to click 6, they will leave you on the uncompetitive Click 5 tariff until you REQUEST to be transferred to Click 6 (there are people on the ridiculously expensive Click 1 product that have never asked to switch to the 'new' Click product). So, unless you are prepared to be 'totally on the ball' with stuff like this then be prepared to be continually paying more than you need to.

Plushchris

1carminestocky wrote: »

Why, you may ask? Well, Cardew mentions internet only tariffs and their cheapness. Yes, if you signed up for British Gas Click 6 now, you would *probably* be getting just about the best deal at the moment. Please note, you WOULDN'T get a paper bill, all your bills would be emailed to you. All is fine so far, I reckon

Not actually true, they dont email bills, its a reminder that their bill is available to view on the secure part of their website. (seeing as we are pointing out misleading parts of peoples posts)

Yes you do have to keep up to date with the internet tariffs but being as you are on the internet having an internet tariff then it should only take 5mins looking to see if you are on the cheapest tariff (then another 5 mins arranging to switch), you could do this when you put your meter readings in every quarter.

1carminestocky

Plushchris wrote: »

Not actually true, they dont email bills, its a reminder that their bill is available to view on the secure part of their website. (seeing as we are pointing out misleading parts of peoples posts)

Yes you do have to keep up to date with the internet tariffs but being as you are on the internet having an internet tariff then it should only take 5mins looking to see if you are on the cheapest tariff (then another 5 mins arranging to switch), you could do this when you put your meter readings in every quarter.

OK, here goes: BG email you to remind you to go to their website, log in and view your bill? Happy now? Fact is you don't get a paper bill like you do with UW.

BTW, most of the friends I persuaded to go on Click 5 hadn't heard of Click 6 until I informed them. They are on the internet, obviously, but the first ad they would encounter when they loaded BGs home page would be the ridiculous 2012 fix. I do find it enlightening that you naysayers are only too willing to pardon a huge company like BGs actions but invariably imply/state that you don't like the way UW conduct their business . I'm assuming you believe it perfectly OK how BG superceed their Click products without informing their existing Click customers, let alone automatically transfer them onto the cheaper Click product? You can literally smell the hypocrisy in this thread, it invades the nostrils like a particularly bad smell..

redarrow_2

This is only my 2nd post on this site but I felt I needed to say something, particularly regarding the comments of Cardew. To imply all UW distributors give unbiased opinions is a somewhat unfair statement. As a UW distributor I have on a number of occasions advised prospective customers not to change either their energy or mobile phone because they would not benefit. Unlike most companies we do not earn big sign-up commissions but we do benefit on a monthly basis from the customers we introduce. So, to "mislead" people who can simply change providers the following month would be a complete waste of our time. I have also had a number of customers tell me that when they have been "door knocked" by energy reps, the reps will often leave without argument saying they can't save them any significant amount of money. In fact, it happened to me only yesterday when I was at a friends house, the SP rep said "you are very cheap!"

I have been reading the various threads on this forum for a couple of montha now and am amazed at the amount of "negtive press" from a small number of people on this site. No company is perfect! However, the UW have received numerous endorsements over the years, most recently from the "Which" consumer mag whose readers rated us No 1 for customer service & satisfaction as well as "best value" energy provider. No doubt someone out there will say the "Which report" can't be relied upon.
The bottom line is, UW is growing quicker than ever before but it won't suit everybody, there will always be "something better for someone."