Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

Cardew

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

I didn't get it from the Which? magazine actually, Cardew. Those terms are actually quoted directly from an Official UW flier publicising the £100 discount. They appear to be Which? graphics though. Obviously I can't copy them here, you'll just have to try to get a copy yourself. Can any Distributor confirm that my wording is correct from the document concerned?

Why would I have to get a copy? Or need to get a copy? I am not doubting you have seen such a UW flyer?

You made the statement and attributed the terminology to WHICH.

Is the Which? terminology not confusing as well?

Best Energy Supplier 2008 & 2009

Mike_by_the_Sea

Cardew wrote: »

Mike,
It is not just " misunderstandings or mis-quoting, or even over-enthusiasm."

If we consider the WHICH issue, even you(perhaps the most balanced UW ID on the thread) imply above that there is little difference between a Best Buy award and the result of a reader's survey. i.e. you state "This is not a totally accurate statement"

Well of course it is a completely innacurate statement, and regarding price WHICH are at pains to point out that UW are 20% more expensive than the cheapest.


Maz(a UW ID), who has been posting here for a long while, despite the discussion about Best Buys she has recently incorrectly posted that UW have been Awarded a Best Buy for energy. Despite being challenged about it, she has refused to withdraw the statement.

Do you think it conceivable that she, and many others, don't sell their gas and electricity on that false claim - which has been posted often on MSE.

Another(patman99) posted some ridiculous Electricity prices he claimed to get with UW. Maz, gave him support stating 'he knows what he pays as he has seen his bill"

The point is that no matter what innacuracies, advantaging UW, are posted here, there is never any comment/correction from the PUWF.

You can make exactly the same points about the TVG.

Hi Cardew

I think that with most of these "discussions", the point I was trying to make is that it is often hard to make corrections etc. to misleading posts before there is a torrent of vitriol (in some cases) against the poster about the inaccuracy of the specific wording in the post.

With regard to the Best Buy v. Best Supplier "award", I agree that they are based upon different criteria and that you, and others, have a view on the construct of a survey. My criticism would be that generally the respondees don't often identify the correct terminology, they are more apt just to say this is "wrong" or stronger, less respectful, terms are used.

Also, it is conceivable that there might be some that would say to potential customers that UW has "Best Buy" award for x,y,z. as third-party credibility. UW, the company, go to great lengths to use the correct termonology in their marketing literature and ID's are encouraged to have a copy of the third-party documents to show potential customers. I don't think, in my opinion, that potential customers are concerned with the exact termonology used, but would, hopefully, be more concerned with the value of the proposition put to them.

Speaking for myself, there is no benefit to me of convincing somebody to sign up with UW, only to find out later that they feel they were in some way mis-sold. I don't have a problem with explaining the pro's and con's of the various services and giving them the opportunity to decide for themselves.

In the case of postman pat, it is very easy to jump in quick and cheer when somebody posts a "positive" statement for UW. My take on that would have been to point out to postman pat that he seems to have mixed up his tariff types, rather than draw out a series of posts in order to undermine other posters to establish that they were, in some way, ignorant of the tariffs etc.

Having said all that, there is a learning curve process going on within the framework of the thread, and I have no doubt (;)) that there is a better understanding of the different tariffs that will help going forward. It is just a shame that it has to be done in this way sometimes.

As to jumping in and correcting, I usually find that, by the time I have read the posts, there have been another couple of pages subsequently that have identified the problem and moved on. If I get the chance to comment at the time I do.

Finally, the TVG - what can I say? The wording has been quoted many times on this thread, both as a positive and negative statement. I can see no real benefit in arguing about it on here as it won't change anything. It stands on its own merits and potential customers can decide whether it gives them any additional value.

My personal view is, for the vast majority of households, they are still paying more than they need to for their utilities and if I can offer them better value than they are currently receiving and they want to sign up, then everybody is happy. If they subsequently decide to change providers for a service they are free to do so. Given the amount of advertising that is done promoting ways of saving money on utilities these days, I would suggest that those that haven't taken the plunge already may never do so unless somebody comes along and offers to help them do it.

All the best

Mike

PS I am an ID with UW

Mike_by_the_Sea

Cardew wrote: »

This might be semantics but the WHICH report I have in front of me doesn't actually say "Best Energy Supplier 2008 & 2009)*

The report is headed "Energy companies rated: Survey results - energy satisfaction"

* It may give your exact quote in other places - I just haven't seen it.(can you point out where please?) However there is the world of difference between WHICH testing a product and awarding a Best Buy, and a reader's survey, especially where vested interests can influence.

P.S.
Are you not just a little concerned that you have breached WHICH's copyright? - I won't report you - but Jimx might;)

Hi Cardew

The magazine articles for October 2008 (page 41) and October 2009 (page 17) are both headed up as "Best Supplier(s)" - I assume that you are looking at the online survey results.

Regards

Mike

Cardew

Mike_by_the_Sea wrote: »

Hi Cardew

The magazine articles for October 2008 (page 41) and October 2009 (page 17) are both headed up as "Best Supplier(s)" - I assume that you are looking at the online survey results.

Regards

Mike

Mike,

We are at cross purposes, and as I said earlier it is semantics.

I am aware that there is a sub-heading entitled 'Best Suppliers'.

I was querying the post that attributed the remark as "WHICH terminology"

and indeed he followed it up with the statement that it looked like WHICH graphics.

For UW to claim, without any qualification, WHICH as stating that "UW were Best Suppliers in 2009 & 2009" is just as true as stating "WHICH state UW gas and electricity is 20% more expensive than the cheapest"

Cardew

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

You did ask me to point out where I saw it to be fair.

As the subject was the terminology used by WHICH that you said was confusing, did you not gather that I was looking for a WHICH quote not a not UW quote?;)

1carminestocky

LOL. Sooooo...is UW gas and electric a WHICH? Best Buy or not? :rolleyes: I'm assuming their phone & broadband is a WHICH? Best Buy? I suppose they mustn't be too greedy...

Quentin

Higgins-Sons wrote: »

i do have copyright over my website .....

There is more misinformation for gullibles over at Higgins copyrighted website.

Wonder why uw allow their reps to mislead in their name? (As if we didn't know!).

Besides quoting a saving of £1080 a year (if we sign up for uw expensive gas and electricity, phone and broadband) AND free calls, Higgins now offers the risky prepay card with this "misleading/lying" ad:

20% to 30% off your Shopping and Petrol at these stores at the bottom of this page:

And blatantly steals a chart from the which? magazine (against the Which? rules and without crediting them, of course!).

And uw just let him mislead, no doubt under the "he's an independent dist. what can we say?" defence.

What was Higgins thrust about copyright when he came here complaining about the exposure here of his misleading website?

Maybe the Which lawyers who are lurkung here according to uptomyeyeballs will be interested?

Keep misleading, Higgins, but expect to be exposed.

(Why don't the other reps who get tarred with the same brush never speak out?)

http://www.higgins-sons.co.uk/Customer-Discount-Club.php

Cardew

1carminestocky wrote: »

LOL. Sooooo...is UW gas and electric a WHICH? Best Buy or not? :rolleyes: I'm assuming their phone & broadband is a WHICH? Best Buy? I suppose they mustn't be too greedy...

You are even further behind the curve than usual.

Try to keep up!

janninew

I have received all my info from EDF today, so far so good, all looks nice and simple. They have set my direct debits at 20.00 per month for electric and 13.00 per month for gas. Not sure what to do about this? With UW my electric bill was always around 25.00 per month, so will 20.00 cover it as it is a cheaper tariff? 13.00 per month for gas also seems a little low to me, where do they get these figures from? Do they use my meter readings that I submitted on the switching web-site?

Sorry that its not strictly a UW question but most people on here know my situation and I don't want to get into debt with EDF!

NigeWick

Quentin wrote: »

Why don't the other reps who get tarred with the same brush never speak out?

Perhaps because they/I are/am waiting for you to provide the link to your Utility Warehouse pre payment card beating cashback card. You keep bashing on about the things you have "discovered" except the one thing many of us are interested in seeing. Why is it that you never post a link to that wondrous card of yours?

I am an independent distributor with Utility Warehouse and the views I express may not be shared by the company.