Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

kippen_noedel

NigeWick wrote: »

Isn't it for each individual to choose how they save money, or not, and, to decide what is in their own best interests?

True, however I do not try and persuade friends or family to pay substantially higher prices for anything to line my own pockets. Commonly called loyalty.

Plushchris

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

The comparison sites only allow comparison of current tariffs,

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that statement, all the comparison sites I've used allow you to compare old tariffs.

You can only switch to tariffs that are currently available but then thats only logical, as you cant sign up to out of date tariffs even if you go to the supplier direct (and why would you want to?)

Eg, if you go to British Gas you wont be able to go onto Click 5 for example.

Cardew

If 'one-off' discounts were allowed to be included in the comparison networks, then every company would introduce some one-off incentive to make them appear more attractive.

The UW incentive is a classic example. You get £100 but you must take their very expensive gas and electricity plus another service(from phone/broadband/mobile) plus meet other conditions on meter reading etc.

The following year you don't get that incentive.

Quentin

Cardew wrote: »

If 'one-off' discounts were allowed to be included in the comparison networks, then every company would introduce some one-off incentive to make them appear more attractive.

The UW incentive is a classic example. You get £100 but you must take their very expensive gas and electricity plus another service(from phone/broadband/mobile) plus meet other conditions on meter reading etc.

The following year you don't get that incentive.

On top of all the hoop jumping to get this one off discount, members also must meet a minimum spend on gas of at least £350 - spend £349 and they haven't met the criteria for the discount!

Plushchris

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

That's exactly what i meant. Many discounts are listed, even though they have limited longevity. ie. They may only be available until a specific date, so they aren't 'annual' discounts either.

They may be listed but they arent included in the savings..

Take E-on for example, their Energy online extra saver 12 tariff has discounts that are available up until June, but the comparison site doesnt take these into account..

(from Energyhelpline..)

Unit charge (pence per kWh) 6.348p for the first 670 kWh per quarter, and 3.407p thereafter 23.793p for the first 225 kWh per quarter, and 9.072p thereafter Discounts Dual fuel direct debit customers receive a discount of 8% off their total annual bill. EnergyOnline Extra Saver 12 customers receive an additional discount of 2% off their total annual bill for managing their account online. The Extra Saver 12 discounts are only available until 1st June 2010 and therefore are not included in your savings figure. The total discount is 10% off the total annual bill. All prices shown are inclusive of VAT at 5%.

Plushchris

Also, anyone signing up to BG's energysmart tariffs recieve a one off payment of £20 per fuel after 12 months, but this isnt included in savings either as it is a one off payment (Like the UW £100 is)

Plushchris

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

Do the comparison sites mention it?

Yes, I believe most if not all of them do.

janninew

Why is it seen to be a bad thing or jumping through hoops becuase UW ask you to submit a number of readings to claim the discount?

I think this is a very good idea, maybe it will stop the large amount of people who never read their meters to start. Going on the vast number of posters who come on here and whinge because they have received a large bill due to estimated readings being used for years, then they expect to not have to pay because its obviously the utility companies fault.

Any utility company that encourages reading your own meter can only be a good thing in my opinion, though I know as its UW they can do nothing right!

DaveW007

Does anybody have any hair I can tear out please as I don't have any left!!!

I thought my long saga with UW had come to an end.

Today I have received a bill for February 2010. UW have now in their infinite wisdom charged me a late payment surcharge. Looks like that even though the sage was being dealt with by the Energy Ombudsman, UW have charged me for not paying the bill at the time even though it was in dispute and they were told to put a hold on my account.

Just sent UW and The Energy Ombudsman a strongly worded email and will have to wait and see what happens.

Plushchris

uptomyeyeballs wrote: »

Should the one off UW discount not be mentioned as well then?

Not really, the comparison sites compare gas and electricity, as mentioned above you only get that discount by taking other utilities as well. The BG one off discount is paid even if you only take 1 fuel.

And besides, even if it were included in the smallprint (like BG's one off discount is) would it really make any difference? UW appear so far down the list most people probably bother reading the small print anyway.