Utility Warehouse (aka Hotel California – Once you join you can never leave)

hettys_hat

In October 2019 – I joined the Utility Warehouse for my Electric, Gas, Ultra Fibre Broadband, Telephone, 1 Mobile Phone Contract which is – Pay Monthly.  In February 2020 – I took out a 2nd Mobile Contract. Once all the services started up I started to receive emails saying to me that I could now book in my free lightbulb replacement service, which wasnt a surprise as I had agreed to the lightbulb service which I was told was Free several times. 

Despite having the Ultra Fibre broadband the service has been shocking, which I had been dubious about from when I was sold it as I live in a remote location in the Midlands and only Virgin is normally any good. I was assured it would be fine. I had been waiting for this month to come round to terminate the service and return to Virgin not only because of the shocking service but because I want some channels I can only get thru Sky or Virgin or paying extra on top of the UW Broadband, which seemed a bit of a no brainer considering the service.

Anyway, today I phoned UW for a few reasons, one to see if the 2nd mobile contract I had was for 18 months or 24 months, confirm my 2nd mobile phone contract and check the date for I could put In the termination of the broadband.

So while asking about the Pay Monthly and leaving I was told you can now leave when you like, but if you do leave now you will have to pay for the lightbulb service which still has 210 days to run and will cost you £168. To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. Apparently, the cost is £4 a lightbulb and I have 42 bulbs. Their lightbulbs have turned out to be shocking as well, although I was told they had a certain number of years guarantee, I’ve had to phone for replacements a couple of times. So, It would appear that the Free lightbulbs are only Free at point of installation.

So I then asked him would that same £168 fee apply to me exiting my Broadband, despite the fact of you have sent me an email about telling me I can re-sign with them or choose another provider and the only charge mentioned would be a £10 disconnection fee, nothing about the lightbulbs and I also queried how lightbulbs could be tied into a Broadband Service which runs for a different length of contract time and was he sure this was the case so he went and checked with his supervisor, after a wait he came back and said “yes it would”.

So I’m now in a bit of a tied in loop, unless I pay the £168, I will have to sign up for another year with my Broadband and keep going with my pay monthly contract also.

Want I wanted to know was has anyone else experienced this and what they did if anything not challenge it or does anyone have any ideas of what I can do?

nottsphil

Doesn't the fastest broadband available run on fibre?

That £4 per 'bulb' is just the retail value. I suspect the wholesale cost of 42 of them will work out as a fraction of that. Which cost did the contract state you would have to repay if you left early? If it just said 'the value', then I would say they are only entitled to what they paid for them.

hettys_hat

nottsphil said:

Doesn't the fastest broadband available run on fibre?

That £4 per 'bulb' is just the retail value. I suspect the wholesale cost of 42 of them will work out as a fraction of that. Which cost did the contract state you would have to repay if you left early? If it just said 'the value', then I would say they are only entitled to what they paid for them.

Yes, it does run on Fibre, I did write that Ultra Fibre Broadband
Everything that I signed was on an Ipad as far as I remember, so dont think I have hard copy anywhere to refer back to.

bagand96

Light Bulb Replacement FAQ's Utility Warehouse - Help

What happens if I want to cancel my services after having bulbs fitted?

If you choose to cancel any of your communication services (Home Phone, Broadband or Mobile) within two years of having your light bulbs changed, you'll need to pay a contribution towards the cost of each LED bulb we've installed on a scale that reduces every 6 months:

First 6 months	Second 6 months	Third 6 months	Fourth 6 months
£8 per bulb	£6 per bulb	£4 per bulb	£2 per bulb

hettys_hat

bagand96 said:

Light Bulb Replacement FAQ's Utility Warehouse - Help

What happens if I want to cancel my services after having bulbs fitted?

If you choose to cancel any of your communication services (Home Phone, Broadband or Mobile) within two years of having your light bulbs changed, you'll need to pay a contribution towards the cost of each LED bulb we've installed on a scale that reduces every 6 months:

First 6 months	Second 6 months	Third 6 months	Fourth 6 months
£8 per bulb	£6 per bulb	£4 per bulb	£2 per bulb

Thanks for that. So I now have the choice of being stuck with having to renew my broadband with them, which I dont want to do or pay the £168.

Tallerdave

If you consider £60-90 of that as payment for the bulbs (depending on type/fitting), then the remainder might be value for money to get away from the cult?

divingbboy

This is why I never signed up to take UW's lightbulbs. I spotted that they weren't exactly 'free', regardless of what they say in the sales pitch. Admittedly, I hadn't spotted that the charge applies to services other than gas and electricity. Frankly, that's pretty outrageous. No wonder they keep sending me reminders! I found out that the £100 'Energy Boost' payment they offered to get me to sign up with them in the first place was not going to be paid to me (apparently, although my electricity switch to UW fell within the time limit, the gas switch ended up being a day late, not that that had anything to do with me...), which cemented my decision to go elsewhere. They actually had one of their retention team phone me to warn me that I wouldn't get the Energy Boost if I left them before the end of March, only for me to find out that this was a lie, as they had no intention of paying it to me anyway. I'm so disgusted with their behaviour, I want nothing more to do with them and want to move my Ultra Broadband and phone service too (they've increased the phone rates mid-contract, which allows me to leave, and their terms & conditions state that they do not supply broadband to anyone who also does not have phone service with them). I'm less than impressed with them and they seem to tolerate (at the very least) some fairly shoddy sales and retention tactics.

Archie_Duke

I was in a similar position to you @hettys_hat , but when I found some good savings to be made on electricity provider AND wanted to be able to get fibre BB it was time to bite the bullet and pay up for the LED bulbs. It was well worth it to get out. I’ve only had to replace a handful of the UW-supplied bulbs in the 3 or so years I’ve been free of their contract.