Telecom Plus Discussion Area

MSE_Martin

This is a special area for the discussion of Telecom Plus.  Unfortunately, it has become the topic for heated debate in the past and detracted from the main gas & electricity discussions.  Therefore I would like to keep in restricted to just this discussion.

However due to past experiences some strict rules

i. All Telecom Plus Distributers must declare it when they post
ii. All workers or those related to other utility companies must declare it
iii.  There are to be no abusive comments, accusations of fraud.
iv. Anyone breaking the above rules will be barred first of all from this board, and if they persist from the Chat Forums

I hate having to be so draconian, yet this problem has lasted for more than a year.  So it is time to sort it out.

My basic view on Telecom Plus is contained within this article

For general, non-TP, discussions on gas & electricity click here

And Please I know there are two very polemic views on TP going to be expressed in this thread. Please do not libel anyone. Treat those with opposing arguments with respect, even though you disagree and please try and avoid personal remarks. I live in hope!

ajh_3

Every household in Britain can now benefit from the nation's cheapest domestic gas. Not cheaper gas as some of our competitors claim but the CHEAPEST gas.

Beware

Telecom Plus are still making the above claim for their Gas and Electricity and as this is the time of the year when most people will contemplate changing  be on your guard as this claim is totally false and should you come across adverts like this please report to your local Tradingstandards. Together we can get rid of companies that make false and misleading claims  

https://www.telecomplus.co.uk/store/index.taf?exref=664479

http://www.lower-prices.co.uk/

I DECLARE AN INTEREST< I AM A TELECOMPLUS DISTRIBUTOR

regards the above I hope that not only COS replies but Martin as well.

In a recent article Martin suggested that a good site to log onto for utility price comparisons would be https://www.switchandgive.com.
I did just that and entered the following details:
I was with Powergen-energyOnline
I used £300 gas a year
I used £400 electrcity a year
I paid by monthly direct debit

The results given were that ALLLLL competitors were dearer the nearest to them being Atlantic Electric & gas being £25.77 dearer. No Mention of Telecomplus whatsoever , not appearing in the top thirty the site gave me.
I then entered all the same information except I this time changed my supplier to Telecomplus High User
I was then informed that Telecomplus were the cheapest supplier being £49.38 cheaper than Powergen some 7%.
the question I pose as well as the obvious,"why the discrepency", is "do you think the fact that Telecomplus refuse to pay commissions to this web site have any baring on the fact that only when forced to mention TP did it cough the information up"!

AJH

MSE_Martin

Hi I think the key with switch and give is what tariffs did you select - did you include 'all non-standard tariffs'? Do that an TP should appear - let me know

martin

Lewis_Gerolemou

Hello ajh, I did exactly the same thing with a comparison site for electricity only. They told me Scottish Power Online were the cheapest at £444.44 p.a. but made no mention of Telecom Plus who would be £372.80 p.a. The reply I got when I queried this waffled on about dual fuel, the telephone service and the fact that they only quote the standard tariff, no wonder customers find comparison sites confusing.
Lewis Gerolemou
Independent Distributor for Telecom Plus

loon_2

I have a question! What makes someone become a t+ rep?

I work for an independent regualtory body (there are not many... work out which one WE are). One reason is because i dont like to see people getting conned. my job is to investigate various companies and their selling practices and tactics. WE have found t+ to have terrible tactics and practices, they take no notice of the ASA and their reps are misleading... so, why would anyone want to sell there product or promote such a terrible company?

lisyloo

so, why would anyone want to sell there product or promote such a terrible company?

Two reasons I can think of.

1) They genuinely believe in the product and are either oblivious or taken in by the marketing.

2) The need the money and don't care or possible can't afford to have the luxury of principles.

loon_2

COS... you probably have. but unfortunately, i only deal with the more hands on side of the business.

Smartasss

Apologies for the length + numbers in this post, but it does illustrate a point regarding misleading claims by T+ staff.

T+ Rep ajh joined this Board "supposedly" (see the footnote below regarding ajh), to post (above):

Telecomplus were the cheapest supplier being £49.38 cheaper than Powergen some 7%.

Checking his figures is impossible, because he doesn't tell us which electricity region he is served by, and there are different tariffs for each region.

However, there is a national rate for gas.

On the figures given, Powergen Energy OnLine do come out cheaper:-

Spending £300 on gas at T+ will get you 18480 units. (They charge 1.491p/unit)

They charge £18.90/year standing charge and £21.12 club membership. Half the annual club membership has been included in the calculation (the other half should be set against the electricity costs)

They give an annual £10 discount for taking both services (this is subject to clawback should the customer stop taking the service before a total of 15 months have elapsed, but to try and compare like for like this is included in the calculations).

I have included half the discount - £5 - in the calculation - (the other half should be set against the electricity costs)

Calculations are:

18480 x 1.491p = £275.54
12 Months Standing Charge = £18.90
50% of club fee = £10.56

Total = £305

Deduct £5 dual fuel discount = £300

Powergen charge 1.485p/unit, £42/year standing charge and give £21.50 annual discount for each utility (i.e £21.50 off both gas and electricity)

So Powergen's costs for 18480 units is:

18480 x 1.485p = £274.43
12 Months Standing Charge = £42.00

Total = £316.43

Deduct £21.50 discount = £294.93

(Powergen also give you Tesco points, so the final net cost is actually cheaper than the £294.93 - depending whether you redeem the points for money off at Tesco (£2.94 worth) or items from their brochure (£11.76 worth).

According to ajh, T+ are £49.38 cheaper than Powergen for both fuels.

Taking the calculations above, (showing Powergen £5.07 cheaper for gas), this means that according to ajh Powergen are £54.45 more expensive for electricity! I doubt it!

**************************************

One of the interesting ploys of T+ staff has been to join this Board under various guises (sometimes claiming to be just satisfied customers, sometimes claiming to be the senior exec of T+ etc.)

One such character (claiming to be the Senior Exec at T+) has repeatedly visited and used various aliases:

alan john howes
ajhnumerouno@hotmail.com
numerouno
Alan Howes

Does anyone else spot a similarity between those names and this "new" member AJH?

What is the reason behind all these identities?

Surely there is a Board policy regarding multiple identities?

What are the ethics behind this - and how does it help TelecomPlus' reputation to have a Senior Executive adopting these tactics?

loon_2

Pls can all the reps out there tell me where you get those magic sheets of paper stating that their company is the cheapest.

I believe it must be made of some magic computer/ paper, that automatically knows your region and consumption, and even calculates the comparison.

If we could get these to the general public, it would make life much easier wouldn't it?

ajh_3

Apologies for the length + numbers in this post, but it does illustrate a point regarding misleading claims by T+ staff.

T+ Rep ajh joined this Board "supposedly" (see the footnote below regarding ajh),  to post (above):


Checking his figures is impossible, because he doesn't tell us which electricity region he is served by, and there are different tariffs for each region.

However, there is a national rate for gas.

On the figures given, Powergen Energy OnLine do come out cheaper:-

Spending £300 on gas at T+ will get you 18480 units. (They charge 1.491p/unit)

They charge £18.90/year standing charge and £21.12 club membership.  Half the annual club membership has been included in the calculation (the other half should be set against the electricity costs)

They give an annual £10 discount for taking both services (this is subject to clawback should the customer stop taking the service before a total of 15 months have elapsed, but to try and compare like for like this is included in the calculations).

I have included half the discount - £5 - in the calculation - (the other half should be set against the electricity costs)

Calculations are:

18480 x 1.491p                    = £275.54
12 Months Standing Charge = £18.90
50% of club fee                     = £10.56

                  Total                   = £305

Deduct £5 dual fuel discount  =  £300

Powergen charge 1.485p/unit, £42/year standing charge and give £21.50 annual discount for each utility (i.e £21.50 off both gas and electricity)

So Powergen's costs for 18480 units is:

18480 x 1.485p                    = £274.43
12 Months Standing Charge = £42.00

                 Total                   = £316.43

Deduct £21.50 discount        = £294.93

(Powergen also give you Tesco points, so the final net cost is actually cheaper than the £294.93 - depending whether you redeem the points for money off at Tesco (£2.94 worth) or items from their brochure (£11.76 worth).

According to ajh, T+ are £49.38 cheaper than Powergen for both fuels.

Taking the calculations above, (showing Powergen £5.07 cheaper for gas), this means that according to ajh Powergen are £54.45 more expensive for electricity! I doubt it!

**************************************

One of the interesting ploys of T+ staff has been to join this Board under various guises (sometimes claiming to be just satisfied customers, sometimes claiming to be the senior exec of T+ etc.)

One such character (claiming to be the Senior Exec at T+) has repeatedly visited and used various aliases:

alan john howes
ajhnumerouno@hotmail.com
numerouno
Alan Howes

Does anyone else spot a similarity between those names and  this "new" member AJH?

What is the reason behind all these identities?

Surely there is a Board policy regarding multiple identities?

What are the ethics behind this - and how does it help TelecomPlus' reputation to have a Senior Executive adopting these tactics?

Hi there me old mate nice to see you've not lost your teeth, sence yes, teeth no.

I live in Kent and the supplier is I believe SEEBOARD.

Yes you spoted it I use different e-mail addresses. I use them for different business reasons and log onto this site from which address I am working on... nothing sinister.

I have asked you many times to let this site know the region you live in and an approximation of your bills but you never do so until you are as open and upfront as I am I suggest that you stop your rantings.

The essance of a lie is the intent to deceive.

I try hard not to deceive people I hold my integrity at a high price.

So Mr smartee put up or shut up; what region; how much per year gas in £; how much lece per year in £

Let us all calculate your savings so that we can all join that company... I put good money on you avoiding the questions.

ajh

System

An answer.

If someone wants to use T+, then let them.

If you dislike them, that's down to your opinion or experience.

This thread has already become unreadable due to stupidly long quotations.

This has become far too drawn out on here and needs to stop.

If you really want a debate, arrange a meeting. Then someone will finally be able to bang all of your heads together