Telecom Plus Discussion Area

lisyloo

"With regards to discounts, I believe you get the discount 3 months after the initial 12 month period ends. ie you must be with them for 15 months total before receiving any discounts."

Pretty sure this is wrong.
"cashback" is paid after 12 months (or rather credited to your bill), but can be clawed back within 3 months following.

I am not sure whether this is implemented in practice.

NigeWick

Lisyloo is correct as far as the Cashback is concerned. The fuel prices start as soon as you do. There is no term of contract for the electricity and gas. The company hope that their prices and billing system will mean that you stay loyal. You should have a reasonable guarantee of service as the distributor who signs you up gets a small percentage of your spend for as long as you remain a customer. I tell my customers to contact me in the unlikely event that they can't get satisfaction from customer services.

Also, when working out your sums, remember to add in the £1.76 per month membership fee as well as unit costs and standing charges appropriate to your area. If one stays with the company and takes electricity, gas, telephone line rental and broadband, there will be £30 cashback after a year. This more than outweighs the membership fees. There should also be a saving on the line rental of about £18 per year compared to BT.

Sorry I wasn't quicker off the mark, but I don't visit the Forum every day. I hope this helps with your decision.

Nigel (Independent Distributor)

Smartasss

NigeWick wrote:

a saving on the line rental of about £18 per year compared to BT.

A little misleading.

You have to pay your bills to T+ by DD to get the prices you quote.

To get the £18 a year saving, you are comparing the non DD BT charge (£11.50/month) with the T+ DD charge of £10/month.

So comparing like with like, the annual saving is actually £6 (not including the £1.76/month T+ membership fee)

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In any case, NigeWick, isn't this reference to T+ telephone rental just spamming this gas + electric forum - and breaking the rules! (All T+ posts are supposed to be confined to the T+ thread)

A colleague of yours from T+ has already posted a similar misleading item regarding the so called £18 saving on line rental in the telephone forum.

NigeWick

Smartasss wrote:

You have to pay your bills to T+ by DD

Incorrect, it's just the most cost effective way of paying.

I apologise for posting a message on here before referring to all other parts of the forum first. Mind you, I'll probably do it again.

NIgel.

Smartasss

Nigel - the point I was making (which I think you know) is that in order to get the price you quoted, you have to pay by DD!

I have amended the post for the sake of pedants!

It is noticeable that apart from this pedantic correction you do not comment on the misleading nature of your post.

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The rules for T+ posts are strict, and breaking them will bring sanctions:

MSE Martin wrote:

"Anyone breaking the above rules will be barred first of all from this board, and if they persist from the Chat Forums"

hansi

That is not totally correct. I started getting Gas Electricity and Home Phone in May 204 and got my £20 discount in December 2004. Since the recent price increases I feel that TP+ are no longer the cheapest supplier in my area and I will switch. Does that mean I have to forfeit my £20 unless I wait until August to switch?

hansi

NigeWick wrote:

Lisyloo is correct as far as the Cashback is concerned. The fuel prices start as soon as you do. There is no term of contract for the electricity and gas. The company hope that their prices and billing system will mean that you stay loyal. You should have a reasonable guarantee of service as the distributor who signs you up gets a small percentage of your spend for as long as you remain a customer. I tell my customers to contact me in the unlikely event that they can't get satisfaction from customer services.

Also, when working out your sums, remember to add in the £1.76 per month membership fee as well as unit costs and standing charges appropriate to your area. If one stays with the company and takes electricity, gas, telephone line rental and broadband, there will be £30 cashback after a year. This more than outweighs the membership fees. There should also be a saving on the line rental of about £18 per year compared to BT.

Sorry I wasn't quicker off the mark, but I don't visit the Forum every day. I hope this helps with your decision.

Nigel (Independent Distributor)

Thanks Nigel, but in reply to that, as per my last post, I joined TP+ in May 2004 and received my discount in December 2004. Clause 8 of your T+C's state that this cashback can be reclaimed within three months after the date it was paid or credited if services are cancelled. I take this to mean that I can cancel after 1st April with no penalties? Please correct me if I am wrong.

lisyloo

"Clause 8 of your T+C's state that this cashback can be reclaimed within three months after the date it was paid or credited if services are cancelled."

Note that the reclaim is pro-rated.

I am trying to clarify this, but my current GUESS is:

1) If you have completed the year the pro-rate is 100% so you won't be penalised.
2) If you were paid early then your cashback can be pro-rated according to the time you completed. IF you cancel within 3 months after completion.

Note this is a guess, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me.

Will confirm once I've had the information.

Because it's pro-rated and not completely taken away then it might still be worth some of you switching.

lisyloo

A while ago PaulS43 and I were having a discussion and Paul wanted me to back up claim that some people might be able to save around £50 with companies other than Telecom Plus.

Unfrotunately at that time I couldn't back it up.

The reasons were:
1) My original figures posted on these boards were lost in the server move
2) At the time I was dealing with a potential redundancy
3) My company had a beady eye on internet use within working hours

I can now back this up.
I can now switch to a company called Utilita for a savings of £63.03 which is higher than my original estimate of £50.
The information comes from energylinx.

I will be looking this in more detail.
I hope this now settles that particular argument.

hansi

lisyloo wrote:

BTW - do you mind telling how much you'll save (as I someimes have run-ins with TPlus reps and they demand proof).

I just went to all the switching sites (what aj ob that is!) and apart from buy.co.uk which offered Powergen at a saving of £56.48 which I can't quite believe), the general concensus is that nPoweronline would give me a saving of about £33. Energy Helpline also offer a £10 cashback, so providing I don't have to forfeit the TP+ discountt, I will switch. Incidentally it is very hard to compare like with like on tariffs.It's very confusing.