Telecom Plus Discussion Area

Axeman_2

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

                  Total                   = £305

Just to put things slightly right, T+ only charge 1.42 p per unit not 1.491 and standing charge is £1.50 pr month, so £18 not £18.90 so:-

18480 x 1.42p                    = £262.42
12 Months Standing Charge = £18.00
50% of club fee                     = £10.56

                  Total                   = £290.98

Don't forget if you are paying less, you pay less VAT

The difference between the two figures above would mean saving 70p in tax.

So in original post, results ( with tax ) would have been

Powergen     =     £309.68
Telecomplus  =     £305.53

Smartasss

Hi Axeman

Just to put things slightly right, T+ only charge 1.42 p per unit not 1.491 and standing charge is £1.50 pr month, so £18 not £18.90

(Don't you represent T+?)

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

You are mistaken (or deliberately misleading!).

(Check the prices again - don't quote ex VAT!)

If I had been wrong, you can be sure that a T+ rep would have been delighted to correct me long before now!

PTLD

i find their bumph very misleading...
rather unfair!

ajh_3

Absolutely correct and well said.

I have not visited this site for a long time simply because I no longer have the time to do so.  I am merely passing at this moment...  

I also spend the time that I have a great deal more productively - obviously more productively than the negative posters that frequent here.

As I have said in the past - reiterated by Lewis recently in this forum - it doesn't matter what any distributor, let alone happy customer says about TP, the negative frequenters simply won't take on board the fact that TP offer an exceptionally good service to many people AND save them money.  The choice to use TP lies with the individual; not those intent on trying to preach to the those that don't know any different their own view on things, from their own experiences or not.

What is bizarre is the behaviour of certain people and their specific intent on trying to publicly discredit a very worthy, successful and respectable organisation by spending a considerable amount of time discussing minute detail where there are simply no reasons for doing so for the umpteenth time.

I am not saying or implying that TP are perfect.  No individual or organisation is.  Perfection is an ideal level that most people and organisations try to achieve; the paradox being that in many cases it is ordinary people (sometimes their own suppliers and customers) that prevent this level from being reached.

Anybody can dig up (what they see as) dirt on anything or anybody they like whenever they wish.  Most of us don't do it because there are more productive ways to spend our days.  

I could find fault with something every day, but I choose not to ponder over such issues.  I concentrate on PUTTING THINGS RIGHT, rather than trying to find blame every second of every day.

You are all entitled to your opinion - and that is all it is.  An opinion; not a statement of fact for all.  If you have a specific query, complaint or problem, communicate with TP.  

While distributors are always happy to help, we DO NOT work for TP and contracts are between TP and individual customers.  Therefore distributors are unable to resolve contractual issues.

I am sorry to have mentioned TP on this site many, many months ago - well over a year ago in fact - simply because I thought this was a site dedicated to individuals that wanted to save money (like me) - rather than spend their precious days wasting what good time they have whinging about every possible little thing they can dig up.

Money Whinging Expert...  now there's an idea...

Please do something more positive with your time, like TP distributors do.

See you!


Mark E

PS: There is little point (as Lewis has said) in me replying to any questions as nothing will change within this forum, as has been proved time and time again. ???

Well said sir, I myself asked some time ago that ALLLL TP distributors refrain from replying on this forum as it is just 'grist to the mill' for those who want to have a moan; I ask once again will all TP distributors pleazzzze stop giving those that are the perplexed, the who think we are not sincere, those that laugh at us and those that mock us as they will continue to do so... that is their place in life.

Yours most sincerely Alan John Howes or is it ajhnumerouno or is it ajh or is ittttt sorry carnt remember (or spelll) havin a 'senior moment'. Smartass will tell me who I am.

Larmans

I have been thinking about changing my utilities over to Telecom plus through a chap at work.
He seems a bit evasive about a club membership charge of £1.76 monthly.
Can any of the Telecom plus reps on here explain what the charge is for and is it refundable against calls or Gas/ electricity usage?
He also wants £10.00 upfront to switch me on to the telephone service which it seems is refundable so I don't mind that.
If the club charge is not refundable that must make them uncompetitive against many suppliers as it is part of the overall cost and is not taken into account on tele/ energy comparison sites.
Can anyone please clarify especially the Telecom plus people.
Thanks and compliments on a great Forum and site.

Lewis_Gerolemou

Hello Larmans,
The £1.76 is a membership charge, it is not refundable but it can be "offset" against the discounts you get for taking additional services. For example if you take three services you will receive a £20 annual discount, for each additional service you will get an extra £10 discount.
The Energylinx comparison site does take the membership charge into account, I have always found its quotes to be accurate and up to date but you must click the "unusual terms an conditions" option.

Lewis Gerolemou, Authorised Distributor for The Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus)

Larmans

Hi Lewis and thanks for your reply.
If you have to offset the £1.76 membership charge against your annual discount it is not a discount I feel.
The customer pays up front and then gets it back in a years time?

Smartasss

Hi Larmans

Hopefully you'll learn a lot more about T+ from these forums before making a decision.

We know from the ASA that T+ uses misleading advertising, and sometimes we get misleading posts from their reps.

(The one above from axeman is a good example where he misleads by quoting the wrong prices for gas)

Can any of the Telecom plus reps on here explain what the charge is for

The reply you got from the T+ rep didn't answer your question!

The membership fee just seems to be a form of extra standing charge, not refundable against anything.

It is misleading for the T+ rep to suggest:

it can be "offset" against the discounts you get for taking additional services.

The discounts are paid as an incentive for taking extra services - most utility companies will give you some sort of discount for having dual fuel - they don't expect you to use it to pay an additional "membership fee".

The annual membership fee is £21.12 - so to "offset" it in full you'd have to take 4 services from them and get £30 annual discount. (Did they tell you that this discount is subject to clawback if you don't stay with them for at least 3 more months after it's due (i.e. 15 months altogether).

Do a search for more threads on them before putting pen to paper!

Here are a couple for starters:

TELECOMPLUS EXPOSED

T+ Telephone Service Thread

As far as their phone service is concerned, this is MSE Martin's opinion:

Telecom Plus’s home phone service especially should be avoided as it is uncompetitive.

Not only do they require you to pay £10 up front for the phone service, they also require all gas and electricity standing charges paid in advance.

Good luck!

alandisney

I recently became for 2 weeks a Telecom plus distributor going to a regional conference and later a National Conference at Telford on October 17th I think. Two weeks later I asked for my money back even though my friend believed implicitly and still does the blurb put out by T+.

I have spent hours going through the Internet comparison sites (Uwitch, Energy Helpline, Unravelit etc., who definitely do not list the lowest cost supplier) to determine who is the cheapest, particularly for dual fuel. To ensure that you find the cheapest, you must for all companies cost out standing charges, price of units per kw/hr, membership fees if any, discounts, rebates etc. This is time consuming but I have done it. I did write to Charles Wigoder, chief executive of T+ to tell him he had been rumbled. There is no way they can say "WE ARE THE UK'S CHEAPEST GAS & ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER" as they do at their conferences and in the lates tariff booklet which I still have a copy of. He did not write back to me when I advised him that at that time they were in 5th place beaten by Powergen Online, Atlantic gas, SWEB Energy and Seeboard Energy . Since then Powergen has put up their prices but the others are still in front. Telecom + distributors have been brainwashed by the company and seem unable to work out for themselves that T+ are far from the best. They continue to mislead and con the general public in their own interests. I have been using Atlantic Gas for dual fuel for nearly 2 years. You may have to remind them of when you require your annual rebates but you do get it. This means they are the cheapest not just for Yorkshire but for most other regions also.

Axeman_2

Hi Axeman


(Don't you represent T+?)

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

You are mistaken (or deliberately misleading!).

(Check the prices again - don't quote ex VAT!)

If I had been wrong, you can be sure that a T+ rep would have been delighted to correct me long before now!

No I did not deliberately mislead anyone. All I did was put the VAT on the end of the bill, where it should be.

To put this to bed I went onto Powergens own website for a quote.

I used the gas figure used by Smartasss of 18480 (standard user ) my own electric usage ( standard user )
the results were:

EnergyOnline = £568.75
EnergySavingPlan=£643.12
Capped=£657.98

My bill for The Utility Warehouse ( Telecomplus) was £525.70

So at worst I'd save £43.05 at best £132.28.

So my advice is, don't listen to all the put downs by certain people here, use the power companies own websites for comparisions or

http://www.ukpower.co.uk

At least T+ ask to look at your last bills and give you a quote based on that. You can then make your own mind up whether to take services or not.

Unlike the companies who want you to sign up there and then on your doorstep or Supermarket entrance!

Alex Carrington
Authorised Distributor

Maybe some other people on this forum should declare who they represent.