Guess?! Two months with Utility warehouse for telecom products and....i saved NOTHING. Actually i lost more then 34£!
I called to ask if i could switch back to my old provider and guess again?! I must pay a PENALTY of 242.00£.
Great SAVINGS?
Plus their Internet technical support has a 0900 NUMBER!! Thats CUSTOMER SERVICE.
If you didnt do the mistake. STAY AWAY. BT has ...at least good service, including saturdays and sundays and the operators ARE NOT RUDE.

I moved into my new flat about 5 months ago and was recommended to stay with the previous occupant who I knew quite well as they were the suppliers already so after consideration I did. Having registered on-line they asked for copies of my previous gas and electricity bills which I provided from my previous residence thinking they'd use them for comparison - err no! I was actually then billed for the 2 residences! Having spotted the mistake (a little late really - I'd actually paid 2 of the monthly bills) I notified them and after about 5 days I received a reply saying I would be reimbursed for the error. After another couple of emails and replies now taking 6-7 days I eventually received a credit 3 months later.
Meanwhile..... The bills kept arriving for my current address and letters referring me to increased charges which seemed to be spiraling out of control. Eventually after receiving a bill for 3 months totalling just under £300.00 I have decided to swap and have just moved suppliers. I have read my meters which were always estimated readings only to discover that instead of me owing them £300.00 they actually owe me £11.
Lesson severly taught and learned here! I in future will pay more attention to my utility billing and will not pay another bill without submitting my own meter readings 1st.
I wouldn't recommend them and will avoid them in the future. Thankfully I have no internet or phone service with them.
As for savings - I can't see how you can maintain a good and loyal customer base when after 5 months nobody ever came to read my meters (which are both outside of the property and easily accessible) means the customer receives over inflated bills and your supplier actually ends up owing you money and then they send letters out referring to debt collection agents.
Maybe I'll send them a letter saying they owe me £11 and if they don't pay up I'll refer them to my own debit collection agent! he he.

What was the penalty for?

Nigel.

Why would you send bills from a different residence expecting a comparison? Unless they are like for like, there's no chance of accuracy. Personally, I would have explained that I am just moving in and have no bills for the property.

Nigel.

UWDC prices go up today. Not a huge percentage rise but every little hurts.

Nigel.

But it only went up about a month ago did it not?

Closer to two months, but still not long. I suspect it's to do with the nPower "connection."

Nigel.

I'm not defending them but you should check out the size of the rises and not just the frequency to make sure you take it in context.

It could be that they have held back rises and drip fed them rather than doing one big one.

I'm not saying what they are doing is good or bad but it's not necessarily worse than others jsut because tit's more frequent.
Also rises vary across reasons so they may be good value for some and poor value for others.

As Nigel points out its probaly got something to do with the fact that N Power are now supplying their Energy.

But a rise is rise whatever way you look at it particularly as they dont give you any notice of it happening like other suppliers.

It makes this statement on their website look silly!!!

"Have you noticed how the “Big 6” suppliers always seem to be increasing their prices. No sooner have you moved to a different one because their prices were a little cheaper, then up they go again and you would have been better off staying where you were in the first place! Sound familiar"

As a customer, I either get a notification with my bill, or, as this last one, a seperate letter and attached price table.

Nigel.

I just recieved the pitch from my friend who is a UW distributer...

tbh the pitch was good and i know the bloke really well and i dont think he could sell me a scam. I know he will make some money off me joining but he showed how much i cud save if i changed.

I have seen a number of mixed answers on the thread so im still unsure on what to do?

I currently pay:

1)BB with BT - £15 pcm (512 as that is all the exchange has to offer)
2)phone line with BT - £15 pcm (no free calls, etc)
3)gas with swalec - £25 pcm
4)elec with swalec - £25 pcm

out going on bills pcm are - £67...

This is easy and tbh I cant be arsed to change unless i can save quite abit...?

with UW the new charges wud be..

1) BB (& phone line) - £18 (£23)
2) gas & elec - ???

I dont want to become a distributer as i just dont have the time...

what do you people suggest i do?

There is no denying that Utility Warehouse does not have the best customer service in the industry. The time and energy that you are likely to waste because of this wll far outweigh any money that you might save.

In my experience Ebico (Equigas and Equipower) offer cheaper energy than anyone else.

I am a Distributor and I would suggest that you work out if you would save anything by swapping. I would change companies as long as there is some advantage for ME. Do not rely on others to work out any costings as you should be able to find what is best for you. Enlightened self interest is a good way to move forward IMHO.

As to service, Customer Services do have the occasional challenge, as do all companies. However, if they can't give you satisfaction you can always go to your Distributor. We get paid a small percentage of all you spend, for as long as you remain a customer. That's quite an incentive to look after the customer.

Nigel.

but it it worth the hassle of chaging for the sake of £10?

In my opinion no (although there can be other benefits like one bill for many services).
Some tarriffs give discounts after a year and other have penalties, so be careful you aren't losing out anywhere along the line.

Also look at when both companies raised rates.
It might be that one has raised prices and another has not, so you are not comparing like with like.
i.e. you don't want to go over to a company that is just about to raise it's prices.

You can see who's raised prices here:

http://www.ukpower.co.uk/price%2Bupdates.asp

First of all remember you pay £21 a year to belong to the club ,some distributors conveniently forget out about this.You do however get £10 credit for every service you use other and above the first one if you stay a year.So you would be with 4 services approx £9 better off in this respect.

Their Energy is now supplied by N-Power they just bill you and act as N-Powers agent. Their have made 2 price increases in last two month. Go to their site at www.utilitywarehouse.co.uk and you should be able to work out what savings on energy you might make if any.I understand their site is up to date as far as their prices are concerned.

Turning to the Phone/Broad band.

On your calculations you show your paying BT £15 line rental. This is only normally £11 a month including caller display. Do you have some calling features included, UWDC will charge you for these including caller display if you have it.

UWDC 512 kb bb,and unlimited calls offer of approx £20 a month (first 6 months) then approx £23 for next 6 months does not include line rental. This will be £10 a month extra on top of this plus you would have to pay £1.50p a month for caller display.

You might do better on the Phone front if you had a look at Martin MSE advice see:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1095003038,99872,

I have phoned up BT and complained and ge a quicker bb for the same price so im not so worried about BB.

I have signed up to the phone £10 pcm and ther gas and elec... If tis doesnt work out better for me i will just cancel tbh... I suppose might as well give it a go i have nothing to lose...

Yes you can lose MONEY!!!!

Why bother with this Multi Level Marketing outfit if your not saving money.It l cost £1.76p a month for membership. If you stay a year? yes your get your £20 credit. .

If you require caller display and line rental it will be £11.50p a month . BT only charge £11 for line rental and caller display.Their call rates are nothing to write home about.Can easily be beaten.

You can work out your possible energy savings from their site.They dont always beat other suppliers despite their marketing bumph.

If you have got BT Broadband surely your need to keep your line with BT anyway.

Ok.. we;; im trying the gas & elec...

have scrapped the fone idea...

If you didn't make sure that you will save money first, you may have something to lose.

Nigel.