Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

A question about : Utility Warehouse (Telecom Plus) Discussion

UPDATE 17 MAY 10

Due to the disruption on this thread, and the drain on resources, this thread has been closed.

A new thread has been started here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...5#post32896445

PLEASE, if the discussion can't be kept friendly, the new thread will be locked permanently.

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This is a special area for the discussion of Utility Warehouse (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 Utility Warehouse is contained within this article

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

And Please I know there are two very polemic views on Utility Warehouse 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!

Best answers:

• I'm aware from looking at Martins post that there has been some controversy about Utilities Warehouse but alas I missed it all.
  First off as the rules state I am a Utlilties Warehouse customer and a Distributor.
  Maybe I can split my experience up between being a customer and a Distributor and give my thoughts on both.
  Being a customer
  We are all looking for deals - right. I was asked by a friend of mine who was a Distributor whether he could look at my bills and identify a saving. These were easily identified across the board on what I was paying for things. We sent off my existing gas and electricity bill and a comparison was made and a substantial saving was offered. I bought the gas, electric and telephone packages and it all arrived on one bill. At the end of the year I also got cashback on the services I'd taken. - Ok you are all going to scream there may be better deals here and there but I hadn't got the time or interest to switch suppliers every 20 mins or make sure that I moved on before the discounted period ended. The main thing I liked was that I was offered a range of products and I chose which ones I took.
  Being a Distributor
  When I looked in my pocket at the end of the month I got a very empty feeling. Mainly because the money I earned was taken up by paying a mortgage, bills, kids, wife, etc. If this situation does or has not ever concerned you don't read on, oh and well done!
  I'm not a salesman, fee-generator or captain of industry. It's just my luck then that I've found that doesn't mean jot as a Utilities Warehouse Distributor. My friend who signed me up as a customer told me he had one simple goal when he started out to make enough money from a second business to pay his monthly mortgage. He achieved this and I'm close to it. In fact he pays all his household bills from his commission and that's my next goal. Very little effort is involved in generating a good income from the business. - I give about 5 hours a month into it but the great thing about it is that it's a people business. No multi-million pound advertising campaign or pressure sales.
  Above all else I don't make any promises. There are no discount periods, special offers, win a toaster prizes or knobs with bells on. What my customers get (blowing my own trumpet) is great customer support and a very personalised service not a telesales operative. If you can get a better deal go for it and well done. But make sure you keep your eye on it as time goes by.
  If anyone wants to know a bit more about being a customer or Distributor drop me line ***Boardguide comment*** Link removed - see next post
• I have removed your link in line with Site Rules
  ADVERTISING
  This site is free from advertising. Posts on any board considered to be advertising goods, services and/or companies will be removed.
  Examples of this can include anything from a specific sales post or a link to your own website in which you attempt to sell something to someone offering their holiday home to forum members. Unfortunately we cannot allow any advertising of any description no matter how honourable the intention.
• I wish you luck but I'm pretty sure you'll need it!
  I switched to UW 15 months ago as, from comparisons on all the usual websites (didn't know about MSE then), they appeared to be clearly the cheapest for me. And I soon got to like their style.
  However in October, I was notified that the unit price for gas was going up by
  29% and for electricity 44%. I knew about MSE fortunately by this time and did my comparisons on MSE's top 3 comparison websites. I could save over Ј100 by switching to London Energy plus the little bonus of Ј12.50 for switching - so of course I have done. Bearing in mind that my combined fuel bills are under Ј500 pa, it's a very big drop.
  Unless my area is a special case, you might find, if you do the sort of comparisons I have done on behalf of your clients, that in all fairness you might not be able to suggest that they switch to UW. :confused:
• Shouldnt this thread be put in Utiility Warehouse/Telecom Plus sticky thread?
  This sub forum is for the discussion of Energy etc not the promotion of your Multi Level Marketing Business.
  I was a T-Plus Gas/Electric Customer when they sneakily increased my prices considerably in Oct i moved away from them getting much better prices.
  When i say sneaky what i mean is they gave no notice that the prices were to go up.They just sent out a letter dated 1/10/05 saying prices would go up from that date.At least other suppliers give reasonable notice.Southern and N Power being recent examples.
• One thing I forgot to put into my post last night is the fact that in UW's letter of October they stated:
  " as a UW customer you can relax, confident in the knowledge you'll always be paying one of the cheapest prices for your energy, compared with all the other major suppliers."
  That comforting statement might have convinced some of their customers not to take matters further, particularly if they felt they could trust UW.
  In my letter resiling from my contract I said to them (quoting the statement above) " how can you say that?" - they didn't respond.
• As the original posts says there may well be better deals elsewhere.However better deals do not necessarily come with better service. My own homework has confirmed that by moving to the Uw I have saved a considerable amount of money whilst benefiting from an improved level of service .
  All my monthly utilities are on one bill in plain english and I clearly undertand whats happening.
  A business that can pay my mortgage - yes please It would certainly improve the quality of my families life.
• Thank you for your comments, however inaccurate they may be - I really do wish my words were the words of a UW Distributor and when I have saved up enough money, I will certainly be buying a franchise. Presently I am a wage slave who wishes to improve the quality of my life and save money.
  I can only comment on my personal experience and I still remain a happy customer of the UW and make no apology for this. Big savings from my previous payments of utilities and the additional benefit of also saving money on my telephone costs really influenced my choice.
  I look forward to receiving my Ј50.00 cheque next year - Need I say more
• If you really are a real true money saver,and not an agent as you appear to be( Ј5O back next year?. Another one of their quotes) surely you wouldnt have your phone with T-Plus because their call packages are expensive.Also their are cheaper suppliers of Energy then them.Thats what leads me to assume you are trying to promote them.
• I was interested to see your comments about 'good service' as a fact in the T+ price debate, I queried whether I could claim a reduction under their 'triple price guarantee' on the 12th of November as their new prices were more than offers by the 'big 6'- their marketing speak.
  Even British Gas had a tariff that could save me money! and some companies were Ј100+ cheaper.
  I still have no reply, and after a week of waiting I am now signed up elsewhere.
  They clearly have more customers than they can service or dont care enough to write back.
• Before i left them i tried to speak to them a number of times,but their time to answer was appalling they once quoted 18 minutes.I gave up and E-Mailed them in the end,they did reply after 5 days.I get the impression they are happy to lose customers.
• I am stil, (just), a UW customer. I have been a customer for a couple of years. I had been taking their phone, gas, electric and broadband services. I had been very satisfied with the single bill and cheap prices.
  However, this started to fall apart about 6 months ago when they mucked up my email account. Repeated calls could not get them to fix it. Finally exasperated I moved to an alternative (Plusnet) that was not only more prefessional BUT cheaper.
  Then after seeing Martin's recommendation and checking prices and switching I decided to make the change. I shall be getting the phone from Carphone wharehouse, my gas from Atlantic and my electricity from BG.
  I think I shall end up paying the same but if I stay with UW my bills will go up by Ј200 p.a. That's a hell of a premium to pay for a single bill.
  I'll let you know if there are any problems but the changes should all have gone through by the end of December.
• Nigel.
  I tried to contact the Distibutor but he was never available.So i did what it says on the bill " For help and advice contact the Customer Service Centre" .As i said before i ended up e-mailing them because their time to answer was appalling at that time.It may of course improved since then. It would help of course if they didnt charge you to call to them fron a TP regd number,like Talk Talk do from a TT regd number .But they do charge.