Uswitch - concerns?

[BankFodder]

We understand that there may be various concerns with the way Uswitch conducts their business.

If you have any experiences to share with us please post them here.

We are quite prepared to switch from Uswitch ourselves if necessary.

Our obligations are to our users

[ozzywizard]

I think Uswitch is a very helpful site in making comparisons for all the major companies that provide utilities. It is true they do not have every supplier registered on their site but have most so is excellent for a guideline as prices change so quick so what might be the cheapest for you this month can be the most expensive next month always pending on area/method of payment/ useage etc and you have no other way of comparing without hours and hours of quotes which will be given from a sales angle from each individual company.
I made a post here regarding this and asked for it to be made sticky which never got done but it does give a good descriptor of Uswitch.

[bartymuv]

having just read this thread ,

reminded me of a conversation with a colleague at work today.

he had logged into the uswitch website, and gave all the info regarding his gas and electricity.

uswitch advised him that he could save £140 a year by switching to another provider.

he contacted the reccomended supplier, who set up the account for him.

imagine his surprise when he received the details of his new contract.
originally he was paying £34pm, the new company wanted £57pm.

he was not at all impressed, especially as he had to go back to his original provider and go through the joining process again!

[uriel]

Hi Guys its my 1st post here but Uswitch Victims are people I meet day in day out as Im an area manager for one of the largest utillitys companys in the Uk.
I have massive issues with them as a service provider, the information they give you is sketchy to say the least, no where on ANY of the comparison sites like uswitch do they show you a unit rate,, all they tell you is how much cheaper X company is.
One thing I have discovered about uswitch from working within this industry is their Top listed providers (funnily enough) ALWAYS seem to be the Companys who pay largest ammounts of commission and those companys who pay very little commission always seem to be lowest on their comparisons.
The really crazy thing is most folk will accept a reduction of their direct debts by a company like this not realizing that someone has missed the In in the middle of DD. Once a customer is in debt to a utillitys company,, they cannot leave them until the customer has paid back the debt and Ive been unfortunate enough to witness A nameless company break somones door down with the police present (while this person was away on holiday), and install prepayment meters at whatever unit price they saw fit, I dont work for this company but I still felt ashamed at having to be present to witness (we were the local distributor for this person) but not their supplier.

Uriel

[TETSUO]

I used to work for a Utility company in the past, and ran the complaints department for commerical and domestic properties.

Uswitch have an obligation to display the prices of all Utility companies who have given their permission. the will only provide links and detailed info to those companies who are willing to pay the stupid level of commision that is expected from them.

My compnay withdraw as they were asking for ridiculous amounts per referral.

They are crafty and I do not always believe the results...

[Tessajane1965]

Originally Posted by uriel

Hi Guys its my 1st post here but Uswitch Victims are people I meet day in day out as Im an area manager for one of the largest utillitys companys in the Uk.
I have massive issues with them as a service provider, the information they give you is sketchy to say the least, no where on ANY of the comparison sites like uswitch do they show you a unit rate,, all they tell you is how much cheaper X company is.
One thing I have discovered about uswitch from working within this industry is their Top listed providers (funnily enough) ALWAYS seem to be the Companys who pay largest ammounts of commission and those companys who pay very little commission always seem to be lowest on their comparisons.
The really crazy thing is most folk will accept a reduction of their direct debts by a company like this not realizing that someone has missed the In in the middle of DD. Once a customer is in debt to a utillitys company,, they cannot leave them until the customer has paid back the debt and Ive been unfortunate enough to witness A nameless company break somones door down with the police present (while this person was away on holiday), and install prepayment meters at whatever unit price they saw fit, I dont work for this company but I still felt ashamed at having to be present to witness (we were the local distributor for this person) but not their supplier.

Uriel

Hi Just in relation to your post earlier, I have to say you're incorrect about comparison companies never showing a quote. Take for instance www.uravelit.com for example, you WILL get an up to date unit rate section. I have great faith in them as they geniunely want to help you find the best deal for you.

To do anything other than find you the best deal would be a very bad way to go as ultimately they often operate on word of mouth. If they put you in the wrong direction, it's bad for business.

Another great thing about comparison services such as unravelit is, they can remain impartial as they will recieve the exact same flat rate for switching you to each new supplier.

Calling the helpline from unravelit too is a good idea because you can talk to someone who can find you the best deal ( cheapest) and also advice on long term savings, there's a fixed rate tarriff available from one of the suppliers at the moment, the unit rates are quite competative and they will also fix your rates until 2011 which means you will not have to worry about all the predictions for gas price increases for the next three years.

Overall I have to say that your point earlier, being interesting is somewhat incorrect , Comparison companies are a great way of investigating savings as the calculators they use incorporate up to date unit prices and tarriff information,

Zoe