utility warehouse

[verycatchy7939]

why bother with UW they are cowboys proberly worse than any of the big 6 switch guys

[shining Light]

why bother with UW they are cowboys proberly worse than any of the big 6 switch guys

 

You keep on thinking that if it makes you feel happy, i'll just continue making big savings every month.

[spixworthdriver]

After joining Utility Warehouse for Gas and Electricity August 1st I have been billed for over £140 for the month. I was told that dd's would be £40 for each service per month.

Considering that I use very little gas as I have solar power water heating, with all the sun in August my gas bill should have been quite low as the only other gas usage is the cooker.

DD is cancelled and I will contact my bank to ensure nothing more can be taken by UW, if necessary I will change bank account.

I have already made arramgements to go back to my previous supplier.

 

Just a big rip-off IMO.

[Lobengula]

why bother with UW they are cowboys proberly worse than any of the big 6 switch guys

 

I'm a prospective customer & am thinking of being a distributer too. I have been one of those lurking guests that loopinluie is obsessed about!

 

I find quote above saying they are probably worse than the big 6 odd seems as one of the things I have done is look at the Which website where their service is rated higher than most, admittedly on a smaller sample than some suppliers but a reputable website never the less.

 

I also find it difficult to believe they can be worse than British Gas who I have reported to Energy Watch (yes I know it is now defunct but this was around 2007) 3 times in various places I have lived - I'm not mad, each time I moved I seemed to buy a place supplied by them. My mother on the other hand had real trouble with NPower & went back to Eon who she'd been with before.

 

As with others on this thread I went with Powergen/Eon & had reasonable customer service but their prices became uncompetitive despite me checking their new offers each time a deal or cap came to an end, so despite the Tesco Clubcard points I moved to OVO with no problems so far.

 

Whilst on the Which site I did a quick check on the competitiveness of UW compared to OVO - they are more expensive by around £40 a year for gas and electricity but so were all bar 4 (several of which I wouldn't use due to their customer service ratings) as mine is capped. Uw did seem reasonably competitive with the other quotes from other bigger companies. Whether I would save overall if I took broadband & phone I haven't as yet checked.

 

In looking at this company I have come to the conclusion it is not really aimed at those of us who regularly check to get the best deal but those who rarely if ever switch & thus end up on some pretty ropey deals and who would then benefit from a company that at least promised to keep things competitive even if it is not the absolute best deal.

 

I called UW's customer services for an old couple I know who had problems with their broadband & once the couple had confirmed to them I was speaking for them were quite helpful in solving the issue & happy to deal with me. This is in complete contrast to Sky who at every turn insisted on speaking to my frail, deaf grandfather every few minutes when he had a similar problem. I appreciate that not every one has had the same experience & some sound truly horrendous but that does not invalidate mine either.

 

The reason I replied to this thread (in fact registered to do so) is that although some of the UW distributers did seem a bit arrogant and all have an interest in positive coverage of UW, some were very open but still seemed to get some very aggressive comments. A lot of their statements have been jumped on as having no proof but other statements such as the one I quoted have been made equally without proof yet not been questioned. Also, some answers seem to have been ignored completely. I'm still left undecided after reading the entire thread.

 

On the question of quotes varying by region I believe they all do that which is why you have to put in your region or postcode on the comparison sites.

[shining Light]

Hi Lobengula, welcome to the forum. You have taken a sensible approach as far as you can in weighing up the comments here. I am a distributor and have been for quite some time but i will give you my "honest" take on UW as I see it. This is not meant as a sales pitch but an honest overall assessment.

 

Firstly, like any other company they do make mistakes but in general, I have only ever had 2 customers who had a problem which wasn't handled efficiently. In the first case, the customer (a friend) only emailed the company and wasn't getting much helpful advice to resolve the matter. I telephoned customer service and the matter was resolved immediately, and would have been had he bothered to pick up the phone. I don't think they always respond to email enquiries as well as telephone enquiries. Many of my customers have told me they had "excellent" or "very helpful" customer svces experiences.

Most (but not all) problems can be avoided if the customer keeps control of his acct eg I advise all my customers do read their meters on a regular basis, ideally every month and that way they know exactly how their account stands. This applies to all suppliers.

 

Second. UW are not the cheapest for energy (no one company is). Prices change, but UW do guarantee to be competitive to other other main companies eg when they drop their prices, UW will drop to a position around one of the lower priced companies and do the same when prices go up. So you won't necessarily be getting the cheapest at all times but it will be cheaper than many. It also means you don't have to keep changing every 4 months. If you are happy with "online" accts then you will always save a bit more with those deals.

 

Third. Taking their energy means you can get B/Band + line rental + Free calls 24/7 to UK std landline numbers & 0845/0870 & 10 International destinations for just £20 - 22pm.

 

Forth. Using their unique discount card you can save 5% offin many top retailers which can equate to extra savings of between £20 - 35 pm.

 

Fifth. You will (with most distributors) get a personal point of contact if there is something you don't understand or can't figure out.

 

Whether you decide to become a customer or not is your decision, but hopefully I have given you an unbiased opinion to help you way up the pros and cons.

[Surfer01]

I thought you were not allow to advertise on this forum especially where companies that con you are involved.

[shining Light]

As I said in the post, I am not advertising hence the reason I mentioned a couple of things which could be seen as not perfect for some people, however, a question or two were posed by the previous poster and I have tried to answer them as best I can.

[loopinlouie]

Lobengula, Why not come back after a year with UW and give a balanced opinion then. You havnt even joined them yet and talking as a prospective distributor !!!!!! As for me being obsessed with you, UW threads when a comment was made was soon attacked by views of oh, couldnt be, weve had such a good time with them or along those lines. They all turned out to be distributors who of course have a vested interest. It seemed impossible for a cagger to state an opinion of upset with UW like others happily can do with other suppliers, without and onslaught of it must be something you misunderstood etc.... When quoted figures and low dd's were found to be vastly underpaying the bills therefore cagger could not see the promised savings. There soon seemed to be at least 18 viewers even at 2am 3am hovering and this is very unusual and I personally assumed whatever I assuemed, but hey who cares. The fact was no answers were comming accross and it turned out distributors offering private help couldnt help at all unless their own client.

 

I noticed they were happy to pm me and offer such a good service and when on one occassion I asked for quotes to back up what stated, turned out not true or a little more detailed than the true picture. Therefor I easily and soon assumed that distributors vested interest for some reason was shark attacking any poster yet not solving the picture. Despite these distributors and on one occassion threatening to inform their superiors of the thread and scary scary they have legal advisors, the bosses of UW saw fit to not bother to give their advice to caggers or views. Again I happily assumed said distributor was calking carp again as in pm to me.

 

So make your own mind up positice or negative okay, but please come and comment when you have soemthing to comment about, as in experience in what you talk about. At the moment you are thinking of going to UW, fine, thinking of being a UW distributor, fine, but hey thinking and doing and two different things, come back when you know what you are talking about xxxxx

 

Lastly if it goes *i*s up dont expect UW distributors here to give valid and informed advice, I have only seen the majority talking out of their ***** xx I comment as a cagger who considered joining UW also and noticed a few discrepancies with what told would save by a distributor compared to actual figures showing it was not a saving. 40% cheaper than big six I was told, prove it I said, well it depends on where you live was then added and also thrown in you also have to take this bundle with us or that. Therefore the original 40% cheaper than big six was just a hook for the fish, you couldnt trust in my opinion the sales pitch you had to dig deeper. Fine if others are happy with UW, but we rarely see positive true reports here, unless of course they are on the pay roll (distributors) xx

 

As prevous posts have shown me you have to be very careful what told by these people interested in their cut, my opinion of course xx

Edited September 8, 2010 by loopinlouie

[loopinlouie]

Oh by they way zero guest at the mo, but you wait when the army rolls in and see how many other utility threads gain such guests. There isnt an old boys network is there?

[loopinlouie]

Hey and dont forget this thread was started with opinion of a UW distributor, doesnt that count? The other thread was the one the one started by upset customer, doesnt that count, that cagger was bombarded by distributors offering opinions on their experience and offering help they wernt entitled or in the postion to offer, laughable in fact and made them appear fools. Look people are not stupid, you happily use UW fine by everyone if you have a good expeience, but as for considering others commenting as obsessed honestly how silly.

 

ps. I suspect a lot of the comments from distributors are getting near the line towards advertising also.

 

Where have we had a cagger with a UW issue able to conclude their thread with resolved and happy with outcome?

 

Have I missed it?

[loopinlouie]

Cant find any happy resolved threads yet !!!!!! Not obsessed just get peed off when dissed for fighting back and not listening to the cheap speil from those raking in the money. Prove me wrong, resolve something to a customers sattisfaction and then say how lovely UW is, we will be waiting !!!!

[loopinlouie]

Your behaviour is more akin to that of a child, I would guess about 12.

 

(Oh dear theres me sinking to your level of personal insult, well for future reference there is no need to personally dig at a cagger. If you have any issues with postings you can always contact site team. If you missed the rules of site when first posted on insulting comments, then feel free to read again )

 

ps. In the meantime I will continue to respond to positive reports of uw reps bigging up the company name whilst we see repeated threads and issues appear unresolved. I know not everyone finishes a thread, but most contacted are still fighting their issues.

Edited September 17, 2010 by loopinlouie
edit

[loopinlouie]

Cant find any happy resolved threads yet !!!!!! Not obsessed just get peed off when dissed for fighting back and not listening to the cheap speil from those raking in the money. Prove me wrong, resolve something to a customers sattisfaction and then say how lovely UW is, we will be waiting !!!!

 

Still waiting !!!!

[maroondevo52]

Weedel76.

 

I have unapproved your last post, personal insults are not welcomed on this site.

[loopinlouie]

Thanks, as said no need to be so personal. We can always think what we want about a person, but as adults try and keep such irelevant comments to ourselves. xx

Edited September 17, 2010 by loopinlouie

[shining Light]

Unfortunately for some reason this thread has become a target for "personal insults" which doesn't help anyone.

 

I think I mentioned before that I have been accused of being a liar, biased, and my character called into question when all I have tried to do is offer advice. Maybe some UW reps have been a little biased but that doesn't mean they all are.

 

Yes, as loopinlouise said, UW distributors are limited a little as regards what the company will discuss with them (Data Protection), but it is still often possible to find out what exactly the problem might be, what caused it etc. I for one have offered to try to help at least 3 different "UW customers" but not one took me up on it. Then I read that UW reps don't want to help??

 

peed off when dissed for fighting back and not listening to the cheap speil from those raking in the money.

 

Fair comment as is "peed off when dissed for trying to be unbiased and helpful"

 

I think it more beneficial to all if everyone just sticks to the facts and offering advice.

[energy-advise]

Utility Warehouse supplies my gas, electricity, broadband, landline and mobile and has done for the last two years.

 

I am delighted with the package I receive. Much cheaper than any previous supplier and no problems to report whatsoever.

Scottish Power, British Gas and Telecom became too expensive after the cheap intro deals expired!!!

 

The word '[problem]' does not apply to Utility Warehouse. I have always found them to be polite and the service to be second to none.

 

Complainers should just pay their bills instead of dodging away to other utility suppliers.

 

Remember!!! nobody anywhere gets paid to listen to verbal abuse !!!

Sorry, but I just don't get this. You have got access to a computer. Why are you not switching your supplier through an online comparison site? Energy Companies don't give you a loyalty rate. There are billions of pounds of unclaimed discounts available through switching to an online tariff, only 13% of the population are using this facility

Utility Warehouse prices were good at one time, but that applies to all the energy suppliers. The trick is - Keep switching. If you are not sure if you are getting an accurate quote, then make sure you use a Consumer Focus accredited comparison site, or even look for energy comparison site reviews. The idea of the Government de-regulating the energy companies was so you could choose a company which offers a better price for your bills. Utility warehouse are really quite expensive now. Or are you an Agent for them?

 

Martin

[shining Light]

Utility warehouse are really quite expensive now. Or are you an Agent for them?

 

Here we go again, whenever somebody says something good about UW they are immediately accused of being a distributor.

 

UW may not be the cheapest supplier especially compared to online tarrifs but they are certainly not expensive. The last couple of times I did a comparison against the other main suppliers UW came out cheaper than some and about the same as 2 of them.

 

Perhaps Grambo has his telephony/Broadband and the discount card with UW which would mean he is getting B/Band + line rental + free calls all for around £22pm. With the card he would be saving around £30 more pm...put this together and it is probably better than even an online tarrif and he doesn't need to keep changing suppliers every few months.

[energy-advise]

I was recently challenged by someone defending Utility Warehouse prices. This is the response I got to my post:

---Quote---

Utility warehouse are really quite expensive now. Or are you an Agent for them?

---End Quote---

Here we go again, whenever somebody says something good about UW they are

immediately accused of being a distributor.

UW may not be the cheapest supplier especially compared to online tarrifs but they

are certainly not expensive. The last couple of times I did a comparison against

the other main suppliers UW came out cheaper than some and about the same as 2 of

them.

Perhaps Grambo has his telephony/Broadband and the discount card with UW which would

mean he is getting B/Band + line rental + free calls all for around £22pm. With the

card he would be saving around £30 more pm...put this together and it is probably

better than even an online tarrif and he doesn't need to keep changing suppliers

every few months.

These are my findings:

Gas and electricity based on average consumption of 3300 Kwh electricity per year and 20500 Kwh of gas per year. Energy prices are regional, so figures may differ slightly depending where you live. I live in the Scottish Power region in Scotland.

UW £1125

Online comparison £884

Telephone and broadband top end packages for unlimited any time usage

UW £299.88

Online £348.36

Mobile phone Blackberry 8520 curve pay monthly with blackberry package

UW 300 minutes or text £336

Online 300 minutes plus unlimited text £201

The savings from using an online comparison site are £327.52 per year

This does not include Utility Warehouse reward card scheme where you get money off your bills when you go shopping.

The energy companies were de-regulated so you can take advantage of lower prices. There are still billions of pounds in unclaimed discounts available by switching to an online tariff. Only 13% of UK households are using this facility on a regular basis.

Impartially yours

Martin

[45002]

Sorry, but I just don't get this. You have got access to a computer. Why are you not switching your supplier through an online comparison site? Energy Companies don't give you a loyalty rate. There are billions of pounds of unclaimed discounts available through switching to an online tariff, only 13% of the population are using this facility

Utility Warehouse prices were good at one time, but that applies to all the energy suppliers. The trick is - Keep switching. If you are not sure if you are getting an accurate quote, then make sure you use a Consumer Focus accredited comparison site, or even look for energy comparison site reviews. The idea of the Government de-regulating the energy companies was so you could choose a company which offers a better price for your bills.

Utility warehouse are really quite expensive now. Or are you an Agent for them?

 

Martin

 

All that happened after de-regulating energy companies,is UK consumer ended up paying some of the highest gas and electric prices in Europe and energy companies in the UK make some of the biggest profits in Europe..................

[energy-advise]

Hi again

Responding to someone who said we are paying the highest rates in Europe. You are not far wrong, but this fact only applies to the 87% of the UK population who are not taking advantage of de-regulation. there was a report conducted by BBC Watchdog regarding this and if you don't carry out an online price comparison & switch your supplier on a regular basis, the chances are that you are amongst the people paying the highest prices. This report is available on my website, but I can't put energy advisory service uk on here just now.

[shining Light]

This report is available on my website, but I can't put energy advisory service uk on here just now.

So you don't get paid for transferring customers to new suppliers then?

[energy-advise]

So you don't get paid for transferring customers to new suppliers then?

 

I get paid a referral fee from some of the comparison sites. It makes no difference to me wether you switch to any of the big 6 suppliers or Utility Warehouse.

[energy-advise]

Hi Shining Light

Are you a distributor for UW

[energy-advise]

Hey and dont forget this thread was started with opinion of a UW distributor, doesnt that count? The other thread was the one the one started by upset customer, doesnt that count, that cagger was bombarded by distributors offering opinions on their experience and offering help they wernt entitled or in the postion to offer, laughable in fact and made them appear fools. Look people are not stupid, you happily use UW fine by everyone if you have a good expeience, but as for considering others commenting as obsessed honestly how silly.

 

ps. I suspect a lot of the comments from distributors are getting near the line towards advertising also.

 

Where have we had a cagger with a UW issue able to conclude their thread with resolved and happy with outcome?

 

Have I missed it?

 

I'm not up to speed with all the posts on this thread, but UW have actually got quite a good reputation for customer service, don't forget you normally only hear things about companies when something has gone wrong. Things go wrong for all the energy companies when there is some wrong information somewhere. I don't think many of the UW distributors are qualified to offer that much in the way of advice, as most of them are not energy experts.