Selling cheap gas and electricity has become big business and smart consumers are realising they can now easily switch utility suppliers and save money in the process. It goes without saying that when people can make money by encouraging you to switch suppliers scams are an inevitable by product.
The Utility Warehouse has been in business for many years and has over 300,000 members. It’s a listed company with a proven track record.
Why therefore would it be a scam? It’s stated policy is to give members cheaper utility bills and I believe in most cases it does just that.
Although the Utility Warehouse Scam label probably isn’t correct it’s possible its come about by over zealous distributors either being more interested in making money for themselves than giving customers the best possible advice or it could be a genuine mistake made because of inexperience. There are many times when the Utilities Warehouse will come out being more expensive and it’s the sales persons job to inform you of the fact even though it loses them a sale.
It’s impossible to please all of the people all of the time and I’m sure some of the complaints leveled at this company are true. But when you consider that if you sign up for Gas and Electricity you can cancel the contract 28 days later why would they bother lieing to their customers?
It’s not in the Utility Warehouses best interests to take on very short term customers. This type of customer ends up costing them more money than they make. This is because accounts need to be set up, supplies switched, direct debits set up with banks and many other administrative tasks need to be completed. All of these take time and therefore cost money. Companies like this make their money from long term customers who stay with them and enjoy discounted utilities for many years.
Scams and companies who use scammy tactics don’t last very long in any market especially one as competitive as cheap gas and electricity.
Over the next few months I’m going to take a much closer look at companies like the Utility Warehouse that claim to be able to save you money on your utilities and see if I can discover the truth amongst all the smoke and mirror tactics used by the sales team to “Pump Up” their own products.
Remember do your own research and never rely on what you’ve been told by a sales person always double check for yourself.
The truth is out there somewhere 
Article Updates.
20th March 2011
It’s been commented that the Utility Warehouse don’t appear to publish the actual cost of the gas and electricity they sell. They have an on-line calculator that will tell you how much money you’ll save but no real data to back it up. I’m not saying they can’t save you money but these days people expect a lot more detail when they’re researching.
30th May 2011
Looks like the Utility Warehouse have a tariff tab along with the compare prices tab on the page related to electricity prices. I like this much better as the clickable map gives you details by area including standing charges, gas and electricity prices including Economy 7. It’s now possible to do a direct comparison between suppliers without having to rely on a sales representative.
My Cheaper Utility Bills
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Fantastic post, I use Utility warehouse for home and for business. I have one of there cashback cards which virtually cuts my bills in half, if I need to speak to someone they are in this country and answer the phone pretty sharpish too.
Where’s the scam??
cuts your bills in half??? not a chance in hell is that possible unless your consumption is very low..no supplier can cut bills in half or even get close to half unless you are an extremely low user and receive a good annual discount at the end of the year that doesn’t rely on consumption. ie.not a discount based on direct debit amounts.
it can actually cut your bills in half…they have a cashback card which i use on a regular basis…the cashback i receive comes of my monthly bills and i save loads every month….over a year that is a saving for me of around £600…havent found a company yet to do that for me!!!
I have been trying for over 13 years to find out about the scam through all the smoke and mirrors of Telecom plus and Utility Warehouse – still haven’t succeeded.
)
Might find the answer in another 13 years, in the meantime, I shall continue benefiting from the savings and helping my team build their income.
We have heard so many times the phrase ‘if it sounds too good to be true it usually is’ – this is why some people are sceptical about UW and some customers have actually said ‘what the catch’ – the catch is – you will save a great deal of money with Utility Warehouse simple as that.
thats because it isnt a scam…i have used the services for over a year now…i think because they dont advertise like the big companies, people are sceptical, but they prefer to use the close up and personal tactic, which is great…i have no complaints whatsoever!!
They save me money every month so I am quite happy with them.
I have changed all my Utilities over to Utility Warehouse and have made lots of savings and its so easy to contact the headoffice if you need help. They are so friendly and if you have any questions they soon sort them out.
Thank you.
Rob
I wish someone would post a real review here as the other comments aren’t of much use in deciding if the utility warehouse is a scam or not. Even the UW website doesn’t tell you how much buying gas or electricity would actually cost you and Uswitch puts them as one of the most expensive so what gives?
If you want to know the current kWh price of their gas and electric, just ask the person who is telling you about the club. I’ve been a member for 2 years and a distributor for 1 year. Everytime their is a change in the kWh price, we’re issued with a new tarrif guide.
I’m not surprised to hear that Uswitch puts us as one of the most expensive – could this be because we refuse to pay them to be on their list?
If you want to know something, just ask; don’t just slag them off.
I doubt Uswitch would fiddle the cost of the electricity and gas supplied by the Utiliity warehouse just because they don’t receive commission from them. It wouldn’t be in their best interest.
If you want to know the tarrifs for Utility Warehouse,go to ther web site,it could not be easier or clearer.
Have been with them for many years, a few problems cropped up but nothing that could not be solved.
Carol, could you then please explain how Uswitch makes money?
i work in the gas and electric industry and have done for several years. when switching suppliers you should have transparent unit rates that are easily understood so you know you can calculate your projected annual bills from a previous years consumption in kw/h.this is the ONLY way to estimate a projected future bill for a year providing your consumption doesn’t alter drastically.Any company that hides their unit rates and says that looking at unit rates to compare suppliers is full of it.individual consumption varies greatly and when ” average savings” are quoted they are based on 3300 kw/h of electric being used and 22500 kw/h of gas.. my personal circumstances equate to 2500 kw/h of electric and 5763 kw/h of gas so i’m far from making any “average savings”.Anyone who sells you g&e should leave you with a copy of the tariff leaflet and inform you of your right to cancel within 7 or 14 days.this then gives you the chance to go home and get your calculator out and do your sums to check against those of the salesmans figures to see if they add up.I have had the opportunity to get hold of a UW tariff leaflet last year when i worked for Npower and worked out the comparitive figures for an “average customer” UW worked out as £128 more expensive based on just g&e for an annual bill….work everything out for yourself before you commit to signing over.I have been approached on many occasions by UW people.they wanted me to sell their product for them.if they’re not selling it themselves that tells me they’re not salespeople,but conmen.
sorry steve, but considering you say you have worked in the energy industry for several years, i dont think you know everything at all!! The UW is a Discount Club…the clue is in the word “Discount”. They do promise to be the cheapest over the year or they give u double the difference back…that is a guarantee that they would not put forward if they couldnt follow it up…..oh by the way, did you look where NPOWER came in the Which reports…..right at the bottom, whilst for 4 years running UW has come tops…and the fact that someone has asked you to join them doesnt mean they are conmen, it means they wanted to give you an opportunity if running your own business, rather than you working for a German company that doesnt care who you are…i would have taken it as a compliment, instead of insulting them!!!!
Great reply Sue!
Unfortunately Steve, the sales practices of the big 6 suppliers equate far more to those of a scammer than the smaller companies. I’ve just left E.on having worked as a door-to-door salesman for 3 years. I was one of the few professional, honest HECs and in 3 years had 3 complaints lodged against me by customers, none of which were upheld because they were people just trying to get out of contracts 6 months after signing up without thinking of the consequences of using statements like “I didn’t know it was a contract” (despite me reading the t&cs to them). During the last few months of working for them I injured my achilles and worked with the audit department because I couldn’t walk far. This gave me an insight into some of the appaling behaviour of our own HECs, bearing in mind that E.on are one of the only 2 companies not to be investigated by OFGEM for mis-selling. This demonstrates how bad some of the other companies are (especially Npower in Yorkshire. By far and away the most expensive company but still managing to sign large numbers of people up). Utility Warehouse don’t operate this way. Their distributors earn comparitively very little in terms of commission but instead earn 5% of the bills of those they sign up. They, therefore, rely on happy customers who stay with the company. New distributors also have to pay £200 to UW because they are being given a franchise so it is not in their interest to con new customers because there’s no basic wage so they won’t earn any money. As for customers working out their own bills, you and I have industry experience but a layman has no chance. After working in the industry for 3 years, I still couldn’t calculate a bill manually if I wanted to.
Hmmm I would steer clear of all this Steve, I think Sue actually works for them. She’s on the defensive rather strongly.
i agree Sue. The person who recommended the club to you will have all the info you need. I have never had a problem…she is a good friend of mine and would not have recommended a company to me if i could not benefit from it!
THERE IS A TARIFF GUIDE UNDER ENERGY ON THEIR WEBSITE…!!….this is a discount club and cannot be compared with other providers!!!
I have found uw to be the cheapest supplier consistently without the pitfalls of being tied into a long contract. While uw continue to provide a good cheap service, i see no need to look elsewhere.
“pitfalls of being tied into a long contract”.. no standard priced contracts without any fixed or capped prices are long term..just the normal 28 days. if a person chooses a long term contract it’s usually to fix or cap their prices to avoid any future price hikes..so,hardly a pitfall if you’ve fixed your prices and just avoided the recent 18% gas and circa 11% electric price rises.i’m sure none of those customers are going to leave their choice of contract anytime before it ends and paying the £50 exit fees..why would they?
these companies tie you in but put you on a higher tariff anyway….your nextdoor neighbour could be with the same company as you, but you will be paying different prices…UW gives u a standard tariff and thats it….however, ive just found out that they will also cap your prices if you want til 2014…and they are also paying up to £200 this mth to buy you out of contracts – you will save with them….no doubt about it!!
how does the utility warehouse earns? while they gave a discount to the consumers..
is it true that you will ask charges if a member left UW ?
Maybe the Utility Warehouse is the cheapest for electricity and gas but how do I check? I’ve looked at there website and nowhere does it say how much the electricity costs per KWh! The only thing I can find is a calulator which says I’ll save money but nothing on how that saving is calculated. Maybe someone here would like to tell me where I can find the information.
Hi Dave, if you look at the website in full you will see that they do provide the prices per k/w hour for the area you are in. You just need to click on the map and it will pop up with the prices. see link below
you can find all the information here, or alternatily a representitive is supose to give you a price guide before he / she leaves your premises.
I’ve looked everywhere on the UW Website and I can’t find a clickable map anywhere Dean. If you could post a link to the map that would be appreciated.
It’s ok I’ve found it. Didn’t see the tariff tab must be my age! Much better at least now it’s possible to compare like for like for the more technical amongst us.
they have the prices on the website, or just ask the person who introduced you…its a no-brainer really…i think that is what people struggle with….because it is good and easy, they look for something more difficult!
I agree with Dave and although the Utility Warehouse can’t really be called a scam it isn’t very transparent when it comes to energy prices. If it’s as cheap as they say why don’t they publish the real costs somewhere?
Its a misconception to think that the only way to get cheap energy is to look at the kwph and compare it with what you are paying at the moment. Switching on comparison sites is also a silly idea. I have been on several comparison sites, put in my details and it comes up with supplier A as the cheapest for me. Go on the same site an hour later and it comes up with supplier B as the cheapest. If I were to put in that I am already with supplier A or B, you would think that they would come up with A or B being your cheapest but no, its now supplier C that is the cheapest. Our bank manager said the same, he switched online to a cheaper deal, after the switch had taken place some 4 weeks later, he discovered that the supplier he had switched from was now cheaper than the one he had switched to so he may as well have stayed where he was! Utility Warehouse do not claim to be the cheapest but they offer a triple value guarantee. For gas they guarantee to be cheaper than British Gas, for electric they guarantee to be cheaper than your regional supplier and the 3rd guarantee is that they will always remain competitive with the big 6′s cheapest tariffs. However since April 2011, they guarantee that they have the cheapest standard gas and electric in the UK. (as well as the cheapest home phone broadband and mobile tariffs ) You have to be with them over a period of a year to truly benefit from their savings, swapping and changing all the time wont do this and who can be bothered doing that all the time anyway? Get the cashback card and get cashback off petrol food and shopping and recommend your friends and family and get money off you bills each and every month, no other utility company gives you this. Its your choice of course – its up to you, quoted a very famous comedienne who has endorsed the services, not sure I can mention her name.
all the big companies pay to go on these comparison sites…if you look in the morning..edf would be the cheapest, by afternoon Eon would be the cheapest and by teatime Npower…they all pay for this so they need a piece of the action. UW doesnt advertise so it can save people in the Club more money….and the big PLUS for me is that it is UK based….EDF are french, EON are german Npower German and Scottish Power are Spanish….that says it all for me – hope ive been of help!!
they do…the tariffs are on the website…this company is a FTSE250 company and was voted PLC of the year in 2008. It has the best performing shares, next to oil and mining…if that doesnt say its a fantastic company, then i dont know what does!!!
I have been a customer with them nearly 12 months now and am also a (distributor) for them . I too was concerned at first about the scam stories thats why I wanted to try it for myself for 12 months before I could recommend it . I have Gas,Electric ,Telephone and Broadband with them .I was paying £200 per month before and have now reduced my bills to around £140 per month and with the cashback Card reduce it even more from £5 to £20 making it sometime as low as £120 per month. It also gives you KWH for Gas and Electric on the bills so if I think I am paying too much I can leave with 30 days notice how more transparent than that do you need it.
Mike. Having the KWh cost on the electricity bill doesn’t help when comparing electricity / gas prices before switching to the Utility Warehouse or anyone else for that matter. I know that with all the different tariffs it can be difficult to show prices for them all but nevertheless as a consumer I’d still like to see them.
Utility Warehouse distributors all have tariff guides in which all their gas and electricity prices are detailed, in painstaking detail in fact. You are entitled to have one when they go through the presentation, you just need to ask. When you actually sign up, this tariff guide is sent to you in your pack. Utility Warehouse are very transparent about their prices. Most laymen just don’t want to read about kWh (kilo watt hours) as it means nothing to them!
hi
I have been made redundant following a serious back problem and have been looking for a ‘work from home’ scheme that would fit in round my condition etc. I have been an avon rep for many years in the past so the mlm side doesnt concern me. Are there any distributors in this thread who could give me an honest opinion as to the real chance of success with UW?
Yes I can. Retired from my full time job earlier than expected because of this great opportunity. Should want to talk drop me an email.
James
I have recently joined UW as a customer and am seriously thinking of becoming a distibutor but am a bit sceptical because of the joining fee the Distibutor which came to my house said it was £100.00 at the moment but I just wanted to ask if it is worth putting that amount of money into this.
Thanks
Hi Karen, I am also a recently joined distributer and am loving it, meeting great people and enjoying it, I understand what you say about the £100 but I personally think it’s worth it, give me a email and I will chat to u about it more and give you some more info x
I have recently joined as a distributor and the £100 is nothing. You can get that back after your 90 days plus £100 if the person who introduced you gives you their help, like i have done with my friends. You are buying your own business…that would cost you thousands…i could spend more than £100 on a night out and end up with a hangover …this is yours forever!!
Hi Barry
Did you get a reply re working for UW?
Thanks
Mark
Its the best thing you could get yourself involved with….making money whilst saving people money….my cousin has been with the company for 14 years…if you need any info, email me!
hi,i was wanting to give this a go.i am unemployed,but have always been involved in sales.can you advise?
Hi Marsha,
It’s good that you have detailed tariff information but it requires a visit from you to get the figures. Many consumers are now demanding this type of information and are pretty savvy when it comes to the Internet.
If you have it why can it not be put onto the Utility Warehouse Website? Then for those who aren’t interested they can wait for a visit from you and the others have the figures and can make an informed choice first. A win win situation and I’m sure you’d agreee not difficult to implement.
Regards,
Bob
Hi Bob
All the price details, including gas/elec tariffs are on the website.
Just go to Gas/elec and click on the tariff tab!
Regards,
Ann
Utility warehouse are the biggest crooks out…………..i would not touch them with a bargepole and am desperately trying to leave them!!!! we live in a 5 bedroomed house but our elec and gas bills come to over £600 per month!!!! we are probably going to have to take them to court. we queeried our bill and didn`t pay it one month as it was so extortionate and they threatened to cut us off!!! they have no shame and they are definitely the most expensive co by a mile!!!!!!
Now I am concerned having read these posts. I have a complaint with them and every month I, politely, call and explain. They say they are sorting it. Nope they just took a another 60pound extra from my account leaving me overdrawn, I am in credit of 300pounds. I am a single mum and they have already cut me off from the telephone and the internet – their error not mine. I’m really concerned that I will have to change AGAIN after tiscali problems which resulted in a new phone number and supplier bla bla bla… Whatever happened to the customer these days!!!
I would go back to the person who introduced you to the club. I’m an independent distributor and I tell my members that if they have any problems at all, they can either contact the company directly or call me and I’ll sort it out for them. I value my members and when I told them that our customer service was the best, I meant it, and it starts with me.
I had a problem with u/warehouse, for some reason they wanted me to go on their budget plan without asking me. As the problem was caused by utility warehouse I asked for a refund for the call made to them. no problem soved ,refund made.
I feel that if you have to phone an 0844 number due to a problem caused by them,that they should pay for the phone call.
ed
I live in a 5 bed house too, my gas, elec, phone, broadband and 2 mobile phones is less than £200 per month with Utility Warehouse. I’d query how much energy you are actually using not the rates as everyone with UW is on the same rates.
Ann
I have been trying to leave broadband for 5 months, I have some sort of tag on my line. It’s cost me a fortune to contact then. Customer service hours are rubbish for anyone who works difficult or long hours. I have almost lost the will to live.
I would dearly love to not be a customer but am stuck in a look. Oh, and my gas and electric also seems very expensive.
Utility warehouse are a big scam. They trick you into joining them with low budget plans of maybe £25 per month for electricity only. AFter about 9months they come and say I have actually been using more than I paid for and that there is a deficit of over £400. AFter another 3 months they then increase you budget plan to like £90 per month for just electricity and if you want to leave them they ask for their £400. By the way I leave in a studio apartment how can I consume £90 of electricity. The worse thing is that I even got charged £85 a month once and I was out of the flat for 2.5 weeks. Stay out away from utility big scam
Send in your readings at the end of the month, make sure that you are in the driving seat.
I have been with this company, we have had a few battles,in the time of being with them I have never found any scam,If you know of it please let me know thanks.
ed
I work as a cold caller for a solar energy co. i spoke to a distributor today and he made the utility warehouse sound fantastic, i was sold on the idea… when i asked him property details and how much money he was spending on his energy bills over the year (he is a customer of the utility warehouse) he was spending a whopping 2500 pound!!!!!!! the average cost for his 3 bed and 2 people is about 800-1000 pounds…… need i say any more?????
After being a member for a year, I was able to look back over the previous years bills, when we were with British Gas for energy and BT for telephony, and I had saved just over £1000 by being with UWDC, and that’s before I got their cashback card. We have a fairly large 4 bed detached which cannot have cavity wall insulation because it’s too old (wrong spacing inbetween the walls).
hi, this seems a bit much, as i have 4 bed house with 5 living here and my bills come to £1600 per annum, but with npower i was paying £1900 for just G & E, i had a problem with being charged twice, when the free laptop was on offer, but that was sorted, refunded, and a £50 goodwill gesture, where’s the scam in that!
The costs are in the charges! Letters sent informing an engineer will be out (receiving the letter the day after said date!) then being charged £50 on the next bill! Also them contacting you via txt message to a completely different number! I have quite a bit of trouble with the utility warehouse
Louise what was the £50 charge for?
yeah but 2500 pounds is still way way to much, considering the claim to save you money!!!!
I have been looking on the web for a “work from home” job that i can do and saw the “utilities warehouse” site. I have since then been contacted by one of thier Distributers, and they tried to convince me to sign up but it would cost £100.00 to do so, the other way was to sign up as a customer and see the savings i would make. I am still not 100% convinced that it’s a good scheme. But will be doing some digging – There is a piece in the paper, saying that some people were getting fed up with fliers and “distributers” cold calling/knocking on doors – trying to see the “utilities warehouse” service(s)..
Not heard of them until today; came up on Energy Choices price comparison website.
BTW, their tariffs are on web now.
Utillity Warehouse appears to be cheaper the first year. This is probably true for most utility companies. If they raise the tariffs for the next year, any previous arrears on the past year will be charged at the new rate and much more expensive.
For the system to work you must give them your readings for gas and electricity every month. They don’t come out and take reading very often, you do it for them.
If at all possible try to obtain the best price from the local gas/ electric distributor as even if you use another supplier other than the distributor, the new company supplying you will have to pay the local distributor and add their middleman bit to your bill.
they actually read the meters every 6 mnths, using a company called lowri beck, there estimates are usually not far off, but check actual against estimate, and if there is a difference rectify asap, instead of letting it go any further, virtually all the utility companies use the 6 mnth reading system now, but they are not very quick to let you know your in credit, they let you know if your not!
Their internet service is an absolute disaster and the savings is dubious. Typical outsourced-to-Asia support service and in one case the “support engineer” did not know the difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, insisting that the installation CD they sent was the correct one and a Windows re-installation would be required to “fix” the problem!
Also strange that two of my elderly clients who eventually got fed-up and switched to other providers received scam phone calls immediately after the switch, “informing” them that there was a problem with their computers, “which the caller could see on his screen” and it could be fixed only if they were to visit a site and download a cleaning solution.
Were you once a customer of UW? Did you receive a scam phone call shortly after you discontinued the service?
It’s highly unlikely the scam phone calls had anything to do with the utility warehouse. I know many people who’ve received them and they’re not UW customers.
A business customer of mine switched from Npower to UW and was bombarded with calls from some company claiming she wasnt ‘registered’ with any energy company and wanted her to go and read the meter and give them the meter readings so they could register her with a company. Finally when I spoke them myself and told this company that she was with UW they said ‘but she is not registered’ when I asked what he meant by that he said that she had not signed a contract with anyone and he was there to get her into a contract with a company. I told him that UW do not tie you into a contract, he insisted that they do for business, so I said no they dont – he didnt know I was a distributor and I said I would contact UW and get them to contact him, I asked for his name and which company he was from and he hung up.
I was having a real nightmare with my supplier they semed more interested in who the sponsor than me the customer with a problem,i signed up my gas and elec,and also went for this pre paid credit card,our daughter is 16 now and we have been trying to teach her the value of money,so me and the wife saveed around 400 pounds up over the year and let the daughter loose xmas shopping with it,well i didnt realise that you get cash back off your utility bill everytime you use it,so aswell as our daughter learnin the value of money we got a more than welcome winter bill in as we had ,discount after discount applied.no complaints here i wish id switched to themyears ago.
I have been a customer of UW’s for 5 years. I have never had a problem with the services and our bills are very low (and I have a large house). UW services consistently get rated as best provider by Which magazine and this would not happen if they were a scam company. Voted company of the year by the Financial Times too and they are a british company listed on the london stock exchange. Checkout Charles Wigoder(Chairman) on wikopedia. he is a man of integrity who does not approve of paying for TV advertising and then passing that on to his customers. The company Chief Exective is Andrew Linsey – yes the Olympic Gold Medal rower. In any event I doubt anyone could name a single utility provider who has never had a complaint or a customer with a problem, for that matter any company, high street shop, bank etc. I am also a distributor with them and have a professional career too and would not be involved with anything less than 100% above board, I couldnt afford to. As to the question of how much can you earn, it is directly related to the effort you put in. It is not a get rich quick scheme, and anyone who tells you that about anything is lying, there is no such thing (ifyou want a successful business you have to work hard to achieve it) . Any reward takes effort, consistent effort and making sure your customers get a good deal, and are looked after. The cashback card is fantastic and makes the kwh rate irrelevant, as with the cashback card you can cut your bill dramatically just by doing your shopping from the cashback partners, Asda, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer, B & Q, Argos, Comet and the list goes on and on (and do you seriously think that these companies would link up with a scam company, I doubt it!). There is excellent training, all free, for distributors and frankly £100 to start up your own business with masses of free training and everything you need to get going is ridiculous, any other franchise would cost you a small fortune in comparison. Best money we have ever spent. It is a great part time or full time business if you are willing to put the effort in, same as anything, if you have a job they dont pay you to sit doing nothing, you wont earn anything if you dont put the effort in – simmples!!
hi Judith,
after reading BOTH good and bad comments it is so hard ro decide but my partner has made full plans to join the UW
he has also trained as a distributor.
wonder if it is all ok as i am v. SHARP AND VIGILANT and keep a full check of all the charges but will NOT be doing so now if he joinsUW and he is not so particular like me so juat wondering if he is making a right choice.
santy
Actually not tremedously impressed been with them over a year just tried to call to ask where my promised £100 back was after they have increased monthly bills… 4 calls 4 twits… tried directors on linkedin not helpful… shall blog and see what happens and actually off to find the best deal for me from a company that doesn not have millions of people chasing a rainbow to sell it… there are tons for facebook fanpages for selling it….
What is ‘chasing a rainbow?’ not heard that before
I think she means ‘trying very hard to attain something which is unattainable’… or possibly something else entirely as the message is so full of grammatical errors it is rather hard to understand! As for the “increased monthly bills” bit, doesn’t she read the papers (watch telly even)? All utilities are putting up their bills (or were at that time) so basing an assessment of UW being dodgy on that basis is a bit misguided, to say the least.
I have been a customer for electricity only for 2-3 years and for my money they get 10/10. I have contacted them a few times and found their customer service very good compared to EDF who I was with before. However, the main reason I think UW is fully above board is the way they do their bills. As anyone who has tried to decipher a conventional electricity bill can attest, you need a degree in Maths to make sense of it. I have a (rather old) degree in Engineering and I found EDF’s bills a total nightmare. They (and I expect most others are the same) use a split-tariff system where you pay one rate for the first units you use in any one period and then a second, cheaper rate for the rest. But, the first rate is averaged over a time period greater than the actual payment period in question (it has been a while so don’t take this as gospel and it may have changed by now anyway). What this means is, a/ no one has the faintest idea what they are really paying and b/ comparing companies on a tariff basis is completely pointless.
UW’s bill is the model of simplicity by comparison. Further more they manage to get it on one double sided sheet of A4 – tho it would be nice if they offered paperless bills.
Question – do they do free smart meter installations? I will have to ask my rep (who is also my sister!)
MW
We inherited Utility Warehouse after we moved in a property they were supplying. It was my biggest mistake to go on with them. The first bills were very low. So we didn’t rush to change them.. I also offered them to pay them by direct debit, but they refused me. So we built a little debt of about £400. They told me I was using much more. Again no suggestions for how much I should pay were given me. Then with in few days a notice came, that they will cut our supplies or we have to pay.
This did not annoy me that much. They wanted their money and even though they made difficult for us, we have to pay them. We agreed a payment amount every month. However they violated the direct debit guarantee and took much more than they should take.
However I wanted to pay them by direct debit and wanted the discount and benefits for direct debit customers. But this was denied. Again a debt was built up. When I found out that they were after trouble, I looked other websites and I found out their rates were extremely expensive – 30% more than the big suppliers. So I wanted to change them and offered a fair payment plan to clear off the debt. But this have trigged their anger as they wanted to keep us in debt and charge us as they want . They refused our payment plan and suddenly they were demanding much more money than before and one month’s consumption they demanded £ 500.
They harassed us and threatened that they will cut our supplies if we don’t pay them. In addition they stated they have been at court and has the rights to cut our supplies. So a man called us and said “I am on the way!”. So we agreed to pay them all the amount. But this was not enough. Now they wanted 760 more. So we ended up paying them almost £2300 for 10 months energy consumption.
We live a 3 bedroom house and we are standard users – our yearly consumption is less 25000 kwh for Gas and is 3000 kwh for EL.
So now I am taking them to court. By the way read this article in guardian about them http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/05/utility-warehouse-telecom-plus-distributor written by Rupert Jones –deputy editor of the Guardian’s money section.
hi santana,I find it hard to accept that they would not let you use direct debit.
In the past I have sorted out many problems friends and neighbours have had with their utilitys. From the figures you show, i wonder if you are heating the road you live in.
I do not know how we can make contact,as I would love to be able to help you
byeee ed
They usually insist on DD, and yes like Eddy said it sounds like you are heating and lighting up the whole street. Something doesnt sound right there. Are you sure they are not estimated bills?
hi Santana
although my situation is a bit different from yours,l can assure my opinion about UW is the same as yours because l also wish l didnt continue with them when l moved into my property.wish you would keep me to date if you they solve your problem or if you do take them to court as lam thinking of doing the same.
here is my story bit big so will try to make it short,moved into the property Nov 2010.1 bed,live alone and bills were low first two months until Jan 2011 the gas bill was twice the usual bill so l calculated it myself and pointed out the mistake to the so in Feb didnt pay the gas but now the electricity was almost 4 times (£124) the usual bill,l changed eletricity to EDF and gas to Bri Gas but the error came when EDF didnt send a letter to confirm that they had taken over 6 days before end of Feb so l continued paying UW as they also kept sending the statements for me to pay.until l decided to move the eletricity to BG end of Apr thats when l got a statement from EDF for the bill for the two months which l paid UW.l was connfused rang both companies and UW admitted they made a mistake taking my money and they would refund May that didnt happen and have rang them at least twice each month until recently in Aug they told me they will refund £9 their calculations being they owed me £118 and had an outstanding balance for 109 for june and july which they were not my supplier as it is BG, so have tried to make them explain how can this be and all l get is calculations that dont make sense so l have seeked advice and wrote to them so they will put it in writing and take it from there as l believe they should pay me back from end of Feb to end of Apr surely l cant have used £9 worth of eletricity so with my experience l believe they just tell excuses and expect you to believe and forget.so yeh they are scams.
so Good luck to u Santana and everyone in a bad situation like mines
So basically what you are saying is, when you moved in you continued paying the previous occupants apparently hopelessly underestimated monthly bills and didn’t check them yourself and then compounded that with the massive icreases that all companies had at that time, then got into a fight about payment and its all UW’s fault! There is nothing ‘little’ about a utility debt of £400! By law, your utility company has to give you 28 days notice before disconnecting their service. I’m sorry but you are talking complete tosh! MW
All I would say is….can you find any utility provider at all which has not received complaints from a customer at some time or another. Every utility co. seems to have its few horror stories , of the ones that slipped through the net as it were……..HOWEVER…how many of those have still been voted WHICH best value, WHICH cheapest AND , WHICH best customer service. They must be doing something better overall, than their competitors….!
That may be true but I’m still getting mixed reviews about the Utility Warehouse as the comments on this page attest.
i took utility warehouse 6 months ago it came automatically when i moved into my property, there is only me and my husband and my 1 year old daughter in the house yet monthly i am getting bills in the region of £150 per month and this month i got a bill for £186 pound both me and my husband work full time so we are never at home, utility warehouse are total con atrist and i look forward to changing supplier, i am disgusted that companies get away with this kind of day light robbery and they have been getting away with it on a monthly basis from us for the last 6 months, well no longer
UW is NOT a scam, ive used it as a customer for 12 months now, i am thinking of joining them as
a distributor
The utility warehouse is not a scam and you should remove or re name this article as soon as possible,
I work for the Utility Warehouse and it is a good company, listed on the stock market, enjoyed consistant and healthy growth, often comes top in WHICH magazines for the services we provide, in all areas such as cost, customer service, and so on.
If you are going to label anything a scam, please be sure to your homework first, as I it totally obvious that you have not regarding this article. So please if you are going to write something about utility warehouse, base it on fact and not fiction.
Chris Stanton,
Chris – Nowhere in the post does it say that the Utility Warehouse is a scam. I quote from the article:
“The Utility Warehouse has been in business for many years and has over 300,000 members. It’s a listed company with a proven track record.
Why therefore would it be a scam? It’s stated policy is to give members cheaper utility bills and I believe in most cases it does just that.”
My wife and I have been customers for nearly 9 years – still waiting to find the scam? Great genuine savings. We use the UW Cash Back Card – it’s brilliant – getting money back everytime we do our normal shopping, which is then deducted monthly off our UW bill. We end up with FREE electricity every month! No other company can offer us free. There’s so much unnecessary scare mongering that goes on – sadly this headline site is one of them. People need to listen to one of their distributors rather than read sites that claim it’s a scam.
We like the fact there is no minimum contract for all their services – that speaks volumes, the other companies, like BT seal their customers into at least 12-18 month contracts – if it’s a good deal, why do they have to do that??? It’s usually hidden in the small print.
Chris
We have been with UW for 6 years now in two different properties supplying gas, electric, phone and broad band Internet, we have had only a couple of minor issues which have always been rectified in a timely manor. Two to three times a year I check my rates to make sure they are the best for me and guess what they always have been. Also another positive point on the rates, we have been stopped in the street and in supermarkets by other energy supplier touts on numerous occasions and always the first question is “can I ask you who your energy supplier is?” and when I reply utilities warehouse every single one has said to me ” we can’t beat their rates!” for me that says it all.
I live in a large 1930s 3 bed semi and for all services mentioned above I pay £90 per mth and I’m in credit.
Hope this helps someone sitting on the fence!
It is obvious to me that most, if not ALL, the positive feedback comments above have been posted by distributors. I am sorry, but it is so obvious to anyone with half a brain. That is how UW work. Their distributors flood the online forums with positive comments, as most people when researching a new product/supplier consult the internet and the distributors know it serves their purpose to make the reviews look as positive as possible. My brother works for ENERGYWATCH, the energy supplier ombudsman, which is part of the Government. And he tells me that they get hundreds of very serious complaints about Utilites Warehouse, many more than other suppliers. The scam is that it is all sales blag, guff and jargon, all fed to you by people who have a vested interest in painting as rosy a picture of it as they can. After all, every bill that you pay to UW, your distributor will be getting a percentage of it. Just remember that!!!!
Although not a scam they are incredibly shoddy. I’ve recieved nothing but problems with them. Having recently moved to a house that had them as a supplier previously we thought it would be easy to lose them and change to our trusted supplier EDF. 3.5 Months later and we’ve only just switched over. As for actual cost despite getting readings from a meter reader who came to our property they still used estimated readings that were well over the actual usage, what makes it truly frustrating is the every other month billing system that means you can’t get an adjusted bill based on actual readings, you have to pay what they say and they promise to make the adjustments on the next set of bills. UW are RUBBISH!
I just felt I should leave a reply after reading all posts, but especially the one from Deb B. I am not a distributer, have absolutely no intentions of being one, but i still think Utility (not utilites) Warehouse have been brilliant. My electricity is £9 per month, and that is before the discount card. I also recommend them to everyone, and don’t make them use my name so that I can get money off my bill. Because I genuinely believe they are good. When I moved into my last property, I signed up before I had even moved my furniture in. I then had an eroneous transfer from British Gas, and in the 6 weeks they took my utilities over (without my permission) they tried to charge me around £500 for gas alone – for a 2 bed first floor flat, in spring! After several frustrating phonecalls, they agreed to match what my chosen supplier would have charged me for the same usage. All of a sudden the bill came to just over £100.
Now that was nothing to do with UW or anyone trying to convince me that they are the best thing since sliced bread. I just found out what they charged per unit and for the same usage brought the bill down by around £400.
I like to think I’m not a complete idiot and I can make a decision for myself, and this one to me seems pretty obvious.
I am a distributor for Utility Warehouse, and became one after using the services for myself for 12 months, I feel I have had great benefit from Utility Warehouse in the prices charged and the support for both my clients and myself has been without exception excellent.
Of course I will say all this after all I am a Distributor, so will all the doubters please explain why in one of the most competitive industries in the UK at the moment has no one person who I signed with me ever left?
I am always willing to hear from anyone who has had a bad experience and I will try to help them resolve their problems.
Paul
I went through utility warehouses tariffs carefully and found them to be competitive, to be honest my energy alone at my current consumption turned out slightly more expensive but by taking the full package I save overall. I was so impressed that I decided to become a distributor (rep).
Well I have to admit that while they offer a good deal to customers working as a distributor does not get you instant money and I often find that things have not been fully explain or are carefully worded. This does annoy me a bit and maybe it is this that makes some reps behave inappropriately (apart from some people just being cheats which is wrong for the end customer). For example the offer of a “free laptop” to distributors actually turns out to cost money potentially but this has nothing to do with what the customer gets.
so in conclusion if your thinking of becoming a customer you WILL save but make sure you understand your comittments should you choose to represent this very good company
Having been approached by this company in a wholesale outlet, they could not answer questions properly. Stated that they could save me over £200 on my mobile, as I am on pay as you go and do not spend this amount I checked their website lots of people dissatisfied some satisfied would only save me £40 on my gas bill. It appears that it is all by direct debit, which I do not want, and also looks to me as pyramid selling. I personally would not touch them but each to their own, if it works for some all well and good but it will not work for me, but I might win the mini on offer but I doubt it very much as I did not sign up.
I have been a distributor for 5 months now and recently became a qualified distributor. Regarding price comparisons there is not much in it but to say that no-one else offers a cashback card with all utilities on one monthly bill. Therefore any slight difference in energy tariff price is offset against money back on weekly purchases at Asda, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Argos. Pizza Express etc…Once we get TV on the package (hopefully to be announced in the not too distant future) then we will be unbeatable and with no contracts on any of the main services the company can only keep going from strength to strength. Current share price 6.80p, which? awards galore. The future is looking very rosy indeed!!!
I have been with UWhouse for over a year and just left out vodaphone deal of our sencond phone.
GREAT customer service – safe tons of money with NO contract which suits me best.
Full points fro clearity with my representative, genuine and fab
Kind regards
the only thing I regred is having entered contracts with BT before learning about this.
I’m a new Utility Warehouse CONSUMER not a DISTRIBUTER.
Did I saved money on my first bill? I paid £84.77 for BroadCall & Gas (or £51.77 & £30.00). With my previous supplyers the BroadCall never exceeded £27.00 (TalkTalk) and the Gas £30.00 (SSE).
Once again to my chocking surprise, I’m expected to paid by the end of this month £91.68 for BraodCall & Gas, £91.68.
This is how the bill reads:
Your August Monthly Bill:
Broadcall: £43.07
Gas: £30.00
Credits/Debts: £6.00
Club Membership: £2.00
Subtotal: £81.15
VAT: £10.53
Total Amount due: £91.68
NB: With my previous Gas supplyer ‘SSE’ the bill was always £30.00 (well, same as UW). However for the BroadCall with TalkTalk, for over 2 years, my bill never exceeded £27.00. Judge for yourself! Only Distributers can save money with UW, not Consumers.
I recently bought a property that was set up with Utility Warehouse.
The initial bill and contact with the com,pany put me off using them as a supplier completly, as they overestemated the reading, and would not accept an actual reading (at about 90% reduction of estimated) until we paid the bill.
threating to cut off supplies we paid the bill and proptly started action to move awar from this micky mouse company.
Only to recieve another 3 bills each month, n one of them using the final meter readings, and a final bill with fabricated final readings on it. the final readings being taken some months ago, and the final bill stating readings which are higher than the actual readings on the meteres at present day !
this company are a bunch of cowboys, who operate on a estimated reading basis, even though we have rang up several times with actual readings, these have never been registed on any bill submitted to us.
We are now in a situation were the final readings were below the estimated readings given on the first bill, which we were pressures to pay or be cut off. and as such utility warehouse owe us about £25. they are trying to persue us for around £160 worht of estimated readings.
Offcom are also no use as they say we need to raise a disute with untility warehouse complaints, before waiting a month and then contacting them.
i have had an ongoing battle with uw for years, when i split from my ex wife i transfered the account to her or so i thought. now they are chasing me for £75 which relates to 6 months after i had moved out. they say i never changed the account over and i am liable. Their customer service is very poor.
You do have to take control of you own affairs. If you sign up for Gas & Electric with a company you are liable. OK, If you transfer to someone else they must agree and sign up. So I expect that is the problem. Its like saying my bills are too high (another comment) – you have to take control of that water heater and heating thermostat . Especially in this day and age. I am with UW you can control your outgoing online with there club site . It’s to easy! All my utilities, broadband and phones are with them – saves me a lot over the many years I have been with them. So I do not need to switch anything. Les contact your ex wife and get her to agree to sign up if you can, that should clear it. I AM a distributor at UW – it is just a great company to be part of. Regards.
Help ! I was hoping to find some clarification on the prospect of becoming a Utility Warehouse distributor and am now more confused than when I started
My own situation is I am neither a customer or distributor but am looking for a LITERAL work From Home job. I was made redundant a few months ago and now a previous medical condition that requires further hospital treatment means I am about to become at best restricted to the house while I wait for surgery then unable to drive for a few months or at worst restricted to the house for the rest of my working life. As I am a single parent aged nearly 58 with a 17 year son living with me about to start his A levels and 6 years left on my mortgage I need to find a job I can genuinely do from home.
I Googled “Work From Home” and followed a trails that lead me here. What it seems from the above thread is that the jury is well and truly out on this one. Having also read the Guardian article via the link above I am in need of someone out there to help me find a way through all the background noises. So far I have concluded – perhaps falsely – that the only thing EVERYONE is agreed on is the it is NOT a scam but a legitimate business, something that I have been able to confirm with a quick check on the company background.
The rest is less clear, to put it mildly, but here are a few of my observations:
Your opinion on UW seems to hinge mainly (but not solely) on whether you are a CUSTOMER – split fairly evenly between for and against, pretty normal these days for any utilities supplier it seems
or a DISTRIBUTOR – all very in favour as you would expect, don’t bit the hand that feeds etc
That is when a distributor admits to being one, that is, but as commented earlier you can usually guess
My biggest problem is with the use of the term Distributor. I worked for many years in the chemical industry as a supplier to distributors or for a company solely acting as distributor for several manufacturers so from what I can tell the term is misused in the case of UW. Unless I am getting this completely wrong they should be called Agents, and Self Employed Commission Only Agents at that. Nothing wrong with that, but why use the misleading term
Distributor ?
I do agree that a fee of £100 – or is it £199.75 as indicated in the Guardian article ? – is nothing for a franchise but again I get the impression that this is not in any way a franchise arrangement but a “Members Discount Club” ,whatever that is, so perhaps it shouldn’t cost that much to become just a member of a club ?
As I said I desperately need to find a genuine job I can do at home, not to get rich but to keep my home and educate my son in the face of some adversity. As I do not want to risk our future on something that is turns out to be little more than smoke and mirrors I would welcome it if somebody, if possible, could clarify the UW set up for me
PS Why are most of the post concerned with the Gas and Electricity tariffs and so few mention the phone and mobile charges ?
Chris – I am in same boat – interested in any info you get.
Thanks
Chris,
You raise some interesting points, and one I picked up on I agree with about the term Distributor.
As mentioned previously, I am a Distributor with Utility Warehouse, and that term has always rankled. Well the company appears to agree.
The newer term now is Partner, and I feel that really reflects what we do far better – we are partners with the business.
Savings are made whether simply as a customer or as a customer & partner, and very importantly the most accurate are where regular readings are taken on the gas and electricity meters. I do my own online every month via what is called The Clubhouse. It means my bills are up to date each and every month.
My present bill shows a credit balance of £114.63 on gas and £12.07 on electricity before heading into winter – my budget plans have increased by £1 each based on the recent price rise, which equates to 2.86% and 5% respectively.
Further, since I take the broadband service (called broadcall) with UWDC, I then qualify for an inclusive calls package from my landline, which doesn’t create additional charges except to mobile phones, some international destinations and some non-geographic numbers – note I didn’t say free. I use the same language, when talking to potential new members, and this ensures there is no confusion. I also have both my mobile phones with the company.
Further there is a small club membership charge, which then provides free customer care and free techincal help, should I require it.
You may have read of what is called a CashBack card – I have one of those too, which provides additional discounts as a credit on my monthly bill, which is fully itemised.
The joining fee is presently £100, since the company is currently offering a 50% discount. It comes with a number guarantees attached, plus a cash bonus offer based on activity over a 90 period after activating your position. There is also full training both online and classroom based, which is free to attend across the UK.
I could carry on with lots more information, however, what would be better for anyone looking at the business is to visit one of the presentations that take place at over 50 locations around the country – these are not high pressure environments, since we look for volunteers, not press gang victims. Not totally sure, how you can reach me or I ……. you via this platform, but my name is easily searchable on google, together with my phone number too.
The owners of this blog, know who I am, since I encouraged them in the early days to continue with this.
I don’t post here very often, but do observe via google reader, as I did today.
Finally, all tariffs are published in accordance with OFGEM and OFCOM rules, and copies can be supplied of these in writing where requested. All new members receive a copy when they sign up as per the rules laid down, and partners must read an approved script, when offering gas and electricity.
I agree with your comment on taking regular readings Laurence. It would appear a lot of complaints levied against the Utility Warehouse are due to people going into arrears because they have not provided an actual meter.
They are therefore given a bill based on estimated usage and this is obviously not the fault of the UW.
Utility Warehouse is set up to make money by being devious. They want to charge us over £550 for one month’s estimated bill when the house was vacant for 2 weeks. They will not tell us how they came to estimate the bill. My tenant changed to their service without my knowledge and when he vacated my property he did not give them the last reading which I had to. I then paid the outstanding amount until end of that month. To my surprise I got demands from Utility that I owed them ridiculous amount of money. My new tenant was already paying to her supplier (Southern Gas) on moving into my property. Utility Warehouse started harassing her for £300 and me for another £238. They have since then sent our name to certain companies who are now in turn harassing us with threatening letters and black listing us. I have now told them to take me to court where they will have to submit details as to how they have come to the figures they are demanding.
Anyone thinking of even considering changing over to such company should think twice. This is not saving them anything but will end up in tears.
There is a very clear thread appearing on this forum from the anti-UW camp. Most people (including P Hyam) have a beef with UW following some error either on their part or on the part of someone connected with them – in this case a former tenant of P Hyam. It is SO OBVIOUSLY not UW’s fault that these issues have arisen that I cannot understand why the authors of the comments have the front to spout their grievances in such a public way. They just make the UW at worst appear no poorer than the average utility company but make themselves look utterly unreasonable. People considering doing business with UW should bear this in mind.
Hi All,
guess what, as a customer, my husband paid £30 last month for gas and elec, broadband and landline and a mobile. the two previous months we DID NOT HAVE A BILL, and actually received £150 paid into his account one month, and £115 the next month. If you use the cashback card you definately save, if you don’t then I dont think there is much difference between UW and other companies to be perfectly honest. I can send anyone a scan of our bill by email if you want clarity. what i like it that the cashback is unlimited, so when we rennovated our house, and bought the new kitchen and bathroom from B&Q etc, the cashback outweighed our bill completely.
Also, when I was looking at becoming a customer, i did a little experiment and typed in BT reviews and British gas reviews etc, and guess what, they had some pretty bad stories too. Its not often someone turns to the computer to brag about how good a company is, but many more will slag one off – whether thats UW or any other energy co or telecomms company.
Try it and see i’d say! I did, and I’m glad I did.
hi charis…could you please send me a scan of your bill…im thinking of joining the club…thanks,dez
Hi,
DO NOT USE UW under any circumstances. They have been harassing us for over 18 months now regarding money that we don’t owe them and they’ve admitted we don’t owe them!!!!! We closed our account and they wrote to actknowledge this. However, they continue to send us demands each month and regularly threaten us with legal action! Their call centre staff are rude and one of them even accused my Solicitor of lying!!!!!!!!! However WE are now taking THEM to court and we’ve contacted Watchdog and Energywatch. Please, please please don’t use them. Unfortunately for them, I have a close relative who is stockbroker in the City and i’ve told him the apalling saga from start to finish so hopefully word will get round and the shares will start to fall.
The Distributors who post on here not only gain a percentage of their recruited customers bills but also get a percentage of their teams customers bills. Its called network marketing, its been around for many years. I in fact am a Network Marketer but not for Utility Warehouse.
The thing is with any company/business your never going to satisfy everybodys needs, and when you are dealing with a product which no one can see (Gas, Electric, Broadband) the customer who is not satisfied will always diss the company. What many people do is if a company says they can save them x amount a month, the customer will normally use more with the new provider due to the fact that they have been told they can save money.
Always read the small print, however small it is.
Good point about people not satisfied always posting negative comments although the same is true in reverse for distributors so it probably balances itself out in the end. Always worth doing your own research when trying to save money on utility bills though.
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