Uswitch - Or Please Don't !

Hello My Friends,

Hope you are well and a special "hi" to my buddies who I bumped into today - nice to see some of you at least....

Anyhoo, enough of the detritous of my previous life, let's concentrate on the positive things in life and accentuate them to the max as this life is much more exciting and full of nice lovely genuine people.

I had occasion to phone Uswitch recently as I was advised that they are impartial and will signpost the best utility deals to clients.

However I have discovered that perhaps their "impartiality" is slightly skewed?

It would appear that unless the utility offers Uswitch a referral fee Uswitch don't recommend them or signpost customers to some of the better rates that are currently available on the market.

Incredible although it may seem, my dear readers, this unfortunately means that ultimately many customers who can be switched to a great package to save money (and possibly extract themselves from the evil clutches of fuel poverty) are left bewildered and bereft of the full facts?

One such case is Utility Discount Warehouse or Telecom Plus (same company, different trading name). UDW offer great rates on gas and electricity for householders as well as providing landlines, mobile phones and Broadband at very competitive rates. Telecom Plus is a FTSE listed company and during 2006 was voted number one for Customer Service Excellence by Which? magazine.

Following a referral from a good friend of mine, I looked into the UDW offers and I have to say that they do compare very favourably to those of my current supplier.

So I have switched and calculated that over the coming year I have projected that I may save up to £400 on my home fuel bills (and no I don't live in a mansion - its a 7 year old 3 bed detached house at the bottom of a very windy hill).

If we weren't planning a move I would have invested in renewable technology but now we are saving that for the new des res.

So check out UDW - it would seem its worth a look atleast. Indeed one of my SHP clients has been a UDW customer for 3 years and is very happy with their service and supply. They don't have any direct marketing or people canvassing door to door or in the supermarkets (nor do they sponsor any football teams or cricket matches) - Telecom Plus invest in network marketing and buy into the relationships that people can generate through friends and family etc. Its a good methodology, hence they can pass back reduced costs for services to their customers.

I will keep a close eye on this and report back soon with more news following a bit more research but from what I can gather so far, I would suggest U DO Switch but perhaps not via USwitch?

Make Good Choices

From Your Friend The Energy Angel