Utility Warehouse / Telecom PLC - Help Please?

[dotcom]

Hi,

I received a phone call to my office the other day from someone at Utility Warehouse / Telecome PLC, asking me about possibly working with / or for them. But I really didnt understand it all?

I have looked it up on the internet and things and people claim to make a good few hunderd to a few thousand a month, how does this work? as I can only find information on them regarding saving gas and electricity bills?

Does anyone know if this is a scam?

Or are they viable and if so, how does it work to make money?

Thanks

 

[garyk]

Nope not a scam, uses the concept of multi-level marketing where you get paid for your efforts and those of your team. Not for everyone but there are people making money from it, in fact some who frequent this forum who will be along shortly to fill you in!

 

[Ashley_Price]

Utility Warehouse used to be called Telecoms Plus (not PLC) and are perfectly viable.

Basically, you can save money on your utility bills (gas, electric, telephone and even broadband), or you can "make" money by becoming a rep for them.

You become a sales person for the company, by getting people to sign up for getting cheaper utility bills and getting other people to join as reps and you get a percentage from these.

As Gary says there are some Utility Warehouse reps on this site (I think "FedUp" is one).

U.W. promote this as offering you the chance of earning a second income, but I really think selling the U.W. is just like any other job and you need a lot of time to devote to pushing it.

Also, if you did think about taking this up I would check very carefully how many other people in your area are reps (as they don't seem to have their own "territories"); you could find your town/area could be saturated with U.W. reps. I know when I go to a networking event in Lewes there are usually 3 or 4 of them in a room of 30-odd people.

 

[utilityreg]

They do pretty much exactly what we do but we pay better commission

 

[Kwackers]

I've been a distributor for a while now and its hard work, but worth while.

If your interested drop me a PM and i can explain the pros/cons, as its not for everybody.

 

[FairSmart]

Well...About Utility Warehouse
Negatives
1) The prices aren't that keen for the customer.
2) Commissions aren't that great for individual sales people.
3) The customers aren't in contract so impartial energy brokers can take the business off of you.
4) Cannot support 05-08 and Half Hourly metering for businesses

Positives
1) Good brand name
2) Marketing support
3) Celebrity endorsement
4) Good sales benefits in terms of the shopping card they do etc.

As with everything marketing is so important and as a business Utility Warehouse are extremely good at this. However there are lots of companies where marketing is really good but the product isn't.

E.g. Cigerates used to be well marketed. They are bad for you!
McDonalds and Coca Cola... aren't actually all that good for you.


Good thing is Gas, Electricity and Telecom's doesn't taste as good as McDonalds or Coca-Cola. But I love it when high prices leave a bad taste in someone's mouth. That's where your completely independent energy broker comes in that includes comparisons against Utility Warehouse and always gets a keener price. Hands down!

 

[robertt]

Previous post was - 23rd February 2009, 16:48.

Oh, its in your line of business. Shameless plug / bump it is then

btw - that domain name in pink is crap. omni and hyphens? Is it 1995?

 

[MH1]

IMO it depends on what sort of person you are.

If you are prepared to sell the products and services then you will amke a small ongoing commission, with hard work you can build this into a small to medium income.

If you are able to recruit people into a team and motivate them and as importantly keep them on board, then it can make you good money. Bear in mind it is not easy to get people to part with a couple of hundred pounds at anytime, including a recession. The average network marketing person manages to recruit one person, just one reason why the vast majority fall at the wayside.

I have met the guy who claims to be the top earner in the utility warehouse, he loves the business. That said I have met many who have given up on the idea as well.

 

[davisonconsultancy]

I came across this company a while back, it is a very impressive organisation in terms of sales and marketing. With regards to the deals for the customer, the comments I have received have been mixed, some say it worked out cheaper, and some say it's break-even. So I guess anyone contemplating taking up their offer should do there own up-to-date research.

 

[utilityreg]

I can still (and never will) understand why people sell UW to businesses as a living.

The prices are rarely beneficial to the customer (for gas and electric anyway) and the comission they receive is ridculously poor.

They could sell someone like EON or N Power and receive a big comission while offering the customers better prices!

 

[sally_b]

Hi, I've found the good feature of this business to be the passive residual income whereby you earn an income each month as long as your customers stay with UW. So after they join you keep receiving an income with no more effort.
However in my own experience as a distributor the actual commissions received for each customer are low compared to how much profit I can make, for example, retailing products on an e-commerce site. One order for retail products usually gives me more profit than I'd earn from a UW customer in 5-10 years.
Of course if you are a great networker and can build a team you can earn much more as this is an MLM opportunity.

 

[Eplaygaming]

I agree with above..

They could do with a shake up of the commission plan.

I think they are looking for high flying, super sales people, as a result, small to medium won't make any money out of this and will fall to the wayside.

Of course the result of that is:- any customers they did get will go to the guy above thus adding to his/her income.

They now charge you £4 per month to be a distributor, so if you have a small amount of customers and don't get another one in a month. You will actually be paying more than you are earning.

I think it would be more of an incentive to pay the full rate of commission from customer 1. Instead of this, pay nowt unless you keep gathering.

It would take much to realise that if you get another customer you are adding to you're income. Rather than, if you don't get one this month, we'll knock off the energy and half your telecom commission.

Some people just want to top up they money, not become full time high flying, mini winning, distributors.

Just my penny worth.

.