It was certainly at the forefront of my mind when I first saw the business and my initial research led me to a brick wall of current distributors for the company using Utility Warehouse Scam as a SEO term to get hits to their websites and then proceeding to sing the praises of the company over and over again repeating the mantra that it wasn't a scam it was a FTSE 250 listed company again and again....
So
Is Utility Warehouse a scam?
The answer is no, its not a scam. It is indeed a legitimate UK company traded in the name of their parent company Telecom Plus on the London Stock Exchange in the FTSE 250 (The 250 biggest companies who are not traded in the FTSE 100).
Its shares currently (as of March 2013) are doing extremely well and are rising at a very impressive rate.
These facts are hammered home to every distributor with almost religious zeal. People who have absolutely no knowledge of the stock market whatsoever will suddenly start muttering FTSE 250 to their friends and family.
Is it a Pyramid scheme?
No pyramid schemes are illegal and Utility Warehouse is traded on the FTSE 250 (notice a pattern here) and has one numerous awards from Which? Magazine. It is a legitimate business.
So everything is fine with Utility Warehouse????
The problem with Utility Warehouse doesn't actually lie with Utility Warehouse the problem lies with Network Marketing or Multi Level Marketing in general.
Whilst the company is successful the vast majority of people who become involved in the business will earn nothing or next to nothing from the business.
Along the way however they'll be bullied, pressurised and indoctrinated by their upline* to pitch the business to their friends and family (who are suddenly referred to as a warm list) which leads to people devastating relationships. Very few people appreciate being sold to by their friends and family and when suddenly someone contacts you and starts high pressure sales techniques for household utilities it can be nothing short of catastrophic to a relationship.
I should stress this isn't specific to Utility Warehouse, this is in the very nature of Network Marketing. From the research i've done Utility Warehouse is by far one of the best companies in the network marketing field but that doesn't change the damage thats done by the way in which the business is marketed.
*Upline refers to anyone who has a direct financial interest in you promoting the business, so this could be the person who brought you into the business or the people above them. Within Utility Warehouse the upline structure tends to be very strong and my experience was that there was incredible pressure placed upon anyone who showed any ability whatsoever in the business by their upline.
This represents my own personal experience of Network Marketing and you should use your own judgement about any business opportunity you are presented with. My only advice to you would be, do your own research!
I'll be covering more specifics in later blog posts.
Utility Warehouse newspaper. At first glance, the little cards landing on doormats up and down the country have all the hallmarks of a scam. major surplus survival discount warehouse
ReplyDeleteThere are good and bad in all companies, and the prices fluctuate all the time and one minute you could be with the cheapest provider than the next be one of the dearest.
ReplyDeleteWhen switching always find out what your final bill is too, because a lot of people who do switch are because they need all the money they have. Then they find them selves with the dreaded final bill, so always check before agreeing to sign up with your new supplier.
Also door to door sales people have crafted there spiel so good that most people would trust what they are being told, after all they want there commissions so before you sign up to anything find out if what they are saying is legit.
Having your energy and your phone and broadband all on one bill can be better for some people and in a lot of cases can save you money too.
The amount of things I read on the internet is ridiculous, do not believe everything you read. I read something on a forum the other day about the Utility Warehouse, here is what I had read, http://goo.gl/G14dzv
I think they are a good company but there is always room for improvements.
I see glowing reviews and then realise that their customers are also agents that sell the sertvice, it seems a bit obvious that customer reviews are going to be great if the same customers are trying to get people to switch...seems a bit underhand and misleading for people that are after a genuine bargain in this high priced energy market.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt's a multi level marketing scam. The FT listing is irrelevant. Each customer takes a repeating commission from everyone they recruit, so only those who got in early get any real benefit.... just like a chain letter asking for money.
ReplyDeleteToday I ceased to be a UW distributor. I totally agree with the comments. The successful distributors (ID) become obsessive about the company and when I spoke to some ID's about customers with a problem a standard response was " they are probably in debt and are blaming the company for their own problem" I still use their mobile service but I will change as the contract ends. Be very careful. If you are of a sensitive or introverted nature this "business opprtunity" is possibly not for you!
ReplyDeleteWhile most companies advertise on Television, Radio, Web advertisements etc etc.. Utility Warehouse have gone a different route of giving others a chance to work for themselves, a flee of Network Marketers are born, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's just another route to create a successful business, not just for UW but for the general UK population.
ReplyDeleteIt does what you make of it, if you want £ 100.00 per month then it'll do that, if you're willing to work hard you could earn a heck of a lot more. This is evident in any Managing Director that has built his/her business up themselves.
It's an honest business, a team building business and also helps people come together and socialise.
I am a distributor and will continue to be even when my success is certifiable. If you're interested visit www.proactivemoney.co.uk or email me at make@proactivemoney.co.uk
Is this a sales pitch? Probably! I'm giving it a whirl and should too!!
Wishing everyone success,
Chris.
While most companies advertise on Television, Radio, Web advertisements etc etc.. Utility Warehouse have gone a different route of giving others a chance to work for themselves, a flee of Network Marketers are born, but there's nothing wrong with that. It's just another route to create a successful business, not just for UW but for the general UK population.
ReplyDeleteIt does what you make of it, if you want £ 100.00 per month then it'll do that, if you're willing to work hard you could earn a heck of a lot more. This is evident in any Managing Director that has built his/her business up themselves.
It's an honest business, a team building business and also helps people come together and socialise.
I am a distributor and will continue to be even when my success is certifiable. If you're interested visit www.proactivemoney.co.uk or email me at make@proactivemoney.co.uk
Is this a sales pitch? Probably! I'm giving it a whirl and should too!!
Wishing everyone success,
Chris.
These are only some of the advantages of moving or importing web analytics data to a data warehouse instead of trying to analyze it within web analytics tools.
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