to not want our neighbour ''going over'' our energy bills ....

[Laiste]

DH has had a text message from a neighbour. A nice chat to in the street neighbour, but we're not close. DH reads it out.

They are wanting to ''make a little money'' and ''need 'guinea pigs''. They ask if we would we be prepared to go and ''watch a presentation''.

I'm thinking god, ok, as long as it's not too long. It's going to be oils or tupperware or something. Then DH continues; ''We'll go over your energy bills together and see where you can save money ...''.

Will we heck!

How would you reply?
(if you didn't want to go)

And, as an aside, how do they make money out of this?!

In their house with their heating on and eating their snacks and drinking their drinks.

There are some good take downs of those on You Tube.

Unfortunately people will take advantage of others.

@Laiste village....

We are with Utility Warehouse. We get gas, electricity and broadband for about £120 a month and they don't try to flog us anything.

W ?

That's the point. You need to take out another service with them to get the rates. The question is - is it worth it?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

Say you'd be delighted, but insist that your 120 minute video on Finding Jesus gets the first showing for the evening's bill.

No thank you. Unlike the rest of the country, I've got more money than I can spend.
Darling? Open the windows will you, it's getting rather hot in here.
Toodle pip!

No thank you. Unlike the rest of the country, I've got more money than I can spend.
Darling? Open the windows will you, it's getting rather hot in here.
Toodle pip!

You need to say no at the outset. Otherwise they will just not stop bothering you. I hate this kind of shit. You, like most reasonable people, think "oh I'll just watch the presentation to keep the peace/do away with this issue" but in fact, the hooks will be in and it will be bother bother bother. Say no right away.

Just say you are happy with your bills and don't want to be the guinea pig.

I had one of those reps turn up on my doorstep once. Asked if I'd like to save money on my energy bills. I said no thanks. She was a bit taken aback and asked if I was happy to be paying more than I needed. I said yes, very happy. Then she said that I could save hundreds of pounds a year and I said I would rather not.
I think she eventually realised she wasn't going to get anywhere and left!

Mum seems accurate too

Def UW. They're like a cult.

I have guinea pigs as pets and for few seconds thought your OP was suggesting they were looking for 'extra cash and need guinea pigs', meaning they were going to start breeding them.

As you were 😂

Run! And give any neighbours who might need it, the heads up. Especially anyone you think could be blindsided by them.

@cakeorwine yes you bundle your services together and take out bronze, silver or gold level. Gold has most services bundled together I think.
It's definitely worth it if you ask me. £120 for all that during an energy crisis. We have a Victorian house and 3 kids so probably use more than average.

I too thought they wanted literal actual guinea pigs for the first second 😂

I used to rescue GPs and my gut reaction was no! you can't borrow a pig.

You are all way more polite than I would be. They are using coy language to try to fool you into to watching a UW presentation. It's really scummy behaviour. You should tell them no and you should say why. If they were up front with what they were doing it wouldn't be quite so bad.

I'd say no and I'd tell them why. They will be trying this nonsense with other more vulnerable neighbours too.

I've been with them for over 15yrs - wouldn't change - have had brilliant customer service when changing ac into my name post divorce / house move / upgrading broadband etc. Prices were never the VERY lowest, but competitive (and they have not gone bust, unlike the cheaper firms) If they say they will ring you back then they do. UK call centres, my tariff is lower than the cap and my standing charges are low.

Having said that - the reps can be a nightmare - steer clear! If you investigate them and decide to move to them you don't need to use the rep. OTOH I have heard of reps being brilliant at helping people iron out glitches and make sure everything is OK.

My exH was 'recruited' to UW by an old friend of his dad - but I was impressed enough with them to stay with them. I'd done a lot of sorting out of accounts for elderly relatives and DC at uni and dealt with multiple energy companies, some were a total nightmare (scottish power top of that list) and I vowed to stay with UW.

I'm with Utility Warehouse for gas and electricity - was cheapest option on a comparison site. So far so good and only call from them I've had was about getting a smart meter

I agree just sign up on the website if you are interested. The rep thing is weird and pushy.

''The only way to use less electricity….. switch stuff off, live in a cooler house, wash yourself and clothes less frequently, wear a jumper.''

"The only way"? Not quite.

You forgot the most efficient way of avoiding wasting energy on heating the air outside instead of keeping the heat inside: decent thermal insulation of the whole house or flat.

Even simply putting heat-insulating curtains starts making a difference.

Assuming it's Utility Warehouse, when they're talking about going over your bills to save you money they're not meaning it in the "turn off your heating off more " sense but in the "switch to our provider" sense. If you don't want to come under pressure to switch your provider then I'd give it a wide berth.

My UW consult was 30 mins in zoom. Saving 100s a year well worth a little inconvenience

Oh god, just KNEW it was going to be about UW just from the title. Avoid.