First Utility/Shell fraudulent billing

mrglobetrotter.co.uk

Hi,

I could really do with the help of this community to get second opinions.

In December 2018 I switched to First Utility dual fuel, smart meter account. I was set up with direct debit and First Utility was taking out £119 every month.
It took First Utility 5 months to actually arrange for a date to get the smart meter installation done. Even last minute they would cancel the date and I would be sitting home taking a day off from work for nothing. Anyway, in May 2018 they have installed the meters. I was all excited to know that I don't have to deal with the meter readings anymore. We had the little wireless monitor that was provided to us, but to be honest we didn't look at it much. It was just sitting on a shelf.

Around September 2018 a friend told me about his issues with the new smart meters and he has encouraged me to look at my monitor. I've noticed the electricity usage is showing, but the gas doesn't show anything on the display. I called First Utility and told them that my smart meter monitor doesn’t show any usage for gas.

They have told me that its because I don’t have a smart gas meter! I was shocked as I was standing over the shoulders of the engineer when he was taking my old meter off and installed the new one. The customer service person said he will raise a ticket for me about this issue. 3 weeks gone by, nothing happened. So I called again, the same thing. Sorry, Sir, you don’t have a smart meter! It took me nearly 2 months to prove it to my own supplier that in fact, I do have a smart gas meter. I’ve found out that the installers never reported the job being finished, so First Utility never registered it or something like that.

However, in the process, we found out that the smart gas meter never worked a day for over 5 months and no reading or data has been supplied to First Utility. Also, they had to arrange to take off the faulty meter and install a new one. This was in October 2018.

In January 2019 my contract was up with First Utility/Shell and I’ve decided to switch to another supplier. The switch went seamlessly. Until First Utility/Shell sent me a bill for £636 ! I was gobsmacked. Adding this on top of the monthly DD £119 would mean that we are paying £2500 for our annual usage. Our historical data for the past 12 years have never been more than £1500 per year. This is for a house hold of two adults in NW London.

Needless to say I’ve not received any breakdown or a detailed bill, just a sum to be paid instantly. In two weeks I was already receiving red letters and a threat of a collection agency.

I called First Utility/Shell to ask them for details of the above sum and their calculation process. They had no idea how they came to the figure. It took them 5 weeks to come up with a makeshift excel sheet with all sorts of numbers on it. This is after I’ve called 3 times to get an explanation for this charge.

In the meanwhile Ive received another bill from them but at this time for £474 ! This is despite that we were already with another supplier and no further payment has been made by us to First Utility/Shell. Rather confusing. Which one is correct? Why are two different sums?

Cut the long story short, Ive been back and forth with their complaint department and we are not going anywhere. In every email they threaten me to pay or will be sent to collection.

How is this possible? There is no gas reading for nearly 6 months of the year, however they are adamant that on top of paying the £119 every month I owe this much.

I’ve mentioned it to them that I’ll be taking this to the Energy Ombudsman and their answer was that it doesn’t matter as they can appeal against any decision. I also asked to set aside the debt while the energy ombudsman makes its decision, but they’ve said no to that.

I’m not stuck financially, I can pay the above sum and progress with the Energy Ombudsman, but of course, I don’t want to pay unnecessarily.

What would you do?

Thanks for any help and suggestions in advance

Bela

Consumerist

mrglobetrotter.co.uk wrote: »

. . . There is no gas reading for nearly 6 months of the year, however they are adamant that on top of paying the £119 every month I owe this much.

Ok. It is difficult to resolve billing matters without meter readings to go by. You need to report the meter to your current supplier to get it fixed or replaced.

Firstly, you need to formally dispute the bill with Shell Energy. This should give you breathing space to resolve the issue. Once the bill is disputed, they should not pursue the matter until resolved. Keep any evidence of harassment to send to the ombudsman.

Make a formal written complaint using Shell's complaints procedure and also demanding a proper bill - most suppliers normally provide this in pdf format. Gather all your communications together ready to submit to the ombudsman after you have exhausted Shell's complaints procedure.

In the circumstances, it is likely the bill will be based on industry estimated readings and, in the end, you will need to come to an agreement as to your consumption over the period.

If they continue to harass you for payment then there are ways to deal with debt collectors - see the Debt-free wannabe pages for more help on this topic. You'll normally get plenty of support and encouragement from people who know their way around debt collectors.

Keep your chin up. Good luck.

matelodave

You really do need to check the meter (not the In Home Device) and makes sure that your bills or statements do accurately reflect the meter readings - just hoping that its all going well is a recipe for problems