£15 exit fee for Shell broadband, even though i'm out of contract. 15 January 2020 at 5:39PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Broadband & Internet Access 38 replies 2.6K views

Robmcc

Quite frankly i'm pretty annoyed with myself, but i feel it is pretty underhand to be charged an exit fee when i am out of contract?? Has anyone got any advise, or do i just have to lump it?

Browntoa

It's not underhand

Very open about in their terms and conditions which you signed up to and read

Xenon

Browntoa wrote: »

It's not underhand

Very open about in their terms and conditions which you signed up to and unread

Or as seems to be the case !

Neil_Jones

Robmcc wrote: »

Quite frankly i'm pretty annoyed with myself, but i feel it is pretty underhand to be charged an exit fee when i am out of contract?? Has anyone got any advise, or do i just have to lump it?

You tend to get more helpful advice when you provide some details, as opposed to "something's not right, why is it not right?" type posts.

When was your original exit date? When did you move from Shell? When did you apply to move from Shell?

Note there is no "switching window" like you see in the energy market, so your contract runs up until the end of the day you agreed to. So if it's the 15th of Jan, you are out of contract as soon as it ticks over to the 16th. Moving away on the 15th will incur a fee, albeit very small by that point but a fee nevertheless.

Robmcc

I dont actually know when my contract is up as their website is awful. However I must be out of contract by 6 to 12months.

Neil_Jones

Robmcc wrote: »

I dont actually know when my contract is up as their website is awful. However I must be out of contract by 6 to 12months.

When was your first payment made to Shell? Dig that out from your bank statement and then see if you can recall whether it was 12, 18 or 24 month contract (most likely 18 but just as likely 12).

carpy

i've just discovered this and i'm unhappy as it's very unusual as far as my ISP experiences go!
i don't feel it was made clear at the point of signing up!
also MSE didn't point this out when recommending it as one of their best broadband deals and i'm certain didn't factor in this charge when calculating and advertising the equivalent monthly cost..........
would any MSE employees like to check this please? 

Neil_Jones

carpy said:

i've just discovered this and i'm unhappy as it's very unusual as far as my ISP experiences go!
i don't feel it was made clear at the point of signing up!
also MSE didn't point this out when recommending it as one of their best broadband deals and i'm certain didn't factor in this charge when calculating and advertising the equivalent monthly cost..........
would any MSE employees like to check this please? 

It's not MSE's job to tell you to read terms and conditions because that's what you should be doing anyway before you sign up.

Anyway the £15 thing is documented here:

Shell Energy T&Cs at https://www.shellenergy.co.uk/info/broadband/pricing (section 5) says:

regardless of whether you are inside or outside your Minimum Period, if you terminate or cancel your contract at any time other than during the Cooling Off Period) and we are not at fault, you will be charged a Cease Charge.

carpy

Neil_Jones said:

carpy said:

i've just discovered this and i'm unhappy as it's very unusual as far as my ISP experiences go!
i don't feel it was made clear at the point of signing up!
also MSE didn't point this out when recommending it as one of their best broadband deals and i'm certain didn't factor in this charge when calculating and advertising the equivalent monthly cost..........
would any MSE employees like to check this please? 

It's not MSE's job to tell you to read terms and conditions because that's what you should be doing anyway before you sign up.

agreed (although who read through all the t&cs!)......however where they are telling consumers the best deals and showing them the annual/monthly equivalent cost then this should be accurate! 
MSE were obviously just as unaware of it as unfortunate customers were!

GabiB

Maybe ring and ask if they will waive it as a goodwill gesture?

carpy

GabiB said:

Maybe ring and ask if they will waive it as a goodwill gesture?

i will do nearer the time or certainly will make a complaint as these isn't clearly made known (other than buried in the t&cs) and is certainly an unusual charge given they apply it even if you're out of contract!!