I switched away from Green but have been switched to Shell without my agreement.

claremck

How rubbish is this?  I switched away from Green to Scottish Power on a reasonable tariff before Green ceased trading and was all set up with an online account and direct debit functioning but now I have been sucked back by Shell Energy as my details are part of the Green customer system.  SP say they can't file an Erroneous transfer complaint because it was Ofgen who approved Shell taking over my supply despite the fact I was no longer with Green.

Shell don't know who I am because they haven't set up an account yet and Scottish Power are probably happy I've lost the good tariff I snagged at the last minute.

I'm afraid the info on the MSE advice page is not happening in the real world, heaven knows if I will ever see a refund of the credit I had with Green.  That is possibly the only good thing, if my account with Shell gets set up properly at least they will have to pay that back. Bottom line: My power will cost another £200-£300 a year but everyone is in that boat.

MWT

I would just ask SP if they will honour your original tariff if you switch back to them...

They can always say no of course, but worth asking.

dbks

claremck said:

How rubbish is this?  I switched away from Green to Scottish Power on a reasonable tariff before Green ceased trading and was all set up with an online account and direct debit functioning but now I have been sucked back by Shell Energy as my details are part of the Green customer system.  SP say they can't file an Erroneous transfer complaint because it was Ofgen who approved Shell taking over my supply despite the fact I was no longer with Green.

Shell don't know who I am because they haven't set up an account yet and Scottish Power are probably happy I've lost the good tariff I snagged at the last minute.

I'm afraid the info on the MSE advice page is not happening in the real world, heaven knows if I will ever see a refund of the credit I had with Green.  That is possibly the only good thing, if my account with Shell gets set up properly at least they will have to pay that back. Bottom line: My power will cost another £200-£300 a year but everyone is in that boat.

If you had completed a switch away from Green before they ceased trading, and were being supplied by Scottish Power, I don't see why Shell would have applied to take over your supply.

That certainly is not what Ofgem approved.

 I don't know why SP have told you that you cannot follow the ET procedure. That is fundamentally wrong.

What you need to decide is whether you wish to return to SP, who clearly are not bothered about you as a customer.

 If you do, perhaps to get the tarif you had with SP, then ask SP again to invoke the ET procedure, or raise it as an official complaint, and ask SP for a deadlock letter.

Or you could try Shell to see if they will process the ET procedure for you. They should do, but as they are gaining a customer at present, they may not be very co-operative. (or if they equally don't want you, then maybe they will?)

Don't forget you can also get auto compo for an ET now.

claremck

Hi,

They have already said no.  I had one days notice of being switched away from SP and that was an email from them saying "We're sorry to see you go".  I called them immediately and they would have kept me on the tariff if they could stop the transfer but one day wasn't enough to do anything. 

Don't bother contacting Shell, they have a dedicated email address for ex Green customers but any query to that just gets an irritating form email saying "Rest assured, everything is in hand and you don't need to do anything for now". Hey ho.

dbks

claremck said:

Hi,

They have already said no.  I had one days notice of being switched away from SP and that was an email from them saying "We're sorry to see you go".  I called them immediately and they would have kept me on the tariff if they could stop the transfer but one day wasn't enough to do anything. 

Don't bother contacting Shell, they have a dedicated email address for ex Green customers but any query to that just gets an irritating form email saying "Rest assured, everything is in hand and you don't need to do anything for now". Hey ho.

Up to you. You have my advice. I'm sure you can find an alternative method to contact Shell if you were so inclined to.

According to you, you are not an ex-Green customer, but an ex Scottish Power customer who has been switched away without your approval.

claremck

As the credit I need refunded is more than the cost of the higher tariff I think I have to stay with Shell as they have finally responded to my query with the info that "It is the smoothest way for any credit balances you had with Green to be honoured by us".

From MSE News:

If you are in the process of switching, your switch will still go through

If you've already started to switch away from a bust supplier, you will continue to be moved to the new supplier you have chosen. You should not need to do anything. Your direct debit to your current supplier should be cancelled automatically, but check anyway, and if not, cancel it manually after your switch completes. Any outstanding credit will be paid to you by the supplier Ofgem has appointed to take over.

I was in the process of switching but the above is not happening.

Whatever the rights and wrongs the numbers decide!

MWT

dbks said:

If you had completed a switch away from Green before they ceased trading, and were being supplied by Scottish Power, I don't see why Shell would have applied to take over your supply.

That certainly is not what Ofgem approved.

As ever, nothing is simple...

When approached by a failing supplier, Ofgem will obtain a full customer list from the DNOs and where appropriate the DCC.

This information will subsequently be passed to the SoLR when they are appointed.

The information will need to be supplemented with payment information directly from the failed supplier, and where possible anything else that will assist the SoLR.] in a smooth transfer of customers.

... but the initial list of customers provided by Ofgem is sufficient to begin the switching process and will of course include people who have subsequently switched away. So to that extent it is accurate to say those customers were on the list that was 'approved' by Ofgem.

A wise and cautious SoLR might wait until it can eliminate those who have switched away in the days between the obtaining of the customer list and the start of the switch, but that would also depend on just how much accurate data they can get from the failed supplier and the level of general cooperation...

dbks

MWT said:

dbks said:

If you had completed a switch away from Green before they ceased trading, and were being supplied by Scottish Power, I don't see why Shell would have applied to take over your supply.

That certainly is not what Ofgem approved.

As ever, nothing is simple...

When approached by a failing supplier, Ofgem will obtain a full customer list from the DNOs and where appropriate the DCC.

This information will subsequently be passed to the SoLR when they are appointed.

The information will need to be supplemented with payment information directly from the failed supplier, and where possible anything else that will assist the SoLR.] in a smooth transfer of customers.

... but the initial list of customers provided by Ofgem is sufficient to begin the switching process and will of course include people who have subsequently switched away. So to that extent it is accurate to say those customers were on the list that was 'approved' by Ofgem.

A wise and cautious SoLR might wait until it can eliminate those who have switched away in the days between the obtaining of the customer list and the start of the switch, but that would also depend on just how much accurate data they can get from the failed supplier and the level of general cooperation...

My earlier reply to the OP was based upon the understanding that the OP had already switched and was on supply with Scottish Power before Green approached Ofgem saying the were ceasing to supply.

That was because the OP said:

"... I switched away from Green to Scottish Power on a reasonable tariff before Green ceased trading..."

and

"...I was no longer with Green"

I can only provide a reply based upon the information I was provided,

But it's all rather a mute point now, as the OP has since returned and appears to have changed their mind and now would now prefer to pay the £200-£300 extra per year to Shell for the same energy delivered through the same cables/pipes.

Mind you, the Shell tariff rates will only apply for 6 months, after which it will likely increase by another £400 per year in April 2022.

As I said to the OP:

"Up to you...."

which equally applies to their later post

MWT

dbks said:

But it's all rather a mute point now...

It is indeed a moot point now, but I would suggest that the root of the original problem was that the supplier ID database had not yet updated to reflect the new supplier at the point where Ofcom got their list, as that would be several days at least before it became public that they were planning to cease trading as they are obliged to enter into discussions with Ofgem first, and that triggers Ofgem to collect the data.

claremck

I haven't changed my mind, I don't have any choice here, it just seems sensible to take the course that will most likely result in the refund of my £730 credit.  I obviously wouldn't prefer to pay more. 

I accept my switch wasn't complete by September 27th but my supply was taken over by SP long before Shell arranged another switch and as per Ofgem and the MSE news a switch that had been started was supposed to complete without hassle.

All I was trying to illustrate in my original post was that whatever the "experts" say, out in the real world things go wrong through no fault of the customer.

JJ_Egan

Very true things do go wrong through no fault of the customer .Hope you will let Of somebody know about this error .

But this forum is also littered with things going wrong through the actual fault of the customer .