Shell Energy - Final bill overcharge warning

Gerry1

Bendo said:

It's pretty obvious they are on the fiddle. People need to raise this with the ombudsman as lots of people affected won't be aware of it and there is no way to directly raise with Ofgem.

Those affected should ask for compensation for being messed about and a deadlock letter to escalate.

No harm in alterting Ofgem.  They don't get involved with individual complaints  but this is a bit different because it appears to be a serious breach of their supply licence that affects all their customers.

The worst that can happen is that Ofgem refer you to the Ombudsman.

HappyNow

FollowerOfMartin said:

I have now received an email from the Shell escalated complaints team.  They are still obfuscating claiming that the 60 day rule they have applied is within the OFGEM supplier licence conditions without stating where exactly.  They failed to address any of the questions I raised regarding section 23.6 and 24.9 of the licence that they previously referred to.

Judging by the experience of HappyNow and Legogirl Shell do seem to be capable of reacting in a more honest manner by admitting an error and offering a refund without prevaricating.  Hopefully everyone who contacts Shell from now on will have the same experience and then receive a refund in their bank account.

In the email I received Shell are now claiming, “We are proactively reimbursing customers who have found themselves in a similar position following the October price cap upon their switch to a new supplier”.  The most optimistic reading of this is that Shell will reimburse affected customers even when they have not contacted them.  I’m not sure.  It does seem to at least mean that they will cut down on the obstruction, obfuscation and delay when a customer contacts them.

Hopefully, FOM, your reading of their email means they will contact affected switch people even if those people don't realise there's been an error. If not, it's time to involve Martin's team I think, because there must be thousands who've lost out.  My personal thanks to you for your email template x

amsterdamgroove

Quick update.
In less than 24h (post email sent to customer.service@shellenergy.co.uk) got a phone call which I did not answer. 
Followed by an email informing that a recalculation has been done and refund is being process. 

No apologies of any sort, no justification for this mess. Not good enough. I know others will probably not get their money back... and next time it will be me who will not see what these companies dare to do to customers. 

Jims_Money_Saver

SHELL have offered me a £25 “Gratis” payment to be in my bank account in next 10 day then followed it up with email saying complaint is now closed, as a matter of interest they have overcharged me by £19:94 so not a lot of thank you, very sorry ???

rumpetroll

Just had my phone call from Shell after my initial email, they've tried to fob me off with the 60 day rule, I've made it very clear they are wrong and it needs to be corrected, she said she'll speak to billing and contact me via email. So it doesn't look like they've got the message yet

FollowerOfMartin

More delays and shenanigans from Shell over payment into my bank account.

Ten working days after Shell agreed to refund the overcharge on my final bill they credited my old Shell account.  When questioned they informed me it will be up to another 10 working days before the credit balance is paid into my bank account.  Assuming I do eventually get the money in my bank account its looking like it will be more than 4 weeks after Shell agreed the refund amount.   They are still insisting that the payment is a ‘Gesture of Goodwill’ rather than a correction of an error. 

If anyone who has received their refund in the bank please let us know how long after they agreed to a refund it took?

The email Shell sent informing me of the credit on my account included the statement, "this will be reflected on your next bill".  Is this another way of avoiding paying refunds as after a final bill there will not be a next bill? 

amsterdamgroove

Please do verify your 're-assessment'. Mine contained gross errors. I've now asked them to 're-calculate' the recalculation of the recalculation! What a mess. 

stew510

I received an email from Shell on Monday asking for evidence of the 20 days quote, which I sent straight back but not heard anything from them since. I chased last night but still no response today. Will be calling again on Monday if I get the chance.

Bendo

Tell them you want a deadlock letter and take it to the ombudsman.  They are wrong and they need to be stopped.

Jims_Money_Saver

How do we as a group get the “Media” BBC,  ITV or even Martin Lewis to speak about it in one of his TV appearances and get involved as it seems to be the only way something will ever get done ( Not always for the right reasons) but Shell are NOT treating their customers correctly and never have done in my experience over some Three years of being one of their customers, this is not the first time I’ve had arguments about my bill.