Shell Energy - Final bill overcharge warning

Saver1456

I too am still waiting for the agreed ‘gesture of goodwill’ to be paid, some 16 days after it was agreed. 

If you have raised a complaint I suggest you do not let them close it until you have received the refund. 

Srdl

I too have just received my final bill after switching to Octopus and they have overcharged me since 1st October. I have told them to try again and quoted this forum.

Edit... I calculate they have overcharged me by £7.86, so not a great amount but there is a principle involved!  I told them that, if it made it easier for them, I would accept a £10 goodwill payment. I'll update when I get a response.

Srdl

Response came very quickly. "Upon investigation, I have discovered this is a known issue" - oh yeah! They reckon they have overcharged me by £5.94 but have agreed to give me the £10 goodwill payment. 

Thanks to this forum for the good advice and I hope all you others get a good result. 

Grizzlebeard

The "Gesture of good will" is simply a ploy to avoid "admission of guilt" that may be used against them in any future legal action.

A cynical business trick many large companies use to cover their errors or even knowingly bad practices.

MeteredOut

'Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.'

I suspect that, rather than Shell Energy actually planning to shaft their customers, they simply have a bug in their billing system and, since they'll not exist as an entity for much longer, its cheaper for them to sort things on an ad-hoc customer-by-customer basis ("gesture of goodwill" payment) rather than engage their IT team for a fix that could take longer than they will exist for an would mean reissuing bills etc.

But its clear they've not communicated the issue to their front-line staff, and that's inexcusable.

Saver1456

I have now had my goodwill payment credited to my bank account, 5 days after it was promised for the second time. 

FollowerOfMartin

MeteredOut said:

'Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.'

I suspect that, rather than Shell Energy actually planning to shaft their customers, they simply have a bug in their billing system and, since they'll not exist as an entity for much longer, its cheaper for them to sort things on an ad-hoc customer-by-customer basis ("gesture of goodwill" payment) rather than engage their IT team for a fix that could take longer than they will exist for an would mean reissuing bills etc.

But its clear they've not communicated the issue to their front-line staff, and that's inexcusable.

To paraphrase a well known phrase, "It's not the cockup, it's the cover-up."  It’s the way that Shell have been trying to legitimise their actions that is the main problem.  Almost 3 weeks after first raising the issue with them they are still trying to argue that they have applied section 23.6 of the supplier licence correctly.  According to Shell the Flexible 12 tariff is higher than the Flexible 11 tariff because the Flexible 12 standing charge is higher.

MeteredOut

FollowerOfMartin said:

MeteredOut said:

'Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.'

I suspect that, rather than Shell Energy actually planning to shaft their customers, they simply have a bug in their billing system and, since they'll not exist as an entity for much longer, its cheaper for them to sort things on an ad-hoc customer-by-customer basis ("gesture of goodwill" payment) rather than engage their IT team for a fix that could take longer than they will exist for an would mean reissuing bills etc.

But its clear they've not communicated the issue to their front-line staff, and that's inexcusable.

To paraphrase a well known phrase, "It's not the cockup, it's the cover-up."  It’s the way that Shell have been trying to legitimise their actions that is the main problem.  Almost 3 weeks after first raising the issue with them they are still trying to argue that they have applied section 23.6 of the supplier licence correctly.  According to Shell the Flexible 12 tariff is higher than the Flexible 11 tariff because the Flexible 12 standing charge is higher.

Again, i'd be pretty confident that the customer service staff you are speaking to are not part of some cover-up. They are reading off scripts, doing their utmost just to get you off the phone/get your case closed so they can meet their targets, and if that means telling a few white lies, its what they do.

But yes, Shell management should be pro-actively informing their front line staff about the issue, but most are probably more concerned about finding for their next job or jostling for a new position within Octopus.

Qyburn

This got me wondering. If a Shell customer switched to another supplier in January, would Shell be so keen to bill their January use at December prices?  

SWAMP_MAN

Update regarding my situation with Shell.(see previous post on December 12th)

I was advised by them that their reason for using an old tariff at a higher rate when I ended my flexible contract was as follows.

To confirm, we are required by Ofgem regulations to follow a 60-day loss procedure. Allow me to provide you with a brief explanation of why we implement this process.
 
What is the 60-day loss process?
 
According to industry regulations, customers who are undergoing the loss process and have had a previous tariff (fixed or flexible) expire within the last 60 days will have the rates of their previous tariff honored. This applies if it is cheaper for variable to variable switches, or regardless of price if switching from fixed to variable.

I replied to Shell saying this has never been pointed out to me and that I could not accept it as I was not in a loss situation due to the price cap for energy being reduced from October 1st.

Having trawled the internet, without success, looking for the relevant regulation I contacted Ofgem and asked for their guidance pointing out that I was NOT in a loss situation.  The person I spoke with was not aware of the regulation nor could they find anything to substantiate the claim made by Shell.

I have since been contacted by Shell informing me that, as a "gesture of goodwill" they will refund me the amount originally overcharged.