Shell Energy - Final bill overcharge warning

HappyNow

I received an email today stating that my account has been credited with the overcharged amount (£15.72) which will be reflected on my next bill, due 13th Jan 24. I imagine it will be refunded to my bank shortly after. My original complaint was via their online form, which prompted two phone calls from them. In both calls they admitted that it was their error - never any mention of 60-day or 20-day procedure, or a 'goodwill gesture'. I would have liked some compensation because it's taken effort and brain-strain on my part, but at least they've corrected my bill.

FollowerOfMartin

HappyNow said:

I received an email today stating that my account has been credited with the overcharged amount (£15.72) which will be reflected on my next bill, due 13th Jan 24. I imagine it will be refunded to my bank shortly after. My original complaint was via their online form, which prompted two phone calls from them. In both calls they admitted that it was their error - never any mention of 60-day or 20-day procedure, or a 'goodwill gesture'. I would have liked some compensation because it's taken effort and brain-strain on my part, but at least they've corrected my bill.

If Shell did comply with section 27 of the supplier licence, ‘Provision of final bill’, when an error in a final bill is found “the licensee shall send a corrected Bill or statement of account as soon as reasonably practicable”.  If Shell had complied with this part of the licence I would have expected them to have issued corrected final bills within 10 working days at most.  I have not received a corrected final bill, just a ‘back of the envelope calculation’ of the error.

Good luck getting the money paid into your bank account.  Shell told me it would take a further 10 working days after it was credited to my Shell account to be paid into my bank account.  That’s 29th December for me, 23 working days after my final bill date.

FollowerOfMartin

SWAMP_MAN said:

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.





 

As you found SWAMP_MAN Shell have yet to justify their application of their ’60 day rule’.  Shell have tried to argue that they have acted in accordance with section 23.6 of the supplier licence.  However, when questioned they have not yet been able to say which elements of section 23.6 justify their 60 day rule.  If you’re interested in reading the supplier licence acts you can download them with guidance notes here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/industry-licensing/licences-and-licence-conditions.  The aim of section 23.6 is to protect customers when switching just after a price increase.  It does not justify penalising switching customers to financially benefit suppliers after prices decrease.

rumpetroll

I'm not getting anywhere with Shell, I've had 2 phone calls from them since my initial complain using their online form, the first call gave the usual nonsense about the 60 day rule and that my bill was correct, the 2nd call was someone that took all my details and then passed me on to someone on the tariff team who had no idea what the call was about and has lodged a complaint for me but I don't think she actually knew what I was complaining about.

Hopefully I'll get somebody sensible pick up one of my emails and finally get this resolved. They owe me just over £30 from my calculations.

kamkop

FollowerOfMartin said:

kamkop said:

FollowerOfMartin said:

If anyone can point me in the direction of where to find the Supplier Licence Conditions that Shell seem to be presenting as justification for their dodgy practices I’d appreciate it.  All I’ve managed to find so far is guidance on how the license conditions should be applied.

In my response to Shell I referred to this document: "Couldn't post the link in my reply.  Too newbie."
and incorrectly quoted 23.9 and 26.4.

My case changed status to complaint (initiated by Shell not me) with expected reply within 5 working days. 

Thanks kamkop, I'll take a look.   Good luck with getting your refund.  Keep us posted about the status of your complaint.

The corrected bill was supposed to be issued on 14th December. It did not happen as apparently the request sent by the complaint handler was rejected by the billing department with the same explanation '60 days blah blah'. I was offered £15 payment which I did not accept, so it was raised to £24. I do not have time to chase them so I have accepted the payment to close the complaint. It will cover the difference with some surplus. It should arrive in my bank account within 10 working days, i.e. early next year.

FollowerOfMartin

rumpetroll said:

I'm not getting anywhere with Shell, I've had 2 phone calls from them since my initial complain using their online form, the first call gave the usual nonsense about the 60 day rule and that my bill was correct, the 2nd call was someone that took all my details and then passed me on to someone on the tariff team who had no idea what the call was about and has lodged a complaint for me but I don't think she actually knew what I was complaining about.

Hopefully I'll get somebody sensible pick up one of my emails and finally get this resolved. They owe me just over £30 from my calculations.

All of the OFGEM supplier licence guidance notes I’ve read have the following reminder near the top:

“The Standards of Conduct contain enforceable overarching principles that are relevant across many supplier activities and licence guide themes. (The Standards are SLC 0 for domestic / SLC 0A for non-domestic suppliers.) These are aimed at ensuring licensees (and their representatives in the case of domestic suppliers) treat each customer fairly. This includes behaving in a fair, honest, transparent, appropriate, and professional manner, and providing information that is complete, accurate and not misleading. Domestic suppliers also need to make an extra effort to identify and respond to the needs of domestic customers who are in vulnerable situations.”

In virtually all my interactions with Shell they have acted in a manner that is the opposite of the standards of conduct in the supplier licence.  At least they are consistent I suppose.

Srdl

rumpetroll said:

I'm not getting anywhere with Shell, I've had 2 phone calls from them since my initial complain using their online form, the first call gave the usual nonsense about the 60 day rule and that my bill was correct, the 2nd call was someone that took all my details and then passed me on to someone on the tariff team who had no idea what the call was about and has lodged a complaint for me but I don't think she actually knew what I was complaining about.

Hopefully I'll get somebody sensible pick up one of my emails and finally get this resolved. They owe me just over £30 from my calculations.

Once you get to the Complaints Team, they are much more professional and responsive. They obviously have targets to close complaints so do all they can to achieve that.

Srdl

One final update for my case. The final bill was issued on 16th December and the £10 Gesture of Goodwill payment agreed the same day when I complained. My balance refund of over £200 was in my bank account on 20th December and the additional £10 GofG has arrived today. Good luck everyone else.

kamkop

kamkop said:

The corrected bill was supposed to be issued on 14th December. It did not happen as apparently the request sent by the complaint handler was rejected by the billing department with the same explanation '60 days blah blah'. I was offered £15 payment which I did not accept, so it was raised to £24. I do not have time to chase them so I have accepted the payment to close the complaint. It will cover the difference with some surplus. It should arrive in my bank account within 10 working days, i.e. early next year.

The final update - never received a corrected bill but £24 GofG arrived today in my account, 9 days after agreeing to close the complaint.

phalarope1

We're in this dispute with Shell. This is the latest we've had from the complaints team, which seems to suggest (in bold) that as the standing charges are cheaper on Flexible 11 than 12 they can charge us on 11. Ridiculous as the difference in standing charges saves us about £0.63 whereas the difference in unit rates costs us about £33. Anyone else had this?

As part of industry regulations, a customer who is going through the loss process and has a previous tariff that has expired (fixed or flexible) within the last 60 days will have the rates honored of their previous tariff.

This is as long as it is cheaper for variable to variable switches, or regardless of price if fixed to variable. 

With flexible to flexible tariffs, the rule is if one of the elements (electricity standing charge, electricity unit rate, gas standing charge, gas unit rate) is cheaper on the previous flexible than on the new flexible, then we would put the customer on the previous flexible tariff until the supply end date. 
 
If all elements are cheaper on the new tariff, then we would put them on the new tariff.
 
In your case, the Flexible 11 is actually a cheaper tariff rate for you, which was also confirmed by the billing team. In addition to this, the system will always also automatically put you on the best cheaper tariff for you.