Shell energy broadband - any feedback from recent joiners ?

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Comments

  • Chino
    Chino Posts: 2,029 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    edited 18 November 2019 at 11:27PM
    Wisefool wrote: »
    SE offer no help whatsoever with this, they simply say third party solutions are available
    So why don't you just adopt a third party solution instead of relying on your ISP to do your parenting for you?

    e.g. https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/#familyshield
  • lycrawearer
    lycrawearer Posts: 57 Forumite
    Changed to Shell Copper Broadband (via the MSE £75 cash back link) and it went live on November 11th without a hitch (the bog standard Technicolour router) had arrived a few days before.

    Connection is very stable, and today (8 days later) my sync speed according the router is 1.02 Mbps upstream / 22.92 Mbps downstream which is equal to what I was getting with Plusnet for the previous 2 years (live less than 1/2 a mile away from the local exchange, and I'm EO fed so no PCP's in-between) ..

    That's the good news ... now the bad news ..

    Billing ... just received my first bill, covering the period 12/11/2019 - 15/12/2019 and it totals £20.68 less £4.71 Promotional Credit .. so a total of £15.97 (as expected) ... but then VAT was added £3.19 making a grand invoice total of £19.16 ...

    Nowhere on the sign up pages / promotional pages does it state that the monthly charge is excluding VAT :(

    I'm currently awaiting a phone call from them (queue length was apparently quite long, and I wasn't going to sit there listening to awful music) ... so I chose the "We'll call you option" ...

    Let's see what they say, and I'll update this afterwards.
  • lpgm
    lpgm Posts: 355 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    lycrawearer wrote: »
    Billing ... just received my first bill, covering the period 12/11/2019 - 15/12/2019 and it totals £20.68 less £4.71 Promotional Credit .. so a total of £15.97 (as expected) ... but then VAT was added £3.19 making a grand invoice total of £19.16 ...

    Nowhere on the sign up pages / promotional pages does it state that the monthly charge is excluding VAT :(

    The headline prices do include VAT, of course. Your first bill covers more than a month, so it costs more.
  • Quackist
    Quackist Posts: 3 Newbie
    First Anniversary Photogenic
    Very happy with Shell and their service and communication.

    Moved from Vodafone Superfast 2.

    When I joined Vodafone in 2017 download speed was 55Mb/s then reduced to 45Mbs last year.

    Vodafone fobbed me off saying my line had been "downgraded" by Openreach.

    Anyway moved to Shell Energy Broadband Superfast Fibre plus two days ago. Took 24 hours to activate.

    Worked straight away with the old Vodafone router
    (Huawei HHG2500)
    as others have noted. No input required from me.
    Speeds back up to 55Mbs so very happy.
    My phone line doesn't work and Shell suggested it was my home box connection.

    Why that should suddenly happen after 10 years of uninterrupted phone service I am doubtful.
  • Wisefool
    Wisefool Posts: 13 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Chino wrote: »
    So why don't you just adopt a third party solution instead of relying on your ISP to do your parenting for you?

    e.g. OpenDNS


    Just checked back, and yes, I came across that Cisco solution that is available for free. And it seems to work ok. :j It is just frustrating that Shell Energy offer no help whatsoever on this subject.
    I recommend to others.
    With thanks
  • Rob_Wills
    Rob_Wills Posts: 80 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    I am waiting for the switch to Shell from Plusnet.

    Shell acknowledged the switch was done through MoneySavingExpert and the net cost is £10.74 per month for 12 months; the £75 credit is due by March 2020; the monthly DD is £16.99. I don't make chargable telephone calls so a total cost to me for the year of £128.88.

    How the account will be adjusted is an unknown? the easiest way would be to set the DD at £10.74 and forget the credit of £75 but ISPs always do things the most complicated way. :(

    I expect speed to be 2-3 Mb; why 11Mb average is shown on MSE :money: is a mystery?
    Rob
  • MSE_Chris
    MSE_Chris Posts: 200 MSE Staff
    First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper First Post
    edited 26 November 2019 at 6:45PM
    Rob_Wills wrote: »
    I am waiting for the switch to Shell from Plusnet.

    Shell acknowledged the switch was done through MoneySavingExpert and the net cost is £10.74 per month for 12 months; the £75 credit is due by March 2020; the monthly DD is £16.99. I don't make chargable telephone calls so a total cost to me for the year of £128.88.

    How the account will be adjusted is an unknown? the easiest way would be to set the DD at £10.74 and forget the credit of £75 but ISPs always do things the most complicated way. :(

    I expect speed to be 2-3 Mb; why 11Mb average is shown on MSE :money: is a mystery?

    If you're keen to dispell the mystery of average speeds..see here: https://www.asa.org.uk/news/new-standard-on-broadband-speed-claims-in-ads-comes-into-force-today.html

    In summary:

    "These require that any speeds used in broadband advertising should reflect actual package performance and should be based on the download speed available to at least 50% of customers at peak times."

    ?name=inline-922750045.png

    Source:
    https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/147332/home-broadband-report-2018.pdf

    MSE Chris
  • lpgm
    lpgm Posts: 355 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    edited 27 November 2019 at 9:41AM
    Rob_Wills wrote: »
    I don't make chargable telephone calls so a total cost to me for the year of £128.88.

    How the account will be adjusted is an unknown? the easiest way would be to set the DD at £10.74 and forget the credit of £75 but ISPs always do things the most complicated way. :(

    No, it's not an unknown - they'll give you a credit of £75 as promised (I've just had the first bill with it on). It's not really complicated. You may be certain you won't make any calls, but they're not.
  • keef-WhatStandards
    keef-WhatStandards Posts: 286 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Finally got my £75 credit through; not in Oct as advertised on the MSE website, but hey, when do these companies ever do what they say they would?

    Bills are very confusing and there seems to be no record on your "account", so probably safest to download or take a snap shot of it every month. They take a "discount" off each month then add VAT, so none of it looks right, but the bottom line is near enough. Mine is 1p less than they advertised! LOL
    Keef - Sheerness, Kent UK
  • lpgm
    lpgm Posts: 355 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    keef-WhatStandards wrote: »
    They take a "discount" off each month then add VAT, so none of it looks right, but the bottom line is near enough. Mine is 1p less than they advertised! LOL

    Yes, the £16.99, or as we've found, £16.98, is after a real discount of £5. I too didn't realise the price was a discounted one, or at least I don't remember realising it, but I expect I'll be changing again after a year or so anyway!
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