EXTRACT FROM SCOTTISH SUN ARTICLE PUBLISHED 15 SEPT 2020

ALMOST 700,000 people have lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic, official figures reveal.

There are now 2.7million Brits claiming unemployment benefits — a leap of 120 per cent since March, when lockdown began.

The latest jobless total, announced yesterday by the Office for National Statistics, means the unemployment rate is at 4.1 per cent, up from 3.9 per cent previously.

And with five million workers still on furlough, experts are warning of more devastating losses when the scheme comes to an end next month. read more

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last several days on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 1st Sept 2020.

Unethical, dishonest, greedy & dishonourable

Unethical (persuaded 85 year old to switch whilst shopping in Asda). Misleading (direct debit fell far short of usage & so accumulated a huge debt). Dishonest (agreed her repayment proposal & then additionally took an extra £100 by direct debit). Greedy (want to charge an exit fee). Dishonourable (blocked her move to another energy provider). Unreasonable length of time to get through to customer service. Agents pleasant & sympathetic but they have no authority.

Don’t trust! They lied to my face to get me to switch to them!

I switched to shell because they told me the standing charges were a lot less than I was initially paying and trusted I was being told the truth as it was face to face in my own gome. I never had anything to show me the rates and couldn’t access my online account for months and when I finally could I realised I was paying more than double! When I contacted them they told me as it was a face to face sign up there was nothing they could do as it was my word against their’s! So far in 8 months it cost me about £400 more than if I’d stayed with British gas so I would definitely not trust or recommend them ever! read more

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last several days on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 17 August 2020.

Switched over to shell for all utilities and broadband

Its been the worst customer service ever
they do not respond to emails, they take hours to answer a call
they did not resolve the problem of my complaint of being over charged. Dont make the same mistake as me. go elsewhere

Left hand doesn’t know what…

So far the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

I’m trying to switch via uSwitch and now over 26 days later I’m still attempting this. Shell energy are telling uswitch I don’t have a Economy 7 meter but an Economy 10 meter instead.

However when I ring up shell energy and speak to sales (Sean) they tell me I have an Economy 7 but they cannot offer me the tariff on uSwitch directly. read more

UK energy firms using debt collectors despite coronavirus agreement

The government and energy firms had agreed that no customers should be cut off during the lockdown. Photograph: David Burton/Alamy

Jillian Ambrose: Sun 26 Apr 2020 14.45 BST

Britain’s energy suppliers are continuing to use debt collectors to chase unpaid bills after promising to help households during the coronavirus pandemic by offering payment plans to struggling customers.

Under an agreement with the government, energy suppliers are expected to identify customers who might be in financial distress and offer to reassess, reduce or pause bill payments to help “reassure” homes during the coronavirus lockdown.

But many households and small businesses with outstanding balances on their energy accounts may still be targeted by debt collectors with warnings that action may be taken against them if they don’t pay their bills. read more

We’re closely following government advice on COVID-19 (coronavirus) as the situation develops. We want to make sure we continue to give our customers all the support they need, while still protecting the wellbeing of both our staff and customers.

You can manage your account as normal by logging in or using our app. Where possible, please do this in the first instance.

If you’re in need of urgent support, you can call us on the relevant number below. It might take a little longer for us to answer, but we’ll make sure you speak to a member of our team. read more

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last few days on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted 13 Feb 2020.

Truely awful, avoid at all cost

Truely awful. Takes very long to answer phones every time, no matter what day of week. I bought a house and received estimated bills. When I tried to update the reading, it keeps saying on the system it’s invalid. But they wouldn’t listen that I haven’t moved in yet. And of course I keep getting estimated bills which are way higher than they should be. read more

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last day or so on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring theme in negative reviews; the difficulty in communicating with the company. Some typos and punctuation amended for ease of reading. Posted 29 Jan 2020.

Terrible customer service stay away from this company

Currently been on hold for nearly an hour !!! Tied into a 5 yr contract with extortionate prices, they want £100 from me to leave !!! Worst company I have dealt with in a long time. read more

The featured extracts are from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last day or so on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring theme in negative reviews; the difficulty in communicating with the company. Some typos and punctuation amended for ease of reading. Posted 28 Jan 2020.

Can’t get an email response

Can’t get an email response. The automated chat was useless. Calling a waste of time as still could not speak to an agent. Was then directed to live chat only to find I was number 25 in the queue. What waste of an hour. read more

The featured extracts below are from profusely apologetic replies from Shell Energy in response to stinging customer reviews about Shell Energy posted on Trustpilot. Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and the complete Shell Energy responses). Shell’s apologies try to address the reoccurring theme in the flood of negative reviews – the difficulty in communicating with the company.

Extracts from apologies put into writing by Shell Energy on Trustpilot 

16 Jan 2020

I’m extremely sorry that you’ve had difficulty getting through to us. Please be assured that we’re investing a lot into reducing wait times and making sure we have the support and measurements in place to ensure that wait times are reduced going forward also.

16 Jan 2020

I’m extremely sorry that you’ve had trouble getting in touch…

16 Jan 2020

I am very apologetic for the negative experience you have faced thus far with our services. I can assure you this is surely not the level of service we wish to provide to any of our customers. I would also like to apologies for the long delay in answering your call or essentially being available to take your query.  read more

The featured brief extracts are from Trustpilot reviews about Shell Energy posted in recent days. Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative. Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring theme in negative reviews; the difficulty in communicating with the company. 

11 Jan 2020

Utterly useless.

I moved into a property supplied by them a month ago and repeatedly have tried to get in contact to register my details with them. Their website is usless, web chat is useless and then I spent 30 minutes on hold waiting for someone who then hung up on me?

11 Jan 2020

WARNING WARNING EVERYONE DONT PERSUE THESE PEOPLE!!!!!!

Omg… I have had problems with shell energy for months regarding outstanding bills and have just read on my news feed that the company is in trouble as other customers are having the same experience as am I, this is crazy and so stressful. read more

ANOTHER LESS THAN FLATTERING REVIEW ABOUT SHELL ENERGY BY A PISSED OFF UK CUSTOMER

On 23 Dec 2019, at 12:41, wrote:

So I’m paying £190 a month to to this f*****g company x had smart meters fitted x my total bill this month should be about £80-£90 max and they’ve upped my debit balance by £500!!! WTF????!!!!

Liz Brady

By August Graham, PA City Reporter: PA Media: UK News: 16 December 2019

EXTRACT FROM THE ARTICLE:

Energy supplier pays £1.5m after overcharging customers

It is the second time that a company has had to pay out for breaking the price cap rules. In June, Shell Energy paid £390,000 after it overcharged its customers by £100,737. More than 6,000 customers were affected by the breach, Ofgem said at the time.

The above extracts are from Trustpilot, Facebook Group: Shell Energy (formerly First Utility) – the worst customer service ever?? and First Utility Reviews

The Shell Energy gripe website is being launched in response to consumer horror stories involving debt collectors and bailiffs, with complaints posted online by outraged Shell Energy customers like the damning examples quoted in the above header.

By John Donovan

Shell and its shareholders will not welcome the news that I am launching another website later this month focussed on Shell. This time the target is Shell Energy, a global brand of rapidly growing importance and value to the parent company – Royal Dutch Shell Plc – in its quest to move away from an increasingly toxic fossil fuel-based business. Part of the gathering flight of ethical investors deserting Big Oil, in Shell’s case a transition into becoming a global energy and broadband company, instead of a dying oil giant. read more

Ofgem has said it is minded to allow Shell Energy to claim up to £354,147 for costs incurred in acting as a Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) to customers of failed supplier Usio Energy.

First Utility, which rebranded as Shell Energy in March this year, was chosen by the regulator to take on Usio Energy’s 7,000 customersfollowing a competitive process.

An SoLR can make a claim for Last Resort Supply Payment (LRSP) from relevant distribution networks if granted consent to the amount claimed. read more