Billing amount following transfer from Shell

[itsstewart]

When I queried why my 1st monthly TT bill in August (following the transfer from Shell)l was £26.86 - £7.79 more than I was paying Shell each month (£19.07)-it was said to be because of an adjustment in the payment date so I had to pay that much more pro rata. As there was a glitch by TT they couldn't collect that payment and I paid the extra by card. Now I've just received an email from TT saying this month's payment is £19.07 and it's being taken on the same day in the month as I used to pay Shell. So TT have taken  an extra £7.79 from me for no reason. How do I get this back without waiting on the phone for so long it's going to cost me more than £7.79 in phone charges?

[Arne-TalkTalk]

@itsstewart calls are free to us, the migration team will be able to look at the shell account as they will have access, 

[Anonymous]

I am also a former Shell Energy customer. I may be able to provide you with an explanation of your bill that clarifies why you have been charged more that the monthly amount you were paying Shell Energy.

I have attached a copy of part of my bill.

Shell Energy's billing period was the 30th of the month to the 29th of the next month, but TalkTalk has changed this to the 11th of the month to the 10th of the next month. For that reason there is a part month charge for the period between the 30th of the month and the 10th of the month.

I was transferred over to TalkTalk on 25 June, and the bill appears to show that TalkTalk has charged me from the 25th June. However, look carefully and you'll notice that the final total of £31.10 is not the sum of the totals for the part month and the full month. There has been a deduction (not shown on the bill) for the period from the 25th of the month and the 30th of the month. The bill summary on My account shows this deduction, but provides no explanation.

Your transfer date may be different to mine, but your bill is most likely similar in format. I doubt that you have paid more than you ought to have.

By the way, if you call TalkTalk customer service from your landline, there is no charge.

[itsstewart]

So you're saying I have to pay for a phone call to sort this out when none of this is of my doing. If Talktalk know about this why don't they just organise a refund of the overpayment instead of me having to spend money on a phone call I shouldn't need to spend and which might cost more than I'm owed? Who can I email about this or do I just complain to Ofcom?

[Bevly]

Dear @itsstewart 

Any additional fee, for a transition/migration period, or pro-rota charges are TOTALLY unacceptable when we, as Shell Energy customers, had no say in this take over.

Further, emails from Shell Energy state categorically that everything would continue as normal.

This is an email I have sent to Talktalk today.

[Gliwmaeden2]

@itsstewart, on 30th August, Arne-TalkTalk wrote:

 "itsstewart Are you able to access your bill , the extra this month is the pro rata charges since going live on our service upto the date of your next bill, and charge in advance for the month so your September bill will be wjhat you agreed with Shell."

It wasn't an "adjustment in the billing date", it was that Talktalk's billing systems have to charge from the date customers join / migrate UP TO the day the bill is made up, AND the month going forward. 

All subsequent bills should cover the same days of each month going forward, so remain at £19.07 [though if there ARE chargeable calls these will show retrospectively, of course].

It's not Talktalk's billing system that has overcharged you. Shell's system will have charged you the CORRECT amount for their billing system too - a month going forward. Normally, once a switch has taken place, the PREVIOUS  company would tidy things up and send any overpayment to their former customer  - after the precise switch date is known and has taken place successfully.

It's slightly different here because you have been migrated, rather than actually left Shell.

This is why you are asked to call in on 03451 720088 after 9am [Monday to Friday till 7pm, till 6pm on Saturdays] to speak to the Shell Migration team about this.

They know all the ins and outs of what has been going on and are responsible for crediting back the payment from the overlapping period.