Introduction

At Shoto Energy, we pride ourselves on delivering expert, transparent advice which is underpinned by high standards of service and professionalism. Our approach is built on simplicity, clarity and a commitment to going above and beyond for our customers.

If at any time we fall short of these standards, we have a clear complaints procedure in place to ensure all concerns are handled fairly, promptly, and professionally.

In the event of a complaint, we are committed to approaching the matter with a genuine focus on achieving a fair and reasonable outcome.

A copy of this complaints procedure is available free of charge upon request. Please let us know if you would like us to email or post a copy to you.

Below, we explain how our complaints process works, the steps to follow if you wish to make a complaint, and your right to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman should you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of our review.

We use feedback from complaints to support our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and service excellence.

The procedure

1. Contact us:

Please contact us by email, telephone or post.

Email: hello@shotoenergy.co.uk

Telephone: 03330540454

Post: 109 Market Street, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, BL4 8EX

Our customer relations team are available business days 9am to 5pm.

2. Acknowledgement

We will within two working days of receiving your complaint send you an acknowledgement. In doing so we shall inform you of the designated complaint manager who will deal with your complaint throughout the process. Where possible your designated complaint manager will be someone other than your previous main point of contact with us. We keep a record of all complaints received, including relevant correspondence, dates, investigations and outcomes, in line with regulatory requirements.

3. Additional information or clarification

Your designated complaint manager may contact you seeking additional information, documentation or clarification as to issues raised.

4. Our decision

Within ten working days of the acknowledgement of the complaint, we will let you know the outcome of our investigation. Should we be unable to provide our decision within that ten working day period we will update you as to progress and a revised anticipated date for providing our decision.

5. Your decision

We ask that within ten working days of you receiving our decision you let us know whether or not you accept our decision. If you do not accept our decision please make us aware as soon as reasonably possible. If you do not accept our decision, it will help if you provide copies of any additional documents and/or information that will assist in our review of the initial investigation.

6.Decision review

Should you not accept our initial decision and ask us to review that decision we will carry out a review. Again, we hope to inform you of the outcome of that review within ten working days of you telling us your decision. Similar to the initial decision process, in the event we do not anticipate letting you have our decision within ten working days we will update you as to a revised decision date. We may also during that decision review ask you for additional information, documentation and/or clarification of issues raised.

7. Eight-week letter

Whatever stage has been reached in the above process eight weeks after we first received your complaint we shall send you an eight-week letter. Once you have received that letter you are entitled to complain to the Ombudsman, more details as to that step are below.

8. Deadlock letter

If you chose to reject our decision (whether the original decision or a revised decision) we will send you a deadlock letter. This letter confirms that you have rejected our decision as to your complaint. Once you receive this letter you are entitled to complain to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman

If you are a microbusiness you are entitled to take your complaint to the Ombudsman should your complaint not be resolved either eight weeks after the complaint was first made to us or once you have received a deadlock letter from us, whichever is sooner.

The Ombudsman is an independent body that decides the outcome of disputes between us and our microbusiness customers. There is no charge to you for the Ombudsman’s services.

If you accept the Energy Ombudsman’s decision, we must then honour that decision. You are not though bound to accept the Energy Ombudsman’s decision and instead may choose to take other action such as litigation.

The Ombudsman’s contact details:

Name: Energy Ombudsman

Email: enquiry@energyombudsman.org (emails are responded to within five working days)

Telephone: 0330 440 1624 (8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm Saturday)

Post: Energy Ombudsman, PO Box 966, Warrington, WA4 9DF

Website: www.energyombudsman.org

The Citizens Advice Bureau

If you need independent and practical advice you can also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau. This service gives you free, confidential and impartial advice.

Website:www.citizensadvice.org.uk