Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

LittleVermin

brandeberryj wrote: »

SEE ABOVE EXTRA FUEL and go to service page

Hi The Q,

Extra Gas (Extra Fuel) is based in Manchester and delivers to me in Cornwall - using Flogas. (Flogas driver: "I'm doing a lot for Flogas now - who are they?"). I switched a couple of months ago from BP (who offered me a price reduction from 53+ to 42+ if I signed a contract .. but the lower price was only guaranteed to August). Extra Gas charge me £60 + VAT per year for the tank (which was BP's).

Anyway you can see Extra Gas's price each month on their website.

I dealt with a guy called Mark Slack: really helpful. And very happy to answer questions when I was thinking of switching, e.g. he sent a plot of their monthly prices for last 18 months. I'm sure he'd be helpful if you wanted to discuss the pros and cons of them taking over your tank. The engineers who service the tanks seem to be private contractors who work for several suppliers.

best wishes,
John

aka Little Vermin

meagan

I live in lincolnshire and looking for new deal for my lpg,is there anyone out there willing to give me advice on their supplier(service and good current price).i am worried i shall make a mistake without some help

LittleVermin

meagan wrote: »

I live in lincolnshire and looking for new deal for my lpg,is there anyone out there willing to give me advice on their supplier(service and good current price).i am worried i shall make a mistake without some help

Extra Fuel's price for August is 36.94ppl - see http://www.extrafuel.co.uk . The price varies month by month (obviously depending on the price they can buy it at). I'm sure they'll let you see the prices for previous months. Price tends to go up in winter, down in summer: from the chart they sent me of monthly prices since December 2008 (when it was under 27), the highest in winter 08/09 was around 32 in Feb 09, down to about 32 in May 09 and the highest last winter, 09/10, was around 42 in January.

They - actually Mark Slack on 0161 789 0000 - were incredibly helpful when I was looking to change from BP, and filled my tank before I'd signed a contract. (BP were being especially unhelpful, referring to contracts I had not signed! Heads we win, tails you lose type of situation). So far the service has been great, but I've only been with Extra Fuel for a couple of months.

If you prefer a "fixed" price go for a contract with a major supplier - but I found with BP that my price went up (with a very apologetic letter about world prices, blah, blah), then stable for a few months, then up again (another letter ...) but only once came down. I ended up paying 53+ when others on this forum were paying in the forties, or even thirties! And, suddenly, when I told BP I was considering moving, they offered me a contract at 42+ (but only guaranteed for a couple of [summer] months).

Good luck with seeing what other providers will offer you!

cheers,
Little Vermin - in Cornwall.

LittleVermin

meagan wrote: »

I live in lincolnshire and looking for new deal for my lpg,is there anyone out there willing to give me advice on their supplier(service and good current price).i am worried i shall make a mistake without some help

Hi Meagan,

If you put your postcode in the box at

http://www.uklpg.org/supplier-search/

you'll see which companies will supply you.

UKLPG is the "trade association for the LPG industry".

cheers
John

jimmyboy1980

Have lived here for 5 years now in gloucestershire and have used Flogas for our Bulk LPG, however I will NEVER use them again.

Initially I was told I would have to sign a new contract as a new tenant (which I never did as the house already had an existing contract). Then when the contract ran out Flogas tried to pressure me into signing a new 5 year one in exchange for no standing charges on the tank (which again I refused to sign). After reviewing this website at the time it seems they were rushing to put as many people into long contracts before the competition commission made there ruling.

Since then we have had two deliveries made from Flogas without actually ordering any gas (I opted not to have automatic top-ups), meaning I had to pay whatever they liked for the last two tanks.

I called them today for a quote and they stated 64ppl. I asked them why so much when Calor quoted 39.9ppl, and they said it was because they had received no correspondance from me for some time! They were willing to match the Calor price, however the standing charges from Flogas are £38/qtr, as opposed to Calors £15/qtr.

Then I phoned Extra fuel 0161 789 0000, and spoke to a lovely chap called mark Slack (that everybody seems to speak to!) who helped immensely. The price of fuel is transparent on there homepage, so you know you're not being stung. The price today was a little over 36ppl, again a saving on the others, and with the same £15 quarterly tank charges.

If I'd have bought the fuel from them on the last (accidental!) delivery Flogas had made, I'd have reduced my gas bill from over £750 to £290 as the price of fuel a few months ago was 26ppl.

It pays to look elsewhere I think! Dont get stung by Flogas, I never will again!

Oh and thanks little vermin for the above posts, very helpful

LittleVermin

jimmyboy1980 wrote: »

Have lived here for 5 years now in gloucestershire and have used Flogas for our Bulk LPG, however I will NEVER use them again.

<snip>

I called them today for a quote and they stated 64ppl. I asked them why so much when Calor quoted 39.9ppl, and they said it was because they had received no correspondance from me for some time! They were willing to match the Calor price, however the standing charges from Flogas are £38/qtr, as opposed to Calors £15/qtr.

<snip>

It pays to look elsewhere I think!

<snip>

If enough of us desert the majors then they'll either have to be more competitive - or buy up the small suppliers (and then we'll all be ripped off again!).

Maybe time to contact the Office of Fair Trading (as someone else has suggested)? http://www.oft.gov.uk/contactus

and the local MP.

Before the Competition Commission produced its report which resulted in the present improved situation they asked for LPG users to write in. Some/all responses are at http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/current/gas/third_party_submissions_lpg_customers.pdf There seem to be enough horror stories about for a sequel (e.g. "Haven't heard from you in a while, sir! We've a special price for you: only 64ppl").

cheers,
John aka Little Vermin

LittleVermin

Sorry if you've read this on another thread!

FYI
Consumer direct on lpg (one page summary):

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/Ene...ply/563247/LPG

FAQs
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/mon...s/lpg-faqs.pdf

Useful stuff to quote if your supplier tries a run-around! (e.g. any old contracts of over 2 years are unenforceable - but it's up to the consumer to give notice).

jimmyboy1980

I think you're right. I do so wish that competitive companys such as Extra Fuel grow to wipe the floor of these thieving so-and-so's like Flogas. There are too many vulnerable people around who don't have the same ability to say no to them.
Thanks again John

meagan

HI Steve,I was wondering what you thought to discount Gases service and price for last winter.I have been reading on this site that Extra Fuel seems somewhat reasonable

Steve17 wrote: »

Hi all
Just a price update (ex raf Swinderby, lincs, notts border) Discount gas supplies now 41.5 ppl +vat. 1st jan went up 2.5p then again on 11th jan up another 2p. The last I heard of Calors price was 42 ppl +vat so nothing much in it. Shell also supplying area but I don't know their price, I would be interested to know if anyone can oblige.
Regards

lpgrrrrr

Hi all

Thanks for all the useful info on lpg suppliers. I'm in Surrey and am about to switch from Calor (49.5 ppl) to BP (38.95 fixed for 1 year). Calor have been very slippery characters to deal with and had to be threatened with Office of Fair Trading to get them to stick to their 5 year contract terms. I'm hoping BP will be a bit less dodgy.

Does anyone know how lpg compares with Economy7 electricity for price and efficiency? I've read on this forum that lpg gives you 7.11Kw per litre, and I've just been quoted 4p per unit (1KwH) by EDF for an economy7 night rate, which works out at 28.44 ppl- a LOT less than I'm paying. Also, it must be more efficient to use an immersion heater for your water than to fire up the boiler and send the heat all round the pipes to your tank? I'm even (reluctantly) thinking of installing storage heaters- EDF would then charge 5p per unit -equivalent to 35.55 ppl, so it's still a bit cheaper, and if the whole system is more efficient......and doesn't need servicing...