Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?

chookstowers4

Hi,
In response to 1517sharps and Megan's posts, we are currently with Calor.
Our contract ends at the beginning of June and at the end of February we rec'd a letter from Calor offering 'cut price gas.'

We were offered a variable price of 37ppl or fixed until March 2017 with 39 ppl.
With effect from March, our price dropped to the variable rate as we were paying 41ppl but this was automatic and as we weren't tied to an extended contract this was fine.

I didn't accept the fixed rate as because we are near the end of contract I had already been doing the bi annual ring around.
Flogas have offered 27.5ppl with a 3ppl cap in second year. I have double checked the wording to make sure this does mean that the max I will pay per litre in the second year is 30.5ppl, £250 credit and £80 s/c.
Calor initially started with 34ppl and with some haggling have come in finally with 28ppl with 2ppl cap in second year, £250 credit and similar standing charge.
I did check all our local suppliers inc Woldlink but for the sake of 0.5ppl saving we settled to stay with Calor.

I have read all the comments re service etc and take these into account. However, we have been with Calor for four years and touch wood have not had any issues re deliveries, service etc. There is unfortunately this hassle every two years which I'm sure we could all do without but as long as you do your homework and know current prices and what's being offered elsewhere then you are in a stronger position.
The only bug bear I would say I had was the level of the direct debit which has now been resolved and it was a case of speaking to the right person really.

Hope this helps others make a decision

PS We're bused in the East Midlands.

mcmullank

chookstowers4 wrote: »

Hi,
In response to 1517sharps and Megan's posts, we are currently with Calor.
Our contract ends at the beginning of June and at the end of February we rec'd a letter from Calor offering 'cut price gas.'

We were offered a variable price of 37ppl or fixed until March 2017 with 39 ppl.
With effect from March, our price dropped to the variable rate as we were paying 41ppl but this was automatic and as we weren't tied to an extended contract this was fine.

I didn't accept the fixed rate as because we are near the end of contract I had already been doing the bi annual ring around.
Flogas have offered 27.5ppl with a 3ppl cap in second year. I have double checked the wording to make sure this does mean that the max I will pay per litre in the second year is 30.5ppl, £250 credit and £80 s/c.
Calor initially started with 34ppl and with some haggling have come in finally with 28ppl with 2ppl cap in second year, £250 credit and similar standing charge.
I did check all our local suppliers inc Woldlink but for the sake of 0.5ppl saving we settled to stay with Calor.

I have read all the comments re service etc and take these into account. However, we have been with Calor for four years and touch wood have not had any issues re deliveries, service etc. There is unfortunately this hassle every two years which I'm sure we could all do without but as long as you do your homework and know current prices and what's being offered elsewhere then you are in a stronger position.
The only bug bear I would say I had was the level of the direct debit which has now been resolved and it was a case of speaking to the right person really.

Hope this helps others make a decision

PS We're bused in the East Midlands.

You had no problem with Calor over the 4 years. Apart from price!

This was the main driver for me in leaving Calor, the fact that they have tried to get you to sign a new contract that was significantly higher than the price that others would supply you. Hell, even the variable price that they changed to in March is significantly over a true market price. In my opinion.

All that I wanted from the LPG supplier was a fair rate and one where I didn't have to contact them every few months to get them to adjust their price. For this reason alone, variable pricing with Woldlink met my criteria.

chookstowers4

mcmullank wrote: »

You had no problem with Calor over the 4 years. Apart from price!

This was the main driver for me in leaving Calor, the fact that they have tried to get you to sign a new contract that was significantly higher than the price that others would supply you. Hell, even the variable price that they changed to in March is significantly over a true market price. In my opinion.

All that I wanted from the LPG supplier was a fair rate and one where I didn't have to contact them every few months to get them to adjust their price. For this reason alone, variable pricing with Woldlink met my criteria.

Thank you for this - I was only replying to the previous posts asking if anyone had had similar letters and I also put forward what I eventually did and decided upon.
Yes Calor may and indeed do overcharge many if posts on here are anything to go by but as we are forum users we all know that they are not the only culprits of this. Unfortunately we can only do so much by posting on here, word of mouth etc until the powers that be step in and make this energy area more transparent - to help with this I forwarded contracts etc to Little Vermin.
You may have chosen Woldlink but for me on a tight budget, to know what I'm paying exactly for 24 months is helpful rather than anticipating rate changes every 6 months.
And no to reiterate I did not have any problems with Calor for the last four years. At the time of my last contract, the price I eventually haggled was comparable with other suppliers on the market and again this time after haggling.
I posted the above to respond to anothers enquiry and was aware of Calor's overpricing, I didn't need this pointing out hence the reason I did not accept the price.
I think we should be supportive of each other on here after all it's supposed to be a safe area to voice comments and search for info.

AdrianC

chookstowers4 wrote: »

Yes Calor may and indeed do overcharge

"Overcharge" is not the right term - it carries heavy implications of charging above what the contract allows. And that's not what they're doing. They are charging exactly what the buyer has agreed to pay.

It's merely that the contracted rate is poor value relative to other suppliers.

mcmullank

chookstowers4 wrote: »

Thank you for this - I was only replying to the previous posts asking if anyone had had similar letters and I also put forward what I eventually did and decided upon.
Yes Calor may and indeed do overcharge many if posts on here are anything to go by but as we are forum users we all know that they are not the only culprits of this. Unfortunately we can only do so much by posting on here, word of mouth etc until the powers that be step in and make this energy area more transparent - to help with this I forwarded contracts etc to Little Vermin.
You may have chosen Woldlink but for me on a tight budget, to know what I'm paying exactly for 24 months is helpful rather than anticipating rate changes every 6 months.
And no to reiterate I did not have any problems with Calor for the last four years. At the time of my last contract, the price I eventually haggled was comparable with other suppliers on the market and again this time after haggling.
I posted the above to respond to anothers enquiry and was aware of Calor's overpricing, I didn't need this pointing out hence the reason I did not accept the price.
I think we should be supportive of each other on here after all it's supposed to be a safe area to voice comments and search for info.

I don't think anything in my previous post was unsupportive and if it was I apologise as this was certainly not my intention.

As you say, until the market is regulated in the same manner as on-grid then it really is an "us against them" situation.

At the end of the day, most people are only wanting the best price for the product. It is therefore important to note that anyone accepting Calor's initial offer (especially those that do not frequent the forum or have no idea that the price is negotiable) will lose out. Whilst this may not fall under your definition of a problem, it remains the case that Calor is attempting to take advantage of people's lack of knoweldge on how this market works.

meagan

Thanks for all the responses regarding calors 'so called reduced prices I have decided to wait and try my luck when my contract runs out.I am very interested in the posts on woldlink but am very nervous about changing suppler not knowing what you letting yourself infor and the name Flogas does not inspire me with convidence

alarge

Hi Meagan

Just to let you know that we were offered 27ppl from Avanti Gas fixed for 2 years. This was for a new install but probably worth giving them a call as thats quite a bit cheaper than Calor and still in your criteria of knowing what your spending over 24 months.

Badger04

Just coming to renew. Had switched from Calor 2 years ago to Flogas.
Lady on phone started at 34.9 p/litre. I asked one last time because i would switch if i could get a better deal. They came back with 28.25p/litre plus £150 free gas and a complicated 9 month fix then 4p/litre price increase and then a negotiation in 21 months time.
I am waiting for some more prices and will post on forum.
Flogas confirmed they have a customer price and a new customer price which is lower!
We live in Dorset. Does anyone else have up to date quotes?
Many thanks
Badger04

SJM007

mjs1986 wrote: »

Hi everyone

How does this sound as a deal?

£0.28p ppl fixed for 2 years, £60 standing charge and £300 free gas. Would it be better to find a supplier with a slightly higher PPL but only on a 12 month agreement as LPG will probably come down again in 12 months?
M

Hi
Shopping around - can you confirm who the supplier was?
Thanks
SJM007

markharmer

My supplier is Countrywide Farmers. I live in East Midlands. I took new contract with them in Feb 2015 (for the minimum 2 years we are forced to take). Price was fixed at 35p + VAT per litre for 1 year, which was the best deal I could get at the time. I have had bulk LPG for 25 years, Countrywide have done excatly the same as all the different suppliers I had over the years, a few months after the fixed period comes to an end they increase the price, stating market conditions as the reason. In this instance Countrywide have stated the justification for the increase as the recent fall of the pound against the dollar. True, there will have been a recent increase because of that, but the price of bulk LPG is currently probably still less than in Feb 2015, and I didn't get a letter in Feb 2016 stating my price would be reduced because the price had fallen over the previous 12 months and indeed I have never had a letter from any supplier stating my price would be reduced! I did however manage to get the price increase of 4p per litre reduced to a 2p per litre increase as "a goodwill gesture", I bet the "goodwill" would have been more if it was Feb 2017! I am a customer "over a barrel" as usual.