Price Drop in LPG

jonboy13

Flogas saga update - in short :

signed contract Nov 2007 at 33ppl with 'no surcharge' written on form
Charged 46ppl Dec 2008 bill
Customer service will not budge on price for this current bill but have offered me a 'new' 2 year contract at 36ppl (variable rate etc etc) . As i have 2 years on my current contract to run at their new rate of 46ppl then its a 10p saving so I guess its something.
Will read over contract when sent out. This has frankly been too much hassle for an essential utility but what can you do...complain more, write to Watchdog etc - guess it's all been done before and nothings changed....bought a new 2kw radiator so that's keeping me toasty on my new BG rate so all's not lost.
Oh..I live in West Norfolk as a reference for the 36ppl rate I was offered.
Cheers
Jonboy

howarddiana

I've been battling with Flogas for the past year- I get so frustrated. Today I received a smarmy con letter again from them saying that i am one of their "premium" customers and they can save me £235 this year if I pay them £50 a quarter for my tank rental. What a con- I guess they want to get as much for the tank side before people disappear. I just hate their tactics. I wish we had town gas and could just be rid of them but we too live in west norfolk and apart from the expense of moving to oil, we seem to be stuck. Any news when lpg will actually have regulation?

HateLPG

Oh the joys of LPG!!!!!

Currently on contract with Calor (3 yr contract, but hey, only enforceable for 2 years now!) and surprise surprise, as soon as first year ended and our "Special Entry Price" price as shown on the contract expired, the ppl skyrocketted by 80%!!!!. Got so alarmed by the last ammendment to our DD payment that I scoured the small print, to see exactly where we stood in terms of getting out of the contract etc etc.

Glad i did :j

Under the terms of their contract, specifically clause 6.1, they say:

..."Any Special Entry Price set out overleaf will not, in the twelve months following the period of the Special Entry Price, increase by more than 2.5 ppl in each successive period of six months"...

I am no legal whizz-kid, but it seems pretty open and shut to me - there are no "subject to" clauses in that contract term, merely a definition of their obligations in the twelve months following the Special Entry Period. In our case, the contract stated that this special entry period was 12 months, with the price fixed during that period, so I read that clause as stating that there are caps on the price rise in year 2 of our contract (interestingly, having looked at the OFT website, they interpret that clause in the same way!) .

Calor don;t seem very happy that I have pointed this out to them, and I got a nice long letter explaining that as the price has gone up by so much, I have the right to cancel the contract and as a special privilege, I can pay them the ususal uplift fee (like I am going to before April!). I wrote back to them pointing out that I DON'T wish to cancel the contract, merely enforce it - REALLY looking forward to their response!

Has anyone else tried to enforce this clause in their contract? Would love to know, and will keep this thread posted on developments.

midnight007

Nice one HateLPG.

ginetta77

We are with Flogas... Just spoke to Calor gas, who informed me of the following..

The market will open up on the 13th of April. After that date you can switch suppliers and you will not have to pay for the tank.

Currently they bought their gas last year, when prices were high... So at the moment their price is static, but should change at the end of March when new agreements will come into force/be negotiated.

jonboy13

apologies - this is a post following a bunch of night shifts and my brain is sluggish. As i mentioned previously, I have a new 2 yearcontract sitting in front of me from Flogas quoting 36ppl instead of my current 46ppl. My original contract expires in 2 years time so it makes sense that I sign it to get the better rate and I'm contracted that long anyway. With the new legislation coming into effect, will that nullify any existing contracts even with a couple of years to run ?? Sorry - I will scout the net later but if anyway has an informed yes or no it would be much appreciated.
Brrrrrrr...more cold weather - nightmare - at least the suns out though !
Cheers
Jonboy

HateLPG

jonboy13, my understanding is (and this was from a Calor rep) that as of 13th April, no contract may exceed 2 years. This covers not just NEW contracts, but will apply retrospectively to existing contracts (ie, after 13/4/09, once 2 years have passed from the date on which the contract was signed, you will no longer be bound by that contract).

If anyone knows anything contrary to the above, I would be very interested to know!

Personally I wouldn't sign a darned thing with ANY LPG supplier until AFTER 13th April. Calor are already promising price drops in March and from what I hear, it seems that ALL the companies are working hard to lock people into shiny new 2-year contracts at what (in this currently un-competitive market) appear to be favourable rates. Remember, if you elect to change supplier BEFORE 13th April, they can still hit you with a tank uplift charge.

If your supplier has already dropped their price by more than 20% (subject to a 2 year lock-in) by how much MORE will they drop the price to keep your business once you can transfer the tank ownership and sign a new contract with whoever you like without having to factor in the uplift cost when calculating whether or not you have a good deal???

Remember,

1. When the wholesale price rose, they were quick enough to hit us with increased rates and surcharges, but they have not been so keen to pass on the major falls in price that we have seen reflected on petrol station forecouts over the last few months;
2. They have been operating in a MASSIVELY un-competitive market, so the prices we are all paying are way out-of-line anyway

SO, they have a LOT of room for manouvre with respect to the price they charge.

Call me cynical, but I would be willing to bet that even if they dropped their prices back to the 25ppl mark they would STILL be making a nice little profit, and they would get away with it because it would seem so much better to the end user than the diabolically inflated rates they have been charging (as a last hoorah to profiteering) since the Competition Commission got their teeth (or should that be dentures) into them!

Interestingly, there are already signs of new players gearing up to enter the market once the rules change, which gives some small hope that we might soon see the "Green shoots of recovery (of competition)" in the market!

Finally, check the small print of your contract really REALLY carefully (see my earlier post) and make sure you understand exactly what is written there (rather than what your supplier wants you to believe or tells you is written there!)

lpg_2

Just Spoke To Extra Fuels The Cheapest Price I Have Ever Had Well Worth A Call Or A Email

denise123

Just phoned flo gas, for us in north wales, its [LPG bulk tank] 54.35p per litre inc vat, and they cant reduce the price for us at all.

have to order 600 litres, for 500 litres there is an extra £25 surcharge.

out of contract in feb 2010.

put the phone down saying i may phone back later, as the tank is running on fumes now, they also said there is no likelyhood of the prices dropping.

to order some more for the coming months, plus what we still owe from october, looks like debts ahead for us, cant afford to up the direct debit.

the guy on the phone was not sounding happy at all, nor was I! :mad: lol

roll on 2010 when i can phone around for cheaper prices......all i have to do is get to grips with phoning up & putting in an order and knowing we will be in debt, not a good feeling at all............but have no other choice Husband [disabled] and the three children will not be happy with no heating or hot water, feel a bit like tim, here is your peice of coal lad, make it last...:rolleyes:

cjbananas

denise123 wrote: »

Just phoned flo gas, for us in north wales, its [LPG bulk tank] 54.35p per litre inc vat, and they cant reduce the price for us at all.

have to order 600 litres, for 500 litres there is an extra £25 surcharge.

out of contract in feb 2010.

put the phone down saying i may phone back later, as the tank is running on fumes now, they also said there is no likelyhood of the prices dropping.

to order some more for the coming months, plus what we still owe from october, looks like debts ahead for us, cant afford to up the direct debit.

the guy on the phone was not sounding happy at all, nor was I! :mad: lol

roll on 2010 when i can phone around for cheaper prices......all i have to do is get to grips with phoning up & putting in an order and knowing we will be in debt, not a good feeling at all............but have no other choice Husband [disabled] and the three children will not be happy with no heating or hot water, feel a bit like tim, here is your peice of coal lad, make it last...:rolleyes:

Flogas make me sick ... I seriously can't wait for April to arrive when I can leave them!

54.35p is utterly ridiculous ... you can buy it cheaper than that from petrol stations ... and that includes road fuel duty ... from what I gather, the wholesale price is circa 20p per litr e... how they can justify their prices is beyond me!

They are nothing but robbers ... I hope they go under following the rule changes!