Another Calor price rise!!!

welshsue

My Calor went up by 3.5ppl in December and just rec'd another letter this morning saying do to supply prob's from Middle East/North Africa it's going up again in April by another 4ppl. :mad::mad::mad:

Going to write in as it is in breach of my contract which states they can only put up the price by 3.5ppl once every six months.

Mbday

Are you aware of the OFT investigation currently going on into the "offgrid" market? This includes LPG. If you type "mbday" into the "search forums" field at the top of the MoneySaving page, it will give you the details. If you follow the links you will find many other disgruntled LPG users. Apologies if you are already aware of this.

Mister_G

welshsue wrote: »

My Calor went up by 3.5ppl in December and just rec'd another letter this morning saying do to supply prob's from Middle East/North Africa it's going up again in April by another 4ppl. :mad::mad::mad:

Going to write in as it is in breach of my contract which states they can only put up the price by 3.5ppl once every six months.

Just got same 4ppl letter from Calor.

I rang my local depot and told them that they were in immediate breach of clause 7.2 of the contract (max 3.5ppl in 6 months). Girl said that she knew that they were and that if I wished to cancel the contract, to put it in writing.

Needless to say, email has just been sent to them.

I'll keep you posted on their reply.

allendale

I've just had a letter this morning with a 4p price rise following a previous one in December.

That means I will now be paying 56p a litre plus vat as of 4th April. Do you mind me asking what anyone else pays?

My monthly payment is already up to £205.00 per month without this recent rise. Not a massive house!

Interestingly, we have fitted a new LPG boiler and seems to be more economical. Is this a way of Calor regaining what they may be losing?

bernithebiker

International LPG prices have been alot stronger lately due to the crude price rises and loss of refining in Libya, etc.

But it's amazing that they are defying their own contract - surely a big newspaper or TV program should pick up on this?

Also, Calor must have some sort of hedging structure (if not, why not?) to protect themselves against such rises. They should be obliged to reveal what it is, and show how much they are making from it, thus offsetting any price rises.

But this has been on the cards for some time. Oil based products are too precious to be burnt for heating - we need to use other solutions, (elec, wood, etc.)

Mister_G

allendale wrote: »

I've just had a letter this morning with a 4p price rise following a previous one in December.

That means I will now be paying 56p a litre plus vat as of 4th April. Do you mind me asking what anyone else pays?

My monthly payment is already up to £205.00 per month without this recent rise. Not a massive house!

Interestingly, we have fitted a new LPG boiler and seems to be more economical. Is this a way of Calor regaining what they may be losing?

Hi Allendale

I was paying 54.6p last April, but managed to negotiate it down to 43p plus £200 free gas, on the threat of going elsewhere. I use about 4000 litres pa for a 4 bed rural semi.

bobhawke

bernithebiker wrote: »

International LPG prices have been alot stronger lately due to the crude price rises and loss of refining in Libya, etc.

But it's amazing that they are defying their own contract - surely a big newspaper or TV program should pick up on this?

Also, Calor must have some sort of hedging structure (if not, why not?) to protect themselves against such rises. They should be obliged to reveal what it is, and show how much they are making from it, thus offsetting any price rises.

But this has been on the cards for some time. Oil based products are too precious to be burnt for heating - we need to use other solutions, (elec, wood, etc.)

They defy their own contract because most people don't notice it. Those that do might avoid the increase or just get told to go get ripped off somewhere else.

Calor, and the other major suppliers, have massive facilities where they can store gas that they have bought for cheap and sell at the higher prices in winter. It works both ways, sometimes they get it wrong and buy high but for the most part they come out well ahead.

gogostar

Hi,
i just got letter from landlords saying calor gas is putting up price of gas from 1st december by 3.5ppl+ VAT. it means i have to pay 54ppl (including VAT)
Problem is i don't know how to calculate my usage in liters. readings from meter are 28/1/2011= 257265 and 9/3/2011=259963. it means i used up 2698 ft3 of gas. how many liters is it? how do i convert it?
i got invoice for £150 from landlords and it seems to be too much considering im in small house and using heating only few hours a day.
Thanks for any advice.

barneylancs

welshsue,
Seems we have all got a letter about the price increase! blaming the trouble in the middle east (they must have emptied the tanks at stanlow refinery where calor bp etc all get their supplies, from the same tap, )
When we got the price increase in december I phoned them up and said I had a two year contract for a price that still had eighteen months to run. Quote 'yes we know and we have broken our side of the contract so you can get it elsewhere if you want'
But as we know they operate a cartel so the all put up the price at the same time.
I would not bother with the tripe about we will give you a fixed contract price if you get your supply with us.

People who use LPG usually have no other choice for gas.

welshsue

just spoken to Calor. They were quoting me terms from 2010 (they can not put up the price by more than 3.5ppl in 3 months, if they do then you have the right to terminate the agreement). I have a contract from 2009 which states (3.5ppl in every 6 month period). Told her this and she was very shirty with me and said she would dig out the contract and ring me but if I didn't like it then I could leave them. Just read the contract again and it says if you leave you have to pay the uplift fee..... does this still stand?????
I have just emailed BBC x-ray to see if they are interested in this story and if I don't get a satisfactory answer will take this further.

welshsue

update, just had a call from Calor.... the woman tried to tell me that they price theirs according to the market. well they don't because they don't ever reduce the prices. I have been with them 6yrs and never had it reduced, always put up. I am disabled and really struggling with this so will have to look around for new suppliers and get in touch with the disability rights people. I have no choice but to have LPG as no mains gas. I have been in touch with Extragas and they fluctuate their prices each month and in the summer the prices reduce nicely. Are these any good??? anyone know???