Another Calor price rise!!!

HateLPG

schoolrunmum wrote: »

Well I had some success....I emailed Calor after receiving the 4ppl rise letter, and said what about the letter you sent me last year when I renewed my contract,saying my price would be 39.5ppl??? To my amazement they emailed back this morning saying ah, yes,sorry, that was a mistake, you should not have been sent the increase letter as you are indeed contracted to a lower price.....!!!! Question is, if I hadn't queried it, whats the chances of them just charging me the higher amount anyway and seeing if they can get away with it??

An absolute 100% certainty. I wont go as far as to say it's Official Calor "policy", but it's certainly the way they operate. They know that 99% of people never even read the contract small print, let alone understand it!

I experienced exactly the same thing a couple of years back and eventually, after significant persuasion, Calor finally agreed that they had in fact overcharged be by something approaching £1000 and I got a full refund

I know its a long thread now, but the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route? board has lots of useful advice, information and insight into UK the LPG market, and is probably the best place to look for advice and information. In fact, it is currently probably about the best source of information for domestic LPG users you will find anywhere on the web!

The OFT into off-mains energy is still ongoing - see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=42051696&postcount=820 for more information

HateLPG

welshsue wrote: »

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.

Calor USED to have a 3.5ppl/six month limit, but last year sometime (I'm not sure exactly when), they sneakily (and nastily, in my opinion) changed it to 3.5ppl/three months. If your contract was signed in 2009 it will be per six months.

You only have to pay an uplift charge on termination if you are no longer going to be using LPG. If you are simply changing supplier, then the outgoing supplier must give the incoming supplier the option to buy the existing tank in-situ; If the incoming supplier chooses not to buy the tank, that is fair enough, but in either case, there is no uplift charge providing you are changing supplier and not scrapping LPG entirely.

There is chapter and verse on this too on the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route? thread that I mentioned in my previous post.

frankie

Just contacted Calor re the price increase and the contract conditions. Got the expected reply saying they are not in breach of their contract as I am allowed to opt out if the increase is more than 3.5ppl.

Did point out that the contract is really unfair as they are effectively forcing me to break it!

No joy as expected though.

Just had to challenge them as a matter of principle. I am in fact getting as good a deal from them as I think I can. I will however use this instance to inform the OFT as to this practice of worthless contracts.

May I urge any other Calor users to first challenge the increase with Calor and then report it to the OFT after Calor has explained that you can like it or leave!

HateLPG

Of course, as Flogas have put their prices up a whopping 13ppl between 15th (?) January and 1st April this year, it's only reasonable to expect Calor to follow suit to a greater or lesser extent, whether or not there is any justification for them to do so.

Competition only works it there are sufficient big players in the market to exert downward price pressure. (See my post in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers/supply route thread my post in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers/supply route thread for the Austrian Energy regulator's take on competition in the Energy supply market!)

frankie

HateLPG wrote: »

Of course, as Flogas have put their prices up a whopping 13ppl between 15th (?) January and 1st April this year, it's only reasonable to expect Calor to follow suit to a greater or lesser extent, whether or not there is any justification for them to do so.

Competition only works it there are sufficient big players in the market to exert downward price pressure. (See my post in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers/supply route thread my post in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers/supply route thread for the Austrian Energy regulator's take on competition in the Energy supply market!)

Yes, I agree entirely. However, unless we lpg users complain loudly and clearly, then suppliers will continue to get away with fleecing their customers with worthless 2 year contracts and out of control price hikes.

That's why I advocate, as others before me have done too, to make full use of the OFT investigation and get complaining. (legitimately of course). Otherwise all the investigative resources may just cover oil users, our brethren in arms!!

LittleVermin

HateLPG wrote: »

You only have to pay an uplift charge on termination if you are no longer going to be using LPG. If you are simply changing supplier, then the outgoing supplier must give the incoming supplier the option to buy the existing tank in-situ; If the incoming supplier chooses not to buy the tank, that is fair enough, but in either case, there is no uplift charge providing you are changing supplier and not scrapping LPG entirely.

There is chapter and verse on this too on the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route? thread that I mentioned in my previous post.

I'm not sure if this is correct. If there's still exclusivity period left then the supplier is within their rights to charge an uplift fee.

Please see this post in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route thread*


*the Bulk LPG .. thread is a 'sticky' so it always sticks around at/near the top of the LPG & Heating board - even if no-one has posted in a while. Non-stickies eventually die - and all the info is liable to get 'lost'. It would be a loss to lose all this stuff about Calor!

Mbday

Bruce_GT3 wrote: »

Frankie,

Just had a quick look at the OFT site and it appears that the investigation is now closed to public contributions?

Totally agree on the worthless contract comment though. I wonder what would happen if one of us poor customers were in breach of contract with them?

Think you will find that the closing date for all contributions to OFT is 27 May 2011. Would urge everyone to write in with details of their specific experiences, especially in the light of Calor's recent price increase and their lack of concern about how this breaks the terms of their contracts. The OFT need to know that the so called "price cap" in Calor contracts is worthless (you may recall they imposed a 5.5p increase last July, similarly breaching their terms and conditions). Clearly Calor know that many people will not move because there is no real competition and/or it is far from easy to find an alternative supplier with a genuinely cheaper offer. Then there are all the problems about tank siting and whether the new supplier will take over the tank. I could go on...........

Mbday

Apologies to Bruce GT3, as I didn't finished reading all the thread, so I've repeated what others have already said.

Cannot emphasise too strongly, however, the need for everyone to write to the OFT. This is likely to be your last opportunity for some time to get the government to do something about this situation. We have to show them that the orders issued by the Competition Commission back in 2009 clearly aren't working. Remember that Calor, Flogas et al will be devoting a lot of time, money and effort to proving that the market is working well. We are the only people who can tell the OFT otherwise.

LittleVermin

Calor has a special promo on - switch to Calor LPG - from oil, solid fuel or electricity - and get £500 off your first bill.

Sadly none of the posters qualify but here's the link so you can recommend it to your friends and colleagues:

http://www.calor.co.uk/switching/switching-fuels/switching-to-lpg/switch-from-oil/

The promo didn't begin today but a few days ago - and runs until September.

squelch41

Thanks for that link - will definitely add my 2p once to OFT!
FWIW paying 56p/l with flogas - just went up this month

frankie wrote: »

You can still contribute to the OFT:

"During the initial phase of the project, the OFT will be speaking with various stakeholders, including consumers, consumer groups, private market participants, trade associations and government. We will be approaching some of these parties directly. We would also encourage any interested parties who wish to contribute information to contact us by 27 May 2011 by email at [EMAIL="offgrid@oft.gsi.gov.uk"]offgrid@oft.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL] or by writing to us at:
Off-Grid Energy Market Study
Office of Fair Trading (2nd Floor)
Fleetbank House
2 - 6 Salisbury Square
London EC4Y 8JX
The OFT is unable to provide advice or resolve individual complaints for consumers. Consumers can seek advice from Consumer Direct (tel: 08454 04 05 06, www.consumerdirect.gov.uk)."


http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/current/off-grid/

Good luck!