LPG / LPG prices (merged)

annscullamus

Dear HateLPG,

Many thanks for your comprehensive answer. I moved into the house 10 years ago and simply carried on what had happened before and I have no recollection of a 'contract'. This may be very remiss on my part, but if I ring them can I ask what contract I am on?

Thankyou in anticipation

frankie

Hi

Got my 'good news' from Calor this morning.

I'm sure too that somewhere in the contract they can only increase the rate by a certain percentage and then you have the option to terminate your contract. On the down side I think it said once the contract is terminated then the customer is liable to a couple of hundred quid to uplift the tank. Don't know how they can do that now since customers are able to switch suppliers and keep the tank?

Anyway will comb the contract later today and see what can be done.

May consider switching to oil though because my boiler is over 20 years old and not sure if it will survive its next service! Mind you reading the threads on here, oil prices are experiencing the same issues.

annscullamus

Dear HateLPG,

I did it! I found my contract and phoned Calor. They said very quietly that I was correct and they would reduce the price by 2p per litre to 3.5p........my goodness I did not realise they would actually break their own contract so glibly, and with such breath taking ease.

They also said they would make sure that my next fill was at the previous rate.

I cannot thank you enough for giving me the advice, it has saved me a lot of money, and I will ALWAYS read contracts now.

Sigh of relief................................

HateLPG

Frankie,

IIRC, it's clause 6 in the contract and the relevant sub-clauses (at least it was for mine).

As far as the "uplift" charge goes, that as you say, is a red herring, since you have the RIGHT to transfer ownership of your tank to another supplier.

As far as the "right to terminate" goes, I stood my ground on that one, and said that I *didn't want* to terminate the contract - but just required that they met *their* contractual obligations. I'm no expert in contract law, but remember, not only did you, as the consumer enter into the contract, but so did they as the supplier. In my case, it was a 3 year *minimum* term contract, and as such, if I choose NOT to terminate the contract, they MUST honour all contractual terms that apply, including those relating to price.

The bottom line is that after several increasingly stern letters, they eventually accepted that they were indeed bound by those terms and grudgingly agreed to honour them, including rolling back all price rises and recalculating the current price. I also got a refund for the thick end of £1000.

Needless to say, the price has gone up by the maximum permitted amount EVERY six months since, (and the deliveries always seem to be scheduled for a day or two later. Still, can't be too cynical about that one - to be fair, that is just simply good business sense on their part, however cynical it might appear to me as the end user!)

As I said in my earlier post, I suspect that these excessive price increases are a deliberate policy on the part of Calor. I wonder, if sufficient people experience this, whether it might be possible to get exposure in the consumer media, as there are potentially thousands of people being ripped off in this manner? I fear, however, that unless it can be shown that there is evidence of a systematic policy, it wil be hard to get anyone in the media terribly interested as I suspect that their perception of LPG users is as a small minority of energy users who are stinking rich people and choose to live in their palatial mansions in the middle of the country - wholly wrong, I know, but that is the impression I have got from a few conversations I have had.

It might also be worth making representations to Consumer Focus. I posted some info about that in the thread "Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route?" on 3rd March this year - see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/30498677#Comment_30498677

Good luck all

schoolrunmum

Hello there, we have had our Calor tank since 1990,and can't find any sort of contract. I'm sure we must have signed one at some point, but they have just written to me saying it's going up 5.5ppl,to a total of 43.5ppl.
I am shopping around for new suppliers,and have been quoted 36.5ppl,do you reckond Calor will insist on taking their tank out??Is it worth asking them if they have a copy of the original contract??

welshsue

Hi
This morning i rec'd a letter from Calor telling me that my LPG is increasing by 5.5ppl + vat, this works out at approx a 15% increase!!!. I recently signed a new contract so will dig it out and read the small print and check the cap on the price rises.

frankie

schoolrunmum wrote: »

Is it worth asking them if they have a copy of the original contract??

I emailed Calor today and they emailed back a copy of the contract.

Basically its as has been said, they say if the price per litre is more than 3.5p in any 6 month period then the customer has the right to terminate the contract etc.

Now do I now challenge Calor and get them to reduce the increase by only 3.5p for the next 6 months but then wonder if they'll whack another increase on at the end of that 6 months?

I suppose it depends on when the tank will need filling again, I guess the sensible thing to do is challenge the increase and if successful get the tank filled in about 5 months time.

What a scam this is. Surely if enough Calor customers challenge this increase they will get the message of customer dissatisfaction (though they probably know that anyway!)

mardatha

Can anybody tell me how much you currently pay for the 19kg propane cylinders ? My supplier wants £60 for two, that seems an awful lot higher than last time!

schoolrunmum

Sorry,I fill up a bulk cylinder of 1000l..costs about £800!!

Pip2002

I've also had the good news letter from Calor and I only renewed my contract for another two years, about a week ago!!

I shall have to go and re-read it very closely, but I can't believe what a massive hike Calor is giving us - 5.5p per litre plus VAT - my jaw is still scraping the floor!! Will get the contract and calculator out later. :mad: