LPG / LPG prices (merged)

HateLPG

frankie wrote: »

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?

Of course they will - and they'll try more, despite the fact that you have discussed this with them. The bottom line is, that in the current climate they WILL try put the price up as much and as often as they can. But you also know that (in your case) it can't actually go up by more than 3.5ppl in every 6 month period (even if you have to repeatedly remind them of that!).

HateLPG

In response to Pip2002 and anyone else who may have signed a contract recently, check whether you are on a "Special Entry Price" - that is usually explicitly protected from any price rise (it CERTAINLY was in the older contracts). Also (and you would really need a lawyer to confirm this) I strongly suspect that they would be on pretty rocky ground trying to impose ANY increase within six months of the date of the contract. I think you could argue that on at the point at which you signed the contract, your price effectively went from 0ppl to the contract price, and therefore they can't increase the price for a further six months. But like I say, run this one past a legal bod BEFORE you try to beat them up with that ;-)

Thassall for now, folks :wave:

Pip2002

Humph. Well I've just logged into my Calor account online and the date I renewed my contract by phone was 21 May 2010. And the date on the letter informing us of the price increase is 21 May 2010. Needless to say, the increase wasn't mentioned when I renewed.

Still looking for my paper contract. :mad:

Splott_Boy

Many thanks for all the advice above. I also received the letter yesterday.:eek:
What if I can identify a better supplier in my area - is this my chance to end the contract. As I understand it I have a 2 year commitment to Calor as we switched to them in Oct 2009 - is this contract now void or is my best option to simply force them to limit the increase ?

By the way I could see no evidence of a 'special entry price' on my contract.

HateLPG

Splott_Boy wrote: »

What if I can identify a better supplier in my area - is this my chance to end the contract. As I understand it I have a 2 year commitment to Calor as we switched to them in Oct 2009 - is this contract now void or is my best option to simply force them to limit the increase ?

I would look around to see what else is available, HOWEVER, when I did that last year, I came to the conclusion that actually I would probably be better off sticking with Calor and just make sure that they stuck to THEIR side of the bargain.

• You have a contract. It's binding. BOTH ways. Use that to your advantage!
• You may well struggle to get a comparable deal - look around, for sure, but be warned, some suppliers do not have ANY kind of capped price in their contract, so they could put the price up 1000% and you'd be stuck with them; Others have a capped price, but at a horrendous rate (if you think 3.5 ppl in any 6 month period is bad enough, Shell quoted me 10 (that's right, TEN) ppl per 6 month period maximum rise when I asked last year!). Also, beware of inflated tank maintenance charges etc. Another thing to watch out for is how deliveries are scheduled (do they use tank telemetry? base deliveries on estimated usage, or just wait for you to call them?) and how payments are to be made - some companies, for example, offer an apparently good rate, but when you check the fine print, you will find that you ONLY get that rate if you settle your bill, in full, within a short period (for some reason, I have 14 days in mind, but I suspect that could be wrong) of delivery. In that example, if you DIDN'T settle in full, then the rates actually became quite high.
• The more people stick with it and enforce their contracts, the more chance that Calor might eventually get the message (FWIW!)
• All in all (other than their inability to stick to their contract terms in respect of pricing), I have actually found Calor to be a pretty reliable supplier and even in the appalling weather we have a few months back, they still managed to get deliveries out to us on time!

One thing I would advise when looking at alternative suppliers is to insist on seeing a copy of their contract BEFORE you sign it, and check it carefully, both for things you don't like and for omissions (such as having no price cap clause). It's easy enough to walk away or attempt to negotiate BEFORE you've signed - somewhat more problematic AFTER!

Also, when comparing suppliers, I found it useful to put together a price matrix (It doesn't have to be anything clever like a spreadsheet - you can do it on the back of an envelope if that's more your style ). For what it's worth, I used the following column headings and then filled it in as I got the info - it really did help in making a fair and accurate comparison between the various offers (and was also a useful way of keeping track of who I had requested quotations from):

• Company
• Phone No.
• Delivered price ppl (ex vat)
• Tank Standing Charge Rental (per day)
• Tank Standing Charge (per year)
• Fixed price period (if applicable)
• Capped price rate (ppl per period)
• Total Est Annual Cost (Base this on YOUR usage and include tank standing charges)
• Avg Monthly Cost
• Is Telemetry included (yes/no)
• Other pertinent Notes

Whether you use ex-vat or inc-vat prices doesn't matter - just be consistent or the comparison falls apart (personally, I prefer to use ex-VAT prices).

ancillotti

See how one group of LPG users (paying between 35 - 51ppl) all improve their bulk buying price by clicking the link below:-
(sorry, but you'll have to copy, paste & take out the gap, as I'm not allowed to put the full link in)

ww w.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00slm4t

Seems there is a case of joining together to drive the price down!

HateLPG

ancillotti wrote: »

See how one group of LPG users (paying between 35 - 51ppl) all improve their bulk buying price by clicking the link below:-
(sorry, but you'll have to copy, paste & take out the gap, as I'm not allowed to put the full link in)

ww w.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00slm4t

Seems there is a case of joining together to drive the price down!

This is an interesting development :j

There is also a new thread in this forum that you might want to keep an eye on in respect of this: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2487493

Pip2002

Well, I've had a look at alternative suppliers since getting my notice from Calor that the price is going up by 5.5p a litre. With Calor, I'll be on 41.65 p a litre. My local independent supplier quoted 46.5 p a litre today and Flogas 38 p a litre although their tank rental is more than Calor.

I conclude that I may as well stay with Calor!

frankie

Pip2002 wrote: »

I conclude that I may as well stay with Calor!

But you should still challenge the 5.5 ppl hike if your contract says 3.5 shouldn't you?

schoolrunmum

Pip2002 wrote: »

Well, I've had a look at alternative suppliers since getting my notice from Calor that the price is going up by 5.5p a litre. With Calor, I'll be on 41.65 p a litre. My local independent supplier quoted 46.5 p a litre today and Flogas 38 p a litre although their tank rental is more than Calor.

I conclude that I may as well stay with Calor!

Interesting Pip,I called Calor and I will be paying 46.5ppl,as opposed to 38ppl with Flogas,and the Flogas tank rental is marginally cheaper too....it's a definate move for me..