DON'T be fooled, FUEL CARDS are a rip off and should be exposed.

Polaris01

Hey Guys,

Don't think i'm an angry customer I work in this industry and feel really strongly about this because everyone struggles with the price of today's fuel, it's causing Transport and Haulage companies to close. Fuel cards are advertised to save money but if you take your eye off the ball for a minute the supplier will pounce and stitch you right up, I say this because I am looking to get out of this industry as it's sooooo unethical. I have seen customers being charged over 165.5 a litre when the pumps are 139.9 a litre.

This applies to all fuel card agents, not anyone in particular. More should be done to expose this industry. :mad:

Mr_Thrifty

who needs a fuel card when you have a debit card

Lum

The fuel card I use (allstar) basically works like a credit card. It charges my employer whatever the price is on the pump you use. I presume it's funded by the credit card processing fees? It seems fair to me.

I'm guessing you are posting about the ones that claim to charge a price based on the national average? Interesting that they can get away with inflating that price given how often the national average price is in the news these days.

Polaris01

Mr Thrifty - You're right in a way, but if a company is clever and they play the supplier right they can save money on their fuel, this can be significant for Haulage and Transport. As a lot of these guys are Sole Traders they get taken advantage of as they don't always have time to check their invoices, I just want more people to be aware of the way these suppliers work and be more vigilant.

Lum - Allstar are slighty different in the way they work but can still charge a lot of money for having cards. The national average cards aren't based on this as their prices are controlled by the margin that the supplier puts on top of the weekly cost price which is given to them at the end of each week, this margin can obviously be anything they want it to be. Some customers are made aware of the weekly price but some don't know this notification feature is available and it's those guys that can get deceived.

Lum

I guess if you get a national average card but are based in an area that has higher than average prices (Scottish Highlands maybe?) then you can win.

Surely this means that the fuel card companies end up with the customer base from hell. Nobody is going to get a national average based card if they are based in Ellesmere Port for example.

Our fuel cards are switching to Zenith next month but nobody seems to know how it's actually going to work. Are this lot any good?

Polaris01

Lum - I think Zenith are a fleet management company that gives complete solutions to run a companies fleet, I'm not sure but I think they use a similar system to Allstar card but because they look after everything and not just fuel I can see this working well for a company with a large fleet of vehicles.

When you refer to cards being based on the national average this isn't the case, these cards are referred to as fixed price cards and the price is determined on how the oil market performs on a weekly basis. When the weeks result is out the card brand gets the weekly cost to pass on to it's suppliers, the supplier then puts their margin on top and this can be anything.

paddedjohn

I use key fuels, what's your opinion on them?

Polaris01

paddedjohn - This is a weekly priced card and as long as you get a price notification sent each week then you can take control, make sure you check it each week because they do try it on if you don't.

Lum

Polaris01 wrote: »

Lum - I think Zenith are a fleet management company that gives complete solutions to run a companies fleet, I'm not sure but I think they use a similar system to Allstar card but because they look after everything and not just fuel I can see this working well for a company with a large fleet of vehicles.

Yes they are. I have an Arval/Allstar car and an Allstar fuel card currently, and the company have been very tight lipped about what the change to Zenith's card will mean and whether it will limit what petrol stations we can use. Only thing we do know is that the new method of reimbursing business mileage is going to short change everybody, but that's a topic for a different thread.

When you refer to cards being based on the national average this isn't the case, these cards are referred to as fixed price cards and the price is determined on how the oil market performs on a weekly basis. When the weeks result is out the card brand gets the weekly cost to pass on to it's suppliers, the supplier then puts their margin on top and this can be anything.

Oh I see. I'm sure I've seen at least one card that claimed to use the national average forecourt price as it's charging rate.

Flying-High_2

What kind of numpty would be using a Fuel card charging 25pence over pump price?....

We get a txt or email with ours cards stating the prices for the next week... Then regardless of Pump price we pay that price.. Usually end up paying a penny or 2 under pump price.

Polaris01

Flying-High - That's good as your doing the right thing by staying aware of your pricing, but yes there are companies out there being charged this and you could say that if these companies can't be bothered to check their invoices then they get what they deserve but I don't buy this. Suppliers can charge a customer 132.7 + on their invoice and at a quick glance this looks fine but then after looking more in depth they would notice that this is actually + vat not including and lots of people get tricked like this, e.g. a lot of the guys that get taken advantage of are sole trader haulage and transport that are always on the road and don't always get the chance to look.