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

Feeling_Conned

Reducing your diesel and petrol costs – made easy...... that is the slogan on the Fuel Card Services Ltd (FCSL) web site, it says reducing, not reducing occasionally we made the mistake of signing up with FCSL first bill cost us MORE than we would have paid at the pump!

There is much in the way they do things that seem designed to deceive, Weekly Fuel price notification where the fuel price is 'hidden' among loads of other junk messages and takes some finding, it also list the 'LESS VAT' Price so you have to do some manual calculations before you can compare.
Then the invoice itself just mentions the liters and the total price, again another manual calculation needed to work out the price per liter you have been charged.

Then there are the charges which are not clear and obvious from the outset, £ 12.00 / year / Card! 3 cards for instance is £ 36.00. Also although they reduced my annual charge to £ 6.00 when I found out and wanted to cancel they also say "No Transaction Charges" but on my first invoice I have both a transaction charge of £ 3.00 AND a annual charge of £ 18.00 (3 Cards)

While they are signing you up they are really attentive, once they have your Direct Debit information getting replies is like pulling teeth, 2 weeks, 3 emails, no reply. I just want to cancel my cards and cancel my Direct Debit but now no-one answers my emails.

My experience is that if you are with FCSL check your last months fuel bills in detail against pumps prices you WILL be paying more than the pump prices.
My first use I did half the tank on Fuel Card, half the Tank on my standard debit card, makes it hard for them to claim I'd read the fuel price wrong, etc.
FCSL are rightly being mentioned here and should be tarred and feathered!

FuelCardFury

Feeling_Conned wrote: »

Reducing your diesel and petrol costs – made easy...... that is the slogan on the Fuel Card Services Ltd (FCSL) web site, it says reducing, not reducing occasionally we made the mistake of signing up with FCSL first bill cost us MORE than we would have paid at the pump!

There is much in the way they do things that seem designed to deceive, Weekly Fuel price notification where the fuel price is 'hidden' among loads of other junk messages and takes some finding, it also list the 'LESS VAT' Price so you have to do some manual calculations before you can compare.
Then the invoice itself just mentions the liters and the total price, again another manual calculation needed to work out the price per liter you have been charged.

Then there are the charges which are not clear and obvious from the outset, £ 12.00 / year / Card! 3 cards for instance is £ 36.00. Also although they reduced my annual charge to £ 6.00 when I found out and wanted to cancel they also say "No Transaction Charges" but on my first invoice I have both a transaction charge of £ 3.00 AND a annual charge of £ 18.00 (3 Cards)

While they are signing you up they are really attentive, once they have your Direct Debit information getting replies is like pulling teeth, 2 weeks, 3 emails, no reply. I just want to cancel my cards and cancel my Direct Debit but now no-one answers my emails.

My experience is that if you are with FCSL check your last months fuel bills in detail against pumps prices you WILL be paying more than the pump prices.
My first use I did half the tank on Fuel Card, half the Tank on my standard debit card, makes it hard for them to claim I'd read the fuel price wrong, etc.
FCSL are rightly being mentioned here and should be tarred and feathered!

This experience from exactly the same company is exactly what I have experienced. Started off ok, invoices cheaper than the pumps. Then after not checking for a good period of time, only recently discovered we are paying about 20p a litre above the diesel prices listed on the pump! Were we informed? Sure by email which as Feeling_Conned points out, buries the price in a swamp of other details and lists their price very close to the pump price - minus the VAT element.
So why do i feel screwed? I mean, we were told the price, right? Our fault for not checking. Wrong, this company (and i suspect several others offer the same practice.) give the impression that you will save on average on the pumps. Their literature is littered with such phrases as:

"It offers major cost savings
for top-quality diesel on 900+
forecourts nationwide"

"Fixed low weekly prices"

"Save up to 10p per litre"

"The savings on diesel costs are
significant. You pay, typically,
up to 4p below the prices shown
on the pump. On the motorways,
you can expect to save up to
10p per litre. "

" Esso Commercial
complements unbeatable cost
savings"

"The highly versatile fixed price
fuel card, cutting the cost of
top-quality diesel"

The impression they sign you up with and the impression they continue to give is that you will save money using the card on the pump prices. They may argue that using the card will reduce admin costs and such like but that is complete nonsense.

The misleading practice by this particular company can be likened to that of a small scale firm trying to cash in as much as possible on people that buy into their confidence. But this is no small business. No no no - Fuel Card Services Ltd (FCSL) had over £900million in sales last year and a pre tax profit of over £18million (FCSL is part of a larger group). They have a lot of clout behind them and this industry has a serious vested interest in keeping this practice going.

I for one am seriously considering litigation to recover the difference in monies we have been charged between pump and the company over the last 2 years. It is just the principle of the matter - being told you will be saving on the pumps and then paying more is just downright wrong!

And how did i notice we were getting screwed? A rival fuel card company offered prices that were cheaper than these guys so we did a comparison. Great news! That companys' email and any future such offers shall be designated a special place in my spam folder....

I complained to FCSL 2 days ago to be told my account manager would give me a ring back. So far no call back and the fuel card has been cut up, never to be used by us again.

If this message should even stops one more person signing up to these cards, then please keep the thread alive.

pogofish

I didn't know engines could run on SPAM...!

forgotmyname

I expect its the same person who forgets to to take their tablets and signs up with a new name. Slightly different series of events but overall the same story.

Yes they told me the price but i didnt read that bit and its all their fault.
They should have told me the price in another way other than the email or letter etc etc etc.. OK they told me but i wasnt listening my ears just heard upto 10p off and not listen/read the actual price.

TOPTIP2019

Keyfuels through the fuel store 97ppl on diesel plus VAT. goes up as price of fuel goes up and goes down as it goes down.
The last 4 weeks nothing but down, down, down and down.

Paul_BB

why don't you ask for a fixed margin on the weekly price?
re-sellers won't offer it much because it stops them earning more profit from their customers.

whats shell did was agree a margin with us at the start and every week that margin is still the same. The price is based on the market value of fuel, plus the margin.

k3lvc

OP last logged on nearly 6 years ago - think you're probably talking to deaf ears

rhysadams

We use Allstar and Fuel Genie, the latter is really good and my guys can use the card at Supermarkets like Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons. Allstar is ok for all other pumps, but they do like changing the goal posts and hiding hidden charges within T&C's. You need to keep ringing them to tell them you don't need there new monthly billing or card insurances.

worried_jim

rhysadams wrote: »

We use Allstar and Fuel Genie, the latter is really good and my guys can use the card at Supermarkets like Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons. Allstar is ok for all other pumps, but they do like changing the goal posts and hiding hidden charges within T&C's. You need to keep ringing them to tell them you don't need there new monthly billing or card insurances.

Mate, its a six year old post.

helpmeee

Im glad he replied though as it helped me.

i signed up to allstars totally unaware of their fees, thought they made their money via volume discounts on fuel but now going to use fuelgenie