Arval / Allstar Fuel Card Charges

Hari_Woo

This will result in an additional charge of £1600 per month for our company, time to can Arval I think - the other fuel card providers are all over this, I can see them losing a fair chunk of business.

SueC_2

Another one unhappily affected here.

That said, I'd been meaning to do a market-testing exercise for ages to see if I could get a better deal elsewhere, but it's a complete ballache of a job and there has always been something more urgent to deal with so I've been 'happy' to leave the Allstar agreement roll on.

So I suppose I should be thanking them really for giving me the kick up the backside I needed to take my business elsewhere.

Savvy_Sue

Before any other friendly reps from Fuel Card companies post, please could they read the Forum Rules, particularly those relating to advertising and posting personal information on the site.

naff123

Hi Bean - Brace yourself a long post coming!

I used to work with Fuel Cards till last summer so I have lots of tips

Disclaimer I don't sell (I am self employed in catering) I don't want to be perceived as showing any bias I just want to help so please bare with me

Arval are and always have been a massive rip off people need to realise they do not require Arval unless you have multiple drivers in locations all across the nation what is the point of just paying pump prices for fuel you may as well use a credit card,

They charge for all sorts of stuff i.e. Admin charges, They even sometimes charge people for not using their cards and not using as much as they promise.

Avoid them and avoid The Fuel Card Company (They are owned by Arval who are actually known as PHH Allstar.

Your best bet if you are not a national business is to go to a fuel card wholesaler the best one we came up against was Fuel Card Services Ltd They charge £12 for cards per card per annum and have weekly terms. don't have admin charges (you need to opt out of something called Carbon count which is £1 per invoice and also Card Insurance a sort of misuse insurance policy which covers you for up to £5000) the down fall is they have a £500 minimum spend limit but don't charge if you don't use the card

Another good supplier is Husk UK similar to above.

The best wholesale cards are the following;

Fastfuels (Texaco and Morrisons) 1550 sites all at one bulk price no surcharges heard rumours that shell were joining the network with a Pump + 1ppl charge this is by far the most superior network. Note if you live inside the M25, Wales or West Country this is the strongest network 10/10

Esso - 870 Sites This network is safer version of Fast fuels but has smaller network coverage all bulk related prices but is a very good quality of fuel! Also a Very Safe card which has chip and pin 8/10

UK Fuels (Various Sites and Morrisons) have 900 sites on network good for local usage or HGV usage as all sites are HGV Friendly Bulk pricing on all sites be careful though if you buy unleaded on it it is Pump + 20% 6/10

BP Bunker (BP only) 1200 sites All Bulk Prices on all major BP Sites (a give away is if they have a wildbean caf!) non bunker sites (small tiny in town sites) are pump + 5ppl this network is really really good if you are a national driver as every single BP Service station is on the BP Bunker Network and you can get a free sat nav tool to show you every Bunker site. Note if you buy premium DERV (Diesel) it is pump + 5ppl 7/10

If you want to use unleaded/lpg there are only 3 Options

BP Plus - 2500 sites Including (BP, Total, Texaco) really really versatile network for unleaded users pump price across the board but works really well in combination with a BP network if you have a mixed fleet again you can get the free Satnav tool to use the total and texaco in a emergency will be pump + 2ppl also you can collect nectar points finally the card is the safest in the brands with chip and pin 6/10

Shell Fleet Card - 3500 Sites Including (Shell, Texaco, Esso, Total) The shell card is growing it is the same as the BP Plus card it is soon to become a Chip and Pin card but is currently a Signed Docket but it is a growing network it is the largest network based card in the UK apart from Arval minus the admin charges. I really like the quality of the Shell fuel personally When I met a guy from Shell they shown some evidence that the quality alone is equivalent to saving 3 ppl compared to Tesco fuel. 7/10

Texaco - Same as above, this is a really odd one needs looking at but I have seen people receive a Bulk price on unleaded with this but in vast quantities of use so its worth asking! As far as I know it is the only network in the country which is possible to offer a Bulk related Unleaded and LPG Price.
10/10



Card To Avoid!

KEYFUELS - (various sites) 2000 on the network but BUYER BEWARE there are a ton of surcharged sites the worst I ever saw was in the isle of wight or the highlands with charges as high as bulk + 15ppl. There are so many hidden catches I found the hardway I sold thousands of these naively to find out that before Tesco's pulled out of the network Keyfuels were charging bulk + 4ppl without my knowledge and the customers knowledge and Unleaded again is bulk + 20% 2/10


I hope this helps! If you need any more fuel related advice just ask.

By the way I don't work in fuel no more I run my own business!

Savvy_Sue

Bean_Counter wrote: »

Just out of interest would MSE do a feature on this to advise business savers on the implications? This may well have significant implications for a lot of SMEs across the country or does MSE only stick to advice for individuals?

I've asked: obviously they do more 'personal' stuff but there are already some 'biz' articles on the site.

trafficisland

My business has also been hit with the £2+ VAT charge since 6th February. I only found out about it because we've had a few sales calls recently from other fuelcard companies and I was comparing prices online when I found some people complaining about Allstar. When our next invoice came through, there was the £2 per transaction charge, with no explanation.

We had no notification that the charges would be applied, although Allstar said they sent out a letter to us in December advising us of the new fees. We didn't receive a letter, and I see from threads on other websites that a lot of other people were sent letters which got mysteriously 'lost in the post' too.

I'd second the suggestion for MSE to highlight this. I feel like a lot of small business owners may not even notice the fees for a while if they don't have the time to check the invoices carefully, or if they have another employee who deals with the invoicing who may think the business owner is aware of the new charges.

Suffice to say, I'm cancelling my Allstar account as it all seems like very dubious business practices to me. Does anyone know if Allstar are regulated by anybody who could look into this, or if account holders are entitled to a refund of the charges if they weren't notified about them?

the_chocolate_machine

We too have been hit by the allstar fees which are likely to cost us around £2000 per year.
Their service has been terrible and to add insult to injury we now pay for the privilege.:mad:
I have already engaged with an alternative supplier and am in the process of setting up the cards.Low annual fee and discount at pumps, sounds a good trade off for a bit less coverage


I would be interested to know the outcome of the earlier post by big paul that has commenced legal action regarding the fees.

Savvy_Sue

At the risk of repeating myself ...

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Before any other friendly reps from Fuel Card companies post, please could they read the Forum Rules, particularly those relating to advertising and posting personal information on the site.

ntb1

We use fuelgenie can only be used at Tescos and Morrisons but that suits my business.

Hari_Woo

I have heard on the grapevine that the transaction fee is being scrapped due to the massive uproar, as ever I can't contact Arval to confirm - has anyone else heard the same thing?