petrol prices

pixiepp

I recently received a forwarded e-mail from a friend that suggested the government is screwing us, the general public, over fuel prices. They said the 'stay away from the pumps' day last year would never have worked because it hurt us (the consumer) more than it hurt them(the supplier). However they also suggested that if we deliberately avoided buying fuel from the large producers (i.e. B.P & Esso) they would have to respond by reducing the price which hopefully would then induce others to do the same. This will only work if large numbers of people behave in the same way... by large numbers it means millions! the aim is to use the internet to get the message across to large numbers by forwarding the e-mail e.g. I forward to 10, they do the same and so on. I think this is a good idea, I have been getting my fuel from Asda via debit card as I save 2p a litre anyway (savings add up over time!). they say buy from Asda, Tesco, shell, sainsburys, etc but boycott BP and Esso. What do other Money savers think?

Keith

It's a chain email and doesn't work as the same refinary supplies the other petrol stations in the area.

globalds

pixiepp wrote: »

I recently received a forwarded e-mail from a friend that suggested the government is screwing us, the general public, over fuel prices. They said the 'stay away from the pumps' day last year would never have worked because it hurt us (the consumer) more than it hurt them(the supplier). However they also suggested that if we deliberately avoided buying fuel from the large producers (i.e. B.P & Esso) they would have to respond by reducing the price which hopefully would then induce others to do the same. This will only work if large numbers of people behave in the same way... by large numbers it means millions! the aim is to use the internet to get the message across to large numbers by forwarding the e-mail e.g. I forward to 10, they do the same and so on. I think this is a good idea, I have been getting my fuel from Asda via debit card as I save 2p a litre anyway (savings add up over time!). they say buy from Asda, Tesco, shell, sainsburys, etc but boycott BP and Esso. What do other Money savers think?

It's as reliable as haley's comet this one .....Every month it reapears
It just keeps coming back to visit us ,again....and again....and again ...

Wig

I think it's a waste of time. Because I already avoid BP Esso anyway as they are too expensive. Therefore BP & Esso customers don't really care about price (if they did they'd go elsewhere).

What I think would have a better chance of working would be to boycott the supermarket with the largest grip on the market, and coincidentaly the same supermarket is the one which is most responsible for prices going up in any given area. because they always raise their prices first. That supermarket is called Tesco.

The people who use Tesco do so primarily because they think they are saving money, therefore they are most likely to be the sort of customer who would boycott in order to force a price reduction, and force Tesco to re-think it's business model.

moonrakerz

globalds wrote: »

It's as reliable as haley's comet this one .....

.......................but that only comes every 70 years !!!

dzug

The way to get fuel prices down is not to use so much - ie reduce total demand, not play fancy misguided games boycotting one or more suppliers. The ones you switch to will perceive the increased demand and raise their prices in response.

anewman

Do you really think you can convince peopleto not buy petrol if they want to buy it?

I could go around saying don't buy your shopping from Marks and Spencers, they're the least ethical business in the world, with, for example, evidence they always use child slave labour in India to make their clothes. If I spread a crap e-mail saying this, they wouldn't get any less customers tomorrow.

I cannot understand

a) why people think sending this e-mail will change people's petrol purchasing behaviour
b) even if it did make people stop buying petrol from certain places - I do not understand why people think it would bring the price down. The only thing that would work would be to bring the Government (not Esso, BP, or anyone else) to their knees. Over half the pump price is tax.