yotter
Active member
The RYA (Royal Yachting Association) have been remarkebly quiet when it comes to looking after our interests, or does this just confirm that they are only interested in dingy racing?
Calor 4.5 Butane and 3.5 Propane to be discontinued
- Thread starter jimi
- Start date
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
Their thinking will be why faff about with 3 small sizes when they can make an even greater extortionate profit on one. For supply at the waterside they currently (and unfortunately) have a monopoly, so no surprise that they are behaving like one.
lustyd
Well-known member
It's the behaviour of the customers I find troubling. Calor is behaving as expected for an incompetent monopolist. Their army of consumer drones defending them and refusing to demand better I find inexplicable.
dunedin
Well-known member
Is it really the end of the world if people have to switch to Camping Gas? Suspect at least 50% of yachts already use this, as many European built boat gas lockers are even smaller and only these fit, and easier to replace than UK only Calor in southern Europe.
The extra annual cost is probably less than £100 for most of us, so perhaps bigger issues to worry about?
(Don flack jacket and helmet)
lustyd
Well-known member
Not the end of the world, no. Still relies on Calor who have been flakey at best in recent history even on Campingaz so still no guarantee of actually getting gas. In the UK there is very clearly abuse of position on pricing for Campingaz which is often double what people pay elsewhere, again why reward that behaviour? Finally is the extra cost and inconvenience. The bottles are much smaller so need replacing more often.
I would happily adopt Campingaz if it was reasonably priced. The inconvenience I could probably live with. For me though, it all comes back to Calor not reliably filling cylinders so if I go Calor to Campingaz I would still be in a position of not reliably getting refills.
FloGas is a bit of a pain due to locations, but so far they've consistently delivered cylinders and gas to me as expected, and they have depots where I can go and see a human to ask for a refill. Calor have permanently closed their locations so this is no longer possible.
I would happily adopt Campingaz if it was reasonably priced. The inconvenience I could probably live with. For me though, it all comes back to Calor not reliably filling cylinders so if I go Calor to Campingaz I would still be in a position of not reliably getting refills.
FloGas is a bit of a pain due to locations, but so far they've consistently delivered cylinders and gas to me as expected, and they have depots where I can go and see a human to ask for a refill. Calor have permanently closed their locations so this is no longer possible.
st599
Well-known member
It was as rare as hen's teeth last summer on the South Coast, queues forming when there was a rumour of supply.
lustyd
Well-known member
Odd that people were willing to queue up to be robbed blind, isn't it ?
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
Discontinuing the smaller bottles is actually a smart move for Calor.
Everyone switches to CampingGaz, Calor doesn't have to supply the empties, just the gas. They get more money for CampingGaz, so it's a win-win.
It's a lose-lose for consumers though. They get the same crap reliability due to Calor doing the refills and they pay more money for the privileged.
On that basis, plus the fact that i would not want to give Calor any of my money, i would avoid CampingGaz if at all possible.
Everyone switches to CampingGaz, Calor doesn't have to supply the empties, just the gas. They get more money for CampingGaz, so it's a win-win.
It's a lose-lose for consumers though. They get the same crap reliability due to Calor doing the refills and they pay more money for the privileged.
On that basis, plus the fact that i would not want to give Calor any of my money, i would avoid CampingGaz if at all possible.
st599
Well-known member
Certainly the gas locker on the boats I volunteer on just get a 907 in.
lustyd
Well-known member
yes to be fair if it's your only option I guess the muggings will have to continue
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
Refill kit from a standard bottle to the CampingGaz one.
Aja
Well-known member
I live in a flat. Where exactly do I keep a standard bottle of gas? Not sure my insurance would approve. ?
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
The blue butane bottles are intended for interior use. A few decades ago portable gas heaters that had one of those bottles lurking in the back were common as a cheap form of heater. They are still available so unless your insurance company specifically excludes them I don't see why they would invalidate your insurance. The main risk is carbon monoxide poisoning from their use, not gas leakage.
Mister E
Well-known member
It is up to the retailers to decide if they want to ditch Calor.
They can always choose Flogas .
They can always choose Flogas .
lustyd
Well-known member
Not so. Calor have terms which remove that freedom. Often they will have to ditch Calor entirely to get FloGas on site. This is why we need RYA to get involved and bring monopoly charges like the inland waterways folk.
Aja
Well-known member
The blue butane bottles are intended for interior use. A few decades ago portable gas heaters that had one of those bottles lurking in the back were common as a cheap form of heater. They are still available so unless your insurance company specifically excludes them I don't see why they would invalidate your insurance. The main risk is carbon monoxide poisoning from their use, not gas leakage.
Discuss the probabilities of my survival of suggesting that to my wife.
Mister E
Well-known member
Flogas do the same.
Bobc
Well-known member
Went down to my local caravan shop yesterday to swap out my empty 4.5 butane for a full one (I got their last one).
The lady in the shop showed me the letter with instructions to them from Calor.
The small bottles are discontinued from end of Jan. If you take in a small empty cylinder, you can get a free exchange for the next size up (just paying for the gas). In Feb, Calor will be doing a stocktake with all the retailers, taking all their small cylinders away (even the full ones), and replacing them with larger ones. So if you need a refill, get it now, as they will be unavalable from Feb.
Oxford caravan centre in Tiddington have 6 of the 3.9kg propane left if anyone if interested.
The lady in the shop showed me the letter with instructions to them from Calor.
The small bottles are discontinued from end of Jan. If you take in a small empty cylinder, you can get a free exchange for the next size up (just paying for the gas). In Feb, Calor will be doing a stocktake with all the retailers, taking all their small cylinders away (even the full ones), and replacing them with larger ones. So if you need a refill, get it now, as they will be unavalable from Feb.
Oxford caravan centre in Tiddington have 6 of the 3.9kg propane left if anyone if interested.
Petertheking1982
Member
Last week I emailed a bunch of Marinas about flogas. Yarmouth tried to stock, but the only island distributors of flogas are not taking new clients, well done for trying and getting back to me! Southsea marina said they would look into it. No response from Premier group, mdl group, yachthaven group, or boat folk group. As flogas deliver to your home I don't see this as a major issue. I have just ordered 4.5kg online, will be delivered to my door (or marina if I wanted). Cost was £20 for 4.5kg of gas compered to £45 for 907 bottle, I don't want to pay 2x more for half the gas, hence sticking with 4.5kg.
lustyd
Well-known member
Boat Folk (Haslar) told me categorically they don't plan to get FloGas a few months ago. I assume they think we'll all switch to Campingaz or just don't consider gas to be important. It was a very dissapointing conversation since there were three different boat owners in the office failing to get 4.5kg butane at the time.