lustyd
Well-known member
Which is fine except in the UK we’re paying 3x to Calor what everyone else is paying for that tiny Campingaz bottle. It’s not service, it’s monopoly.
FloGas propane availability
- Thread starter kev99
- Start date
rotrax
Well-known member
Calor have been taking the Piss for years.
B27
Well-known member
I think camping gaz is pretty dear in France and Germany too?
I wonder how much mark up the retailer makes, they must have costs of having cages and stuff for not many sales.
It's cheaper for a retailer to stack disposable cartridges on a shelf indoors, which maybe explains why it can be cheaper to buy butane that way.
I considered this for my 'reserve' but when push came to shove, I wanted butane on Monday to sail on Tuesday, so it cost me £40.
Cost of running out of Butane would be over £40 in meals out I suppose.
I wonder how much mark up the retailer makes, they must have costs of having cages and stuff for not many sales.
It's cheaper for a retailer to stack disposable cartridges on a shelf indoors, which maybe explains why it can be cheaper to buy butane that way.
I considered this for my 'reserve' but when push came to shove, I wanted butane on Monday to sail on Tuesday, so it cost me £40.
Cost of running out of Butane would be over £40 in meals out I suppose.
lustyd
Well-known member
Been discussed many times, it's significantly cheaper on mainland Europe for the exact same cylinder size. If retailers were taking the profit it's unlikely Calor would have tried to kill off their small cylinders in favour of Campingaz, so can only assume they were doubling or tripling their profits.
B27
Well-known member
35 euros is a good price in France, 40 euros not unusual according to my neighbour with a campervan.
So it's cheaper but not exactly 'cheap'.
The problem is, it's not exactly fast moving stock in the UK.
A lot of caravans use bigger bottles.
Campers use the disposable cartridges.
The place i got mine from this year, the bloke said they only sell a dozen 907 refills each summer.
I phoned several campsites before finding one with stock.
I'm more concerned about the damned stuff being easily available than quibbling about a few quid or driving halfway to Exeter to save a few quid.
If I'd planned ahead, I could have got a bottle refilled at a good price. I guess if lots of people resort to that, there will be even less retailers bothering to stock it.
People moan about 'monopoly', but actually, there's Flogas, all the various disposable options plus the autogas refillables, a few commercial suppliers? Is the market actually big enough to support another retail network?
lustyd
Well-known member
Do you work for Calor? Their behaviour is that of a monopoly, they prevent competition any way they can and deliver the absolute bare minimum service possible at the highest price they can maintain without customers switching. Also, they have been convicted of being a monopoly previously while also currently facing charges of the same brought by the inland waterway folks.
FloGas and others have not been able to get a foothold due to the actions of Calor, and are unable to install and maintain cages due to anti-competetive terms in contracts with retailers.
I'm not sure what you mean by disposables, but refillables have all but gone from the UK with nowhere to fill them.
ProDave
Well-known member
I am not sure what you mean by the cages comment?
It was a revalation to me when I discovered a gas supplier near me that does not target "the public" but mainly supplies industrial users. He stocks Calor, FloGas and J gas cylinders all on one place all cages side by side.
My last visit there I got my two 47Kg FloGas cylinders refilled and got a new Calor 6Kg for my caravan.
lustyd
Well-known member
Calor cages are exclusively for Calor gas, retailers aren’t allowed to put other gas in them. It’s hard to get a second cage as it requires permission, and even then Calor can threaten to withdraw their own. It’s not often you’ll see anyone supplying Calor and something else (except Campingaz, which they supply in the UK).
B27
Well-known member
Around here, there are a few holiday caravan parks and also a lot of homes not on mains gas, so there's a few suppliers who deliver the bigger bottles. That's where the money is, it's all about turnover. Boaters who use a few kg a year are high maintenance customers. Likewise barbecue owners who pay a bottle deposit then don't get a refill until next year don't do much for turnover compared to e.g. a pub with a patio heater going 20 hours a week.
We can whine about the priced of small bottles of gas, but the only real alternative is to change fuel to alcohol or electric.
lustyd
Well-known member
So you’re saying it’s cool to treat your small customers badly? Us small customers on boats often have larger needs elsewhere, better to treat all customers well and get the appropriate karma.
B27
Well-known member
Karma's really not good at paying your staff costs!
I don't think you have much idea of the realities of retail in the UK.
lustyd
Well-known member
Karma is great at paying the bills as you get to keep your customers. For some reason Calor customers are gluttons for punishment but most businesses acting this way go bust.