Has anyone actually ordered from BoilerJuice or FuelFighter?

[MM]

Getting quotes over the phone from local oil suppliers can be a pain,
whereas with BJ at least you can see the price on the web site and can
place your order there and then. Got to be convenient, surely?

The other day BJ undercut local suppliers by 3 pence per litre. When I
told the locals they price-matched, but this just indicates to me that
they are charging over the odds anyway.

What's the BJ/FF service like? Trustworthy?

MM

[Nick Odell]

Hopefully, since the OFT ruling a month ago
http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2012/64-12
the price you are quoted over the phone will be the price you actually
pay - which hasn't always been the case. The report mentions
particular companies who have agreed to this - if you are buying from
anyone else it would be wise to check the T&Cs first.

Nick

[Davey]

On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 10:00:42 +0100

I recommend joining a local Syndicate, if there is one, and if not,
start one. We regularly get a significant discount on the quoted price,
and even 3p per litre adds up considerably over a year. We represent
three villages in East Anglia, and at the end of June, placed an order
for 54,000 litres.
I looked at Boiler Juice a year ago, and they were no better than
any one else, if anything, higher; but that was then. I have also read
some unfavourable reviews of them, but cannot confirm nor deny them from
experience. Any responses to this with actual experience will be worth
watching.
--
Davey.

[Davey]

Thanks for that. GB Oils is the large distributor around here, but even
its different companies can quote different prices. One advantage of
the Syndicate approach is that the agreed price is fixed, even though
delivery can be a week away. Our last order had one customer who was
missed, but when the delivery was eventually made, and the spot price
had risen considerably, it was the supplier who followed up to make
sure that the correct agreed price was charged. It was not a GB Oils
company.
--
Davey.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 10:12:35 +0100, Nick Odell wrote:

>> The other day BJ undercut local suppliers by 3 pence per litre. When I
>> told the locals they price-matched, but this just indicates to me that
>> they are charging over the odds anyway.

I've normally found the BJ is about 2p/l more expensive than our local
*independant* supplier and that's without doing a pricematch. Note I have
emphasied *independant" nearly all oil suppliers, no matter the trading
name, are now part of GB Oils aka DCC Energy. GB Oils don't quite have
monopoly, there are a few small true independants about, but it ain't far
off. Of course all these group owned companies are free to set their own
prices aren't they? Ho ho ho....

It's worth a google on GB Oils, to see who they own:

"DCC Energy sells oil under a portfolio of brands including Bayford,
Butler Fuels, Brogan, Carlton Fuels, CPL Petroleum, Gulf, Pace Fuelcare,
Scottish Fuels, Shell and Texaco."

http://www.dcc.ie/our-businesses/dcc-energy/markets-and-market-position

Note that that is out of date they have at least Total now from Nov 2011.
Trouble is it's not simple WCF are a partner of Texaco...

http://www.forecourttrader.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/5064/GB_Oils_acqu
isition_of_Total_distribution_from_Rontec_completes_.html

The OFT is starting to take more interest:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/deals/s/1490465
_takeover-by-warringtons-gb-oils-parent-company-referred-to-competition-c
ommission

> Hopefully, since the OFT ruling a month ago
> http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2012/64-12

I've never been caught by that but I've always asked for a quote not a
guide price or estimate. I've also always used a local truely independant
supplier for quite a while now, probably before GB Oils really started to
build their monopoly.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Read this and make up your own mind.


http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/consumer-enforcement/consumer-enforcement-completed/heating-oil/



> MM


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

[MM]

On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:02:40 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>MM wrote:
>> Getting quotes over the phone from local oil suppliers can be a pain,
>> whereas with BJ at least you can see the price on the web site and can
>> place your order there and then. Got to be convenient, surely?
>>
>> The other day BJ undercut local suppliers by 3 pence per litre. When I
>> told the locals they price-matched, but this just indicates to me that
>> they are charging over the odds anyway.
>>
>> What's the BJ/FF service like? Trustworthy?
>>
>Read this and make up your own mind.
>
>
>http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/consumer-enforcement/consumer-enforcement-completed/heating-oil/
>
>
>
>> MM

I think it's a real eye-opener than no one so far has actually
confirmed they have bought via BoilerJuice! Let's see what the rest of
the day elicits.

MM

[MM]

Well, the day is coming to an end, Usenet-wise and no one has
apparently purchased oil from BoilerJuice.

MM

[S Viemeister]

On 8/21/2012 1:21 PM, MM wrote:

> Well, the day is coming to an end, Usenet-wise and no one has
> apparently purchased oil from BoilerJuice.
>

I've never found their prices to be lower than my local fuel depot.

[James]

I've bought from both Boiler Juice and Fuelfighter and both have delivered with in the dates stated when I ordered. In terms of price fuelfighter tend to be cheaper in my area but then I dont think they have national coverage where as Boilerjuice do. In terms of price my local supplier was about 3 pence a litre more expensive when getting a quote today and after ringing him back said he would match it. Would rather they had given me thier best price first time rather than feeling they were exploiting my loyalty. All of my orders from either site have been delivered by reputable companies, Fuelfighter was WCF Fuels and Boilerjuice was Chandlers. Not had a problem and will use which ever is cheapest in the future. Another site which was quite interesting was cheapest oil.

www.cheapestoil.co.uk
www.fuelfighter.co.uk

[Steve Firth]

James <admin%fuelfigh...@gtempaccount.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday, 21 August 2012 10:00:42 UTC+1, MM wrote:

[snip]

>> What's the BJ/FF service like? Trustworthy?

I've only had dealings with BJ. They gave a lower quote than my usual
supplier. I ordered a fill in November. They didn't fill the tank until mid
January. At that time we had been out of oil for two weeks and I had to
drive to a local supplier with four 25L cans in the car to get enough oil
to keep the house warm.

BJ had contracted out to the worst supplier in the area - yes Total Butler
I mean you. Never again.

> I've bought from both Boiler Juice and Fuelfighter

James <admin%fuelfigh...@gtempaccount.com>

<snort>

That's actually funny.

--
<•DarWin><|
_/ _/

[Davey]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:34:09 +0000 (UTC)
Steve Firth <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote:

> James <admin%fuelfigh...@gtempaccount.com> wrote:
> > On Tuesday, 21 August 2012 10:00:42 UTC+1, MM wrote:
> [snip]
>
> >> What's the BJ/FF service like? Trustworthy?
>
> I've only had dealings with BJ. They gave a lower quote than my usual
> supplier. I ordered a fill in November. They didn't fill the tank
> until mid January. At that time we had been out of oil for two weeks
> and I had to drive to a local supplier with four 25L cans in the car
> to get enough oil to keep the house warm.
>
> BJ had contracted out to the worst supplier in the area - yes Total
> Butler I mean you. Never again.
>

Interesting.
When I took over the local oil syndicate, there was a ban on
Total Butler for a while, as they had done the dirty on somebody, I
don't know the details. But I used them in the summer, they were the
cheapest locally by a long way, and did the job.
The syndicate usually gets about 3ppl below the lowest quoted individual
price; we normally order about 40,000 to 50,000 litres, three times a
year. Each time, it is a matter of calling round the suppliers, then
calling back, quoting the lower price offered by another supplier,
until it goes no lower.
But I would be interested to hear what put you against them.
--
David.

[John Williamson]

Did you read Steve's post? The bit where he said he ran out of oil due
to Total Butler's two month delay in delivery?

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

[Steve Firth]

As above, the three months it took them to deliver. After a week with no
delivery I called them to be told we were "next on the list". this turned
into daily calls, emails and nothing but a tirade of lies from TB about
delivery dates.

Catching their driver pissing all over the tank, sight gauge and controls
when they did deliver three months late didn't exactly endear them to me
either.

If you look here:

http://www.nrac.co.uk/directory/0312081720/

You will see that my experience is far from unique. I wouldn't touch them
with yours.

--
<•DarWin><|
_/ _/

[Davey]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:56:44 +0000 (UTC)

It sounds as though they still have the same reputation as when they did whatever it was before I took the syndicate over.
However, I have had the one deal with them, it went off with only
one small glitch, which was promptly fixed without complaint or
problem, and they were considerably cheaper than the supplier I used
before. Based on this experience, and the fact that the whole purpose of
the syndicate is to buy oil at as low a price as possible, I will still
include them in the next round. I am not discounting others'
unfortunate experiences, but saying that, so far, they have done the
job, and unless and until they fail, I would be wrong to eliminate them.
For what it's worth, I once looked up BoilerJuice, and their quoted
price was one of the highest, so I don't know how their system works.
--
Davey.

[Dave Liquorice]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 14:34:09 +0000 (UTC), Steve Firth wrote:

>> I've bought from both Boiler Juice and Fuelfighter
>
> James <admin%fuelfigh...@gtempaccount.com>
>
> <snort>
>
> That's actually funny.

<snort> Indeed. B-) I hadn't spotted that.

Fuelfighter is run by WCF Fuels which I think is one of the very few
remaining independant fuel suppliers. Almost everyone else has been
bought out by GB Oils(*).

Boilerjuice was sold to GB Oils but after a "bit of fuss" was sold back
to one of the original owners. Its now wholly owned by a holding company
Welsummer Ltd which is wholly owned by a Mr Paul Ward. (At least
according to the relevant web sites.)

I'm not sure how independant of GB Oils BJ really is now. Curious that
Fuelfighter is a front end to Boilerjuice... both from the spam point of
view and the link with a large independant, aka rival to GB Oils, oil
supplier.

In my past experience BJ prices are normally around 2p/l *more* than our
local supplier. Just got quotes from both FF and BJ. FF - 58.9p/l (by 9th
delivery) BJ 60.95p/l by 8th Nov delivery). If I order from our local
supplier they get very apologetic if delivery isn't within working 3 or 4
working days, which would be the 31st or 1st if I ordered tommorow.

(*) Owned by DCC Energy "In Britain, DCC Energy sells oil under a

portfolio of brands including Bayford, Butler Fuels, Brogan, Carlton
Fuels, CPL Petroleum, Gulf, Pace Fuelcare, Scottish Fuels, Shell and
Texaco."

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Tim W]

I purchased Oil from Boilerjuice.

For reasons I can't recall we had agreed to let a firm called Watsons
manage a top-up arrangement. They were filling the tank whenever was
convenient for them, letting it go nearly empty around xmas and really
taking the piss price wise. When I queried the costs I was given some
complete lies about how they had only accidentally charged me 65p/ltr
when they had meant to charge me 56p. In addition to that, being old
fashioned I always paid by the end of the following month by which time
they were always threatening me with the County Court which had been
funny to start with but wasn't any more.

So the arrangement was bad on all counts. A friend said try Boilerjuice
and the one order was all good. They seemed to put the delivery
effectively out to tender, got a good price & lead time, paying up front
is fine by me if the oil arrives, so what's not to like? They didn't get
me any extra discount by finding other orders to 'group' but in theory
it should work like an automatic syndicate, only you don't need to
organise it.

I never heard about the oft stuff until now but I had been considering
organising my neighbours into a boilerjuice buying group and donating
the extra discount to the village hall roof fund. Maybe I won't until I
have checked up a bit more

Tim w

[Dave Liquorice]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2012 23:37:32 +0100, Tim W wrote:

>>> http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/consumer-enforcement/consumer-
>>> enforcement-completed/heating-oil/
>>
>> I think it's a real eye-opener ...

But is a year old now. Personally I've never thought of Boilerjuice as a
comparison site, it's never given a list of suppliers and their prices.
Just a price and more recently a range of prices depending on how quickly
you want delivery.

> They [Boilerjuice] seemed to put the delivery effectively out to
> tender,

At one time BJ would use the most convient, for them, GB Oils group
company. No "tendering". They got pulled up for this and it resulted in
the sale of BJ back to one of the original founders. I'm still not
convinced how independant BJ is from GB Oils, though having WCF use them
might be a good sign. However see my post from last night showing BJ and
WCF (aka Fuelfighter) price quotes...

> They didn't get me any extra discount by finding other orders to
> 'group' but in theory it should work like an automatic syndicate,

In theory... I treat that as a marketing hook, I don't like it. If I knew
that people did get that discount or what the criteria were I'd be less
sceptical. How many combined deliveries over what area would earn a
significant discount (>1p/l)?

Maybe I'm rather too cynical about heating oil supply as most of our
local suppliers (half a dozen or so) that used to compete against each
other on price are now all GB Oils group companies and your call to many
of them gets answered in a call center in Scotland or you get the same
price (+/- a fraction of a penny).

--
Cheers
Dave.