Calor Depots removing Autogas

[Brian_H]

Have just been to try and fill up at their Swindon depot today, pump has been taken out and not being put back, on orders from head office (depot can't really understand why as they were selling quite a lot of autogas upto the day of removal).

It appears that Calor have decided this for all except 2 of their depots, one of which is the Birmingham one (Smethwick at a guess?) and one other (don't know which one as he couldn't remember).

Not a good sign at any rate, maybe just pressure from the forecourt side to try and push sales towards those sites with a higher markup?

[Gilbertd]

My local Calor depot stopped doing Autogas months, if not years, ago. They hardly sold any but they were the most expensive place for miles so not surprising.

[Brian_H]

3500 litres a week from what Swindon said, sounds like a fair bit of easy money to me?

[LPGC]

I haven't filled at my local Calor station for months, if I'm getting close to finishing a conversion I'll work til late (when they are closed) to get it finished, it's usually late when I go to put gas in a customer vehicle. But I get (or got) a bit of work from there... they give people with LPG problems who ask for advice my cards (or most staff will) and I used to service/repair the LPG systems on their own fleet of delivery vehicles. Now I've heard about this I'll make a point of visiting and seeing if they still sell Autogas. But one staff member there always seemed to resent having to get off her backside from whatever clerical work she wasn't doing to receive payment from Autogas customers.

[Avensist]

Did wonder about that... My local Calor Norwich has disappeared off the filllpg.co.uk site map.

Like Simon, they always close early so haven't been there to fill it up for months. Plus, the staff there are reluctant too giving the impression each time when I try to pay that Autogas customers are pain in the back side.

[Brian_H]

Oxford was like that as well - theres went a couple of years ago and they seemed glad to see the back of it. Though if they had approached it differently and had made the pump more accessible (card operated and available 24/7 is possible, other places were doing so, or the countrywide model but with sensible pricing on account basis unlike them!) they should have had an easy money making opportunity.

I'd suspect as much as anything, that some bright spark in their management thinks it will increase cylinder sales.

[Gilbertd]

Or Shell put pressure on them to reduce the competition? Calor supply Shell anyway so they will still sell the same amount with less hassle.

[Brian_H]

Certainly possible as they supply most of them as you say, usually at a higher price than Calor. Suppose at least Shell have opened a couple of new stations recently, which no other chain has done.

[robertXX]

YES Brian i had that at the oxford depot , walk in there ready to pay ,with a smile on your face ,and get looked at like you had just raped the blokes dog ...how was i to know it was his turn ?

[Brian_H]

The other strange thing there was they had no way to see what you had actually dispensed and relied on customers telling the amount.