Linux Format forums

Re: Save 5p on petrol

CJLL — Tue May 02, 2006 7:39 pm

Author: CJLL

Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 7:39 pm

shifty_ben wrote:

I do not doubt there may well be a catch somewhere, they may even charge for membership in the future, but given that both the cards and membership is currently free, the point I was trying to make is what is he trying to scam out of us? Like i said all he can do is sell your personal details (Although he does have a privacy policy, that doesnt gaurantee he will follow it). If he sells my details, then it will mean a couple of extra spam emails coming into my deedicated spam account. Any post sent to me won't get through because of the mail preference service.

So what does he gain in this scam?

It's not nessecarily a scam, it's probably just a pipe dream.

There is a lot of detail to be sorted out, including setting up the infrastructure needed to support the scheme. That has to be paid for before anybody gets a card and the chance buy fuel at a discount price.

That all costs money, and it's the customer who pays for it one way or another.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Mon May 01, 2006 12:58 pm

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:58 pm

Arggg Government leaflets! I gave up reading anything like that written by the government after I tried to fill out my passport application form (admittedly not a good idea to do so drunk).
Problem is I am not overly concerned with who pockets the money, its more the scrooge inside me not liking paying out quite as much tax as I actually do. I got a pay rise last year that pushed me just into the next tax boundary, problem is it means because of the increased tax although I was earning more my 'take-home' earnings are less than before the pay rise

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying taxes (though I don't like it ) but I don't like the way everything seems to have a fairly high level of tax - especially as it is quite effectively hidden. If you go to canada and see 14.50 as the price on an item, that is what you are paying Walmart (or whoever) The tax is then added on at the till so you pay about 15% more. Admittedly its a pain when you are trying to make sure you don't spend more than X amount, but I like the principle of it, it just seems open and honest.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

TheDoctor — Mon May 01, 2006 12:29 pm

Author: TheDoctor

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:29 pm

But remember that excise duty accounts for only about one-thirteenth of the taxes the government receives. The is less than comes out of corporation tax. And also remember that the government spends the taxes it receives. It isn't pocketed by MPs!

You can see a breakdown of where UK taxes come from and how they are spent on page 8 of this leaflet

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Mon May 01, 2006 1:10 am

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 1:10 am

63% Damn! I knew it was bad, but that is worse than i thought. The same theory I mentioned goes for Alcohol and cigarettes as well as petrol by the way. Had they only increased cigs by a penny (instead of 9) they would still have seen a massive increase in their incomings.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

TheDoctor — Mon May 01, 2006 1:01 am

Author: TheDoctor

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 1:01 am

You can work out the tax from the article I cited.

Average cost of a litre of unleaded = 94.13p
Before 17.5% VAT = 80.45p
Cost of petrol = 34.7p
So duty = 80.45-34.7=45.75

Therefore: total tax (duty + VAT) = 59.43p (ie 63% of the price).

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Mon May 01, 2006 12:03 am

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:03 am

I was talking about it with a mate the other day, correct me if I am wrong but the Government is making more money from us than we entirely realise. Yes you have fule tax, but every time they boost the tax on fuel, not only does that go up but so does their cut in terms of VAT. Therefore one can surmise that they can afford to lower the fuel tax and not lose nearly as much as you would first think.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

TheDoctor — Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:55 pm

Author: TheDoctor

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:55 pm

If one of the oil majors drops petrol prices to those who hold a discount card, then the others will drop prices to match. The X number of people who switch to the company that does a deal with Scammell will imediately switch back. The net effect will be that profit margins on petrol for all the oil companies will be cut back - and they aren't high to start with. The company that gives a discount to card holders will do worst of all, since a percentage of the cut in price will go to the discount card company. That's how discount card companies finance themselves.

In the meantime, the consumer won't benefit by much, since most of the cost is tax (as the site in question admits). A 5p to 7p a litre reduction amounts to a cut of 15-20% in the before-tax cost of petrol. There's no way oil companies are going to slice that much off their revenues, particularly if all they can get out of it is a no-win price war.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:47 pm

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:47 pm

Presumably the theory of X number of people are likely to only buy from you where possible because you offer discount. Just a guess, because I can't see what else it could be

Re: Save 5p on petrol

TheDoctor — Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:20 pm

Author: TheDoctor

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:20 pm

What I find puzzling is what possible advantage the oil companies would get from this. What precisely is there to negotiate about? What exactly could Ben Scammell possibly offer them?

It's not as though they don't have a lot of customers. And, when I used to work in the oil industry, it wasn't selling petrol (or "motor spirit" as we called it) that generated the most profit. Every company's main effort, as far as the forecourt was concerned, was put into making sure it didn't lose market share.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

coolclassic — Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:24 pm

Author: coolclassic

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:24 pm

I get the impression that CJLL must be leading a hermits life after all how can he dare go out side, the bus company might be overcharging, the train companies might be overcharging and how can he possibly work: the government might be scamming him through taxes and even Tesco's are scamming the public by overcharging customers.

WOW! Leading a solitary life what a dream.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:58 am

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:58 am

Quote:

Really? Free? Would you like to buy bridge too?

Where exactly is Mr Scamell going to obtain 350,000 personalised membership cards, a data processing system for 350,000 members and the customer service and accounting departments to look after them for free?

Well presumably either from his own pocket (very unlikely) or through a contract with whatever Petrol company he is trying to get to sign on. In fact it could even be based on advertising revenues. For all I care he could be printing the money off on his mothers computer
I do not doubt there may well be a catch somewhere, they may even charge for membership in the future, but given that both the cards and membership is currently free, the point I was trying to make is what is he trying to scam out of us? Like i said all he can do is sell your personal details (Although he does have a privacy policy, that doesnt gaurantee he will follow it). If he sells my details, then it will mean a couple of extra spam emails coming into my deedicated spam account. Any post sent to me won't get through because of the mail preference service.

So what does he gain in this scam?

Re: Save 5p on petrol

CJLL — Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:38 am

Author: CJLL

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:38 am

shifty_ben wrote:

The thing is the cards are free, so theres very little they can scam off you. OK so they could sell your details but a dedicated spam email account and the mail preference service takes care of that

Re: Save 5p on petrol

CJLL — Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:29 am

Author: CJLL

Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:29 am

crispibits wrote:

Well, one person I *do* believe is Martin Lewis from moneysavingexpert.com. He's all for this card, and he does tend to check these things out quite thoroughly. The only way I've found to save money on petrol so far though is not to use so much of it...

This is what they had to say about it:

Quote:

Once it�s up and running, I will re-evaluate it to see if it's worth it.

Of course, scepticism with something new like this is important.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Re: Save 5p on petrol

shifty_ben — Sat Apr 29, 2006 11:06 pm

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 11:06 pm

The thing is the cards are free, so theres very little they can scam off you. OK so they could sell your details but a dedicated spam email account and the mail preference service takes care of that

Re: Save 5p on petrol

crispibits — Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:49 pm

Author: crispibits

Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:49 pm

Well, one person I *do* believe is Martin Lewis from moneysavingexpert.com. He's all for this card, and he does tend to check these things out quite thoroughly. The only way I've found to save money on petrol so far though is not to use so much of it...