# Fuelcards cost more than Pump prices



## mum2two (4 Feb 2011)

My husband and I were checking out our latest ‘EMO OIL’ Fuelcard invoice Tuesday evening after we noticed that our bills seemed to be very high.
We were horrified to discover that last month we paid €171.82 for 116.37 litres of Diesel. (My husband is a self employed electrician and drives a Diesel Van) This worked out on average at €1.48 per litre!!!!
The average pump price last month in Ireland was €1.36. (check the pumps.ie website)

I started to go back through my invoices for the past several months and discovered that most of them were charged at 11-13 cents per litre over the pump prices.
At first I thought this was a mistake and that they had charged VAT twice in error.
I called EMO OIL yesterday and sent a strong email after 3 phone calls got no reply or useful information. 
By the afternoon the area Sales Manager had called and asked me to give her some ‘time to look into it’

She has just called me back this lunchtime to say that there is nothing wrong with the billing, we have NOT been charged VAT twice.
She explained that the way their system of ‘rebate’ works means that ‘in the first year of being customers we had a competitive price’ but I’m not quite sure what happens after that! 

Obviously _we_ were silly to have not paid more attention to our invoices. She told me that we were sent invoices and statements every month and implied that it was our own fault. Which I’m inclined to agree with! NEVER again will I be so blasé about invoices coming in and just paying them out without thought! We should have been checking and queried this a lot earlier... i.e several years ago!!! 
She offered to do something going forward (... sick of that overused phrase) but I’m not inclined to give them a cent more!

However our ignorance aside and no errors having been made by EMO OIL. It still leaves me with a very bitter taste in my mouth and by the way my brother, brother-in-law and father all have the same Fuelcards and were horrified yesterday when they started looking at their bills too! My Dad checked out his TOPAZ fuel card too and that also was above pump price. So there’s several customers less!

EMO OIL are a DCC company and have already been implicated in scandal to do with Oil price fixing I have learned on my trawl around the internet for information. 
Who fixes the prices for fuel cards? Have they any regulation? Is it just another case of someone rubbing their hands in glee at an unsuspecting public?

Any ideas on how to get some satisfaction? We're not going to get any money back and I just want other people to know what may also be happening to them!


----------



## PaddyBloggit (4 Feb 2011)

mum2two said:


> I just want other people to know what may also be happening to them!




You've done it ..... here.

I'd agree it's your fault for not checking invoices/statements as they came in but you've learned your lesson so you'll know the next time.

Still, it amazing how a 'loyalty' card card can reward loyalty with higher prices.


----------



## JoeRoberts (6 Feb 2011)

I don't understand how this can hapen.
When you start filling at the pump, the pump does not know you have a feul card.
So you fill €75, go into shop, hand over card and say €75 diesel and sign a receipt or enter your PIN number ?
Surely the shop assistant doesn't change the €75 to something else ?


----------



## MaryBe (6 Feb 2011)

JoeRoberts said:


> I don't understand how this can hapen.
> When you start filling at the pump, the pump does not know you have a feul card.
> So you fill €75, go into shop, hand over card and say €75 diesel and sign a receipt or enter your PIN number ?
> Surely the shop assistant doesn't change the €75 to something else ?


 
When you fill at the *FUEL CARD PUMP* there is* no* euro value only *litre* value. The euro value is applied by the card company eg EMO. I think the pumps have a €1 per litre on the pump just for display!!
Some people think the service stations are responsible for these pumps but they are not. It is the fuel card company that run and monitor these. If there is a problem with them, the customer would have to ring the card company for assistance. Some of the service stations will assist but ultimately it is the fuel card companies responsibility


----------



## NHG (7 Feb 2011)

DCI have been ringing me quiet a bit to avail of their "Fuel Card", but everytime I ask them what their rate is for this week it is always dearer than our local pumps.


----------



## well_gurl (11 Apr 2011)

This is something I noticed a few months ago, haven't used the card since!!


----------



## BertieBowel (11 Apr 2011)

For what its worth the rules around the Topaz fuel card are as follows - there is the price at the pump and the price set weekly on the card - you pay the lower of the 2 prices.


----------



## NHG (11 Apr 2011)

Bertiebowel, that sound's like a much better option.

Just went on to their website and could'nt find anything with regard to pricing, so I rang the number and unfortunately they changed that two years ago, sounded too good to be true.


----------



## brazen_dude (11 Apr 2011)

Bertiebowel, topaz card policy is changed now... they charge card rate no matter what pump price is ... ppl can check the card price at www.motorcard.ie weekly... they are cheaper (a cent or two)than pump price most of the times but not always guaranteed.... prices change every saturday...


----------



## Bronte (12 Apr 2011)

When you get your bill a month or so after filling how do you know that the amount of litres used is correct?


----------

