Your experience with oil buying clubs

By John Swindells 18 Dec 2010 | Comment

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As heating oil prices spiral upwards, people are increasingly turning to oil buying clubs, or oil syndicates, to try and get a better deal. Run correctly, these schemes should be better for everyone as they can allow a supplier to make a single delivery run to many people in a local area, all in one day.

The cost savings of this arrangement should filter down to the homeowners - but what is their experience? Here are some real-life quotes:

None
More expensive
Nil
Never used one
No experience
Never used
Dont know
Never tried it
Good
Don't have a local one
I get a bit of a saving
Dont always get reduction
They sound like a good idea
Never done it
I have ordered, paid, now await some update, it worries me now that they are so slow to update the customer. I paid by credit card to protect myself in case its a hoax site and a fraud
None available locally
Local group in Kilmington usually seems to give a few p/l price reduction on 1000l amount.
Good with the exception of delivery time. At present costs have increased which is no great surprise but the extended deliveries are unacceptable as there are no alternatives
Costs too high
Moderate, can be successful but nothing beats testing suppliers direct on phone
Never tried them
NONE - shop around and haggle, and usually get cheaper than boiler juice
Heard of them but don't know of who does them
Ripped off in December
Expensive
We have a coop in a rural area. It is run by volunteers, costs buyers nothing and saves money every time. Plus it includes orders of 500L for the same price which helps the less well off.
We save 3p - 5p/litre (10% - 12%) against "National Average" prices (ref. boilerjuice.com, which I now understand isn't that trustworthy). Suppliers like the simplicity of multiple deliveries in one hit.
None at all
Very expensive
Never used before
Have used boilerjuice once but mainly use them to check prices
Total rip off
Good but still so expnsive
The best price so far
Not used, but see their pricing is more expensive that buying from local distributor
Very expentive, not much in it.
Drive me mad wittering about when they want oil. Gave up on it. My problem is a small tank, only 200gallons; could order with more freedom in previous house wehre tank was 500 gallons.
No experience as neighbours cannot agree on delivery dates etc
None - we cant see how it would work. I'd rather buy when the price is right rather than when the neighbours need it !
Fine
Sometimes cheaper other times not.
Have'nt tried it.
Not had any
I have only checked the Boilerjuice prices and they don't seem to give me any saving at all - I can get the same or better prices just by phoning around the suppliers.
None in your area
So far... so good!
Have never used an oil buying club
Not good
Never used a club
Not used one
Directoil seems to be the best deals, ordered last year and had no problems, but now prices are higher I feel reluctant to part with my money!
Not cheaper
Is there a choice?
Prices are too high I'm using my heating for only 1 hour per day trying to delay buying it and hoping the price will fall
Absolute rubbish Boilerjuice is a rip off a local distributor was over 20ppl cheaper.
A con, price never ever matches local supplier
I do not use them as I am unsure of who they represent. Bolierjuice is a prime example. I have always used CPL petroeum.
Not many people buy to obtain group discount
Bad
Not much cheaper
Have only looked at boilerjuice who give a price which is useful as an indicator, but always more expensive than i can buy it phoning around - but have a friend whose village does it - they seem to get this cheaper, but it's a lot of work for one individu
Not happy with them, they seem dearer than normal
No idea
Never have
Waste of time as they seem to always be more expensive
Prices are very inflated
NOT IN ONE
Poor prices
Too expensive
Expensive and misleading
They have been more expensive than getting quotes from companies
Not much price comparison
You need a minimum order which I dont always need
None as yet
Never heard of them
As yet i havent used them
No nothing of them
None so far
Not sure
Not the cheapest way to get oil-dealing direct and getting a low price direct is more beneficial
Don't work, people use oil at different levels and collecting payments a nightmare.
Have no experience
Excellent. I buy thro Southern Farmers and my latest order is 58p. The previous high price was for an emergency van delivery in snow when tanker impractical. They say they were already on to the Southern Counties/boilerjuice scam
Always more than local supplier Brogans near Perth. Last fill was 1336l at 65.7p although Johnston only charge 57.9p. Thus I paid £104 more than I should have.
Not applicable
Variable and based on petrol prices at the forecourt
Registered with heatingoil.co.uk for their white hot days. Never heard anything. They used to be really good with offers of £10 off. I don't use them now. Rix quoted 56p yesterday 28th jan 2011
Boilerjuice have been competitive - usually the best. Tried Go Locate fuels but their service is terible. Heating Oil club has not yet given me the cheapest price and as i order 1000 litres per month - every penny counts!
Never used them so no opinion
I run one and place orders on the first of every month.
Never joined one!
Prices and unreliable of delivery dates and time
Have no experience as yet with oil buying clubs
That you don't actually save any money.
Waste of time
Never involved with clubs
Don't have any
Terrible
I'm not organized enough to be in one. There is however a successful club running in the village at the present time
No great saving!
Still a little more expensive than if I shop around
Never used an oil buying club
They appear ok but over this winter there were extreme variations daily, and I dont trust them like before
Never heard of them - what are they?
I run one
Can save about 4p/litre when buying smaller quantities . Prices in our area vary by nearly 7p/lire based on an order of 16,000litres this February and 9p/litre compared to Boiler juice.
None, apart from boilerjuice ! just had a quote from them £589.79/1000lts, Sprint fuels £555.45 /1000lts
They work to the members advantage
Nothing recent
Very very expensive, over the top
None in the area

To add your own experience, complete the survey on the right!

5 Comments

by Gerry on 24 June 2011

Boilerjuice is the biggest con of all. I have been checking their price against the local suppliers in Inverness and find Boilerjuice are typically 10p/litre more expensive. A 2500 litre tank was my best investment, now I fill up once a year in Summer at the lowest price.

by Paul Olson on 21 February 2011

I'm in a village consortium that works very well. Order oil six times a year, typically 40,000 litres a time and we save several pence per litre. Over 100 members. A big advantage is that you can order as little as 500 litres and get the same price. Spreads the cost of filling the tank. We contribute ?1 a year for the admin costs. Highly recommended.

by Johnny Denis on 15 February 2011

I note you still have Boiler Juice listed up here. While it used to be a comparison website it is now owned by DCC/GB Oils and only offers their price.

Best wishes

on 15 February 2011

uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/DCC-PLC-DCC-Refutes-Sunday

by Howard Lilley on 18 January 2011

I have run an oil buying group covering 3 villages in rural Kent on a voluntary basis (no charges) for 14 years. We save on average between 3 & 7 pence per litre compared to the average 500 litre price.That adds up to a total saving of about ?34,000 per year! Of course it is worth it!

by mike george on 15 February 2011

I am interested in my area to start a group but on my own not with an existing group that does appear to be more expensive, I want to run this so that people do genuinely save money. Can you give me some help and advice, if possible, pitfalls and dangers. I would be very interested, many thanks. Mike

by R.E.Cooper on 03 January 2011

The big difficulty is to synchronise demand across a group with different sized tanks and different consumption rates. I joined in once, albeit rather reluctantly, but still feel that the best ploy is to have a big tank which holds over 12 months worth and to exploit the freedom of timing that that gives by waiting for prices to drop to what I think is a minimum - works quite well but isn't infallible.

by Howard Lilley on 16 February 2011

A large tank is ideal, but buying with a good group can lead to big savings. One of mine bought 2000 litres this time, saving ?126 when compared with the average price on the day of order.

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Your experience with oil buying clubs

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