Drivers fuming over petrol pump scandal

SPECIAL REPORT by Pete Bainbridge

October 08, 2008

| Submit Comments | Comments (13) | Previous | Next

The Esso garage, Churchill Way, was charging 110.9p per litre

MACCLESFIELD’S motorists are being charged more for their fuel than drivers in neighbouring towns.

Many are travelling to forecourts in Wilmslow and Leek to fill up their tanks for as much as five pence a litre less.

Today, the Macclesfield Express launches an appeal to persuade the town’s service station bosses to lower their prices to the same level as others across the borough.

Help everyone to keep track of petrol prices across the borough - click here for our interactive map

Unleaded and diesel prices in Macclesfield yesterday (Tuesday, October 7) were up to three pence a litre more expensive than in Wilmslow, just five miles away, and one pence a litre more expensive on average. And just across the border into Staffordshire – a matter of ten miles – Leek motorists were buying unleaded at five pence a litre cheaper.

The price discrepancies did not go unnoticed in the town centre, with many Maxonians saying they shop around for their fuel.

Karen Simm, who works in Macclesfield, said: "I don’t buy petrol in Macc, unless I have to – when the light goes on. If I’m thinking ahead I go to Chelford or somewhere else, because it’s cheaper."

Mum Sarah Burke, who runs sandwich shop Simply Scrummy, on Churchill Way, said: "Last year, it would cost me £55 to fill up my car (1.8 litre Vauxhall Zafira). This year it costs me £70.

"The £60 didn’t seem that bad, but when it hit £70 for a full tank, I couldn’t believe it. I used to take my daughter to the nursery two days a week, but now she’s older we go five days a week. A full tank now lasts about two weeks, when it used to last three. If I could save three or four pence a litre by going further away, a couple of miles to Wilmslow, I would."

Her husband Richard Burke, who lives with Sarah on Victoria Road, said: "We filled up at the Trafford Centre the other day, and paid 105.9p. In a way, the £2.50 we saved (as opposed to filling up in Macclesfield for an average of 109.9) paid for our trip to Manchester."

Keith Lans, 48, of Rugby Drive, Tytherington, said: "Tesco are offering five pence a litre discount if you spend £50 instore. This is not a saving! It’s merely claiming a discount you should already be getting. Tesco get none of my business at all now. I never buy fuel in Macclesfield."

But when pressed for an explanation, the companies behind the prices didn’t seem to have an answer as to why fuel costs more in Macclesfield than other areas nearby.

A spokesman for Esso said it was "a matter for the company how prices are set", but could not give a reason why the Esso garage in Wilmslow was cheaper than five miles away in Macclesfield.

He added: "There are many factors which determine our pump prices. We set the pump prices at our company-owned sites on a site-by-site basis. Retailing of motor fuels is a highly competitive business and we vigorously compete with competition. Fundamentally the market sets prices. We aim to be competitive. Pump prices are affected by changes in many factors such as taxes and duties, international product prices and the £/$ exchange rate. We do not set the prices at Esso branded sites which are operated by independent dealers."

A spokeswoman for Shell said: "Each service station operates within its own competitive environment, so each service station is looked at individually regarding fuel pricing, taking into account a number of different factors different levels of competitive intensity, the proximity of competitors, traffic flows, customer base (local regular customers or transient customers), throughputs, and operating costs".

A spokesman for Tesco, which had a higher price in Macclesfield than Shell, said: "We check the prices at our own petrol stations versus our competitors daily, and we are confident that the local customer is getting a great deal on fuel. As with the vast majority of petrol retailers in the UK, including the oil majors, such as BP, Shell, and Esso, and other supermarket groups, Tesco does not operate with one national price.

"Our clear goal for customers is to endeavour to be competitive on petrol and diesel in the local catchment area for each store. There could be times when Tesco may not be the cheapest in the locality. Over an extended period of time we would expect to offer great value on fuel, with the added benefit of Clubcard points.

"Overall, we believe that Tesco has the best offer on petrol in the market. Every single one of our petrol stations has local competition. If we are not competitive in that locality, then our customers could choose to fill their cars elsewhere."

Help everyone to keep track of petrol prices across the borough - click here for our interactive map

| Submit Comments | Comments (13) | Previous | Next

Showing comments 1 to 13 and replies | View All

Justice League (08/10/2008 at 12:16)

Good grief even down here in Londinium the prices at the pumps are as low as £1.05, £1.03 in some places!

There's absolutely no excuse for Esso Garages in one place charging a different price than in another it should be a nationalized price.

mogangirl (08/10/2008 at 20:56)

Maybe they think the fat CATS on 100k of the ratepayers money and MPs in macclesfield can afford THE DESIGNER PETROL PRICES.And as allways the general public and ordinary working folkes of macclesfield get fleeced again.

Keith Lans (10/10/2008 at 08:09)

Even though it has just come down, it has come down elsewhere too. Buxton is still 5p cheaper. I spoke to a taxi driver last night who said they were under instructions to fill up out of town where possible.

Honest Joe (10/10/2008 at 11:34)

It is perfectly true about Macclesfield pump prices being an absolute rip off.

It compares the prices within a requested radius. At the moment it's 105.9 at Tesco Whalley Bridge, and the same prices available at the four points of the compass.

Tesco in Macclesfield is 109.9 which is more expensive than any Garage at the airport, which says something.

As a professional driver living in Macclesfield now for 15 years I can honestly say that in all that time I have never filled up in Macc.

It is a joke when Tersco have their 5p off promotion when you spend more than £50 (available at Handforth Dean all the time). It is strangfe how in the days before the Macc price goes up a couple of pence.

When travelling through Whalley Bridge, or passing any of the others I fill up. That makes Whalley Bridge (and Droylsden is another) 9p per litre cheaper, or 41 per gallon. Well worth thinking about, don't you think?

Observant, Macc (12/10/2008 at 12:15)

This rip-off in Macc is nothing new. I told Macc Express about it two years ago and challenged Tesco at the same time. When I queried the price at Tesco petrol station the staff did not have an answer but agreed they were more expensive. I then contacted Tesco Head Office who said local staff "have no right to comment because they are only cashiers"! Macc Express didn't want to know and Tesco just came out with the usual arrogant dismissal of their customers. I also don't fill up at Tesco in Macc - after all, why pay more?!

SplinterCell (12/10/2008 at 12:20)

How come the Government goes on about higher fuels costs for the home, then attack the companies that supply these services. But don't attack the Fat Cats that make millions in petrol and diesel.

Richard Gee (13/10/2008 at 16:16)

Reading your article about fuel prices. In some garages in the Potteries petrol is £1.03p and Diesel is £1.09 how can local garages justify such a big margin in price unless they are profiteering. Tesco prices are set within a 3 mile radius so that means we in macclesfield have no chance of cut price fuel.

pete111 (13/10/2008 at 17:48)

It's now a year since I filled up in Macc...now that Tescos has finally reduced its prices, it's only to 106.9: in other words, it's still quids-in to have a pleasant drive over the top to Buxton, where the first garage you come to sells today at 102.9.

The prices in this town have been a rip-off for years.

Hatch (15/10/2008 at 00:40)

That comment does not compute to sanity or even basic honesty. Journey to Buxton and back takes approx 1 gallon. 1 gallon is £4.68p at 102.9. That means that to save money you would have to be purchasing 117 gallons of fuel.

What are you driving a converted to gasoline driven Chieftain?

pete111 (15/10/2008 at 09:53)

One gallon to Buxton and back! Are you having a laugh? Of course I don't drive a 4 x 4 unlike I suspect you do.

I should have guessed when I saw your username was a deliberate reference to one of those people you used to regularly victimise.

Mosquito (15/10/2008 at 15:42)

Crude oil prices are now as low as they were in October 2007 yet pump prices are 17p dearer. Can anyone explain this? Is there a genuine reason or are garages just ripping the motorist off??

The Satisfied Customer (16/10/2008 at 08:26)

Once consumer prices rise unless there is a price war you can forget any reductions.

Hatch (16/10/2008 at 16:37)

Sorry Pete 111 I do not know what you are on about. Would you like me to change my name by deed poll? It is fact that it is 15 miles to Buxton and 15 miles back, that equates to 30 miles which is around 1 gallon. At £4.86p per gallon that is a huge expenditure to top up your tank.

Different thing if you are going somewhere and taking the opportunity to fill up when passing. But to make a special trip is just idiotic.

()

Report

News