Limerick petrol station owners object to tesco petrol

Kess73

Reread the article in the Chronicle a few minutes ago, and I have to laugh at how the owner of the Premier Service Station on the Ennis Road gave direct quotes claiming that he would have to let twenty full and part time workers go if Tesco put a fuel station in Coonagh.

In other words he now has an excuse for letting people go if he wants to and can blame Tesco for it. It also means that he wants to keep his prices high, along with most of the other stations in and around the town, and not be competitive in any way, despite the fact that stations in rural areas with lower customer numbers who are buying their fuel from the same source can sell the fuel at 3, 4, or 5 cent a litre less.

I drove between Listowel and Tarbert last week, and it was funny how stations along that route could have unleaded for 129.9 and 128.9 when the boyos in Limerick with much higher volumes of customers are selling it at up to 135.9 a litre and maybe higher for unleaded.

Next time people are driving out the Dock road or out past the Crescent Shopping centre on their way to the Southcourt roundabout, pay attention to the prices. Then if you are driving out the Foynes road or out the Newcastlewest road or out past Charleville heading for Cork, or on that Listowel to Tarbert road do the same with the garages there and wonder why our Limerick ones are staying dearer despite being able to buy the fuel in larger volumes due to higher footfall, and also bear in mind that all the fuel is coming from the same source in Cork which is the old Statoil depot which supplies Topaz, Texaco, Campus etc etc.

bazz26

You would imagine that Tesco would get planning permission to open a filling station as the old Texaco site just after Elm Motors was never reopened or redeveloped. One replacing the other.

krudler

Fcuk the petrol stations, they were all too happy to charge more for petrol they had already bought before the price of a barrel went up and expect nobody to complain, well now people have an alternative

Kess73

Plus isn't the carbon tax on petrol and diesel due to kick in during May?

If so, it is even more reason for people to want to see a bit of competition for their generally hard earned euro.

bazz26

Kess73 wrote: »

Plus isn't the carbon tax on petrol and diesel due to kick in during May?

If so, it is even more reason for people to want to see a bit of competition for their generally hard earned euro.

Apparently it was added to petrol and diesel back in the last budget. It is being applied to home heating oil from next month.

KenmareGirl

Hi all, I've heard (more than once) that Tesco petrol is of a poor quality and not good for a car engine, any truth in that I wonder?

Berty

KenmareGirl wrote: »

Hi all, I've heard (more than once) that Tesco petrol is of a poor quality and not good for a car engine, any truth in that I wonder?

Best avoid Topaz as well because it's the exact same fuel.

MissHoneyBun

Retailers are pricing themselves out of the market with their astronomical prices and have no-one to blame but themselves if customers go elsewhere to get the same, cheaper. They do realise that customers don't just exist to keep their businesses afloat yeah? :rolleyes:

bazz26

In fairness folks, the Exchequer is the main winner here. Duty, carbon tax and vat make up a larger part of the price of a litre of petrol/diesel than what the retailer/distributer sees. The tax man takes over 80c out of every €1.33 we pay per litre of petrol.

See here:
http://www.pumps.ie/FAQPricesExplained.php

Now in saying that it in no way justifies price controlling or cartels by retailers in certain locations.

phog

bazz26 wrote: »

In fairness folks, the Exchequer is the main winner here. Duty, carbon tax and vat make up a larger part of the price of a litre of petrol/diesel than what the retailer/distributer sees. The tax man takes over 80c out of every €1.33 we pay per litre of petrol.

See here:
http://www.pumps.ie/FAQPricesExplained.php

Now in saying that it in no way justifies price controlling or cartels by retailers in certain locations.

The exchequer takes the same cut from the service stations in the republic but as mentioned above last week I got petrol in Ballinsloe for 126 but here in Limerick it would cost me 133, I know which price I prefer.

bazz26

phog wrote: »

The exchequer takes the same cut from the service stations in the republic but as mentioned above last week I got petrol in Ballinsloe for 126 but here in Limerick it would cost me 133, I know which price I prefer.

Now I'm not here to fight the retailer's corner and have no connection with them but as I understand it, it is not as straight forward as it seems. Some retailers make very little profit from selling fuel but compensate for this by getting people to spend money in their forecourt shops too. Draw people in by shaving a cent or two off a litre of fuel and make up the difference by selling newspapers, milk, bread, etc.

Of course like in any business there is a certain level of greed too so it is up to the consumer to choose where they want to spend their money and how much value they get from it.

Itsdacraic

That website indicates a profit to the retailer of 11c per litre.

At the moment you get roughly 15l for your €20 of petrol, so that is only working out at €1.65 for every €20. That means you either need a very successful shop attached or fill a serious amount of petrol tanks before you start making decent money.

No doubt there were fellas creaming it, but you only have to look and see how many petrol stations have closed down in recent years to see that it's not exactly a licence to print money.

langdang

Guess what one of the major complaints will be "boo hoo tesco sell low price fuel as a loss leader so they can sell more groceries etc it's not fair", when this is pretty much the same business model as most petrol stations (they make sweet FA off the fuel apparently, the money comes from bottles of coke, donuts, coffee and car washes)

phog

bazz26 wrote: »

Now I'm not here to fight the retailer's corner and have no connection with them but as I understand it, it is not as straight forward as it seems. Some retailers make very little profit from selling fuel but compensate for this by getting people to spend money in their forecourt shops too. Draw people in by shaving a cent or two off a litre of fuel and make up the difference by selling newspapers, milk, bread, etc.

Of course like in any business there is a certain level of greed too so it is up to the consumer to choose where they want to spend their money and how much value they get from it.

Itsdacraic wrote: »

That website indicates a profit to the retailer of 11c per litre.

At the moment you get roughly 15l for your €20 of petrol, so that is only working out at €1.65 for every €20. That means you either need a very successful shop attached or fill a serious amount of petrol tanks before you start making decent money.

No doubt there were fellas creaming it, but you only have to look and see how many petrol stations have closed down in recent years to see that it's not exactly a licence to print money.

There's a dive of a "service" station on the Ennis side of Gort, it's the cheapest petrol between Limerick and Galway and it is triving, I doubt many customers are spending much other than fuel.

Berty

phog wrote: »

There's a dive of a "service" station on the Ennis side of Gort, it's the cheapest petrol between Limerick and Galway and it is triving, I doubt many customers are spending much other than fuel.

Certainly right. It is some dive of a station but it is ALWAYS jammed with vehicles.

They will be hit hard when Gort is bypassed.

goingpostal

The ideal solution would be if our beloved Govt stopped charging so much tax on fuel, and enforced price controlling legislation to ensure proper competition between petrol stations. Seeing as that is about as likely to happen as me growing a third arm, I will settle for cheap fuel from Tesco for a few months and listening to a few greedy petrol station owners bleating and whinnying.

bazz26

phog wrote: »

There's a dive of a "service" station on the Ennis side of Gort, it's the cheapest petrol between Limerick and Galway and it is triving, I doubt many customers are spending much other than fuel.

There are lots of reasons that are not apparent why one place can charge less or more than another. Some of these forecourts make their money in other ways other than fuel while fuel is the primary source of revenue for others. They guy in Gort obviously hasn't invested any money in his premises, maybe he doesn't have as many staff as some other forecourts, therefore he can afford to charge less for his fuel to attract customers while still making a living.

BTW I'm quit happy for Tesco to open a filling station here.

macbog

I will gladly drive from Shannon to Coonagh for cheaper fuel . We are being ripped by the two filling stations here . One weekend recently the Topaz station put up their prices three times in as many days . No way did they get a delivery three times that weekend . Cant wait to see them get a kick in the pants .

Kess73

macbog wrote: »

I will gladly drive from Shannon to Coonagh for cheaper fuel . We are being ripped by the two filling stations here . One weekend recently the Topaz station put up their prices three times in as many days . No way did they get a delivery three times that weekend . Cant wait to see them get a kick in the pants .

Does Trixie Toomey or family still run the Topaz (formally Shell) in Shannon?

macbog

Kess73 wrote: »

Does Trixie Toomey or family still run the Topaz (formally Shell) in Shannon?

No . Have no idea who own it now . They were competitve one time but now their among the most expensive in the area .

DERICKOO

petrol is the same as a packet of fags the tax has to be paid.
lobbying for simi by a counciller is now imoral in todays climate they have had it to easy for toooo looong time to kick there asses out.:rolleyes:
if tesco can do it why cant they also they all buy in bulk and all hedge, oil will stay between $75-90 for the foreseeable.
we are all lambs being lead to the debit card.

Melion

The petrol in Shannon is a joke, its currently 135.9 in Topaz and unfortunately i had to put some in after work this evening.

TestTransmission

Trust me,when your car regularly doesn't get 30mpg its ALOT ALOT worse to be dealing with.

Melion

I put €90 in mine last week(in Limerick), rarely get 30mpg

TestTransmission

Melion wrote: »

I put €90 in mine last week(in Limerick), rarely get 30mpg

90?Ouchy,what you driving and how much you driving?

Melion

BMW 318, only driving from Corbally to Shannon Airport every day. Just remembered that €90 included a trip to Killaloe and Ballybunion

TestTransmission

And you only get 30mpg?you must be driving the socks out of it

macbog

Melion wrote: »

The petrol in Shannon is a joke, its currently 135.9 in Topaz and unfortunately i had to put some in after work this evening.

When Tesco open's a petrol station in Coonagh their going to loose a lot of bussiness and I've no sympathy for them . Maybe they can redeem themselves in the mean time and start offering lower prices . But I doubt it .

goingpostal

I'm going to start pissing into my petrol tank and see if it works.

Mc Love

TestTransmission wrote: »

Trust me,when your car regularly doesn't get 30mpg its ALOT ALOT worse to be dealing with.

Thats bad :eek: