Steve Tarling has come up with a brilliant idea originally devised by Phil Hollsworth in the USA.
Most of us haven?t been too worried by the recent Fuel Price hikes that saw Pemium Unleaded rise from around 70p to around 75p a litre. But, unless something is done, by autumn, prices could rise to 90p a litre. Here is how to prevent this price rise and force Premium Unleaded back under 70p. No one needs to stop buying fuel. All we need to do is collectively boycott the service stations of the two leading oil companies and buy our fuel from their competitors. Faced with a near total collective boycott of their product, the two leading oil companies will have no alternative but to cut prices, which in turn will lead to a price war, which in turn will pull retail prices back under 70p a litre. To be really effective and to influence OPEC, this consumer boycott needs to be Europe wide, but it doesn?t matter which two major brands in each country are boycotted because the effect will be the same.
HJ
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comapny car drivers with a petrol card are sometimes forced to buy at certain stations
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HJ,
I received this e-mail this morning;
Subject: Petrol Prices
>
> Have a quick read chaps & chapesses - may not be totally practical for us
> all, but
> it's worth a thought.....
>
> Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to 89p a litre
by
> the
> summer.
>
> Want petrol prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united
> action.
>
> Phillip Hollsworth, in the USA, offered this good idea:
>
> This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy petrol on a certain day"
> campaign
> that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed
at
> that
> because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to
> buy
> petrol. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for
> them. BUT,
> whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really
work.
> Please
> read it and join with us!
>
> By now you're probably thinking petrol priced at about 77p a litre is
super
> cheap.
> Me too! It is currently 79p - 83p for regular unleaded in some towns. Now
> that the
> oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the
> cost of a
> litre is CHEAP at 77p-80p, we need to take aggressive action to teach
them
> that
> BUYERS control the marketplace.... not sellers.
>
> With the price of petrol going up more each day, we consumers need to
take
> action.
> The only way we are going to see the price of petrol come down is if we
hit
> someone
> in the pocket by not purchasing their Petrol! And we can do that WITHOUT
> hurting
> ourselves.
> How?
>
> Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying petrol. But we
CAN
> have an
> impact on petrol prices if we all act together to force a price war.
> Here's the idea:
>
> For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY petrol from the two biggest
> oil
> companies (which now are one), ESSO and BP. If they are not selling any
> petrol,
> they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their
prices,
> the
> other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need
to
> reach
> literally millions of Esso and BP petrol buyers. It's really simple to
do!!
> Now,
> don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how
> simple it is
> to reach millions of people!!
>
> I am sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to
at
> least
> ten more (30 x 10 = 300)... and those 300 send it to at least ten more
(300
> x 10 =
> 3,000) ... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth
generation
> of
> people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!
> If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each,
> then 30
> million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further,
you
> guessed
> it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
>
> Again, all You have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you
> don't
> understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send
this
> to 10
> people.... well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I
> am... so
> trust me on this one.)
>
> How long would all that take? If each of us sends this email out to ten
> more people
> within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be
> contacted
> within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that
much
> potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference. If this
makes
> sense
> to you, please pass this message on.
>
> PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE 69p a LITRE RANGE
AND
> KEEP
> THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
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Ah, are we conveniently forgetting that 75-80% of OUR petrol price is tax?
Why is petrol 29p/litre in USA? (or would be if the understood litres)
Is it because OPEC sell to USA at 8$ a barrel and EU at 23$ a barrel?
I don't think so.
WHY is diesel two thirds of petrol price in France & Spain?
OPEC?
I don't think so.
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You're right, Trevor. The tax could be severely cut and, er.... put on to something else?
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The companies targetted should be national ones, not international, since an international company could ride a short-term loss or simply withdraw from the UK, whereas a national company has no-where else to go.
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Trevor,
You are right in saying that the major component in the UK is tax, but unless we could cease buying fuel altogether we cannot influence that.
However, the government might take notice if a couple of UK oil companies went to the wall.
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Hmmm. I was involved in the original 'Dump the Pump' BP boycott just before the big fuel protests.
I had thousands of hand-outs printed and toured the local BP forecourts with them, much to the annoyance of the managers.
Result? Not a lot. People can't be bothered, and most of them doen't even know whose fuel they are buying.
They automatically pull into their nearest filling station, and only then does the thought strike them. 'Never mind, I'll boycott it next time...'
Then, as Crazed points out, the rep with his petrol card is more worried about his loss of points than he is about any boycott.
I'd be really happy to see this work, but somehow........
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It's one of the best ideas on this topic I've read about for ages.
I can't imagine it would ever result in a large company going to the wall, but it may lead to a price war and a very loud complaint to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, from someone important enough for him to listen to.
So which company/ies and when - who decides?
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Since the extortionate price of fuel in this counrt is down to one thing - the Governemt, shouldn't the protest be aimed at them rather than the oil companies? I know they're out to make a profit - find me one company that isn't - but it seems like shooting the messanger.
Andy
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The fuel tax remains the same. VAT on fuel is variable according to the actual price of the fuel. The latest price rises and the predicted price rises are not caused by tax rises but by rises in the price of crude oil and rises in the profit margins of the oil companies. That's why the idea proposed by Steve Tarling could be effective.
HJ
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Andy P
The idea is to shoot the messenger, but only to wound, not to kill.
Then let him stagger back to his master with our message.
And does the government still have a big stake in BP?. If so that would fit the bill, Uk based and hit the Treasury.
On the VAT front, the Treasury gains from any price increase, so they are already coining it.
Fuel duty is fixed by volume, so crude price changes do not affect it.
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Andy P
The idea is to shoot the messenger, but only to wound, not to kill.
Then let him stagger back to his master with our message.
And does the government still have a big stake in BP?. If so that would fit the bill, Uk based and hit the Treasury.
On the VAT front, the Treasury gains from any price increase, so they are already coining it.
Fuel duty is fixed by volume, so crude price changes do not affect it.
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A price war may push small suppliers out of business, but won't harm the big oil companies, whose profits are huge. In the long run this will make the big companies more powerful, and the prices more to their liking. Watch out for what Sky does now that ITV Digital is gone. As consumers we have short-term power - we can certainly make small companies go bust, or more likely get taken over - but we can't actually win in the medium to long term.
Chris
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The effect of big companies on small suppliers is already evident. IMHO, we should be supporting the smaller companies now; and even more strongly if this idea were to be put into operation.
If people always shop at the supermarket, their village store will close; its axiomatic. Same with petrol.
Independents can't afford the sites that big distributors can - conveniently on the main road to catch passing traffic, or next to supermarkets. Nor can they always match their prices, 24 hour opening etc.
But there are other very good reasons for supporting smaller local businesses.
Price isn't everything in life.
Look at HJ's popularity - and this message board; advice, bit of fun, chance to get things off your chest, exchange of ideas - all about motoring matters.
Does any of that happen when you pull into a huge 30 pump filling station by the side of an A road, or supermarket? I think not.
If you pay for your own petrol, try opening an account at the nearest local independent.
You may pay a bit more, but you get a mothly bill, a good laugh, bit of local gossip, advice, windscreen cleaned, car filled for you if you want it etc.
Its called service.
The only time I don't use my 'local' is if I'm out of town.
Don't see why most people seem so negative about this idea.
Why not try and make a difference?
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Guy
Your local garage sells award winning lpg?
Lucky man
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everyone feel free to grapple with a few concepts and equations here
fuel prices get pushed up for any old excuse when the oil companies can get away with it.
but cars are generally becoming more economical so we need less fuel per journey
so we have a trade off that might balance out a bit...
and yet journey times are extended because of growing traffic problems, so we burn off more fuel while idling our lives away in jams
so what should we do...
how about trying where you can to travel outside of prime hours to ensure you get a clean run and the best economy out of the trip
and why not make an effort to use the car even once or twice less a week, instead of driving to the off license half a mile away for your World Cup six pack every few evenings, take a walk instead. see who you meet, see your neighbourhood, save fuel a bit.
basically there a lots of ways we can save money on fuel where circumstances present themselves, it is just up to us to see them and take advantage of them.
however, at the end of the day we are all basically selfish and lazy, buy the cheapest and closest we can, so in the end we only get what we deserve. well mostly :-)
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Well there I was promoting an idea that could mean 25% lower fuel prices when the thread gets hijacked and diverted into all sorts of other stuff. No wonder the whole world thinks the British are suckers to be exploited at every opportunity. Hardly surprising we pay more than any one else for almost everything. I was impressed by the concerted, matter of fact, civil disobedience of silly speed limits on the A40 on Tuesday night. But obviously all the drivers must have been foreigners.
HJ
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Obviously. Or NON - anti camera ranters.
Funnily enough, such people exist.
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Cost of diesel in March £3.39 per gallon. Cost in May £3.50 per gallon. The increase, we are told is because of the worsening situation in the Middle East. Imagine my surprise when I filled up in Calais last week at £2.28 per gallon - exactly the same price I paid in March.
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To get the ball rolling may I suggest the following;
Paste and copy my post (3rd in this thread) and send to everyone in your address book.
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But if we don't buy BP fuel, how will Chief Executive Lord Browne justify his £5.7million pay-and-perks package????????
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Sorry HJ, I forgot to add that I would 100% support the campaign. Just like I run an older car in a futile attempt to force down new car prices by keeping my pound sterling in my pocket, like I walk locally and buy local goods to maintain my community (and plenty more nauseous, self-righteous grandstanding).
A question though. If we all start to buy from the local independent, what sort of cheap fuel are we getting that has less cleaning capacity but enables them to stay within shouting distance of the multiples up the road? Wouldn't that be against other oft-proferred advice around here?
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and one more thing. historically (last 20 years or so) Britain has thrived on low social taxes in relation to our near (and mocking) neighbours who pay less for everything with their disposable income. However, they have high social taxes extracting a lot from their gross income first, so they have less (as a proportion) disposable income than we do but pay less for what they use.
that is why our intended (god help us) convergence with our Euro pals economies is a non-started currently. of course G Brown Esq is doing a fine job of raising our social taxes and lowering our disp income, the challenge is for us down trodden citizens to force lower retail prices. Game on I say.
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OK. lets go for it.
But IMHO it's the tax we must get cut, there isn't enough margin in the oil business for the companies to slash prices even if they wanted to.
The aim should be to damage BP/Esso to the point that they are asking the Chancellor to give in before they go bust.
When: suggest 1st July, giving 9 weeks to get the message around.
How much: suggest go for a 10[p reduction in the tax on petrol and diesel.
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HJ,
What happened? Which part of A40 - presumably London?
C
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