Rip off gas prices

Hi warren
I have heard that the exchange bottles can be light on. I prefer to get my bottle filled up at the local BCF, and their price is quite competative.
I think all you can do is to shop around, maybe just make a couple of phone calls.
Brian

hi warren h

contact consumer affairs or what ever it's
called in your state

i'm sure they cant sell/exchange a 9kg gas bottle if i'ts not full under the fair trading act

but beware of the fact the assistant may be telling furpthy's
to sell there own product ???????

same as fuel bowsers have to be checked by a regulatory body

consumer affairs should be able to give you advice on this and direct you as to what course of action to take

there may be a body who will come out and test the suspect under filled bottles if the sales assistants facts are true???????

there are the devious and cheats in all systems you know especially where sales are involved
cheers

Warren,

Consider this; a 9 kg bottle holds 17.65 litres of LPG. Current price of LPG around Malbourne is about 55 cents/litre.

17.65 x 55 c = $9.71

Cheers,

Jim.

Hi,

I think that if you check, you will find that 9 Kg gas bottles can legally only be filled to 8.5 Kg. For that matter, no gas bottle, nor fuel container, should be filled to capacity. There must be an allowance for ullage.

When we had a large onground gas storage tank some years ago, it was engraved on the tank that it´s maximum fill was 85% of the stated capacity.

cheers
John

Hey Warren,
I recently went through the same. I bought a new empty bottle for $35 from Ranger Camping. Went to Mitre 10 hardware acroos the road and was told 38.50 to fill. Thought that seemed expensive so I went home and rang up BCF. Guess what $22.50. Went down there and had it filled. Should have gone back to Mitre 10 as they have a 10% discount if a cheaper price is found but too hard.
It pays to shop around.

Steve

Never mind when you are in a remote area like the Kimberley where it cost me $9 to fill a 1kg bottle last year

Gidday

There was a parliamentary inquiry into LPG pricing in WA a few years ago, sparked by the disparity in the prices motorists pay here compared to other states. WA is much more expensive and there is no competition between the suppliers.

As with all things relating to the price of fuels the inquiry went nowhere.

It also moved over into the prices charged for gas in a bottle, particularly in rural and regional areas where gas is used extensively for domestic cooking and heating and received evidence that a large gas bottle for the house could vary in price by a huge margin in towns only a relatively short distance apart.

Basically the inquiry found that the different distributors, many of them monopoly suppliers in their area, charged what they felt the market will bear.

Obviously the swap bottle people do the same thing and you pay a hefty premium for the convenience of being able chuck the bottle in the car and swap it over at the servo at the same time as you fuel the car. Going to BCF, Rays, Bunnings or wherever and waiting while they do the job isn't as easy.

Like someone says above, it always pays to shop around.

Cheers

Rocco

Hi Warren

We alway get our own refilled, and there was no issue with them fitting securely into the brackets. Each new bottle we have purchased has been marginally different in diameter. Gas and gas bottle costs came to the fore with us when travelling last year, and our bottles 'date expired'. New ones were very expensive in more remote locations, so we purchased an empty when we found a better price. While in Cessnock NSW, advertised prices of 9 kg fills along the main road varied from 16.95 to 19.95. However Murphy struck when we ran out of gas, and the older bottle leaked gas when turned on, after we had left Cessnock. Next town was Mudgee, where the two outlets quoted $34 odd and $33 - twice the price! Hardly a remote area, and more than we had ever paid before. Competition does a lot of good for us, but when travelling in rural and remote areas, we pretty well have to pay the price, as we do with fuel and other commodities.

On travel forums BFC stores get a favourable mention with gas refill pricing.

Motherhen

Bugger... Just paid $44 for 9Kg at Kleenheat in Broome.
I think that they saw me comming.
Won't fall for that again.

Cheers
Greg

I've seen 9kg refills at the local (Randwick NSW) independent servo for $19.99.

Bought an 'old' out of date 9Kg bottle some months ago for just a few $$, took it to a busy Bunning and "swapped" it for a near new (2009) bottle and gas for $32 ??
Now have 3 as new bottles, instead of 3 obsolete bottles, I just continue to get them refilled until they get near the expiry date, then swap them for new ones, because I believe the guys filling them fill them more completely than the 'swap an go' companies do.

Maîneÿ . . .

And we sell the stuff to China and Japan at $0.03 cents per kg delivered , go figure who is getting ripped off.

Warren,
Try your local Stratco - they have had the cheapest refills in my experience.

Don't know where you are is SA Warren, but BCF at Noarlunga is $20.00 per 9kg refill, and there is a bloke on Seaford rd at Seaford offering $18.00 refills but next day pick up.

Regards
Peter

I think the price disparity has as much to do whether the supplier see it as a service, a money making venture, or a really don’t want to do it but need to as a service to customers and price accordingly.

But life is full of these types of disparities, anyone shopping at Woolworth’s or Coles would now that.

What about airline tickets, you fly on the same plane for either half as much, or twice as much as someone sitting next to you.

And let’s not even talk about 4WD drive after-market accessories.

Good weekend to all as Beer O’Clock rolls around,

Cheers, The Landy

Metro servos do refills for $19.95 - just (6 months) gone up from $17.95

The hardware store at the "Maid and Magpie" corner was $20 for 9kg when I went past last week.

In reference to the above posts and as a retailer I offer the following comments.

LPG or camping gas is a different gas to car gas and the liquid natural gas we sell to China. China is getting the gas so cheap because they are purchasing billions of litres of the stuff.

The same applies for retailers the more you buy the cheaper it gets.
From my experience those selling for around $20 would be basically selling at cost just to get people into the store hoping to make other sales. Anything over $30 is a bit excessive.

When a cylinder is stated as say 9 kg this is only a rough guide.The actual amount of gas you get depends on things such as the air temp and the pressure in the filling tank. You will generally get more gas by refilling at a servo or hardware rather than by doing a swap. The swap cylinders are filled by a machine and to ensure safety are filled by weight to the 8.5 kg level.

The local servo at Narellan will fill a 9 kg bottle for $15