Thursday 14th August 2008

Motorway Services '£5 A Tank Rip-Off'

RAC accuses motorway services of not reducing fuel in line with oil prices

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Motorway services are ripping-off drivers by adding more than £5 to the cost of a tank of fuel, according to the RAC. Pump prices are often 10p a litre higher on average than supermarkets, the organisation found.

This equates to an extra £5.26 on top of the cost of filling a 55-litre tank. The RAC is now calling on motorway service stations to reduce their prices in line with falling crude oil costs.

RAC research found that seven M1 motorway services charged around 120.9p a litre for unleaded and 133p for diesel. Supermarkets however are charging as little as 111.2p for unleaded and 123.7p for diesel.

RAC spokeswoman Louise Zucchi: 'Drivers are getting a raw deal. Most service stations have the infrastructure and buying power of supermarkets like Asda – which led the recent price cuts at supermarket pumps and has now introduced a fuel pricing policy – but they don’t seem to be using that commercial strength to help motorists. We hope motorway service station operators will consider what more they could do to ease the pain at the pumps.'

[jeoff82]

Motorway service stations are one big rip off anyway, not just the fuel. The fuel has always been expensive, this is nothing new. I wouldnt stop at then anyway, and if you can plan your journey well you shouldnt have to stop at these places. There are always alternatives such as leaving the motorway and stopping at a local town.

[JPKerr]

I got my Deisel yesterday in a Shell station near Glasgow for 1.19 litre

[gdaybruce]

One wonders about the economics of fuel pricing on motorways. Most drivers (i.e. all those paying for their own fuel) avoid motorway fill ups up if at all possible. Personally, if I've miscalculated and have to stop, I'll put in as little as necessary to get me off the motorway wehre I can fill up at "normal" prices.

You'd think that m'way service station operators are missing out badly as a consequence of over pricing. If they cut their prices a little they'd gain on volume and, overall, make more money. Presumably, however, they've thought about that and decided otherwise. Too many people obviously just pay up regardless, which is kind of depressing!

[carmats]

I dont like service stations anyway everythings a rip off i only ever stop at them to use the lavatories. Be charging you to do that next.

[Vesuvius 996]

This is news?

[clonmult]

Vesuvius 996 said:

This is news?

To those with heads stuck in the sand.

For the rest of us, it was news the first time we stopped off at an m-way station.

[Daniel1]

yeah i agree, this is news?

[timewatch]

I would never fill up at a motorway service station, they are a complete rip off !

How they justify their prices I will never know, it's not as if they don't have much passing trade, in my opinion they have a canned shoot and yet
they are still allowed to rip us all off even if the oil and food prices are up or down.

The thing is that the toothless trading standards and bodies that regulate these places have no guts to take them on.

Make them your last resort on any journey then they might be forced to do something about prices, you have the choice use it ?

TW>>>

[ScoobieWRX]

Motorway services have been doing this for donkeys years, so what is new?? This definately isn't news and as a space filler it isn't much good either.

Must try harder!!

[SS HSV]

Isn't there a review site where we could review Petrol Stations listed and vote against their comparative nature (or lack of)? You can submit a review with a vote stating what your experience was with motorway pricing as an example.

A quick google brings up www.review.com although they don't list petrol stations for some reason.

That way we could get the might of PH behind a review and get more interest from the GP

Just an

[gaz132]

I agree. This is news?

I've always found this helpful
http://www.5minutesaway.co.uk/

[JonRB]

JPKerr said:

I got my Deisel yesterday in a Shell station near Glasgow for 1.19 litre

Yup. I filled up on V-Power at the Shell at Winchester Services on the M3 today. I was going to "splash and dash" but 120.9ppL seemed pretty average, rather than hugely marked up, so ended up filling all the way.

[ThunderSpook]

And if they're gonna get their numbers wrong!! Unleaded by me is 108.9p/l

[gumsie]

That's because there are a lot of people with fuel cards. I know I wouldn't have thought twice about it when I had one. I suppose when you are like I used to be the gas stations have no incentive to reduce their prices.

gdaybruce said:

One wonders about the economics of fuel pricing on motorways. Most drivers (i.e. all those paying for their own fuel) avoid motorway fill ups up if at all possible. Personally, if I've miscalculated and have to stop, I'll put in as little as necessary to get me off the motorway wehre I can fill up at "normal" prices.

You'd think that m'way service station operators are missing out badly as a consequence of over pricing. If they cut their prices a little they'd gain on volume and, overall, make more money. Presumably, however, they've thought about that and decided otherwise. Too many people obviously just pay up regardless, which is kind of depressing!

[Baby Huey]

This is truly shocking.

[TVR MAN]

120.9! Think of yourselves lucky! It is 123.3 for unleaded at my local!

However I did see 109.9 in Glasgow.

[kojak]

Nothing new there then.

[TUS 373]

Where do these funny prices ending in .3, .7 pence etc come from? I have only even seen prices ending in .9 and I am not entirely sure why they have do and continue to do that. When petrol is 111.9/litre, why not just call it 112 and be done with it?

[JonRB]

TUS 373 said:

When petrol is 111.9/litre, why not just call it 112 and be done with it?

Because most people do integer rounding in their head, so 111.9 is rounded to 111

[lawrencec]

yester day i passed the wisley services on the A3 and its cheaper for disel than in guilford 124.9 on the a3 and 125.9 intown

at tthe moment in reading its 120.9 for diesel oppsed to 127.9 were i live