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RCR Fuel Levy


Midnight

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Received an email this morning from RCR telling

"To this end we are notifying all customers that we will be applying a 'Fuel Levy' on a all callouts from the 7th July 22."

However they don't give any indication of the levy.

 

 

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Received an email this morning from RCR telling

"To this end we are notifying all customers that we will be applying a 'Fuel Levy' on a all callouts from the 7th July 22."

However they don't give any indication of the levy.

 

 

 

 

Depends how shiny your boat is and therefore how much they reckon you can afford! 😀

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7 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Depends how shiny your boat is and therefore how much they reckon you can afford! 😀

 

Bugger! I just re-painted Midnight. It turned out better than anticipated and now looks like a shiny boat. As they don't say how much the levy will be I think their will be a few members left wondering if the cost of annual fee and call-out charge is going to be worth it.  I have asked the question and will post here if I get an answer.

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35 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Received an email this morning from RCR telling

"To this end we are notifying all customers that we will be applying a 'Fuel Levy' on a all callouts from the 7th July 22."

However they don't give any indication of the levy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It still suprises me that Asda can pick, pack and deliver my shopping for the grand sum of £1.

It would cost me £12 in fuel alone to go to my nearest Asda.

 

It still surprises me that Hermes will come and collect my parcels (for delivery) for £1 when it would cost me £3 or £4 in fuel to take them to the drop-off point

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

It still suprises me that Asda can pick, pack and deliver my shopping for the grand sum of £1.

It would cost me £12 in fuel alone to go to my nearest Asda.

 

It still surprises me that Hermes will come and collect my parcels (for delivery) for £1 when it would cost me £3 or £4 in fuel to take them to the drop-off point

 

The reason is that the costs (fuel and wages) are shared over a large number of deliveries.

 

It's far more eco-friendly for an Ocado/Asda/whatever van to drive round a circuit and deliver shopping to perhaps 50 people than it is for each of those people to drive to the nearest supermarket.

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4 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

The reason is that the costs (fuel and wages) are shared over a large number of deliveries.

 

It's far more eco-friendly for an Ocado/Asda/whatever van to drive round a circuit and deliver shopping to perhaps 50 people than it is for each of those people to drive to the nearest supermarket.

 

Environmentally I agree, but finacially it is a nonsense.

 

50 deliveries at various prices - say average of £2 = £100 per day.

Cost of driver (salary, pension, holiday pay, etc etc)

Cost of the van (purchase price, depreciation, MOT, insurance, maintenance)

Cost of fuel.

 

Cost of staff time in the warehouse picking and packing my order.

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11 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Environmentally I agree, but finacially it is a nonsense.

 

50 deliveries at various prices - say average of £2 = £100 per day.

Cost of driver (salary, pension, holiday pay, etc etc)

Cost of the van (purchase price, depreciation, MOT, insurance, maintenance)

Cost of fuel.

 

Cost of staff time in the warehouse picking and packing my order.

 

But you're not looking at the bigger picture...

 

If the supermarkets deliver more goods in vans (especially from centralised depots like the automated one Ocado use) they sell less in stores, so need less space and fewer shelf-stackers and cashiers and tills and deliveries *to* the supermarkets...

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59 minutes ago, Midnight said:

 

Bugger! I just re-painted Midnight. It turned out better than anticipated and now looks like a shiny boat. As they don't say how much the levy will be I think their will be a few members left wondering if the cost of annual fee and call-out charge is going to be worth it.  I have asked the question and will post here if I get an answer.

 

 

It depends if you break down. If you never get a breakdown then the RCR seems expensive. The day you get a breakdown then the annual fee, the call out charge and the fuel levy will suddenly seem like a bargain! 

 

Provided they do actually fix it....

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27 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

But you're not looking at the bigger picture...

 

If the supermarkets deliver more goods in vans (especially from centralised depots like the automated one Ocado use) they sell less in stores, so need less space and fewer shelf-stackers and cashiers and tills and deliveries *to* the supermarkets...

The Ocado model I can understand.  It conforms to the idea above, though the cost of ownership (lease) of an automated warehouse needs to be added into the bill.

 

Tesco et al pick in their own stores. That means the  "stuff" has to be delivered  to stores, stacked on shelves and then removed again  by an army of extra staff.  That means no reduction in shelf space etc. Except perhaps cashiers though there are never enough of them anyway.  So where do they benefit?

 

To some extent, it seems increased volume and headline market share.  I don't understand the supermarket business well enough to know why these things are desirable.  The car industry has been pursuing them for years, but does not seem to have gained much.

 

Whatever, it meant millions were able to get stuff without having to go near other folks during the pandemic, so there was a societal benefit.

 

N

 

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I think a clearer situation for customers would have been to simply increase the membership prices to cover the increased costs. Adding a vague “fuel levy” to call outs just adds uncertainty for customers as to what they will need to pay in the event of a call out. I’ve had silver membership for four years and never needed to make a call out. If they are going to add an unknown fee then on renewal I may as well drop down to retainer and just pay on an on use basis.

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8 minutes ago, BEngo said:

The Ocado model I can understand.  It conforms to the idea above, though the cost of ownership (lease) of an automated warehouse needs to be added into the bill.

 

Tesco et al pick in their own stores. That means the  "stuff" has to be delivered  to stores, stacked on shelves and then removed again  by an army of extra staff.  That means no reduction in shelf space etc. Except perhaps cashiers though there are never enough of them anyway.  So where do they benefit?

 

To some extent, it seems increased volume and headline market share.  I don't understand the supermarket business well enough to know why these things are desirable.  The car industry has been pursuing them for years, but does not seem to have gained much.

 

Whatever, it meant millions were able to get stuff without having to go near other folks during the pandemic, so there was a societal benefit.

 

N

 

Agree that the store-picking model makes much less sense than the Ocado one -- and that robotic warehouse certainly isn't cheap but I suspect it actually saves them money because it can serve a high number of customers with far fewer staff, which is why they've licensed the technology to others.

 

I guess the reason for store-picking is not to increase volume/market share but to stop it decreasing if your competitors offer home delivery and you don't.

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18 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

Do RCR have people dotted about the country like AA/RAC etc?   if so these costs may be quite low, but they may now always say they were 50 miles away and nobody could know?  :)

Not as much as you would hope.

I met the RCR chap on the Nene once, next time I saw him was on the Soar and Im sure it was on the Stratford after that (though may have been T&M- my memory is very unreliable)

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8 minutes ago, PaulJ said:

Not as much as you would hope.

I met the RCR chap on the Nene once, next time I saw him was on the Soar and Im sure it was on the Stratford after that (though may have been T&M- my memory is very unreliable)

So if the fuel levy was to be based on distance travelled by the mechanic, something that is entirely out of the control of the customer, then the added costs could be significant. RCR really should reconsider and simply increase the membership fees to account for their increased costs.

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They have various contractors as well as their direct employees, so it depends which is cheaper for them to send. I always ask for a contractor as most of their employees know nothing about old engines.

I think the levy is fair enough - it doesn't penalise the majority of their customers who never call anyone out and it's going to be a variable figure depending on distance and how much diesel goes up.

As, so far, they've contributed £2000 towards my gearbox repair costs, replaced a starter and magically fixed a weird gearbox problem, even after ten years I reckon I'm still just about up on the deal.

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10 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

They have various contractors as well as their direct employees, so it depends which is cheaper for them to send. I always ask for a contractor as most of their employees know nothing about old engines.

I think the levy is fair enough - it doesn't penalise the majority of their customers who never call anyone out and it's going to be a variable figure depending on distance and how much diesel goes up.

As, so far, they've contributed £2000 towards my gearbox repair costs, replaced a starter and magically fixed a weird gearbox problem, even after ten years I reckon I'm still just about up on the deal.

 

Yes increasing membership fees would cost everyone regardless of call outs which isn't fair. IIRC you get a no call out discount so another charge will be cause members to think twice about a call out. That will put off those who make a call for minor issues. If the levy is too high for members liking I guess most will, as has been mentioned, drop down to retainer.

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35 minutes ago, MichaelG said:

So if the fuel levy was to be based on distance travelled by the mechanic, something that is entirely out of the control of the customer, then the added costs could be significant. RCR really should reconsider and simply increase the membership fees to account for their increased costs.

Fuel prices could go down. No, don't snigger. It could happen. Peace breaks out in Ukraine, every one starts buying Russian oil again. Then you are stuck with an increased RCR subscription. A levy can cover what could be a short term situation. Things that are traded as commodities, like oil, can have wild price swings, based on slight changes in supply, or demand, or even uncertainty over what supply and demand will be. I recall some airlines have introduced a fuel surcharge on their tickets.

I'm not saying RCR's decision is the best one. The uncertainty over distance between the boat and the available RCR person is a concern.

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2 hours ago, IanD said:

It's far more eco-friendly for an Ocado/Asda/whatever van to drive round a circuit and deliver shopping to perhaps 50 people than it is for each of those people to drive to the nearest supermarket.

 

There is a side effect in that demand for delivery drivers has shot up! This is having an impact on other sectors including I believe care work - carers can get paid more driving groceries around than working in care homes. At one point HGV driver numbers were down as a number took the option of driving vans instead - paradox for the logistics industry in there! 

We tend to forget that human labour is also a finite resource - that was one reason why large stately homes ceased to be viable, couldn't afford the staff in an industrial economy

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I have no issue with paying more as any business has to raise their fees when their costs rise, that is of course inevitable. What I have an issue with is a business telling customers that as of next week the cost to you of using our services will increase but we won’t or can’t tell you by how much. How can anyone make an informed decision on whether or not to sign up to a service if they don’t know how much it will cost them. It’s like an insurance company telling you in the event of a claim you will have to pay an excess but won’t tell you how much. If they were to say the fuel levy will be fixed at £X per call out, no problem, I can then decide whether to stay or go. Also how can a business add fees or conditions mid term of an agreement. Surely a contract was entered into when the membership fee was paid. I agreed to pay X amount, they agreed to provide the cover for 12 months for that fee. 

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So I asked them….

 

The Fuel Levy will be set at £15 per callout, this is to keep costs reasonable and easy to apply. As soon as the fuel costs drop back down below £1.60 per ltr we will remove the fuel levy.”

 

The probability of that happening any time soon seems pretty remote.

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4 minutes ago, AndrewIC said:

So I asked them….

 

The Fuel Levy will be set at £15 per callout, this is to keep costs reasonable and easy to apply. As soon as the fuel costs drop back down below £1.60 per ltr we will remove the fuel levy.”

 

The probability of that happening any time soon seems pretty remote.

A fixed fee of £15 per call out seems reasonable enough. Although they should commit that in writing to their members as well as including it in their website.

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1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Fuel prices could go down. No, don't snigger. It could happen. Peace breaks out in Ukraine, every one starts buying Russian oil again. Then you are stuck with an increased RCR subscription. A levy can cover what could be a short term situation. Things that are traded as commodities, like oil, can have wild price swings, based on slight changes in supply, or demand, or even uncertainty over what supply and demand will be. I recall some airlines have introduced a fuel surcharge on their tickets.

I'm not saying RCR's decision is the best one. The uncertainty over distance between the boat and the available RCR person is a concern.

The price of fuel should be going down now. Rishi thingy knocked 5p off the tax, okay it wasn't much but it was never reflected at the pumps. The price of crude is going down but petrol and diesel stays high at the pumps. I call scammers!

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