Fuel cards

david....

Hi.
I work in a service station myself and there seams to be alot of people coming in with fuel cards eg. dci , topaz etc.

im wondering for myself now would it benefit me as i only use about 25 litres in the week and am currently getting it for 140.4 while its 141.9 in all the petrol stations in town.
im also wondering which one should i sign up for great gas , texaco , topaz , dci etc?

JMSE

David, I'd say the vast majority of those customers are using business cars/vans, they are sales reps mostly and truck drivers? You might get the odd 'mom' in an X5 who has a card too but shes probably the only one you'd get coming in with a card who isnt on the road for work purps.

If I were you (and I was i.e in a garage), I'd be staying well clear of another bill.

NewApproach

JMSE wrote: »

David, I'd say the vast majority of those customers are using business cars/vans, they are sales reps mostly and truck drivers? You might get the odd 'mom' in an X5 who has a card too but shes probably the only one you'd get coming in with a card who isnt on the road for work purps.

If I were you (and I was i.e in a garage), I'd be staying well clear of another bill.

I've a fuel card an I'm neither a 'mom' or a rep. So there.

Chuck_Norris

david.... wrote: »

Hi.
I work in a service station myself and there seams to be alot of people coming in with fuel cards eg. dci , topaz etc.

im wondering for myself now would it benefit me as i only use about 25 litres in the week and am currently getting it for 140.4 while its 141.9 in all the petrol stations in town.
im also wondering which one should i sign up for great gas , texaco , topaz , dci etc?

The company I work for use fuel cards. It's handy from an accounts point of view that there's just one bill to pay, instead of several expenses cheques. But I see the rate that we pay for the fuel, and it looks to be more expensive than what you'd pay upfront at the pumps. I could be wrong though.

I have a private topaz fuel card and I have to say I like it. In general the petrol price is better than the vast majority of stations bar the odd "dodgy" place. I also like paying in one go for all my fuel and no messing with cash/laser each time.

I got petrol friday and the price on my card was 10 cent per litre less than the price the station were charging, its not usually that big but that's quite a difference.

JMSE

NewApproach wrote: »

I've a fuel card an I'm neither a 'mom' or a rep. So there.

Hehe, hats off to you
All the 'moms' are off at soccer matches now though.

_Kaiser_

I have a Motorcard/Benchmark/Topaz card too and for me it's much easier having one fuel bill a month than needing to have cash/laser on me every time I need to fill it up.

Never had any complaints with it. Just wish more places took it as although my local (non-Topaz) garage does, the nearest Topaz garage is about 40km away but seeing as I'm in Dublin every day too it's not really a big issue I suppose

Damien360

david.... wrote: »

Hi.
I work in a service station myself and there seams to be alot of people coming in with fuel cards eg. dci , topaz etc.

im also wondering which one should i sign up for great gas , texaco , topaz , dci etc?

If you do decide to choose a fuel card, pick one that is allowed on your nearby service stations. i.e. Not much point getting a Topaz if the only topaz is 20 miles away.

Pretty sure the DCi cards are limited to particular suppliers also.

The company I work for uses Topaz cards. Fine all along M1 (as they are allowed in the new service stations) and around Dublin etc. But, I struggle to find Topaz stations in Galway on my routes and particularly Cork.

I put on average 1 and 1/2 fills a week. About 100 litres. It saves me having to hand in receipts and work gets one itemised bill for us all.

challengemaster

Damien360 wrote: »

If you do decide to choose a fuel card, pick one that is allowed on your nearby service stations. i.e. Not much point getting a Topaz if the only topaz is 20 miles away.

Pretty sure the DCi cards are limited to particular suppliers also.

The company I work for uses Topaz cards. Fine all along M1 (as they are allowed in the new service stations) and around Dublin etc. But, I struggle to find Topaz stations in Galway on my routes and particularly Cork.

I put on average 1 and 1/2 fills a week. About 100 litres. It saves me having to hand in receipts and work gets one itemised bill for us all.

How do you struggle to find topaz stations in galway? they're everywhere :eek:

rebel.ranter

Same with Topaz in Cork, loads of 'em! We have Topaz fuel cards in work, to be honest I cannot understand why people say they are less hassle than Laser. You still have a card that you have to enter a PIN for & you're always asked for the "reg & mileage". More of a pain in the ass than Laser in my books! Unless it is someone else paying the fuel bill..

NewApproach

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Same with Topaz in Cork, loads of 'em! We have Topaz fuel cards in work, to be honest I cannot understand why people say they are less hassle than Laser. You still have a card that you have to enter a PIN for & you're always asked for the "reg & mileage". More of a pain in the ass than Laser in my books! Unless it is someone else paying the fuel bill..

Eh, you have free credit on the fuel purchases for the month, is that not a big positive?

Wats_in_a_name

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Same with Topaz in Cork, loads of 'em! We have Topaz fuel cards in work, to be honest I cannot understand why people say they are less hassle than Laser. You still have a card that you have to enter a PIN for & you're always asked for the "reg & mileage". More of a pain in the ass than Laser in my books! Unless it is someone else paying the fuel bill..

So much easier. I just leave the card in the car so I always have it. And the reg & mileage question. Just say no thanks!?!

rebel.ranter

NewApproach wrote: »

Eh, you have free credit on the fuel purchases for the month, is that not a big positive?

You could do the same with a credit card? Or an overdraft on your Laser for that matter. Too many avenues of "free credit" can be bad for sime people, look what's happened to this country due to poor credit management?
As for leaving it in the car...most people I know carry their credit or Laser card in their pocket.

NewApproach

rebel.ranter wrote: »

You could do the same with a credit card? Or an overdraft on your Laser for that matter. Too many avenues of "free credit" can be bad for sime people, look what's happened to this country due to poor credit management?
As for leaving it in the car...most people I know carry their credit or Laser card in their pocket.

Oh dear. I'm not proposing that because people can get a months credit on fuel purchases that they go and buy a gas guzzling hummer. There's no reason why people should spend beyond their means just because they have a line of credit on fuel bills. Seriously.

People who have poor credit management and are in negative equity etc because of over borrowing in the last few years are fish, not my fault nor the issuer of fuel cards.

rebel.ranter

My point about credit problems was merely a side issue, apologies for not making that clear.

My main point was that I just cannot see the benefit over & above Laser & Credit card for a regular Joe. It's just another card & another bill that you have to keep an eye on.

lau1247

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

The company I work for use fuel cards. It's handy from an accounts point of view that there's just one bill to pay, instead of several expenses cheques. But I see the rate that we pay for the fuel, and it looks to be more expensive than what you'd pay upfront at the pumps. I could be wrong though.

nope don't think you're wrong.. sign up to DCI recently because the price looked cheaper.. only after signing up and everything sorted, the informed me that the price on the notice they send out is not inclusive of VAT.. so I essentially have to add in vat and by that time it is more expensive than most petrol station.. looks like i won't be using it for much of the foreseeable future..

NewApproach

rebel.ranter wrote: »

My point about credit problems was merely a side issue, apologies for not making that clear.

My main point was that I just cannot see the benefit over & above Laser & Credit card for a regular Joe. It's just another card & another bill that you have to keep an eye on.

What do you mean another bill you have to keep an eye on? You are talking complete horse****. You still pay for your petrol even if you don't get a monthly invoice for it.

rebel.ranter

NewApproach wrote: »

What do you mean another bill you have to keep an eye on? You are talking complete horse****. You still pay for your petrol even if you don't get a monthly invoice for it.

No I'll make it shorter for you this time:

I cannot see the benefit.

rebel.ranter

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Same with Topaz in Cork, loads of 'em! We have Topaz fuel cards in work, to be honest I cannot understand why people say they are less hassle than Laser. You still have a card that you have to enter a PIN for & you're always asked for the "reg & mileage". More of a pain in the ass than Laser in my books! Unless it is someone else paying the fuel bill..

No PIN on my card, swipe, quick no to "reg or mileage" and scribble something resembling my signature on a receipt for them.

Its more the lower price and once a month bill I like though rather than the speed of the transaction.

rebel.ranter

Mariam Gifted Zinc wrote: »

No PIN on my card, swipe, quick no to "reg or mileage" and scribble something resembling my signature on a receipt for them.

Its more the lower price and once a month bill I like though rather than the speed of the transaction though!

Fair enough, the ones in work have a PIN. One of the lads has a private one & he says that very often he found that the agreed rate with the card could frequently be beaten by some regular forecourt prices, including some forecourts where the fuel card was accepted. I suppose the once a month bill is handy for some, when I said "another bill to keep an eye on" I should have elaborated & siad you'd have to watch that you only got charged for what you actually bought.

NewApproach

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Fair enough, the ones in work have a PIN. One of the lads has a private one & he says that very often he found that the agreed rate with the card could frequently be beaten by some regular forecourt prices, including some forecourts where the fuel card was accepted. I suppose the once a month bill is handy for some, when I said "another bill to keep an eye on" I should have elaborated & siad you'd have to watch that you only got charged for what you actually bought.

If some forecourts are cheaper than the fuel card (few in my experience), then use cash. You're making this out to be far more hassle than it really is.

L1011

lau1247 wrote: »

nope don't think you're wrong.. sign up to DCI recently because the price looked cheaper.. only after signing up and everything sorted, the informed me that the price on the notice they send out is not inclusive of VAT.. so I essentially have to add in vat and by that time it is more expensive than most petrol station.. looks like i won't be using it for much of the foreseeable future..

Surely you could have realised the massively lower price quoted HAD to be ex-vat?

I have a personal fuel card for use abroad, it works here too. It has no PIN, no reg/mileage, just sig but the price difference is rarely enough to justify using it, bar one week where it was about 8c cheaper than the cheapest local pump price. Its currently 1.09 cent cheaper than my local station but it doesn't work in said station. Topaz Routex international card which only works in Topaz-branded stations to the best of my knowledge.

rebel.ranter

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Fair enough, the ones in work have a PIN. One of the lads has a private one & he says that very often he found that the agreed rate with the card could frequently be beaten by some regular forecourt prices, including some forecourts where the fuel card was accepted. I suppose the once a month bill is handy for some, when I said "another bill to keep an eye on" I should have elaborated & siad you'd have to watch that you only got charged for what you actually bought.

I have the Topaz card and for petrol I almost never seen a better price on the forecourt, and if I have its been no more than one cent. This would be in out of the way non franchise stations which would not be on the routes I generally travel. Its generally 3 to 5 cent cheaper than the marked price in topaz and their price is usually the same or similar to surrounding stations. An odd time like this week you could get it 10 cent per litre cheaper than the marked price.

However the diesel price is not as competitive and ive seen diesel cheaper on the forecourt much more often than petrol, but as I dont buy diesel I dont look that much either.

lau1247

MYOB wrote: »

Surely you could have realised the massively lower price quoted HAD to be ex-vat?

I have a personal fuel card for use abroad, it works here too. It has no PIN, no reg/mileage, just sig but the price difference is rarely enough to justify using it, bar one week where it was about 8c cheaper than the cheapest local pump price. Its currently 1.09 cent cheaper than my local station but it doesn't work in said station. Topaz Routex international card which only works in Topaz-branded stations to the best of my knowledge.

No tbh I didn't realise.. probably should have done more research first..

But your 109 cent is way cheaper than what DCI quote this week which is 116.6..

rebel.ranter

lau1247 wrote: »

But your 109 cent is way cheaper than what DCI quote this week which is 116.6..

I think he is saying 1.09 cent cheaper, as in a shade over 1 cent per litre cheaper to buy with the card than it would be paying with cash/credit card.

L1011

lau1247 wrote: »

No tbh I didn't realise.. probably should have done more research first..

But your 109 cent is way cheaper than what DCI quote this week which is 116.6..

I said its one point zero nine cent cheaper, not that its 109 cent. As in its ~147c VAT inclusive, for petrol, compared to ~148c on the station.

corkcomp

DCI can be useful for seeing your exact monthly diesel spend, plus its taken out in one go via DD which also means only one vat receipt per month to deal with. as for cost, its no better (and can be more expensive) than a lot of the known cheap fuel stations around Cork. another downside is that you cant buy petrol on DCI, but not sure about other fuel cards.

as an aside - there is NO vat on petrol

galwayjohn89

I get charged VAT on all my TOPAZ bills for petrol.

nicechick!

Damien360 wrote: »

If you do decide to choose a fuel card, pick one that is allowed on your nearby service stations. i.e. Not much point getting a Topaz if the only topaz is 20 miles away.

Pretty sure the DCi cards are limited to particular suppliers also.

The company I work for uses Topaz cards. Fine all along M1 (as they are allowed in the new service stations) and around Dublin etc. But, I struggle to find Topaz stations in Galway on my routes and particularly Cork.

I put on average 1 and 1/2 fills a week. About 100 litres. It saves me having to hand in receipts and work gets one itemised bill for us all.

You should call Topaz for mapping of stores there are approx 4/5 company owned and operated service stations in G.City, If you include the Corrib Oil network that must be another 4 or 5 if not more (also branded Topaz) not including the countless numbers that are privately owned but either branded Topaz or accept the cards

I have a Topaz Card and never had an issue I've lived in Cork and never had an issue if memory serves me right there must be 7/8 stations around Cork City alone

yosemite_sam

We were over charged by 2500 euro on fuel cards, so be careful

corkcomp

Vuzuggu wrote: »

I get charged VAT on all my TOPAZ bills for petrol.

I should have explained better, its not possible to reclaim VAT on petrol, even if purchased by a business or company so you should never see the ex vat price displayed for petrol (unlike diesel)

yosemite_sam

corkcomp wrote: »

DCI can be useful for seeing your exact monthly diesel spend, plus its taken out in one go via DD which also means only one vat receipt per month to deal with. as for cost, its no better (and can be more expensive) than a lot of the known cheap fuel stations around Cork. another downside is that you cant buy petrol on DCI, but not sure about other fuel cards.

as an aside - there is NO vat on petrol

There is vat on petrol, but it is non refundable for some reason

lau1247

MYOB wrote: »

I said its one point zero nine cent cheaper, not that its 109 cent. As in its ~147c VAT inclusive, for petrol, compared to ~148c on the station.

oops misread.. carry on