Buying Groups / Village Groups

Buying Groups / Village Groups

Due to the extreme volatility of oil prices in recent times it has sometimes been very difficult to accommodate buying groups as it has been impossible to set an agreed price far enough in advance. However, more recently, (as of spring 2023), prices seem to be settling down again. They are still on the high side (compared to the average over the last 10 years) but more palatable than they were at their worst.

Many villages already have established buying groups and if you are an organizer for one of these groups we would be very keen to provide a quote for your particular group whenever you are ready to place your next group order.

The advantage for us is that we can send a truck or trucks to your area and deliver to all the houses in the locality in one go. Buying groups are ideal for efficient routing and planning and helps to save our trucks from having to go back and forth multiple times. This allows us to make savings which can be passed onto the customer meaning that we can give competitive prices.

You may also be thinking of setting-up a group in your area. Please feel free to ring the office for advice if you are looking to do this. Whether you are the organizer of an established group or you are just setting-up a new group we may be able to help run the group on your behalf. 

Generally, with most groups the arrangements we have are as follows:

- If a group organizer contacts us for a price for those in the group we will give a competitive price based on the number of customers concerned and total proposed litreage. The more people ordering the better the price we can give.

- The price may only be valid for that day and if the organizer is not ready to confirm acceptance of the price that day it can act as a guide price. It may have to be a revised price the next day etc - which couold be higher or lower depending on the market.

- If and when the organizer accepts the price and is happy with it we will then hold the price that we gave him/her that day. 

- Delivery will be within a pre-arranged time frame - normally 10 to 15 Working Days from the date that the list of orders are passed to us. 

- Our default position is that we would require a payment up-front (usually by Debit or Credit card) from each customer in good time before the end delivery date - ideally within 3 Working Days of us receiving the list of orders.

- We can usually accommodate other methods of payment such as Bank Transfers.

- In 'Fill' cases where the customer is not sure how much oil will fit in the tank but just wants it filled, we can process card payments on a pre-authorisation basis, so that funds are not taken off the card until after delivery.

- We would not be able to call individual customers for payment and would instead be relying on individuel customers to call us with the necessary payment details.

- The sooner everyone in the group confirms their orders, the sooner we can organize everyone's deliveries.

- We can usually accept late orders as long as they are recieved before delivery day and as long as there's still room on the truck(s).

- We may be able to accommodate quicker deliveries or bespoke requirements, but there may be an extra charge.

- Providing we have each customer's mobile number and/or email address, they will receive a delivery notification the day before delivery with an estimated time of delivery.