Quote: Originally posted by Pickled Onion on 31/10/2011
Luckily for me Safefill are local so I might just pop in and ask them, thanks for the post David.
Dave
Hi Dave, would be interested to here what they say about the rented bottle as regards the return, how much of the £150 would you get returned in the event of the bottle being returned to any of their retailers, please keep us posted
Hi John, I've not managed to call in yet but looking at their website the bottles aren't rented like some, you buy them outright and refill them. They hold 8.6Kgs of propane though, that should be plenty for most folk even on a trip abroad, saves taking two bottles. However the 150 Big Ones is the greatest stumbling block for me, I would have to use a fair bit of gas to claw that back.
Hi Dave, think the price is very step, you would think the company are trying to keep every one on old type bottles, think the would be better if priced around £40 or £50 to make them viable to all caravaner’s.
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Quote: Originally posted by jhsw on 01/11/2011
<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman">Hi Dave, think the price is very step, you would think the company are trying to keep every one on old type bottles, think the would be better if priced around £40 or £50 to make them viable to all caravaner’s. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>
The thing with these cylinders is that the manufacturers will not make any money once a cylinder is sold, whereas with the likes of calor etc, they can subsidise the cylinder cost as they make money on every refill. We go away fairly regularly, we do use electric hook up as much as poss, but our oven and hob are both gas and we do cook a lot, but we have not finished the 6kg cylinder we bought 18 months ago. Would take years to make it worth while buying a refillable cylinder how we use it.
Quote: Originally posted by jhsw on 01/11/2011<P style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman">Hi Dave, think the price is very step, you would think the company are trying to keep every one on old type bottles, think the would be better if priced around £40 or £50 to make them viable to all caravaner’s. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>
I feel the price relates to the "cost"? Its not like the exchangeable market where not only do they charge you a rent initially but at every exchange take another fee above the cost of the gas and service. Here the selling price is a one off recovery of the total cost and operating price. If that is too much then the product is not suitable for you, for me if I could more easily refill it the convenience would in itself be well worth the price. Other users with lower consumption would be unlikely to draw the same conclusion.
I am still undicided and because I am on a Rally at the weekend, only got 2/3rd of my 5kg BP Liight left, I have had to bite the bullet and get another because I am sure to run out. I have found in Wakefield a distributor that is doing 5kg at £18, 10kg at £22, £25 deposit. I think thats not a bad price.
I am hoping I can get a 10kg in my locker and they have kindly said if I buy one of those and it does not fit I can return tommorrow, and exchange doen to a 5kg and get the £4 difference back. Can't say fairer than that.
Have been thinking about the safefill as well but am a bit put off by the cost. I am not rallying as much as I used to these days so I am only using around 2/3 6Kg cylinders a year now so would take an awful long time to earn my money back. Also if most places are refusing to allow the refills it may well be too much of a pain to get refills to make it worthwhile. They have a distributor on the same industrial estate I work on but if they ever stopped doing it then I am a bit stuffed for getting it refilled.
“I feel the price relates to the "cost"? Its not like the exchangeable market where not only do they charge you a rent initially but at every exchange take another fee above the cost of the gas and service. Here the selling price is a one off recovery of the total cost and operating price. If that is too much then the product is not suitable for you, for me if I could more easily refill it the convenience would in itself be well worth the price. Other users with lower consumption would be unlikely to draw the same conclusion.”
Hi JTQU, I see your point on the rental, and I agree that we are being ripped off again, but I do not use that much gas in the season, only a few trips, so not viable for me at this time, if I were to do a lot more trips, then that would be different, Still think the price is steep for what it is, no doubt the company that has the patent on the bottles will want to recuperate as much of their investment as possible, before it can be produced by other manufacturers.
No doubt that when other manufacturers produce the bottles, the price will come down to a more realistic and truer price, by that time it is only to be hoped that there will be more outlets that allow you to fill the bottles, then we can all say good bye to the rented bottles. These bottles have a 10year life span and would need to be recertified, so may not be a one time purchase,(if price was still £150 every 10 years, would work out dearer than the rented ones, for us that only use small amounts of gas each year), the weigh 7.10kg empty and with 8.6kg of gas weigh 15.70kg, the calor lite weights 13kg, so the difference could be a nose weight issue for some caravaner’s, the safefill site says that if dropped from a vehicle it could be damaged,( that may have to be checked for damage or hair line cracks), other safety features regarding fire seem to be quite good if that is the case, then that’s a plus, but still not convinced that it worth the price asked, if I thought it was worth the price, I would have one to-morrow without any hesitation.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
I agree Safefill is not for very low gas use caravaners and campers but if you use the volumes of gas that most regular ralliers and those that use non EHU pitches or sites do, then it doesn't take long to re-coupé the cost of a cylinder. We use approximately 12kg of gas a week on average when not on EHU, and often a lot more in winter.
12kg of calor when using lites from out local stockists =£50
12kg from the garage pump = £16.50 approximately
I've been using a Safefill cylinder nearly all this year and only once been questioned when topping it up. After explaining that it was my cylinder not a rental and the safety systems on it was told to "Carry on mate! sounds a a blinding idea"
There may be a few garage chains that refuse to let the filling of any cylinders but most are more than happy to accept my custom.
BTW It took me less than 4 months this year to start making a saving..... and I now never worry about Sal turning the heating up.....
What i can't understand is that if there are supposed to be so many garage chains that are happy to permit the refilling of Safefill bottles why don't Safefill get them added to their list of filling points as it would only take them a few letters or emails to get this arranged.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
We would like to break away from Calor because of their restrictive practices and overcharging, but Safefill is not the way to go as we only use 2 - 3 bottles a season.
I am hoping that the 10kg BP bottle will fit in our front locker as the 5kg bottles works out pricier than Calor gas by volume.
ebay filler is the way . if a garage says no then get an exchange ..some so i am told wont let you fill any of the bottle types . even gaslow . personaly i have never been asked or stopped . have had garage staff comeand watch then say its a good idea.
Quote: Originally posted by Surfer01 on 03/11/2011
We would like to break away from Calor because of their restrictive practices and overcharging, but Safefill is not the way to go as we only use 2 - 3 bottles a season.
I am hoping that the 10kg BP bottle will fit in our front locker as the 5kg bottles works out pricier than Calor gas by volume.
I have managed to get a 10kg in, just. It take some twisting and turning to get in and I had to move the fixing brackets slightly so that the bottle did not foul the locker hinge. Van is an Elddis odysey 656.
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Topic: Safefill
