I regularly use the NSW Fuel Watch app and for the most part is very good and appears to be reasonably accurate. However as I travel around regional NSW on a weekly basis I have found flaws in the system and where the Fuel Watch app falls down it doesn’t allow for the reporting of fuel outlets that have closed up and are abandonned but still are listed on the app with historically cheaper fuel.
I also find it is downright deceiptfull when mainly truckports display a cheaper diesel price than the so call “Premium Diesel” but only has the cheaper fuel in hi-flow nozzles for medium to heavy vehicles, not for passenger cars. The cheap fuel is very prominently displayed with no indication it’s hi-flow only.
Likewise I have found that a very few outlets do not honor the the price they are listed to have but display a higher price. When I question them they say the app is at fault. End of conversation, pay your money…
Has anyone else come across these discrepencies?
I have added my feedback to the app but it need more than just a few lines of text. Evidence of closed down servos and failure to honor the fuel prices need to be included as evidence with the provision of adding photographs.
If there is a genuine difference, this can justify the price differential. The difference could be marketing puffery - only the fuel companies would be able to confirm.
In days gone by, some vehicles had large inlet pipes which could accommodate the larger hi-flow nozzles (I used to have a work 4WD with supplementary tanks which could be filled at hi-flow bowsers). Many manufacturers have placed restricted inlets so that they only accept standard/slow flow bowser nozzles. I heard that this was done to prevent overfilling and spillage which can occur from a hi-flow nozzle filling a small tank with a inlet pipe - rather than truck type fuel tanks. This reason seemed reasonable as when filling the work 4WD, it was a challenge to prevent fuel bubbling over when a hi-flow was used - one had to stand next to the vehicle and listen for change in sound to disengage the trigger.
If there is absolutely no difference in the two diesels, the difference in price could be due to volume sold - trucks have larger tanks (holding 100s if not 1000s litres for those with additional storage tanks) where domestic vehicles generally are less than 120L (sub tanks) or less than 80L (for a standard tank).
I have on several occassions reported the discrepancies but you only get a text box which doesn’t do anything and to my opinion, doesn’t see any responce from the fuelwatch people.
“I have added my feedback to the app but it need more than just a few lines of text. Evidence of closed down servos and failure to honor the fuel prices need to be included as evidence with the provision of adding photographs.”
The 13 32 20 number takes you to the Robo-Receptionist where you get into a general queue and by the end of 35 minutes of waiting on hold you are told to email them. Here we go again…
I’ll try to email them again ad see if I get a different responce.
We used to own a Ford Transit van and I always used the Hi-Flow whenever available.
I never had an issue with overfilling. May be that the air release pipe near the throat was larger?
From your comments, I assume the opening on your vehicle is not large enough to take the Hi-Flow.
Did they deceive, or was the app not updating to reflect the new price?
Perhaps don’t rely on just one app. Being close to the border of Qld/NSW, I have MyNRMA, FuelView, PetrolSpy, and FairFuel (RACQ). No doubt there are more, but that is enough for me at the moment.
[Like the weather warnings, the fuel watch apps stop at the border.] So depending on which side of the border I am, I check all the relevant apps to see which station is offering the cheapest prices in the vecinity.
Unlike the crowd sourced apps Fuel Check is ‘advertised’ as being authoritative by the NSW government although I cannot find a price updating time mandate.
The NSW Fair Trading website contains more detailed information on FuelCheck, including the price reporting obligations that must be met by service station operators.
The linked NSW Fair Trading page at Fuel Check returns ‘Page Not Found’ and I have edited in what appears to be the intended landing page although it does not reference obligations. This page references the obligations.
There is an interactive graph in the review that compares results across several states. At the time of review it rated Petrol Spy and the NSW App at 100%.
Possibly of interest to those suggesting differences in prices for the same product. Experience is one may find a servo nearby offering lower prices (discounts) to locally based businesses. Applied over the counter, not at the pump.
Other states have also flagged the idea of having their own systems/apps, but are yet to be adopted.
Those states which now have mandatory reporting, the State Government system/app should be used in preference to third party apps which rely on users/servos to update price data. These are often out of date and less reliable.
My car uses Premium 95. Recently, using Fuel Check I used a service station near me with a good advertised price. However, when I got there I found there were no Premium 95 pumps only Premium 98 which was naturally dearer. I had to use it because I was running low. I’ve just checked and they are still on Fuel Check as having Premium 95 fuel.
Do any of the fuel price systems check on availability? It looks to me like the private ones rely on public information of the last price paid. This may be days or weeks ago and there is nothing to say the source has any stock now.
You may think that Fuel Check being government backed is better than the others as the prices are updated by the operator of each fuel station and Fair Trading attempts to ensure the prices are correct. That may be so but nothing in the State Government web page says they also check for availability.
It is worth reporting this to the relevant state government Fuel Check. It is possibly a legacy price which hasn’t been removed from their system (legacy being that they may have sold 95 fuel in the past but no longer do, and the price reflects the last time it was sold).
WA’s Fuelwatch system is based on mandatory reporting, ie, they must report to Fuelwatch, tomorrows price the day before.
Fuelwatch then publicise tomorrows price average and highs, for Perth, N, S, E and W through the evening news outlets.
But, better than that, for subscribers, ie, anyone, they send each an e-mail at 2.30pm of tomorrow’s cheapest 20 outlets, in the suburbs you select. Those suburbs are the ones you most likely travel though, unique to you.
Does Perth see large cyclic swings in pricing over the week or several weeks? Over here on the other side of the treeless plain it’s typically a cycle that has small 5-10cpl swings and larger up to 20cpl. It can differ by as much within the one locality. Locally the highway servos can be up to 20cpl more expensive. All avoidable for a detour of a few kms.
A reliable fuel watch app can make a significant difference. Especially when adding fuel (50-70l) for the mowing at present to the refill.
Tuesday tends to be the cheapest day, the weekends the most expensive. But that seems to have changed significantly in the last week.
When there is an across the board rise, Fuelwatch include a warning their daily e-mail.
Prior to the current unusual situation, it was normal to have a 15c difference even in the 20 best sites e-mailed to me, so significantly better for the extremely expensive. BP are seldom in the list and am guessing seem to operate to supply business accounts.
The range today, ie, 193.9 to 209.9 for my best 20 on my local routes.
209.3 cpl for unleaded 91 at our local, and the same at the nearest alternatives. Interesting that 30km down the road the options range from 195.5 up to 221.9 cpl. Last week it was 193.5 cpl.
Heading in the other direction tomorrow. If there is no change Woolies Petrol and several others are showing 199.5 cpl.
For any failings in the apps over here, they offer some hope of saving a dollar or ten.
