I guess Big Petrol finally got 'em. Very sad news for tight-asses…
http://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/petrol-diesel-and-lpg/city-…
ACCC Petrol price data website no longer updating (and any apps which used that data)
mad__llama on 08/07/2014 - 19:01
Related Stores
Comments
Sad news. The period does not come regularly, makes it hard to predict. Big Petrol are closing petrol stations left right and centre to limit supply.. Should have a Royal Commission on Petrol Prices.
Should have a Royal Commission on Petrol Prices.
Didn't we have one quite recently…and IIRC it was a total farce! :/
On record, the last Royal Commission on Petroleum was 1973-1976. If there is a recent one, I may have missed. Anyone any idea please.
I think the enquiry by the ACCC into the price signalling through the Informed Sources was recently finalised with no consequences for the company and seems like right after that the Informed Sources stopped providing the graphs to the ACCC. Sounds confusing, doesn't it?
I run the service called Petrol Spy http://petrolspy.com.au/ an we will try to get the cycle graphs done as soon as possible
Wow.. Downloaded the app. Exactly what I need. Is the price of petrol indicated in the map real time and up to date. if yes, 5 stars rating from me.
@eatwell365: no, prices are user submitted and only yellow ones were updated today. Large petrol retailers would never share prices with the consumer so we made this app. It's early days for us but this approach worked very well in other countries
Meanwhile Motormouth is still operational.
Not as good for tracking a cycle though.
Unless I'm missing something.
I see the prices when I drive past them, I want to see the pattern so I can "predict" the cheapest day/s to buy.The website doesn't but the MotorMouth App shows pricing charts for lots of fuels and is updated every 15 minutes so you can see the prices change
Yeah completely agree. I really like to see the shape of the trend - gave me some vague idea as to how long I still might have before the price jumps.
Just seeing today's price is less useful IMO
I get the motormouth emails sent to me daily and set up a filter so that all the motormouth alerts go straight into a folder.
You can choose a particular petrol station you want to follow - I've put in a couple of the ones in my area. In addition you can choose the petrol type you want (PULP95, PULP98 etc)
It also shows the lowest and average price in your city.
Interestingly enough, since setting up the motormouth alert (after the ACCC website stopped updating), I've realised my local petrol station (Caltex/Woolies) never follows the cycle - it has permanently cheap petrol prices. But the other Caltex/Woolies follows a 2-3 week cycle and hikes up the price 20 cents on Wed/Thu.
If anyone is interested I believe Caltex/Woolies at 287 Liverpool Rd in Strathfield seems to have permanently cheap prices - at least that's what I've observed from the last month of emails.
With the elections coming up, wouldn't it be nice if one of the parties promised the petrol price reporting regulations of WA?
Maybe someone should suggest it….
Or even better, get rid of these fake cycles entirely.
This is a shame, no wonder prices were 10c difference from the last point on the graph… always check your x-axis!
I found this http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2230113 which may work out even better if it gets a following.
The Woolworths app called 'Fuel' shows live fuel prices of nearby Woolworths petrol stations
Thanks for that, pity that Coles don't have similar.
I wonder if someone could find a way of capturing the comms between app and server - it would be very useful if you could do ACCC like tracking on the price ….
Hey, I make the Petrol Spy app. That's odd but the Woolworth app is sourcing its prices from the company called Informed Sources which also runs motormouth. All the major fuel retailers are exchanging prices through their system and that's how retailers "decide" what the price is around your area. So no one can use prices from the Woolworth app because the Informed Sources would object but we are going to have the cycle graph in our app
Duxa, I think you are drawing some big conclusions to things you actually don't know much about, in an effort to push your app. Don't get me wrong, thanks for trying to help and maybe over time Petrol Spy will be a good thing.
I am a tight wad and chase pretty hard to make my money stretch on fuel given the ridiculous changes in price, and I have bought and downloaded probably a dozen fuel price apps but the only 2 apps I regularly use are Motormouth and Woolies. I have just checked your app again now and the prices are just too old. I think I found one that was like within a day, but most are 10 days or more old, and a heap are more than like a month old. Sorry, how does that help me? I really cannot see how you are going to track the prices cycles without up to date consistent data.
I really couldn't care less who runs Motormouth, the app has current data, the cycle charts are brilliant and the 7 day outlook is ok (I tend to make up my own mind to be honest). I like that it has petrol station prices since the last update, but again for me the cycle charts are the bomb.
Also, and you are going to think I work for Woolies now (which I don't), but based on your comments I checked on the Woolies Fuel app and based on their terms and conditions it seems to me their individual prices are supplied by Woolies and the local average is something supplied by this Informed Sources mob. Have you spoken to Woolies?
So dude, no offence, but if you want to push your app, get your facts right and don't try bagging your competition with crap that it seems you don't actually appear to know much about. Even your assumptions about ACCC contracts seem like nonsense - http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/accc-in-kennel-after-en…
So rather than make crap up to make people download your app, try making it the best it can be and you won't need to worry about these other jokers, but for now Motormouth and the Woolies Apps are my savior.
My crap is made up of the following:
I really cannot see how you are going to track the prices cycles without up to date consistent data
For the capital cities we get enough data to get a decent estimate, I am confident
their individual prices are supplied by Woolies
The last time I looked at the android OS logs about 9 months ago it was 100% clear where it sends price requests, no hacking involved. Additionally it had 30 checks a month restriction as the motormouth app had. It could change since as I didn't check again
Even your assumptions about ACCC contracts seem like nonsense
The article gives 3 possible explanations to what happened and mentions the investigation. My explanation is also a guess and it might be wrong. Until now there was no information about the outcome of the investigation except this link http://competitionpolicyreview.gov.au/files/2014/06/Wesfarme…
I didn't create the threads about ACCC, people asked and shared my thoughtbut for now Motormouth and the Woolies Apps are my savior
I respect your choice. My goal is to create a source of information on fuel prices that is completely independent from the retail industry and cannot be manipulated. Competition is good and important
@duxa:
Mate, I gave your post a vote for good Googling….At the end of the day, this topic is about the ACCC failing to monitor petrol prices.
My point to you is, if your product was any good, you wouldn't need speculation and hearsay to "discredit" other products that in my opinion are far superior in data quality than yours, and if this topic is truely about helping people like me save a buck, I don't believe your misinformation is helpful. I see you pedal the same rubbish over on Whirlpool. At the end of the day you want more downloads so that "monetising" your product will be easier for you later. Why would we not use the best tools available? Oh.. conspiracy theories about big retailers manipulating the data. Dude, there is a 40 foot pole sign out the front, so the price is the price…. I'll use the tool that gives me the best representation of that price. Sorry, currently that is not yours, and I normally wouldn't make comments like that, but I hate people marketing through misinformation.
Right now there are products that easily fill the gaps left by the ACCC and without any vested interest in any products that I have used (clearly you have vested interest in your own product), I wanted to make this point to others reading this topic. The ONLY sites you are getting regular updates from are United which you are clearly ripping from the data feed to the United smartphone app (I also know a couple of things about IT). Have you credited them as a source? Maybe you aren't so independent from the retailers after all….
Anyhoo, I have made my point, I have realigned the planets and brought peace to the world. While I remain interested in the topic, I now say.. PEACE OUT!! Off to get some popcorn.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/accc-pursues-petrol-chains-ov…
Looks like another scary ACCC crackdown ;)
This would be a helpful place
Has some pretty detailed information including profit/tax/shipping margins.
The resolution of the daily price cycle is not that high, you still can see where you are in the cycle but its hard to infer if you are near the bottom of the previous dips
https://www.informedsources.com/petrol-pricing.aspx
This would be another place (refreshed my memory with snappy1234's post).
I read the news article, its pretty scary that petrol companies can coordinate their prices using data that is meant to inform and benefit consumers. I would not want the companies to do that but at the same time I want to know when is the best time to buy petrol.
I have always suspected that the companies time their cycle according to commuting distances. For example, if you buy petrol at the cheapest point and commute regularly or use your car at a rate similar to maybe 80 to 90 percent of car owners, you would end up pumping again when the price is at its highest.
Perth people wouldn't care… but for the rest of us: WTF?!?!?!