Calor Lite Recall IMPORTANT...PLEASE READ

[Damian]

I am in communication with Calor about the different reception customers are receiving when trying to exchange cylinders.
I am particularly interested in the names of those outlets which have charged customers for the gas when the recall cylinder has been empty on return.

Would anyone who has been charged please name the outlet they used.

Thank you

 

[JTQ]

I am in communication with Calor about the different reception customers are receiving when trying to exchange cylinders.
I am particularly interested in the names of those outlets which have charged customers for the gas when the recall cylinder has been empty on return.

Would anyone who has been charged please name the outlet they used.

Thank you

Calor Depot, Millbrook, Southampton. that after being told by dealer we must go there, driving 15 odd miles each way and having to pay full price on an empty that was subject of the recall. Met with a total brick wall, would not accept that Calor themselves say otherwise.

 

[Royston]

What I would like to know who are the Calor Gas retail outlets that they refer to in their call back campaign.
The first one I contacted yesterday a general building supplier who stocks Calor Lite gas bottles, had not been contacted by Calor, in fact the women verbally did not believe me.
My dealer had only 2 6kg lite canisters so I was able to exchange my two Lite canisters,, The Dealer explained to me that he was out of pocket , he has not received any compensation from Calor for the exchange canisters.
Royston

 

[Damian]

What I would like to know who are the Calor Gas retail outlets that they refer to in their call back campaign.
The first one I contacted yesterday a general building supplier who stocks Calor Lite gas bottles, had not been contacted by Calor, in fact the women verbally did not believe me.
My dealer had only 2 6kg lite canisters so I was able to exchange my two Lite canisters,, The Dealer explained to me that he was out of pocket , he has not received any compensation from Calor for the exchange canisters.
Royston

The recall is for safety reasons and the consumer has it in writing that exchanges will be free.
What arrangements the stockists have with Calor is for them to sort out it is NOT the responsibility of the consumer to worry about it.

I fail to see where the stockist is losing money, it is a straight replacement of an item owned by Calor, the stockist does not pay for the cylinders or the gas.
The only "cost" is 5 minutes while he exchanges the cylinder.

 

[Gozza]

I fail to see where the stockist is losing money, it is a straight replacement of an item owned by Calor, the stockist does not pay for the cylinders or the gas.
The only "cost" is 5 minutes while he exchanges the cylinder.

The dealer must have paid Calor to deliver full cylinders, otherwise Calor have made no money on the gas. And if the dealer hasn't been told about the recall (as seems to be the case here) then he has no reason to believe that Calor will reimburse him for the gas that he's giving to a customer.
Whether or not the customer has a printout of the Calor website saying that the exchange will be free, even of a full cylinder for an empty, unless the retailer has had instructions from calor about what to do, he's going to be pretty reluctant to hand anything over for nothing - and so would I be in that situation.
As for SoGA - can any of us prove that we bought THIS cylinder from THIS retailer? Sure. we'll have a receipt saying we bought A cylinder here, but there won't be anything on the receipt to identify the cylinder. If it comes to that it takes me so long to get through a cylinder that I can't always remember where I got them from.
I applaud your dialogue with Calor, it's important to get this sorted out - but frankly I don't see that getting stroppy with retailers is going to help anyone. Assuming that what the retailers are saying - about not knowing about the recall - is true, then Calor are at fault, but the retailer is only protecting his business. And as I've said in another thread, it's in all our interests for these small retailers to still be in business in a year's time.

 

[Gozza]

And incidentally...

OK, I know Calor said that even the exchange of an empty for a full would be free...but if we exchange an empty for a full and have to pay for the gas - as has happened to some people - what have we actually lost? We're no worse off that if we'd done a cylinder exchange at our normal dealer in the usual way.

I can see why Calor would have made the empty-for-full offer, it's an incentive to get the dodgy cylinders out of circulation as quickly as possible, but I don't understand why people are acting as if they've lost something when they don't get it. Sure, I was as pleased as anyone when I got a free full for my almost-empty, but I never assumed I was "entitled" to it.

 

[Damian]

Quote " it's important to get this sorted out - but frankly I don't see that getting stroppy with retailers is going to help anyone."

It is not a case of getting stroppy with retailers, it is a case of getting them all to be doing the same thing in accordance with the Calor code of practice on this issue.

Quote " but I never assumed I was "entitled" to it.

But that is the whole point, you WERE entitled to it as per Calor coed of practice on this issue.

Quote " it's in all our interests for these small retailers to still be in business in a year's time."

If a business relies solely on Calor sales to stay afloat, then there is something terribly wrong with their business model.
I doubt that caravan related gas sales make up even 10% of their business overall. or al least it shouldn't do.

 

[Damian]

This is the reply from Calor re my email to them about the recall:

"Thank you for your enquiry form of yesterday, please accept my apologies for the delay in responding.
I have attached a copy of Calor’s formal briefing giving the terms of the recall.
Hopefully, these make clear that we would not expect anyone returning an affected cylinder to be charged.

Having checked with Southampton Calor Centre (Millbrook), they fully understand and are following this policy.

It could be that the cylinders concerned were from the years not affected by the recall or had the puncture on the tare disc to indicate they had been tested.
If a consumer believes that a retailer has not followed the correct process then they should, in the first instance, take this up with the retailer concerned.

I hope this clarifies matters for you, please feel free to come back to us should you have any further concerns."

 

[Gozza]

It is not a case of getting stroppy with retailers, it is a case of getting them all to be doing the same thing in accordance with the Calor code of practice on this issue.

Sorry Damien - but you said in a previous post "What arrangements the stockists have with Calor is for them to sort out"...If I ran a small business and a customer came in claiming Ts & Cs of a recall from one of my suppliers, that didn't look like what I thought I'd agreed with my supplier,and then they expected me to sort it out with the supplier there and then, then I'd consider that as getting stroppy. There are sufficient examples now of stockists not knowing the Calor Ts and Cs for this to be a communication problem by Calor, NOT an understanding issue by the retailer.

If a business relies solely on Calor sales to stay afloat, then there is something terribly wrong with their business model.
I doubt that caravan related gas sales make up even 10% of their business overall. or al least it shouldn't do.

A lot of small businesses these days operate horribly close to the break even line, and if there's a big enough dent made in the bottom line by the Calor recall, it will take the business to the point where it isn't worth staying in business - or it isn't worth the extra hassle of being a Calor stockist.

And if Jim's Little Village Hardware Store stops being a Calor stockist, it won't hurt Calor's bottom line - Calor users will still buy their gas somewhere - but it'll hurt everyone that used to buy from Jim and now has to go further afield.

 

[Royston]

I can understand that when you have a completely empty cylinder , you would be expected to pay for a full replacement , because me as a customer have not lost any money, but with gas cylinders with gas inside , yes I would expect Calor to reimburse me with a full cylinder of Gas. As Calor has no Idea what state the inside of the cylinder is in until they remove all the gas , they have to give me a full canister .
The two cylinders I exchanged had gauges fitted which indicated how much was left in the bottles, the full exchange bottles have no gauges, and have a older date stamp 09/10 than the ones I exchanged, they have the alum washer below the gas discharge valve with 5.5 mm hole which proves they have been tested prior to refill.
Calor have not handled this at all well .
Royston

 

[Royston]

as a add on I would like to thank The Caravan Club magazine for bring my attention to the Calor gas problem.

Royston

 

[Len_Cuff]

Contacted loads of dealers here in Lincoln as I had only just realised I have one of these!!
ALL are out of stock and the main supplier for the area isn't expecting any until the New Year, he has 30,000 on order!
They did confirm however that I would get a full replacement for free. It appears the problem stems from the fact these cylinders come from Portugal and some were left on the dockside and were contaminated with salt water.

 

[FrintonMike]

Len, I was in our local caravan dealers yesterday and they said that deliveries were back to normal. This is in Essex but they did say that they were getting customers in who knew nothing about the recall as they never read a magazine and only visited the shop when they needed gas.

 

[Len_Cuff]

Latest update from local supplier says mid Feb before they get any!!

 

[FrintonMike]

I have just read that Calor say that they have approx 155,000 cylinders to be checked and only approx 50,000 have been returned. so there are approx 105,000 cylinders out there that may have a problem.
It is scarey that it may take years for all the cylinders to be checked if the returns are this slow

 

[Len_Cuff]

Got my replacement on Friday at long last !!

 

[Damian]

Latest information from Calor.

We have 30,000 new CalorLite® cylinders arriving any day now which should ease the position, but we are calling on our customers to help us by returning the remaining affected cylinders as soon as possible.

We already checked over a third of the affected cylinders and returned them to the supply chain. However, there are still over 100,000 cyclers still to be handed in and we are concerned that customers are hanging onto them - in some cases just to use the remaining gas in the cylinder.

This is creating a chicken and egg situation as we need the cylinders back to have them inspected and returned to the marketplace as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are working around the clock to test the cylinders which have been returned, but we urgently need more to be handed in.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hope you guys get your gas sorted before the season starts, Easter next week :woohoo:
I have been watching this saga for a few months, total **** up by Calor IMHO. I had a couple of cylinders [lite's] and a blue one sitting in my garage. waiting to go back. so last week I checked them , both lite's were on the recall list so on friday I took them with the blue one back to the local stockist,
I now understand the confusion first hand. he had no lite's in stock but expected some before Easter. so could not replace them.
reckoned he had no idea there was a problem, and would not be giving out free cylinders anyway. certainly would not give me a credit note for the ones handed in. but I could have replacement red ones [not lite] at the appropriate price. but would have to pay the extra for new lites when available. would not do a refund for the cylinders handed in as I did not have the original contract slip. [why would I] been using calor for 40years,
however he would take them off my hands for free and send them back to Calor. but this meant starting a new contract at full price if I ever wanted a new cylinder. what a rip off!!!!!
Needless to say he did not get them back. they went to the local council reclaimation yard instead for them to sort out,
if I ever need gas again i will buy it elsewhere with no contract involved.
Just makes you wonder how many other lite's have gone astray in the same way, when holders get the run around dont think Calor will ever get them all back now!! ,

 

[Pedr01800]

To add to the plethora of contributions, have bought new caravan in April, and had two Calor Lite Cyls already from previous motorhome. Decided to swap for two replenished ones from usual agent.
Went on German tour, happy my two refilled Calors would suffice.
After first nights stopover and use, noticed cyl in use looked about empty by gauge red sector showing.
Thought might not have tightened connections sufficiently, so swapped for other, showing green for full.
Two more days use only for cooking meals and fridge during journey, turning off at night, and red sector on gauge quite pronounced next day.
Nearly empty !
No refills in Germany, so bought local sourced LPG and valve, piece of tube and fabricated fix !
Not at all happy. Unable to explain why two cycls, not used since collection from agent and installed in new caravan should consume gas so quickly, unless there is a leak. Certainly smelled of gas in locker, but nothing slack found.
Have these cyls been known to develop leaks from main valve ?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Have these cyls been known to develop leaks from main valve ?

Never had any trouble with ours. If both your cylinders emptied quickly then you probably have a van problem which a technician needs to look at urgently, especially as you had the smell.

 

[PHOENIXFLIER]

Took an empty one in to our local dealer, came out with a full one "just take one from the pallet over there".....had lots in stock!.

 

[alphapets]

I went to replace my 2 x Calor Lites in Calor Cardiff and they only had one bottle left, no mention of a recall.

I was informed that the Calor Lite bottles will be phased out.

 

[otherclive]

I went to replace my 2 x Calor Lites in Calor Cardiff and they only had one bottle left, no mention of a recall.

I was informed that the Calor Lite bottles will be phased out.

Thanks fir the info. Calor do intend to replace the Calorlite as it was too costly to support given that damage to the bottle leads to it being scrapped. However they still suppply Calorlite but clearly the numbers in circulation may reduce. They stated that the replacement should be ready by Soring 2019. Given Calor are now American owned it’s highly likely that they new bottle could be a glass fibre one like BP Gaslight or the Safefill. I think that there’s only one maker if grp bottles so it would take some time to increase production and build up stocks. But it all remains to be seen. Hang on to proof that you own a Calorlite as they have said they will honour exchanging for the new bottle type.

 

[sgtangel]

I replaced a standard 6kg with a calor lite FOC at Calor Glasgow. No paperwork = no problem. There is quite a noticeable reduction in weight, so I`m pleased.

I was also advised that the lite was being phased out of production, but the existing stock would be present for some time

 

[Anseo]

I replaced a standard 6kg with a calor lite FOC at Calor Glasgow. No paperwork = no problem. There is quite a noticeable reduction in weight, so I`m pleased.

I was also advised that the lite was being phased out of production, but the existing stock would be present for some time

Was that at the Kilbirnie St. depot?