After 9 years of using the Esso Truckcard,Esso have decided they no longer want my business,by this I mean they have told me that after a review of my account and a credit check by Dun & Bradstreet they have to reduce my payment terms from 30 days to fortnightly and also they want a £2000 bond from me,as I dont believe I have a credit problem I contacted Dun & Bradstreet only to be told that Esso shouldnt be giving their number to me,when pushed the bod I spoke to told me my problems were 1.I am a Haulage Contractor 2.Ive been in business for 11 years and 3.Im a sole trader so they have no access to my accounts (I offered to send them a copy) so I`ve now come to the conclusion they dont want my business, I run 1 artic and luckily I have 3 other fuel cards, but the point is has anyone else on here had similar problems?
there was an article in CM sometime in the last few months saying this was happening , strange really as oil companies are making record profits at the moment 
I suppose it’s like you say - small company, haulage , looking at things as company accountant we are all risky customers 
i had the same with a keyfuel card recently, ive held it for 6 yrs always paid by d/d no problem at all, last month a letter arrived saying i had to reapply for my card as they were now insuring all their debts against non payment, so they wanted a new application with referees etc so they could asses me
i rang them up told them they were always the most expensive anyway and they could shove there card up there arse, {well i didnt exactly say it like that but they knew i wasnt happy}
I’d had a DKV card for about 5 years when one day a fraulein rang me up and said they now wanted a £1000 bond. I refused and kept using the card. Every so often they would send me a letter demanding I set up the bond but I always ignored them, eventually they gave up.
Makes you wonder what sort of business it is they want,in my eyes a sole trader is probably a safer bet regarding credit because of our commitment to the job,and your inability to walk away from your obligations,or am I being a tad naive,if you cut my line of credit then you might as well chop my legs off,suppose I could always ask my customers to pay for my fuel in advance,thats an idea!!!
you were right to tell em where to shove their card.
I tried to sign up for a euro card that would also allow me to charge tolls etc to it, but they wanted accounts going back a few years, a bond of 2 grand, details of the cat the dog, the wifes inside leg measurement… told them to shove it.
A customer of mine, has had his credit cut from 28 days to to rolling 14 days, this is on £15k a week through put, luckily he has the cash flow [so he says], and the backing of his biggest / only customer, he is a LTD company.
A sign of the times, his customer demands monthly management accounts, to see if he is viable FFS, their rates are KEEN shall we say 
Best part about it, he is happy with the situation, and wants to put more trucks on,
Does NHS direct put you straight through to the NUT HOUSE ■■?, I think I`ve got a customer for them 
Its happening all over we have been with Cooke Card Marketing for 8 years never missed a payment never defaulted and got a phone call yesterday to say they wanted a bond of £7000 and payment terms cut from 14 days to 7 days otherwise they would stop supplying us with derv. It is discusting but what can any body do about it, not only are the banks ruling the country now the Insurance Companys are starting any body got any ideas, Surely this cannot be allowed to carry on, not only are we struggling with work, fuel etc we also have this problem where we wont be allowed to buy any Diesel so therefore we will be forced out of business.
red95xf:
Its happening all over we have been with Cooke Card Marketing for 8 years never missed a payment never defaulted and got a phone call yesterday to say they wanted a bond of £7000 and payment terms cut from 14 days to 7 days otherwise they would stop supplying us with derv. It is discusting but what can any body do about it, not only are the banks ruling the country now the Insurance Companys are starting any body got any ideas, Surely this cannot be allowed to carry on, not only are we struggling with work, fuel etc we also have this problem where we wont be allowed to buy any Diesel so therefore we will be forced out of business.
With terms like that you should be asking them for a credit reference
This kind of situation has not been known for a long time when I started on my own 10 years ago I got asked for the same sort of thing. If the terms are that bad you may aswell up your overdraft if possible and pay cash.
It would be useful if all of these companies wishing to trade like this could be highlighted then they can be avoided by everybody till they alter their ways there are other companies out there after all