Petrol prices at Woolworths service stations in the Illawarra can vary by as much as 20 cents per litre.
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When it comes to Coles, its supermarket competitor, the variation is around 10 cents per litre.
Also, in some cases – even with the supermarket’s shopper docket discount - it is cheaper to buy fuel elsewhere.
Looking at the prices of E10 across the Illawarra earlier this week, the most expensive Woolworths branded outlet was in West Wollongong at 129.9.
The cheapest was in Fairy Meadow at a more competitive 110.9 cents.
We’ve always been concerned about the shopper docket discount.
- The NRMA's Peter Khoury
Coles’ most expensive outlet was in Wollongong and was charging 129.9 cents per litre for E10 while the cheapest price was 119.8 cents at Corrimal.
When asked why there was a variation in price a Coles spokesman said they did not comment on petrol pricing.
A Woolworths spokesman did respond to the question.
“Our Caltex Woolworths prices are always competitive and our discounting allows our loyal customers to save up to eight cents per litre on their fuel,” the Woolworths spokesman said.
“This discount offer is part of our commitment to delivering everyday low prices to our supermarket and petrol customers.”
That discount doesn’t always mean a driver is getting the cheapest petrol on offer.
In some suburbs there are independents selling petrol cheaper than supermarket stations – even taking the discount into account.
For instance, earlier this week the cheapest price for E10 in Wollongong was 10 cents a litre lower than the supermarket offerings.
The NRMA’s Peter Khoury said the organisation had always cautioned people about the real value of these discounts, whether they offer four, eight or 10 cents off.
“We’ve always been concerned about the shopper docket discount,” Mr Khoury said.
“We’ve always urged caution from the community because we’ve always known that their competitors were often cheaper than they were.
“So even if you were using it you could have still have gotten a better bargain somewhere else.”
He recommended people use the government’s Fuel Check site or the MyNRMA app to find cheap petrol.