I Got Fired by My Oil Company

[ironpony]

that is great news
I recieved similar news from the propane guy
bought my stove used, installed myself
paid for itself the first year
again congradulations.

 

[heat seeker]

Same here - my oil company put me on "will call" basis. They asked me if I had a pellet stove - guess the driver saw the vent. In the past year, we've used about 180 gallons of oil, mostly for hot water, with just a bit for supplemental heat. Oil is $3.78/gal around here.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

Yeh my propane distributor has a 200 gallon minimum purchase, so when I replaced my 500 gallon tank with a 80 gallon tank they refused to come fill it. I mounted it on a trailer and I run it down to them to fill 2 times a year now. Spring and fall. I love that chore.

After installing her stove, sister got a letter from the gas company wanting to know if they could check her meter to see if it was working right.

 

[redhot1]

I had two oil fill-ups last year. Now this year because I recently hooked the stove up, I might get one fill-up. I checked my tank to see what I have left? I still have a little more than half a tank. Friday I got a letter from my oil Company informing me according to their records I need to have the tank filled? I've also been put on a call for delivery from my oil Company. No more automatic delivery for me. You know, that just breaks my ever lovin heart!

 

[dragracer300]

Back in the fall the gas company came to my door for the third time to check my meter because of not using any gas for the second year. They told me i had a leak and they would have to tear up my new sidewalk and move my meter outside. So i told them to turn off the gas and take the meter with them i didn't need it. So i went and bought 3 80 gallon propane tanks and ran a new line and converted my furnace fired it one time to make sure it was set right and haven't had it on since. I have been spending more money on isulation than to the gas company.

 

[slls]

I never was on auto delivery, I just read the tank gauge.
Did run out once in the summer on Sunday, had to get 5 gallons of
diesel for hot water.

 

[bogydave]

Great story. Love hearing happy "got fired" stories like that.
Good exercise & saving allot of $$.

 

[rwthomas1]

Anyone still bound to a propane deliveries needs to go and get a couple 100lb tanks, tell the propane company to come get theirs, and just take the tanks to be filled when they need it. A pickup truck and a handtruck is all you need. If you shop around you will find that the price is much more reasonable if you bring the tanks to them to fill. I do it all the time for construction site space heaters.

Same thing goes for heating oil. 2-4 5gallon jugs, take them and get them filled at the local distributor and pour them in the oil tank yourself. Cheaper and easier. I buy off road diesel for the sailboat this way, better than paying marina prices....

RT

 

[Regency139]

I've been so consumed playing around with my 2-week-old pellet stove that I forgot to call my oil company for will-call delivery. They got me on Friday for 83 gallons -- that's $352. And I got my annual service contract -- $425.

$425 for your annual service contract!?! Yikes. My annual contract is about a hundred less. I only have the contract because the bill i would get for the work they do every year would be just shy of the contract price. My oil company requires for you to be on automatic delivery when you get the contract but based on my oil useage we'll see if they change that. I used 120 gallons from last April to this January mostly for hot water. I can't lock my oil price because I don't meet the minimum amount. Even if I did I wouldn't want to spend the $125 to lock in.

 

[mrjohneel]

I've been so consumed playing around with my 2-week-old pellet stove that I forgot to call my oil company for will-call delivery. They got me on Friday for 83 gallons -- that's $352. And I got my annual service contract -- $425.

$425 for your annual service contract!?! Yikes. My annual contract is about a hundred less. I only have the contract because the bill i would get for the work they do every year would be just shy of the contract price. My oil company requires for you to be on automatic delivery when you get the contract but based on my oil useage we'll see if they change that. I used 120 gallons from last April to this January mostly for hot water. I can't lock my oil price because I don't meet the minimum amount. Even if I did I wouldn't want to spend the $125 to lock in.

I haven't paid the $425 yet and probably won't. They only do a cleaning once a year. I think I'm going to wean myself off of them and shop around.

 

[Regency139]

I've been so consumed playing around with my 2-week-old pellet stove that I forgot to call my oil company for will-call delivery. They got me on Friday for 83 gallons -- that's $352. And I got my annual service contract -- $425.

$425 for your annual service contract!?! Yikes. My annual contract is about a hundred less. I only have the contract because the bill i would get for the work they do every year would be just shy of the contract price. My oil company requires for you to be on automatic delivery when you get the contract but based on my oil useage we'll see if they change that. I used 120 gallons from last April to this January mostly for hot water. I can't lock my oil price because I don't meet the minimum amount. Even if I did I wouldn't want to spend the $125 to lock in.

I haven't paid the $425 yet and probably won't. They only do a cleaning once a year. I think I'm going to wean myself off of them and shop around.

I would shop around to see what other offers are out there. My company does the cleaning and has 24 hour service which includes boiler parts for $325 a year. It's good peace of mind for me because my wife relies on oil heat when I'm at work. Now i only have to install a wifi thermostat bwhhahaha.

 

[Hass]

I had my 320gal filled in Feb last year... Used it down to about 40% by April (heating with propane only)... I actually JUST ran out today... girlfriend was cooking eggs and said the flame wasn't hot enough to cook them! I was like haaahaha. just in time. Propane man is coming tomorrow to switch out my tank to a smaller one... They reqiure 2x tank capacity per year. So I'd end up paying for 640 gallons when in reality I only use ~70-100/yr.
Last year I used about 950 gallons of it.

They might just charge a "no usage" fee like some of you guys here mention instead of billing me for the difference of what I didn't purchase... I don't know, don't want to find out.
They'd better not charge me to switch out tanks either... Since other companies around here do free installs on new customers. If they were to charge me for the switch I'd disconnect their tank, and drop it off next to the road and say come get it.

My propane supplier is a rather small company, and they have remote tank monitors. They monitor your level, so as soon as the tank gets to 15% they're out here and fill it up. I'm surprised not everyone has them.
I did call to make sure they wouldn't deliver any more when I started to get low though

 

[heat seeker]

I haven't had a service contract in over 30 years, and so far am way ahead, even paying for cleanings every 2 years. I used to do my own cleanings, but tired of doing it, and the mess. Now that my furnace runs so little, I feel comfortable cleaning every 3 years, and so far, no problems. I do eyeball things every so often, just to make sure everything is running okay.
A lot of contracts don't cover very much, anyway, and the ones that do, cost a lot.

 

[VCBurner]

Congrats on getting fired! I fired my oil co. a few years ago. Though we still need about 200gallons/year to heat the hot water. We never had auto refill or an actual contract before as we feltwe could get a better deal by shopping around. Sorry to hear about all the propane stories, sounds like a nightmare. They can really charge you whatever they want in some cases, heh? Anyway, I love not having to call them when my tank is low, I go to the gas station down the street and get a couple cans of off road every couple of weeks to heat the hot water.

 

[letsblaze]

I had my LP tank filled in early November, with this "winter" we have had in Michigan I still have over 100 gallons of the liquid gold. Now with the stove running all I use it for his my kitchen stove and hotwater oh and my 45000 BTU 4 burner grill outside. This should last me till summer when when I switch over to a new company.

 

[bbfarm]

We got 100 gallons of fuel oil delivered for $351 on 12-1 before we knew we were getting a pellet stove. We used it all up and haven't had to run the furnace at all, even when the temps were below zero with the wind chill.

Our fuel place called a couple of weeks ago asking if we needed more fuel. We said no we are fine. kind of hesitant to tell him we have a pellet stove until we know for sure.

 

[heat seeker]

Oil company called me today, asking if I wanted a delivery. I said okay, but it'll only take about 65 gallons. They passed, and reminded me nicely to keep an eye on the tank level. $ saved, I love it!

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

I'm sure i'm 100% wrong about this, lol, but doesn't getting it filled on a monthly basis make a good way to keep track of how much you are burning?

You're not really saving much by not getting it field when in the long run you'll need it anyway, correct?

Whether you need it now or whether you need it when you *really* need it (as in "no hot water" need it).

 

[heat seeker]

That's true, but they don't want to run a truck out here for such a small delivery. I'd like it filled monthly to keep track, as you say, but they don't make enough profit to run a truck out here (I assume) for 65 gallons. I'm not saving any significant money either way, but it would be nice to have fresh oil mixed with the older stuff.

 

[slls]

I've been so consumed playing around with my 2-week-old pellet stove that I forgot to call my oil company for will-call delivery. They got me on Friday for 83 gallons -- that's $352. And I got my annual service contract -- $425.

$425 for your annual service contract!?! Yikes. My annual contract is about a hundred less. I only have the contract because the bill i would get for the work they do every year would be just shy of the contract price. My oil company requires for you to be on automatic delivery when you get the contract but based on my oil useage we'll see if they change that. I used 120 gallons from last April to this January mostly for hot water. I can't lock my oil price because I don't meet the minimum amount. Even if I did I wouldn't want to spend the $125 to lock in.

I haven't paid the $425 yet and probably won't. They only do a cleaning once a year. I think I'm going to wean myself off of them and shop around.

I'm my own contract, easier than a pellet stove.

 

[mrjohneel]

Just to reopen this based on recent news: I called my oil company this morning and told them I was cancelling their service based on their outrageous $425 service contract and their $4.25/gal. price. (I didn't mention my new pellet stove.) So they knocked the service contract to $100 and the price to $3.79, and told me I could space out my automatic deliveries however far apart I wanted. This is a good compromise for me.

 

[nporter1]

My oil company also sells wood pellets for $249/ton. They charge $25 for one ton delivery. More than that and delivery is free. Right now they're selling New England Wood Pellets and PA Pellets. I hadn't heard of the latter. I'd say they're covering the bases. I think their oil goes for abt $3.69/gal.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My oil company also sells wood pellets for $249/ton. They charge $25 for one ton delivery. More than that and delivery is free. Right now they're selling New England Wood Pellets and PA Pellets. I hadn't heard of the latter. I'd say they're covering the bases. I think their oil goes for abt $3.69/gal.

Hi Nancy,

How's that Deer running?

There are a couple oil dealers around me that also carry wood pellets, however they haven't gotten the message yet and charge too much for what they carry. They'll learn eventually.

 

[nporter1]

My oil company also sells wood pellets for $249/ton. They charge $25 for one ton delivery. More than that and delivery is free. Right now they're selling New England Wood Pellets and PA Pellets. I hadn't heard of the latter. I'd say they're covering the bases. I think their oil goes for abt $3.69/gal.

Hi Nancy,

How's that Deer running?

There are a couple oil dealers around me that also carry wood pellets, however they haven't gotten the message yet and charge too much for what they carry. They'll learn eventually.

Hi Smokey,

My house hasn't been this toasty since August and I love the ambiance you get watching the flames. My cats don't even sleep with me anymore - they're snug on the couch in front of the stove!! This has been the best decision I've ever made I think. And I think its been a good thing that the winter has been so mild. This way come summer, I'll be able to prepare better for the winter blast that is sure to come some season.
Nancy