"Hi Joe
A few weeks ago you posted the article about receiving Delmarva Oil's budget payment letter and how huge the increase was going to be for the upcoming year. I posted a comment along with alot of other people who were not happy with the increase. Since our oil furnace was reaching the end of it's life span, my husband & I applied and was approved for a home equity line of credit. Our thoughts are to put in central heat/air and install replacement windows, getting rid of a $322/mo. oil bill and making our home more energy efficient. We are just waiting for the appraisal to come in so the bank can establish the amount we can borrow. The DMO letter stated that the first payment on the new budget year would be due on August 26th & the bank is aware of this deadline and will have the amount of the HELOC before then. I was going to call DMO the very second we got the go-ahead from the bank and with great pleasure tell them we would no longer be a customer. On Monday, Aug 11th I came home from work and found a receipt in the door showing that DMO had delivered 137.4 gallons of fuel oil !!!! I couldn't believe it !!! 2 weeks before the first payment was even due they've dumped $500/$600 of oil in our tank. WTF!!! The first thought I had was entrapment. When a company nearly doubles your payments and then before the first payment is due dumps hundreds of dollars of oil in your tank? It's as if they are thinking we'll get the budget plan pymts or $500/$600 out of them before they cancel. I haven't called them yet, I need to find out if we are responsible for paying for all this oil or will they come take this out and give us a credit. I didn't ask for the delivery and I still had two weeks to end our business with them. If you or any of your readers can answer this I'd appreciate it. I don't want to make this call without having a plan of attack."
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
21 comments:
i dont know if through your contract with them you are still responsible for paying for the oil, small print probably screws you.
dont feel like they have singled you out, there even screwing their own employs these days. their servicemen have to ride to each call wether its in o.c. or easton on their own time now. they dont get paid for the trip to their work location or the time between service calls. if there doing this to their own people they couldnt care less about you.
it may be a blessing in disquise for you, at least you did not hire them to install your new hvac system. their work is some of sloppiest ive seen. all of their qualified servicemen left them years ago. so you might have oil you did want from them, but it could of been worse.
Its not just them, they are all doing it. I think they all get together and the 'big guys' say if you don't do this and that, we will drop our prices and put all the others out of business. The 'little guys' have to follow or fail.
They will not pump it out and re-use it because there may be water in your tank which has contaminated the oil. You can probably get it pumped out but it would not be usable by anyone else. They have just pulled a number on you and you will have to fight them tooth and toe nail to keep them from trying to collect from you.
I guess if they had waited until later, when oil prices had gone up with winter demand, you would have complained about them doing that. You are probably on an auto delivery plan. Did you ever call to say you wanted off that plan? Grow up and stop blaiming someone else for you not telling them your intentions. I am a DMO customer and I got an opt out letter for the budget plan in July.
I believe your contract might be a tough act to argue.May I suggest take the loss and sell the oil to another home owner and give them a break if they can haul it. I have been total electric for the 33 years we have been in our home and have been on a budget plan with Delmarva Electric Co.We settle up every Jan.There is no way I will change that.Since 02 we have installed centeral heat and air,new roof,replacement windows,new siding.I pay a small monthly payment 12 months a yr. NO oil,gas bills. Get rid of gas/oil.The wife still works and I have retired. Thats all I have to say about that.
think CATO or Eastern Shore oil allows you to buy oil whenever you need it instead of having a contract. I never sign up for a contract you always get screwed.
As a previous employee of DMO, I can tell you that from what I've heard, things there have changed drastically in the past year or so. It's kinda sad, actually!
As far as your delivery...well, I don't think that you can do anything about it at this point since it's been delivered. They won't (or didn't) pump it out for you.
You can (or could) cancel the budget at any time, assuming you are current on your payments. I would go ahead & do so if you haven't already, even if you are still waiting to hear back from the bank about your loan.
Good luck! Hopefully somone else can learn from your experience.
I know of a family last fall that the DMO came and condemned their furnace and then delivered $500 worth of oil the very next day. DMO was well aware the family was unable to fix the furnace and was using space heaters.
We have individually zoned electric baseboard heat, and I never thought I'd be bragging about that. Who knew. Now that electric is the lesser of the energy evils we're (finally!) not in such bad shape.
Here's a hint. We recently had replacement windows installed by Grand Dad's company and LOVE THEM!
Great windows, great service, great prices. Call him.
AND, strongly consider going geothermal if you can. It's the only way to beat the oil companies.
My guess is you will have to pay. Read your contract carefully. After years of paying for oil, due to health of elderly parents, I moved to Florida to take care of them a few years ago. Even after the increases in electric and water due to the hurricanes, not to mention insurance, I am much better off in my all-electric home. My highest bill EVER was less than $250, and now I average $160/mo electric. My water/sewer, after our increase, is under $30/mo. I miss the shore, but I'm staying here!
if you go geothermal hvac make damn sure that your water isnt going to deteriorate all the components prematurly. also make sure that proper valves in place everywhere so if there is a problem down the road you can isolate specific ares of your equipment with-out having to shut and drain the entire system down. this will make future service calls less timly, hence less expensive.
I cancelled my contract with DMO as well and still have oil in my tank. I was told that this oil was delivered in June and the payment was included in THIS year's budget so I was responsible for this payment. I was also told that they would pump it out for me at a cost and would not reimburse me for any oil.
If anyone has access to a pump and would be interested in buying my oil at the price I paid, $2.89 per gallon please email me. Not sure how much is in there but I only have used it for hot water so should still be plenty left of the 300 gallon tank.
If interested, email me at
hebron21830@comcast.net
Screw the Oil Companies anymore and their budget plans. When you have to pay $250 to get in the budget plan in the first place.
Last year I got a wood stove...work hard 2 days to cut firewood for the whole season and its all free. Lot of hard work but worth it in the end.
I still use Oil heat as a secondary source and when its still too warm to use a wood stove. But I just have DMO come out twice a year. And to save for it I just put a extra $50 bucks in my savings every month...that way when the bill comes I can just pay for it out of my savings. Plus when I was on the budget plan...the interest DMO gave you for your money just sitting there was useless.
Here's your plan of attack to the original poster.
YOU failed to keep the oil company informed of YOUR plans. Obviously, if you got a summer delivery, YOU were on automatic delivery. I really can't figure out how it was anybody's fault EXCEPT YOURS!
Regardless of how you pay your bill, a budget payment is only a "guestimate" at best of your usage and/or the price I would say. I just think its wrong to accuse a company (ANY COMPANY) of screwing you when in fact it was your own ignorance. P.S. I am glad you will be able to remodel your home-that's $$ well spent no matter what you heat with.
I must agree with 10:10, though I would not tell you to "Grow uo." If, like me, you are on the budget plan (now called Smartpay), then you have automatic delivery. I guess it was time for you to have your next delivery. As 10:10 said, we did receive an "opt-out-of-Smartpay" letter from DMO dated July 14. If you neglected to inform DMO, then you are responsible.
I cannot understand why anyone would get on a budget plan with a oil company! If you would take that same money and put it in the bank and keep it there to pay for the oil when you get it you would be much better off. It boils down to trusting the company you are dealing with. Some years ago DMO pumped at tank on a rental unit I own in the middle of January with temps in the 20's with no warning what so ever. Ever since then we encourage everyone we know to steer clear of them. Cruggly is right on top as far as DMO doing terrible work it is some of the worst I have ever seen. Another thought as well is call the State Of Md.Weights and Measures to see if they can help you with your delivery problem (provided this was in Md.)Thats what I threatened with another similar situation and was credited for their delivery.It all boils down to The big company taking advantage of you! Oh and by the way the water in your tank is about as lame as it comes because there is a way to test for that that is very reasonable cost wise.
Since the price of crude is falling now (and along with it the price of gas and fuel oil), I figure they sent out a bunch of deliveries to be made at the higher price in effect today.
Tomorrow, they won't be able to sell the fuel oil for as much, so it's in their best interests to get rid as much of their high-priced inventory while they can.
Pretty simple!! You were on Automatic Delivery with them and their computer calculated that you were due for a delivery. It is amazing to see that so many people think that companies like DMO actually sit back and calculate when to make a delivery to a certain person. Ignorance at its finest! As for the 'crude is dropping so deliver it while it cost more' comment. Did Daddio stop to think that the better scenario would be for the company to wait LONGER to make the delivery as the more the cost drops the larger the margin on the product becomes. In this case I would think DMO would look at that delivery and ask themselves how they can make adjustments to the delivery schedule so that the delivery is more effiecient than a 137 gallons. With the price of diesel fuel hovering around 4.50 a gallon (and believe it or not DMO has to pay for the diesel fuel to run that truck to your house) it would benefit them to make larger gallon deliveries, less times per year. As for the budget comments..if you don't like it then get off the budget plan!! Pay for your oil when it comes and self budget yourself. DMO makes nothing by stretching out your payments for you. I'll also bet that you are not nearly upset around January when you are still making your budget payment monthly but receiving twice that much in oil when a delivery is made. And as far as the "useless" interest on the money you have in your account. Is that finance charge free balance you carry for the remaining part of the year just as useless? Find a credit card that will loan you a few thousand dollars over the winter and not charge you interest on it because you are paying for your heating oil with it!
"We have individually zoned electric baseboard heat"
LOL Me too and while it used to be inconvenient,I appreciate it now!
I have Choptank and my highest winter bill was for February,at 248 bucks!My heat,dryer,hot water and stove are also electric.In the summer I use two window AC units and my highest summer bill was $174 !!! We have a 3-brick gas heater in the den but with prices so high we have not bothered to fill our gas tank for 3 yrs.
I thought about it and alot of homes built around the time mine was(1970-1980) employed baseboard electric heat because of the oil crisis and the fact that electricity was still pretty cheap to generate.When electric started going up(and being deregulated) people turned to the modern efficient heat pump units. I recall that alot of the early heat pumps were noisy,froze up in cold temps and blew out cold air during the heat cycle for the first 20 minutes.but I digress....
The best way to save,regardless of heating method,is to weatherize.We sealed all of our windows tightly and it really paid off.
I don't know what cruggly is talking about. I am a service tech for DMO and I get paid from 8:00am Starting time till 4:30pm or until my day is over which right now could be anywhere from 4:30 till midnight. We get to drive our trucks home everyday and thats a benifit all by itself. I have been in the HVAC field a long time and all I hear is how it is so much better some place else. All the oil companies have some problems and there are many to chose from. So if your not happy go someplace else. And as far as DMO screwing people I know for a fact they just gave a customer a $7000.00 heating system for free because they couldn't afford a new system and couldn't get any help. I think all of us that have a job should thank god instead of running our month and bashing other people. DMO may not be perfect but show me a oil company that is. I'm not a company man by far but I can't stand people dumping on a company that really isn't all that bad! Thanks from big baller 23
MAYBE THEY ARE NOT SO BAD TO THEIR CUSTOMERS BUT THEY TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES LIKE DOG CRAP!!! I KNOW ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES HAS BEEN THERE A YEAR AND HASN'T EVEN GOT A RAISE YET! THEY DO NOT EVEN PROMOTE WITHIN THE COMPANY. JOBS COME OPEN AND THEY HIRE A JERK OUTSIDE OF THE COMPANY THAT CAN'T EVEN SELL INSTEAD OF GIVING IT TO SOMEONE THAT KNOWS THE EQUIPTMENT AND CAN ANSWER CUSTOMERS QUESTIONS. YES I AM A EMPLOYEE OF DMO SO I KNOW ALL OF THIS TO BE TRUE. THEY SUCK!!!!!!! AS SOON AS I FIND ANOTHER JOB THEY CAN KISS IT
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