ComplaintsforStandard Oil of Connecticut, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Company let our oil tank run completely out of oil! Discovered this on an early Saturday morning!!We had zero heat on a below freezing temperature day and we had no hot water! Homeowner had severe respiratory illness and was home sick. Homeowner called customer service- was told by first service rep that the trucks were out on road and would be getting to us today, Was also told there is NO WAY to contact supervisor until Monday!!!Called back a few hours later and was told by service rep that she would contact supervisor if she could . Called back a third time and rep Emily said all deliveries stop by 12 noon!!! No one to deliver, she would try to get emergency tech out to us with minor Amt. of oil. She would tell supervisors.Homeowner told her we are done and will never do business with this company again. Not to bill me $ pathetic customer service , really no service.told them I, canceling my account don’t dare send anyone here next week. Emergency technician arrived later in afternoon with 20 gallons emergency fuel.He told us straight out that the Standard Oil company had NO RECORD that the boiler fuels the hot water heater! They serviced this boiler in like May of 2023!,! Completely incompetent.Monday morning I’m home sick from work- oil truck arrives… I go tell him to stop immediately. He states that 69 gallons were put in.. I tell him the weekend events and that I had cancelled the contact.To tell his SUPERVISOR asap. I spoke to Darryl in customer retention TWiCE. I REFUSE to pay for their blatant failure on multiple levels at STANDARD OIL. ;failed to note on our account the critical info that left us without heat and hot water because their failure of calculations did not put our home on the delivery schedule - that is COMPLETELY the problem of STANDARD OiL. This failure to provide oil and the lies and zero customer service and their attempt to correct their FAIlURES will NOT be PAID FOR by the BURNS’ WE REFUSE To PAY when we are NOT AT FAULT!!

  

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  ***         ****** ******** ****** *****    **** ******* **** ***         *** ********* ******** ** ***** *****     ***** *** ****
  This will acknowledge receipt of the above captioned complaint.  I regret that it was not answered earlier but I was on vacation and have just returned to work.
  
  The Complainant is obviously angry that she ran out of oil.  She is also correct in stating that it was caused by Standard’s delivery schedule not recognizing that oil was being used to heat domestic hot water as well as heating the home.
  
  That she ran out of oil is unfortunate but, given the circumstances, it was likely inevitable since the delivery schedule was based on the assumption that oil was used for heat only.  The previous delivery was made in April of 2023 and a substantial amount of that oil would be unused until the following fall if its only purpose was to provide heat since there would have been no requirement for oil during the warm spring and summer months.
  
  The reason for the run-out, however, was based entirely on information supplied by the Complainant and her husband.  When setting up the account, the Complainant’s husband stated to Standard Oil that the source of his domestic hot water was an electric hot water heater and further clearly and with certitude stated in response to Standard’s inquiry that oil was used solely for heat.  Consequently, the delivery schedule was premised on the information that he supplied to Standard, and no provision was made to account for the additional oil usage required to heat hot water on a year round basis.
  
  In a later conversation, Standard’s representative, in response to a question from the Complainant, said that the Complainant had an electric hot water heater and the Complainant said nothing to contradict or correct that statement. 
  Further, there is no evidence that the Complainant or her husband ever updated or corrected that information.
  [Note: Voice recordings of those conversations are available on request].
  
  Standard’s personnel never enter the home when making an oil delivery; the entire process takes place outdoors leaving the drivers with no knowledge of the heating system. Standard’s service technicians would know that the Service Plan selected by the customer covered only the boiler but would not be at all familiar with any individual customer’s delivery schedule, nor would it be likely they would have reason to question the accuracy of the information supplied by the equipment’s owner on which the schedule is based.  In addition, in view of the approximately 20 trouble-free previous deliveries there is little likelihood the question would ever come up in the absence of an incident like an oil run-out.
  
  The Complainant stated that the temperatures were “below freezing” (<32°F / 0°C) on 11/18/2023 , the run-out date, however temperature records from *********** ****** ******* show that the temperature at 07:56 am was 55°F and at 12:56 pm (9 minutes prior to their first call for a ‘no heat’ condition) the temperature had dropped to 52°F. 
  ********************************************************************************* Similar temperatures were recorded at ********** ******* and while mildly uncomfortable, they were certainly not at a dangerously low level as the Complainant seems to allege.
  
  Standard received its first call for a ‘no heat’ condition at 01:05 pm on November 18, 2023, and the first available technician was dispatched at 02:21 pm and arrived at the Complainant’s residence at 02:56 pm. approximately 111 minutes after the original call.  In a good-will gesture made prior to this complaint and its subsequent investigation into the real cause of the run-out, Standard waived the liquidated damages in the amount of $123.10 to which it was contractually entitled upon Complainant’s termination of their fixed-price contract. Curiously, this amounts to compensation of approximately $1.11 for each of the 111 minutes between the original call and the arrival of the technician.
  
  The Complainant states that she verbally canceled her contract with Standard Oil.  For the protection of both parties, and in accordance with *********** law (CGS §16-21a (7)), the Complainant was required under her fixed-price contract and by law to provide written notice of her intent to cancel her automatic-delivery’ account sent by certified mail, email or fax to the addresses provided in that contract.  Complainant failed to do so.
  
  Note, too, that there was considerable expense incurred by Standard in making the service call on 11/18/2023, (something invariably necessary to restart an oil-burner that runs out of oil) and it could be argued that because it resulted from the never-updated and never-corrected information supplied to Standard, that we would be fully justified in presenting them a bill as well as rescinding the $123.10 credit mentioned earlier.  We are certainly not ungrateful for the Complainant’s prior patronage of our company, and we do not currently anticipate taking such steps.
  
  The Complainant currently owes the sum of $360.01 for 89.8 gallons of heating oil delivered in connection with the ‘no heat’ call.  It appears from the complaint that it is her intent to confiscate the oil despite having unquestionably used that oil entirely for her own benefit.  Unsurprisingly, courts frown upon what is called “unjust enrichment” especially where, in this instance, the information supplied to Standard Oil regarding the source of her domestic hot water is the root cause of the oil run-out.
  
  We fully expect that we will be paid for the oil delivered and we sincerely hope that payment will be made promptly and voluntarily, especially considering their responsibility in causing this regrettable situation to come about.  If she requires additional time to pay, or needs a payment plan, our Credit Department will certainly work with her to find a suitable arrangement.
  
  We hope you find this responsive to your request for an answer to this complaint. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In late October of last year I went into a one year oil contract with Standard Oil. At said time I was a new Home owner and seeking oil services for home heating. I agreed to contract which stated that if I cancelled before the contract ended I MAY be charged a fine. In March of this year I called to cancel and explained my circumstances because at that point in March I had spent $3500 since October on oil. I told Darrell I couldn't afford being in the contract because as soon as the oil drops a bit below half they show up to refill. They did mention that after first order the next one would be close behind and i was okay with that but I never expected that I would have spent all that money in just four months. I was hoping Darrell would work with me but instead he offered five more orders at $550 per month which I told him I couldn't afford. He then told me I would be charged a fee of $700 for early cancellation but I could continue the contract and get more oil for that $700. I told him the contract didn't say I would be charged it said I MAY be charged and after spending all that money in such a quick span I certainly didn't expect to be charged. Since that time I have been getting oil based on what I can afford elsewhere and Standard oil have been sending me bills for $700+ for "beginning balance". I didn't have a beginning balance! I feel like I did the right thing by cancelling because if they had delivered oil and I was unable to pay Id expect issues. I feel I'm being punished here.

  

  Business response

  07/17/2023

  This will acknowledge receipt of the above captioned complaint.
  
  We regret that we are unable to provide a detailed reply to Ms. ******** specific complaint inasmuch as the matter has been referred to our attorney and it is our policy to not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
  
  We can say that, while it is spelled out in bold print and a separate acknowledgment signed by the customer is required as part of the contract, it is not uncommon for people entering into a fixed-price contract for oil to not take into serious  consideration that the oil-supplier is required by *********** law to use its own funds (and not the customer’s) to purchase,  in advance,  sufficient oil to supply the customer for the length of the contract, typically one year’s worth.
  
  Having spent a considerable sum based on the customer’s written promises, it is not unreasonable for Standard to expect the customer to honor their obligation under that contract and pay for the oil they requested Standard to buy for them and that obligation does not, under any circumstance, constitute a “fine”.

• Initial Complaint

  11/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Standard Oil is charging me for a service plan that I did not want, never signed for or used in the amount of $403.07. They came to my home and told me I needed a new furnace which I did not need. I cancelled service and they still charged me for the service plan indicated I did not cancel before the two month deadline to get charged the full year service. They are not a company to be trusted. They are threatening me they will threaten my credit, put a lien on my house, and bring suit against me if I do not pay.

  

  Business response

  11/18/2022

  *****     ******** *** **** ***          ****** ******** ****** *****     **** ******* ** ***         *** ********* ******** ***** ******
  
  We have reviewed the above captioned complaint: 
  
  I will respond first to the last sentence of the complaint. I am not privy to conversations between Ms. ****** and our Credit Dept. and a review of post-conversation notes does not indicate such threats were made but the finality in which the account was closed may indicate that the exchange between the parties may have been heated.
  
  A review of Ms. ******** transaction history indicates that, since becoming a customer in 2020, she had paid for service plans in 2020 and 2021 and those contracts were renewed on their anniversary date in 2022.  Her statement that she did not want the service contract for 2022 is somewhat belied by the fact she paid for it on or about August 19, 2022.
  
  She also states that “[they] told me I needed a new furnace which I did not need”.  A review of her service history indicates that she was likely advised to consider replacing her boiler. I base this on the below note made as part of a service call made on October 29, 2021
  
  WO#:*******) Found boiler steaming due to faulty aquastat, cooled 16 yr old smith s w 4, replaced aquastat and hi vents  Purged all zones. noticed water leaking from seals between sections after work was done. Explained and showed Mrs. letting run at this time
  
  Cast-iron Boilers, because of their massive weight, are typically delivered and then assembled in sections.  These sections hold extremely hot water which is pumped through radiators throughout the house.  The sections must be tightly joined and water escaping these sections is not something you want to see and is indicative of a possibly shortened life span, especially in a 16 year old boiler which had already expended 80% of its normal 20 year warranted life.  Ms. ****** may count herself fortunate that nothing has so far happened.
  
  It is true that we will normally decline to credit a service plan that has been in effect for more than 60 days. Customers appreciate the service plan when they need it. Others have difficulty understanding that there are very significant costs to Standard Oil in offering service contracts even if they are never used. The contract imposes an explicit obligation to respond to a customer’s request for service. To do that, Standard must employ people to answer the call; by law it must employ only state-licensed (and highly paid) technician to work on heating systems and Standard must maintain adequate staffing levels that ensure that technicians are available 24-hours per day, 365 days per year.  It must supply these technicians with service vans, it must stock each van with thousands of dollars’ worth of parts; its insurers charge very large premiums because of the high-risk nature of the work performed; it must employ its own mechanics to ensure its vehicles are ready to go at any hour of the day or night. Behind the scenes it employs an office staff, computer technicians, customer service people, and technical advisors, in short, it employs (and must pay) a small army of people to ensure that when the customer calls with a problem Standard is able to be at the customer’s residence for a ‘No Heat’ or other critical situation typically in less than 90 minutes.
  
  We are a 109-year-old company who have been guided for more than a century by only two people, the company’s founder and the current president who has overseen this company since shortly after his return from naval service in World War II.  I have had the privilege of working for both and I have great faith in the trustworthiness and integrity that they have insisted on since the company’s founding in 1913.
  
  Too, they have always maintained that gratitude is an integral part of doing business and, in appreciation of the considerable business provided to us by Ms. ****** in the short period of time in which she was a customer, I am crediting the $403.07 cost of the service contract.
  
  We trust that you find this responsive to Ms. ******** complaint.

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