ComplaintsforM.J. Meehan Excavating, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On or about 3/3/23 I ordered 100 gallons of home heating oil which was to be delivered on 3/7/23. In placing my order the price was published at $3.39/gal. Upon delivery I was charged $3.65/gal. The rate a customer is charged is the rate the day the order is placed not delivered. When I called Meehan, i was told that their website had a price of $3.65 for the day I ordered it. They are mistaken. i was then asked if I received a confirmation email the day I ordered it. I said no. I have ordered oli from Meehan for several years and have NEVER received a confirnation email. I had this very same problem with them last fall and they admitted they was a "glitch" with the website and corrected the price and issued me a credit. This time they were adamant that the price I was given on 3/3/23 was $3.65. If it was that price I would have never ordered it from them because ********************* was $.05 less than the $3.39 price Meehan. However, i figure that i would continue to do business with Meehan for a measley 5 cents/gal.I ask that you intercede in this issue and that it can be resolved reasonably. I was simply asking them to issue me a $26 credit as I ordered and had delivered 100 gallons.

  Business response

  03/20/2023

  **************** placed an order on March 2nd 2023. At that time our price was indeed $3.65/gallon. He received his delivery 3/7/23. He didn't call our office to discuss this until 3/8/23. I did explain that that had been the posted price for a few days and we had had no other complaints. If an issues was occurring it would have impact more than one customers. He mentioned another time that this occurred. When a customer calls with issue along these lines we make very detailed notes in their accounts in case we have future issues. No notes are in his account about this issue happening before. There is no way the website would have "glitched" and that is not something anyone in our office would have said as that does not happen. All of the info on the site directly transfers into our order portal where we view our orders. The info also transfers directly to our online credit card processing system. When orders are placed they are automatically charge in the portal through the site. I have attached two documents. One contains screen shots from the online portal of the day in question, the credit card portal and the confirmation email he should have received. You can see that his and other orders were coming in at $365, the price of 100 gallons. You can also see in the portal they were being charged $365. The confirmation also reflects this. I did explain to **************** that we often end up in spam boxes. He didn't see it there. I went on to try to explain that his settings in his email account out potentially be bouncing us out completely as we have seen that before. I have also attached screen shots of our webite from today, 3/20/23. This shows our pricing noted in two separate locations, the home page and order form. It also notes on the bottom the confirmation that you will be charge $345 as a deposit, our current price is $3.45/gallon. **************** would have seen this the day he ordered reflecting the $3.65 price point. **************** did say that he had been shopping around and used us as we were the cheapest. All I can think is **************** confused the different websites and their pricing. There is another site very similar to our "**************". 

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I ordered heating oil for my 85 year old father, 100 gallons at **** per gal, 100 is the minimum they would deliver. He has been getting oil from them for 5 years. We would order the oil and leave the check in the mailbox. ON 10/13/22 they delivered **** gallons, unfortunately my father who is 85 and has had lasek surgery since, misread his oil tank and thought it was lower than it was. They pumped **** gallons in and took the check and left a bill for ******. Now this had happened one other time and they credited him for the remaining amount of oil due, which they delivered the next time he needed oil.This time however they say that they are keeping the ******.They claim they sent out a letter saying this would happen if people over ordered ,needless to say we never received such a letter and right on their website it states you will only be charged for oil delivered to your house. I dont think its right for them to take that money for someones honest mistake.We would like the remaining ****** returned

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  Thank you for reaching out. We do have a 100 gallon minimum delivery requirement. This is stated on our faq page and on the online order form. It is also printed on the delivery ticket. On 7/8/22 we delivered oil and the tank only took **** gallons. When this happened it was explain via phone to the customer that we do give our customers a one time "oops" and we gave a credit in the fuel account. We also did mail out the letter explaining the policy. When the customer called again in October they mentioned the credit from the previous delivery. We confirmed and reminded him of the 100 gallon minimum delivery requirement. The October delivery on 10/13/22 only took **** gallons. The customer made the check out for the cost of 100 gallons minus the credit on file. So on the second delivery they were charged for the 100 gallons. 

  The faq point as refenced above  "what happens if my tank does not take the full amount order" reads as follows. "No problem, you are only charged for the gallons pumped. Normally this is because your tank could not hold all the gallons you ordered. All heating oil tanks have a usable capacity which is less than the actual capacity. For example, a 275-gallon tank has a usable capacity of about 256 gallons. The remaining space is required during the filling process to avoid accidental spills as well as allowing for expansion of the fuel as it warms. During the filling process, the driver listens to your fill alarm which tells the driver when your tank is filled to its usable capacity. For safety and to avoid environmental contamination, your driver must stop pumping oil when the vent alarm indicates your tank to be full. UNLESS you do not take 100 gallons, you are still charged your full deposit amount." Please note the last line "UNLESS you do not take 100 gallons, you are still charged your full deposit amount."

  As a small business that employs 9 people with families it is important that we make money to keep our lights on and those individuals employed. When we delivery less than 100 gallons at stops we lose money. This causes our prices to go up and negatively impacts the business. We have attached copies of the letter templets we send out to customers the first time they do not take 100 gallons as well as a copy of the back of our ticket which also mentions the policy. 

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