ComplaintsforMain Brothers Oil Co.

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I've used main care for my apartments for 10 years. They recently hired a new salesman Scott R******** Who basically gave me a one-week notice before they picked all 7 tanks on Halloween leaving all my tenants without heat.

  Business response

  11/21/2023

  We have been in contact with the landlord and several of his tenants since August 8th. As he knows, some of his tenants have not taken a propane delivery since 2019. This would mean that they are either heating exclusively with electric heat or having another propane company fill Main-Care Energy's tanks. We made many attempts to address the situation with the landlord and the specific tenants involved, however on October 27th, we received an email from the landlord instructing us to remove all our propane tanks from his properties. Once we received his request, we scheduled the picking up of our tanks.We have had a great relationship with almost all of his tenants over the years and we are very disappointed to no longer be their propane supplier. We wish him and his tenants the best and will always welcome them back if he ever changes his mind.  The accounts are now closed at the landlord's request.

• Initial Complaint

  05/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I reported an issue to Main Care Energy in December no attempt to resolve the issue was made. Several inaccuracies were identified yet they persist there is no issue. Some of the statements made include a non existent third LP tank, 333 Usable Gallons for two 100 Gallon LP tanks, and I have been billed for time prior to opening an account as well as all the LP Gas delivered to the building that should be split between two apartments. After several attempts to resolve the issue I received notice with the following. Please note heat and Hot water were included in my lease until renewed when I opened my account and the two tanks are for the building not my apartment and have paid every bill except one for $500 equivalent to depleting both tanks for my apartment alone. Main Care Energy Response: Please be advised this letter serves as our final correspondence and attempt to collect the past due balance of $609.33. This letter has also been sent as an email as we have corresponded in that manner in the past. Your landlord, ******* ******, informed us in June of 2022 that he would no longer be paying for his tenants' propane use and his final bill was that of 07/11/2022, meaning your usage started on that day. You were the last of the tenants to call us to set up an account, which was completed on 08/30/2022 and your first bill was dated 09/01/2022. This bill covered your usage from 07/11/2022 until 09/01/2022. We have honored every request in providing explanations and transparency in the billing, with the exception of you requesting your neighbor's billing. We cannot provide you with another customer's billing. We now ask that you immediately satisfy your obligation with full payment. If we do not receive your balance by June 15, 2023 your account will be turned over to a collection agency/attorney. You will be responsible for any collection costs incurred. Regards, Laurie F*******, Customer Communications Manager Bob D*****, Customer Support Manager

  Business response

  06/06/2023

  This is in response to the complaint from ******* ****** Complaint ID # ********. Attached please find detailed documentation from the inception of the account.  The notes represent our detailed phone conversations and email interactions with ******* on numerous occasions. It shows in detail each of the deliveries the customer is responsible for. There were 3 - 100 gallon tanks on site, but the customer was only charged for the gallons that went through the meter for his apartment representing his usage.  Please see the note from 3/25/23 which was in response to ********* email.  We have made numerous attempts to clarify this for the customer as before ******* had established his account the landlord was providing the propane and including it in his rent each month. Prior to establishing the account with ******* we were not aware of the how the landlord was billing ******* for his fuel for the 2021-2022 time frame.  However our records document the total gallons billed on the landlords account from November thru March totaled 630.7 gallons.  For the period of September 2022 thru March 2023 totaled 518.1 gallons on ********* account.  Please review the attached documentation and let us know if you have any further questions.

  Customer response

  06/07/2023

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  As seen in the provided picture there were only two 100 gal tanks at the property with the maximum compacity at 80% that totals 160 gal. The two tanks provided LP for the Two metered units in the building so each delivery is for both units if I was charged for all the LP delivered and the second unit/tenant was also being billed Main Care was double billing. the amount I was billed was equal to more LP than delivered to the property as per the provided delivery slips that I have submitted to the BBB. There was no third tank for this property please provide the account of how many tanks were removed from the address. Additionally as per my lease on the property Heat and Hot water were included for the term of my lease until I renewed when I opened my account. Any billing prior to opening my account is counter to that contract. The property owner also informed me he paid the $108 finial invoice leaving the $500 invoice the only outstanding amount and another example of double billing. Regards,  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called the company to schedule a propane delivery and made sure to tell them I was out of propane, because, when that is the case, the delivery driver needs to re-light my pilot light upon filling the tank. I was told that the delivery driver would need access to the home and asked if I needed to be contacted before the delivery to make arrangements to let the driver into my home. I made sure to let the company know that I was not home during the day due to my work schedule, and was ASSURED that I would be contacted prior to delivery to ensure that I would be there to let the delivery driver into my home. This did not happen. I received a phone call AFTER the delivery was made and was informed that the driver was there and then left because no one was there to let him in. I was then told I would need to pay an additional charge of $150 to have a technician come out to my house for a service call to re-light my gas tank.

  Business response

  09/19/2022

  ******* **** has been a customer for several years.  She has no open credit terms with Main Care. As such, prepayment for fuel is necessary when she is due for a delivery.  Months of phone calls and letters went to the customer unanswered until such time she runs out of product. This has been the pattern for many years.  She has been made aware that a “gas check” safety inspection is required each time a customer runs out of propane.  This is an industry standard to ensure there are no leaks in the customer’s system and confirms that the “out of propane” is due to customer usage and not a gas leak.  The safety of the customer is top priority. Ms. **** has been informed of this repeatedly in writing and verbally over the phone.  Yet, she chooses to continually ignore us until she has no product remaining in her fuel tanks.  By not responding to our requests, she made it impossible for us to schedule a delivery prior to her running out of fuel thus avoiding the need for the “gas check” inspection. 
  This has been a pattern of behavior for Ms. **** since becoming a customer and unfortunately, we don’t feel we are the right propane supplier for her.  We have since advised her, via certified mail and verbally, that she needs to seek another fuel provider and have given her ample time to do so.  We will be picking up our fuel tanks as early as October 15th.  She will need to have her new propane supplier in place prior to that date. 
  Normally, we charge a restocking fee for tank pick ups however, we have agreed to waive that fee as a courtesy to Ms. ****.  She currently has a $0.00 balance and we will be issuing a cred for propane remaining at the time of the tank pickup. 
  We have documented each contact with Ms. **** and also have recordings of phone conversations between Ms. **** and our customer service department to substantiate our position. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  In mid-June, Main-Care sent me a text message indicating they had scheduled my annual service call for 6/23/22 and to reply to the text with "C" to confirm. I knew I was not going to be home on that date so I did not confirm the appointment. The text I receive gave me no option to reschedule or to let them know the date they had selected was not a good date for me. I thought if I didn't confirm, the company would reach out to me; they did not. I tried calling on three separate occasions but was never able to get through to actually speak to some one. On 6/23/22, a technician shows up at my house. I was not home as I knew I wouldn't be. I have contacted Main-Care to reschedule the service call but they refuse.

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I purchased 1100 gallons of fuel oil, and prophane through MainCare's payment protection plan that ends in 6/22. The oil price was $3.09 a gallon, and the propane was $2.29 a gallon. I have only used 597.1 gallons of oil out of the 1100, and have not had a delivery since 2/28/2022. The last time propane was delivered was 3/11/22.I heat by both oil for the house, and propane for the garage. At this time my heat is still running. I called MainCare today, and spoke with Tracy, who told me that I can not schedule a delivery of oil or propane because I am an automatic customer. In addition she could not tell me when my next delivery was, and whether or not I would get it at the payment protection plan price I had prepurchased. This is a breach of contract. What I would like is for MainCare to honor our agreement, and fill up my oil tank at $3.09 a gallon, and all of my proane tanks(4) at 2.29 a gallon. These deliveries can not be until next Monday because I am having my driveway done.

  Business response

  05/03/2022

  The terms and conditions of our Capped Price Protection Program specifically state that program pricing is for “Normally Scheduled Automatic Deliveries”.  We estimate Mrs. *******’s heating oil delivery is scheduled no sooner than 7/26/2022 and her propane delivery is not scheduled until 7/8/2022.The capped prices offered to our customers are predicated on the operational efficiencies of “normally scheduled automatic deliveries” that are objectively derived from a software program based on individual customer delivery history combined with current weather conditions.    Thus unfortunately, we are unable to grant Mrs. *******’s request for an “out of schedule” fuel delivery.We wish to congratulate Mrs. ******* for saving $919.50 this year on our capped price program. Her savings is calculated by comparing her delivered fuel prices to the NYSERDA state average for Heating Oil and Propane at the time of her deliveries.

  Customer response

  05/03/2022

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.   Regards, ******* ******* As per MainCare's customer portal we were scheduled for a delivery in April. I asked MainCare to come instead in May. We are down to a 1/4 tank of oil at this time, and are still heating our home. Our hot water tank also runs on oil. We need a "scheduled delivery" right away.  Delivery can not wait until 7/22.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩