I ordered 100 gallons of heating oil this past week from a new company, and when I checked the tank when I got home later I was clearly shorted. I know it was short by at least 20 gallons but probably more like 30. I always order when I get to 1/4 tank, and when I check after a delivery I typically have a little more 5/8's of a tank. This time I had less than a half of a tank.

When I called to complain I was told that the state of CT checks the seal and that it is impossible to short someone. I looked online to see if anyone made similar complaints about this company, and several people have. I wished I had checked up front but this has never happened to me before so I didn't think about it.

I am very curious now, does anyone knows if the oil company could have cheated me on this order? Theybasically said there is no way it could have happened and hung up, but it was a considerable difference so I know that they must have.

so 5/8ths to less than half is not too much of a difference. Could you have possibly ordered when it was slightly less than 1/4 full?

However from the way they handled it by hanging up on you I wouldn't wanna deal with them anymore anyway, especially since there are other complaints about them. Just because the dept. of weights and measurements measures what their meter reads doesn't mean they can't short someone. That's pretty much irrelevant.

I guess it is possible it was a little less when I ordered, it is just that every time I am around that amount I end up getting a little more than 5/8's when filled so I questioned it. Their response was very unprofessional and I will never use the company again. I was just wondering if there was a way to beat the customer out of oil, since they claim it is impossible. Thanks for the reply.

of course there is, pump 30 gallons and charge you for 40

It's definitely possible

I had a friend in college who's uncle owned a small oil heating company.

He said his uncle's company would regularly short and overcharge "rich" customers and use it to subsidize poor customers who were family friends/locals who couldn't afford the normal price of heating oil.

His uncle would also do that and then do things like show up to the local bar and buy a round for everyone in the place.

I have no doubt that this is a somewhat common scam that shady companies pull, I would never use them again.

do you have a 250 gallon barrel?

300 gallon tank I believe.

Tbh Larry's friend's uncle sounds like the Robin Hood of heating oil of whatever Northeastern settlement he claimed his homeland.

The Frank Sobotka of heating oil

If it were me and I were certain I was shorted, I'd document as much as possible, cancel payment, and make them sue me if they want the money.

I don't know about your ****hole part of the country, but the government is intricately involved in these operations down south. Contact your rep.

Lol

lol heating oil. Even in a part of the country where it is common, there's just no way you are coming out ahead.

Seems to me if you have no way of being there and verifying at the time of delivery that you're getting what you paid for, you're guaranteed to get scammed eventually.

I vaguely remember my parents getting heating oil deliveries in the mid 80s when I was a young kid. Didn't even know that was still a thing.

Maybe you can find other people who feel like they have been shorted and call one of the local TV stations? Around here, I'm pretty sure something like that would make the 4PM news.

This would seem to require that the resident literally stand next to the truck while the oil is being transferred, in order to watch the meter. I can't imagine many people do this.

If I Robin Hooded heating oil, I definitely would not let anyone know about it.

These things are overseen by agencies that don't care about "I steal from the rich to give to the poor" except the first two words.

OP: Document whatever you can and file a complaint with whatever regulatory agency is involved (I doubt your US Congress Representative will bother responding but your state representative may know who's in charge and helpfully point you in yhe right direction). As their counterargument is likely to be "maybe you had less oil than you thought," a record of your oil usage will ve helpful (either to convince yourself that you used more oil than usual or to convince them that you didn't).

ETA: Withholding payment and making them sue you is almost certainly EV- given your level of certainty that you've actually been cheated. Best case scenario is that you get your bill slightly lowered and worst case is that you pay your full bill plus their lawyers fees plus get a ding on your credit score.

I think something like 2/3 houses in New England use heating oil. Or that was true when I read it 10 years ago.

Really you'd need an independently calibrated means of making sure you got the correct oil. The supplier's meter could easily be miscalibrated.

So easy to scam people and nobody will ever catch you unless you get too greedy about it, as in OP.

I had someone at the house who paid cash already, so I can't do a chargeback or stop pay unfortunately. I use a cash heating oil place that gives a discount if you pay at the time of delivery with cash. I never had an issue before and have been doing this over 10 years. I know I can't recoup my lost money unless I wanted to do something sneaky like order and pay a bit more with a card and then do a chargeback after the next delivery, but I wouldn't do that. I just think I am going to post reviews and make a complaint against them so hopefully it doesn't happen to someone else. I just found the claim that the state checks their seal so it is impossible to cheat someone to be sketchy.

Discount indeed! Good luck with your complaint to the governing agency. Keep us posted on whether it works out.

This is over ~60 dollars or so worth of oil? Seems like they have a really easy way to scam people and it's going to be really tough to prove your case. I'd just write it off and move to another service provider.

I still do and I see oil trucks all over the place making deliveries. So maybe not 2/3 anymore, but still the majority I'm sure.

How is it impossible to cheat someone? Just because their meter is calibrated doesn't mean anything at all.

I used to work as a flight instructor at an airport, and the guy who drove the fuel truck was caught in a major scam. The truck has a meter that shows how much fuel is pumped into an aircraft. He was pumping X amount and charging the customer Y. Then he would sell his overage for cash to one of the tie downs at the airport and profit the money. Of course the guy got a huge discount on the fuel so it was a win/win for both of them (until they got caught).

It's common in rural areas, especially in older houses that aren't connected to natural gas. For them it's either oil, or if they're a small house (or trailer) they can use propane.