Petro Reviews

I begged if they would please go and deliver even 50 gallons to keep the heat on till the next weekend... That's when they told me I would get the delivery. Well to my surprise they said that Petro has insurance and they will fix the damage done my frozen pipes. I don't want that to happen... I said to them, "I have to protect my property. If I cant get oil from you I have to get it from someone else". The guy on the phone, his name is John told me that if I do that, that's a breach of the contract and I have to pay a few hundred dollars. This is insane. How can I let my house with no heat for a week when the temperature is in the teens? So I ordered 100 gallons to be delivered today from someone else. We shall see how they gonna Handle the situation. So sad.

This morning, the temp in my house was 48 degrees. I called Petro at 6:30am and made an appointment for a tech to come at 7pm. The tech showed up at noon. Seriously? I called at 5pm to confirm my scheduled appointment for 7-9pm. Diane said the paperwork she has says 7-9p is when the tech is scheduled to arrive. I called again at 8:45pm to find out where the tech was and she said her paperwork shows he's scheduled to arrive between 7-10pm. Already angry, I asked her to please call the service dept. to confirm, and she apologized, but that the tech won't be here until about 11pm. Look, I'll do almost anything to get heat and hot water, but staying up all night and sleeping with the phone and still not getting service is over the top.

Petro claims to have the most technicians and fast service, but all they have is stock answers such as Were sorry for the inconvenience you're experiencing. Our technicians are working tirelessly to get to you. Along with that, they mention that a lot of their clients on Long Island don't have heat or hot water, so I asked what that has to do with me since I live in the Bronx! I was told there was a backlog and that the techs go all over, however, I'm pretty sure the techs are assigned to certain areas and that the Long Island tech isn't in the Bronx. So, here I am sitting in a house where the thermostat reads 48 degrees, my pipes are about frozen so getting water to boil to wash with is getting harder, I had to buy water for just in case, and I still have to wait up for the technician AND get up at 6am!

Tomorrow I'm going to speak with a lawyer to find out if the company is liable if, in fact, my pipes are frozen and to find out if I can sue them for failure to honor their terms of contract. My advice to anyone interested in hiring Petro, buyer beware! They will call you the first day (and every day after) if you are late paying your bill or if you don't sign their service contract, but when you really need them, the wait time for someone to pick up is 15 minutes.

I called again on January 8th, spent 2 hours on hold and was told that nothing can be done to expedite the service. There is no compensation for hotel stay, there is no compensation for repairs done by another company and there is no refund for the service contract fees. Petro has the worst customer service. It does not care about customers and does not follow the 24 hours contractual agreement. Today is day 3 of helpless waiting for repairs. There is no hope.

I was told that a technician could not be dispatched until between 7am and noon the next day, and that I should go to Home Depot in the 6 degree weather after a major Noreaster and get space heaters!!! Can you believe the nerve? I was also told to leave my faucets on a trickle to prevent pipe freezing. Who's paying for the water? I stayed up all night with the electric oven on and open to keep the house at just 42 degrees. The tech came at, that's right you guessed it, just before noon. Took him 2 hrs to reboot the boiler. Luckily, I had no broken pipes, but had to replace a shower valve that was broken from freezing. Fortunately, I am a DIY and it only cost me parts. Unforgivable!

For the next three day trying to get in touch with the company to get the plumber back, finally they send a serviceman, not the plumbers, again to tell us our line was frozen. The serviceman said he would notify them to send a plumber, for 2 days we never heard back, missing 3 days of work, endless hours on the phone on hold. When someone answered we would get cut off or hung up on. The customer service is also rude, they tell you everything you want to hear, when they say, "We will be there in 2 hours," they must mean 2 days. OUR ADVICE AND BY THE OTHER POOR REVIEWS WE HAVE READ IS ''STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY.'' They have a one star rating, that is because they can't get a zero rating. I don't know how management can be proud of this company, they should all be fired.

So it has been colder than even for about 2 weeks, not just I have not got my tank fill out prior to the holidays, during the holidays or after, as it’s 10 degrees outside and my oil finished and the heater does not work. I called Petro and not just they cannot fill out my tank until tomorrow as they told me to add diesel to my tank. I did follow their instructions with the diesel, but as I said before, I have an older heater and it does not quick in by itself once it shuts off. I called Petro 5x already so they could at least help to turn it on, but they did not help and also told me that by their “guess estimation” I should have 4 gallons of oil which would have been enough for me to last until Monday.

I’m feeling extremely disappointed and stupid to not have oil in such a cold weather and also knowing that if I had called yesterday they would also not got me filled out due to the storm. PS: House pipes are starting to freeze. This will be a very expensive problem to deal with in case my pipes explode. Can anyone help me with what to do in this situation? Thanks!

After spending 90 minutes on the phone at 3 am on hold, I was told they would deliver oil between 8am and noon… and after they deliver the oil the heat will still not start because they let it run completely out & our boiler needed service. We called Petro back (waited again on hold for forever) to be told a technician would be at our home by 1pm. That tech never showed. Our heat fell below 45 degrees in our home and we ended up paying a separate company to help us so our pipes didn’t freeze. Petro Management still hasn’t called to offer an explanation of how you 1) forget to deliver our oil (which is scheduled by THEM) and 2) once alerted of problem did NOTHING to solve it. GO ELSEWHERE. RUN.

In July my settlement bill said PLEASE PAY $699.59. I am already going to pay $143, I'm not paying nearly half my annual bill at once. At the end of November, my bill showed ACTUAL ACCOUNT BALANCE $0 December payment $143 PLEASE PAY $572. I emailed to have them change the Please pay to my budget payment which they did last year. I have been getting calls from them and they will not change my bill. NO MORE. I am paying off my next delivery in February and getting rid of them. JC Discount Fuel Oil has 100 gal at $2.329/gal for $238.72 today. Never again with PETRO.

Unfortunately they are buying up better companies. I called Romanelli Oil just to see what their price was because I have used them in the past. They wouldn't tell me because they are now owned by the same company as Petro. They have a monopoly growing. I don't know how many different companies you can call to check on pricing and not know they have the same parent company and will all give you a high price.

So without them offering any resolution, I have terminated my arrangement with them and I am awaiting my final bill. I asked about the 6 months left on my service agreement and was rudely told "since you are not buying oil from us, we will not service your equipment." Now I understand how you get over 200 bad reviews. Wish I would have looked them up sooner. I also had them inspect my home and oil tank prior to closing and the technician said all was well. 8 months after the purchase during an inspection, a different tech said my oil tank was not safe and needed to be replaced and they would "red tag" it so no one could deliver oil. Now looking back I know this was another scam to make me buy an oil tank from them. I should have canceled then. Buyer Beware with this company!

They said it's unsafe to fill without the valve so I flipped out and said "You put my whole family in danger that 1st time then why would you fill it the 1st time knowing it was unsafe? To get in contract?" I'm on empty with twins 1 year old. This is an older system that I plan on updating in the spring. Putting a valve just to tell how much oil I have is pointless to me if I can clearly see my ** is almost empty. All I asked was to deliver 100 gals of oil which they refused to deliver without spending 250 on the valve. Wish I could of gave them 0 stars.

As for their automatic delivery I have always had to call them and say my tank is almost empty and it would take them 2 to 3 days to deliver. So this goes on back and forth. I agree to take delivery but they want to charge me full price, that's not any kind plus to having a contract, so I call them back in half an hour, and make a fuss on the price. They drop it from their ceiling $2.99 to 2.89. WOW! They broke the bank with me. Last word -- They SUCK.

The second day, the heat was out again! Not only heat, also no hot water! Called Petro again, I was told to wait for 3-4 hrs. until tech is available, very frustrated. The tech showed up at 8pm within the time frame after I kept calling them. He told me the valve of the oil tank was down, I need to pay $240 to replace it, and he suggested I need to replace the oil tank. I paid $240 to replace the valve according to his opinion. You know what, the very second day in the morning, the heat was out again!

I have to call Petro again at 8am. The customer service told me that the technician started to work at 10 am, I will be the first on the list. Hey, where is the 24/7 emergency service Petro promised? It is 24/7 answering service, not real repair service! How ridiculous it is! I called Petro again at 10am, since I am not in the house, I need to have someone come to my house to wait for Petro tech. Instead of I would be the first one on the list as promised, I was told no tech will be available to come to my house until afar 12:30pm. My anger is indescribable! I will definitely switch company after the issue is resolved. Be very careful of Petro.

The next day the pipes starting banging again so I called customer service back again and another technician came out. The new technician stated something was done wrong and a plumber would have to come out. Another plumber came out and added an expansion tank. Shortly after the banging started again. I called customer service yet again and another technician came out and stated the plumbing department had to come out. The same plumber came out again and again changed the piping layout even shorter.

The next day the banging came back again. We called the plumbing department but they will no longer return our calls. I then escalated through customer service to Spencer ** who scheduled another plumber to come out. Two weeks later on the scheduled day Jose from plumbing called and cancelled the appointment. Jose has given nothing but incorrect information and refuses to return our phone calls. My house did not have any plumbing problems until Petro touched my boiler.

I called and informed them of the delivery which was never authorized and I demanded they take back the oil. After long conversations with approximately 5-6 customer service reps, it seemed as if they wanted to argue with me on something I did not want nor was service due to me. I asked to speak with a supervisor and I was refused all 5 times, from two different office locations. One in Connecticut and the other near me, Woodbury, NY. Needless to say, I am hoping someone can assist me with getting this resolved. I would like for them to take back the oil that was not due to be delivered to me nor was it needed, since my 500 gal tank had 300 gallons of oil already in it. Thanks.

I complained when I was paying over $3.00 per gallon when the market price was less than $2.00 per gallon, but that didn't matter to Petro. I told them that my Uncle could not afford these extremely high prices, but that didn't matter to Petro. I asked to be released from the contract, that was OK with Petro if I would pay $800 in the 1st year or $400 in the 2nd year. I've called and begged for help from Petro, but nothing seems to matter to them.

Just received a bill for $563 and that was with the tank at about half full. I have talked with numerous representatives, some extremely nice and some not so much, but they all must use the same Petro manual and have no power to make any changes. My Uncle is a very kind and honest man and will pay his debt to Petro until this contract expires. I expected much more from this large company. My recommendation is to do your research. I've easily paid several hundred dollars more by getting a ceiling price contract vs getting cash price deliveries. There is no service provided which warrants what they charge for oil. Please beware.

Original Review: Dec. 23, 2016

Like so many companies that become large, they become greedy when they think they have no competition. After being a customer for 8 years, I discovered they have been charging $2.59 per gal (I had a cap rate and they are charging me the highest cap rate; a cap rate means I don't go higher but pay lower based on the market) when the going market rate is $1.95 (check out https://www.codfuel.com). Also they billed me for plumbing that I did not order (my tenant called them, which they are not an authorized person on my account). I plan on bringing my business to www.parksidefuel.com or www.swezeyfuel.com.

A salesman, Ken ** came the next day. He was very nice and did not pressure us to buy. That was a Thursday. A new replacement ac was installed in the following Tuesday. The installer fellows were very knowledgeable. One of the fellows was not satisfied with the strength of the air flow so he crawled under the mobilehome and made sure all the fittings were tight. When he left all was perfect. I am 80 years old and cool as a cucumber!!!

I phoned Petro and complained about what I perceived to be price gouging. I requested a price adjustment of $100. The phone attendant at the other end of the line said that she would adjust my bill for $50. I suggested we meet in the middle at $75. She exclaimed that this was not meeting (her) in the middle, which would, by her math, be $55.00. I told her that I would accept her offer of $50, and that I would be cancelling my automatic delivery with Petro. She then transferred me to "another department". The man at the other end said that he "deals all day with customer complaints", and that Petro charging $3.04/gallon was perfectly within Petro's rights, although an internet ** site quoted a 06/15/16 highest price of of $2.449 by Wesson Oil, a full service company.

The man who deals "with customer complaints all day" stated that since Petro is a large full-service company with much overhead, it had to charge $3.0449/gallon to be viable, and that since I indicated to the first phone contact that I intended to discontinue automatic delivery... I would NOT be receiving a $50 adjustment because that was for a "loyalty" discount! He then proceeded to ameliorate my ire by offering a pricing contract from July through July! Petro would not budge, and neither would I.

I have always paid my oil delivery bill electronically within one week of delivery, so I guess that should make me a "loyal" customer. Not any more! I will not recommend Petro Services for anything from this point on. I think that they excel at bait and switch sales tactics, and that they are masters at double-talk and obfuscation. As far as customer services go, they stink! I know that there are countless other reputable oil service companies out there that would love to have me as a customer... especially one who pays their bills in a timely way. My advice and warning is don't do business with Petro!

I said "are you kidding me. You just did all this work. Said it was running perfect - twice." "Yea there's a bad part and we are shutting your heat down. You need new unit." I said "youre a thief trying to sell me a new unit - not hard to figure that out." Then he said "what you say. That's it. I'm shutting your heat down and leaving it apart." Can you imagine this. I call another manager. He couldn't believe it. Said he would call him. Lue was workers name. So the manager got back to me. Said "you need a part. Will come back in the morning with part. Thank you". Can you imagine this scammer. Who knows what he could have done in my house. Don't use Petro. Look at their reviews. Scary.

Original Review: May 8, 2016

I had a problem with the furnace. The tech replaced the control board which worked for few days only. (Note that the part cost $78 and I paid more than $500 for a 10 minute repair.) When they returned for warranty repairs not only they charged for time and material but they claimed that this time it was a faulty thermostat. They tried to sell a $19 thermostat for $175 plus labor. I declined and upon inspecting the control board it was a loose wire. In addition to that, during the initial repair they did not connect the A/C wires. (A/C was working properly prior to replacing the control board.) I asked that they remedied the situation but they said that would cost additional for diagnostic and parts.

A friend called Petro today to inquire about pricing - I listened to the call - 1 year agreement would be a ceiling of $2.01, with a delivery price today of $1.78. A 2 year would be capped at $2.21, with a delivery today price of $1.83 per gallon. I have received 3 credits of $50 when I have called to complain. The most recent credit essentially makes my price per gallon (this delivery) equivalent to $2.40 per gallon - still higher than the average full service dealers (Santoro, Vaughn and Kent County Oil), just to name a few. The verbal agreement is one sided - I was told that Petro would report me cancelling and not paying the $399 early termination fee to the credit bureau. I will have my attorney listen to the verbal agreement recording. Petro is not adhering to their promise of charging me less as prices decline.

A few hours later I called the company back and told them we are going to hold off for now as my husband is not interested because we found a family friend that is willing to help us with our services. About a month and a half to two months later I received a service contract bill in the mail so I called the company and I explain to them I never had any services with Petro. I simply called to inquire but I never signed on for any services. They proceeded to explain that they understand and that they canceled it out of the system.

A month later I received a cancellation fee and then in November almost 6 months later they proceeded to deliver oil to my home address which was never asked for or even expected. I placed a phone call to Petro immediately after the oil delivery and to my surprise I received a phone call back from the salesman that I spoke to that day in May and he was very rude and scrambling to say that my phone call to them was a verbal authorization to sign on for services.

I have never heard of such a thing, I explained. He stated to me they would pull the recordings and I would be responsible for all the stuff that was billed to date. They have yet to pull any recordings of me ever authorizing anything for Petro oil services. I have reached out to them and told them to stop harassing me. I have showed proof that I never authorized anything. They have yet to come up with anything to show proof that I ordered services but yet they keep sending me a bill in the mail and threatening to send me to collections. This is the biggest scam I have ever had in my life.

Original Review: Feb. 18, 2016

Have a ceiling plan, delivery on 2/18/16, pricing $2.549/gal. With the price per barrel being $30.75 today even with refining that price should be under $2.00 per gallon! When I complained I was given a discount to $2.379/gal which still is high considering the price per barrel of oil!

And don't dare fall on hard times or become unemployed if you are one of their customers. They harass you nearly constantly and threaten one thing or another. And if they tell you they are canceling your contract, demand it in writing. Charges will continue to be added on until their incompetent staff decides to send the letter out. They are the most horrid company in the state of N.J. behind Comcast. And don't expect a response from anything you post here. A manager I spoke to last year was not even aware of this site. They could care less what the consumer thinks. It is all about them, the almighty dollar, and how much they can charge for however long and get away with it. Thieves and nothing more. Deal with anyone else but these people, not worth it. If anyone ever institutes a class action suit against them, please count me in. Don't deserve to be in business and should come under close state and federal scrutiny.

I had 2 deliveries in March and another in October 2015. The October 15 delivery resulted in only a few gallons of oil delivery. Petro attempted to deliver more oil in December but realized the tank was full again. Afterward, I was contacted by a Petro rep complaining that the fact that the tank was full jeopardized the safety of the driver (vapors could cause explosion?) and that I could incur a delivery fee if it should occur again. Considering this, I advised them that I had not turned on the furnace yet and that if you were concerned about driver safety, you should call first before making delivery.

In January, I received a call from Petro stating that I was being charged a early termination fee $399 for canceling my automatic delivery agreement. I advise them that I did not cancel my agreement and December was the warmest on record and little oil was being used. They didn't seem to recollect or care about our earlier conversation and continue to call me and request payment. Since then, I have had numerous communications with them requesting documentation and copies of phone conversation to support their claim. They cannot provide any documentation and state that I verbally committed to the agreement back in February 2015. Do your homework before you consider Petro for your service. Based on other reviews here, there seems to be a lot of discontent amongst customers with similar stories.

The ceiling plan is really just a bait and switch and is in their eyes a fixed rate plan. They will tell you how low their price is when you sign up and then when you get a delivery they go right to the ceiling price and rip you off. IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN STARTING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT for BAIT and SWITCH practices that they employ I and probably tens of thousands others are ready to go. They have been doing this for years. Offer a ceiling plan where your price is supposed to drop when prices decrease and then deliver at the ceiling price no matter if the price of heating oil everywhere has dropped by half.

Updated on 1/19/2016: Problem with Petro has been resolved. After 2 strong complaint calls, was called back and management resolved my issue. Recommend being persistent. Happy now.

I call back and Ceryll said DANA was not at her desk, but she would leave a message to call me back. No call. We have used Petro for over 24 years. They treat us like they don't know us. I always heard the negative, that long term customers suffer for being loyal. They get shafted. I am cancelling Petro and spreading the news. They are terrible. Petro is not out to give honest, ethical service. They are out to make as much money as they can. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.

Now this year and the final straw, I was talked into a contract for oil in April when prices were low under 2.50 and figured I'd go with the ceiling plan just in case. So now my first delivery $3 a gallon WTF!? They can't BS that one past me, there's no logic there, and to add insult to injury they raised my service plan again to $327.85!? I called and asked about it especially because they added additional zone coverage which I don't need because I don't have that equipment to cover when I was then told that I was still receiving a discount because even with that part removed the plan would be over $500?! As soon as my contract is up in April I'm sending letters, return receipt and I'm done with the company forever. They offer no way to track and compare their pricing for anything. I'm reporting them to my local consumer affairs here in NJ as well as the local department of weights and measures and I recommend everyone else do the same.

The supervisor was too busy to come to the phone and after 50 min I was conveniently disconnected. I called back and I was on hold again as they "searched" for a means of reaching the company CEO. This is not the only problem. After paying over $500.00 for a service plan that covers almost nothing I called for the covered tune up for my furnace. I was told in September that the next available appointment would be in January! I am now going to investigate this oil pricing plan. This is also questionable and more so as I read the reviews. I'm now looking for another oil company and someone to replace my coil. I was also reminded by the technician that even though the coil is attached to the furnace and they have been servicing my furnace for 15 years they do not check it and never would mention the need to care for it. Just amazing!!!

After the 2011 incident I called Petro and requested a manager or supervisor get back to me. Never happened. So, a week later I went to the police dept. to inquire about what I should do. An officer called Petro and explained the situation and was promised that someone in the company would be in touch with me in the spring to discuss repairing my property. The officer also documented the call and told me to follow up with the police if I was not contacted. Well it never happened and foolishly I let it slide. I am not a Petro customer. Unfortunately, one of my neighbors is. After reading these reviews and dealing with their driver and customer service I can't understand why anyone would be.

The technician they sent forced it to kick in without realizing the voltage issue and left. A few hours later it shut down again after who knows how much more damage. More hounding and loss of work hours sitting in a hot house to get another technician. This guy figured out the issue and was flabbergasted that their installers had screwed up this badly. So now it works but I have to wonder if it is internally damaged from being hooked to a 120 line for days. We received no apology or follow-up of any kind from management and are still trying to figure out the complex controls. These guys are absolute jerks.

I contact their lawyer and was told it was not his problem and there was nothing he could do for me. They have taken me to court on two occasion, have gone after my child support, threaten my pay check. I tried to pay the bill but I am a single mother of two and barely make ends meet. I was also told by Petro when I first contact them; when I moved in that they would have to charge me a higher rate because I was a new customer.

Don't be scared. Read my web page and see for yourself. It's very simple. If I did it you can do it too. I am after them all the way to destroy their name and reputations (I don't believe that they do have or know what reputation is) you are welcome to log in and see. If you have any question I am willing to answer. Petro is going the way of Crazy Edie, Madoff and Enron... it might sound like a joke to me. I will be try to stop them, but many simple and single people did what never was expected, me too.

I asked that Petro come down and take back their oil because I did not order it and because the price is too high and we are in the mid of summer. She said they can't do that. I told her I only would accept the delivery as a gift from Petro and I am not willing to pay any money for it. She did not seem to care and threaten me with a lawsuit. It is the middle of summer and do not see how they allow themselves to push unwanted products on consumers with a ridiculous price tag. I am going to have to put a lock on my oil tank to keep Petro out or even get a restraining order on them! Please note other companies are selling at $2:17 a gallon.

I phoned around and applied for relief assistance but was unable to find any for heating costs. I then phoned Petro and told them of my situation and requested to make a repayment plan with them. I informed them that I could only afford $20 a month at the time, but would pay the bill in full as soon as I located employment. Their response was: "That is inadequate. You must repay $200 plus a month until it is paid in full." I again explained that there was no possible way for me to do this. And again the response to my request to enter a repayment plan of what I could afford was, "That is simply not adequate. We will not allow a payment plan for you unless you pay $200+ a month."

They have continued to raise the amount I owe by a monthly late fee of $19.10 - even when I pay $20.00 toward my bill. My bill of $700 is now $1307.89 and rising. I so not begin full time employment until July 1. This company is unjust, and cruel! I even phoned them twice to try and work out a repayment plan that I could afford. I was showing good faith on my part, yet this company certainly is not.

They said their current standard delivery price is 3.599. Based on State of Ct data, this is the highest price in the state with the average at 2.77/gal. I told them that I was going to go to a new supplier and mentioned Superior Plus (another very large supplier). The women said she never heard of them. BOTTOM LINE I WILL NEVER BUY FROM PETRO AGAIN AND SUGGEST THAT OTHERS FIND ANOTHER SUPPLIER. By the way I called a smaller full-service supplier that I have dealt with previously and they said their standard delivery price today is 2.75.

Petro's next step was to send out a truck to fill our tank (which also needed to be primed, for it had been fully depleted). We soon after received a bill in the mail for yet another fill up along with a hefty service fee for priming the tank. We were outraged and complained immediately. The individuals we were in contact with were not helpful at all and had no sign of giving an apology or making things right. At the end of our lease term we received an invoice that we owed an additional $400 on top of the fixed monthly installments we had been paying all year.

When we contacted Petro they claimed the extra charge was for the oil that we actually never received. When we tried to come to a mature, fair agreement, they told us "prove it". I could not believe what I was hearing. Not to my surprise at this point Petro had on record the fill up that never happened, the fill up was later confirmed to be a mistake by their employee, for the oil had never came. Petro then claimed that they had absolutely no record of that service call, and told us an employee was never sent to our house. I was absolutely shocked to hear this. We must have seen the oil ghost!

Petro completely took advantage of first time renters, who were a nice group of hardworking college students. I am absolutely amazed this company is still in business today. I would not be surprised to see Petro in a major scandal within the next 5 years. My advice to you is to completely steer clear of Petro, they are hands down the worst company I have ever had to deal with.

Suddenly, they wanted to communicate with us but only about their invoice. There was no recognition on their part that a loyal 30+ year customer had not received service during a critical period. No apologies, just an assurance that they had put that much oil in the tank and we better pay the bill. And they are unwilling to admit that we could not have used that much oil in that period of time, especially considering they had not come out for over a year. But their only concern is that we pay for it, even though we have no way to prove that we could not have used that much oil in such a short period time, and considering the fact that they showed up and put oil in the tank without our permission after having essentially abandoned us. The customer service was awful and their single concern is now, "Pay us." One would think a 30+ year customer whom they never had to do anything for except reliably fill our tanks, would be more valuable.

The management is just as bad as the employees - they are obnoxious, condescending and liars -a true nightmare. I would suggest to go anyplace else if you want to be treated fairly. They really should be ashamed of how they treat 'valued customers'. Bad business. When I moved out of country for work, they shut my account because I did not have a us number for them to reach me after one delivery for payment. They are just gross. Gross.

Long story short - they are charging me over $400 for the only service call I've had in years - because I thought I was still under service contract. They never told me the contract had expired the month before, when I called for the service. The tech who provided the service, btw, was very nice guy - told me some insider stuff on Petro. Glad to be rid of them. Small price to pay for unscrupulous business practices.

In December my price did drop to $3.50 and then it dropped again to $3.20 in January, while the published NASDAQ price was all the way down to $1.75. It took about a 40% drop in market oil prices to see my price drop by about 15%. Then in March came the straw came that broke the camel's back. My price shot way up to $3.95 per gallon, while the NASDAQ price was $2.20. This represented even a higher price than I was paying back in March of 2014 when the NASDAQ price was over $3.00. To make matters even worse, I was shopping around for a contract at the time and the $3.95 that Petro charged me was about .60 per gallon more than Petro was charging to their open market customers at the time, and over a dollar higher than other oil companies were charging.

Trying to explain my concern to customer service brought no success. They simply read their standard script of how oil pricing works. Their scripts are inconsistent with what is happening in the market, and with what other oil companies are charging, and even with what they charges some of their other customers. Calling them is just a waste of time and resulted in so much frustration that I'm sharing my story. Beware when signing a contract with Petro. They are the sole authority on determining how their price fluctuates, and they do everything possible to charge however much they can get away with. For me, once my contract expires I will no longer be a Petro customer.

Our family spent the next several hours on the phone with this company asking them why they did not deliver and not receiving any explanation or concern for the situation we were placed in. It was extremely cold in our home. We have family members with medical concerns not to mention a puppy that had to be wrapped in an electric blanket because she was shivering from the prolonged exposure to the cold temperatures in our home, thanks to Petro. If they could not deliver, why did they lie and subject us to such unhealthy and inhumane circumstances? In desperation, we arranged a delivery from another company, who provided the service within a few hours. Petro's treatment of their customers is inhumane and should be carefully scrutinized by all licensing agencies as well as the ASPCA.

This company is completely corrupt, their rates are a rip off and they flat out lie. Petro Oil needs a huge class action lawsuit filed against them, fined billions of dollars, put out of their misery and pulverized into the ground. DO NOT GO NOWHERE NEAR THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO TAKE YEARS OFF YOUR LIFE THROUGH THE STRESS THEY WILL CAUSE YOU. WHERE THE ** IS OUR GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT US FROM SUCH ABUSE!!!!!!

I immediately called Petro, again. After a very heated discussion, I was told they would notify the in-house plumber. I was told I should hear from them shortly. The plumber never called. At 11:00 pm I crawled under my house into the crawl space. Took the insulation off each section until I figured out what spot was frozen. It took me 2 hours. Not only did I find the frozen spot, but I found a pipe that had completely split. At 2am I had the spot fixed. I then found another one. In all, there were three sections of pipe I had to replace. I was under my house in below zero temperatures until after 3am. By 4am we finally had heat again. At 6am I had to go back to work, on no sleep.

I emailed Petro to complain about the terrible service and the plumber not calling. Days later I received a call. The person I spoke with was rude, short and non apologetic! Gave me a what are you bothering me for attitude. Their excuse was, they can't help the weather. My reply was, "You should have been more prepared for the situation." Her reply was basically, "Have a good day, goodbye!"

Now you would think an experienced oil company would realize that people are using a lot more oil. You would think they would adjust the automatic delivery schedule based on the temperature. Nope! On 3/3/15 we ran out of oil. We are being told that there is an additional charge for emergency deliveries. I am not paying for it! I am done with Petro. I will live out this contract and never return to them!

There is little other way to see this than PETRO is taking advantage of their existing client base that is locked into a contract during an excessively harsh winter. When asked, Customer Service apologized for my dissatisfaction but offered no explanation other than "prices are what they are" and you can change it when your contract expires. There is no protection for the customer against this type of price gouging. Clearly PETRO should not be considered when deciding on oil providers.

We tried all night to get Petro on the phone, but no one ever answered. The next morning, I called them at 6 am. By now it was 40 degrees inside our house. They said they'd have someone here by 11:00. The Petro technician arrived at 12:30. By then, we had been without heat for 18 hours and our pipes had frozen and burst. I called a local oil company who had a man here within a half hour. They got the heat back on and inspected the furnace and oil tank and found problems with both. I could go on, but suffice it to say that Petro is good at sales and marketing but they can't handle the service. It appears they do not have enough technicians to properly service their customers. I will now give my business to a local company who has accountability and cares about their customers. Petro is too big and too impersonal.

We have been charged somewhere around $3.50 per gallon all season which had me wondering why heating oil had not gone down with the price of oil. We own a large house and use over 1500 gallons per season and pay $650 per month. We have now been without heat FOR EIGHT DAYS over the course of Jan and Feb because they have not been delivering fuel on time and have not delivered fuel once the problem has been reported. The first time we ran dry the service man confirmed the tank was empty but did not have any fuel to give us.

Late the following day they delivered oil but did not restart the system and we had to wait till late that evening for someone to return and do this. They then billed us $35 for the 10 gals of fuel THEY DID NOT PROVIDE and it took a couple calls to correct this. We then ran out of fuel as they were again late with delivery. This time it took 3 days to get a new delivery and we were again charged $35 each for two 10 gall fill ups. They did not show up when promised and we had to call back multiple times to ask what was going on and press them to promise a delivery within 24 hours- daily for the three days.

As compensation we were offered a $25 credit. After several phone calls and complaints to supervisors they did not charge for the 10 gal supplements they delivered. We came home yesterday to a cold house once more as they did not deliver fuel on schedule and after an hour on the phone - most of which we were on hold - we were told no one could come out with 10 gals and no one could deliver oil until today and the customer service rep could not contact a supervisor.

When I insisted she do so, the supervisor confirmed that they would not come today- between 8-12. My son took off work this am so they could access the furnace after delivery but Petro informed us this am they cannot come until after 3:00. Presently I have a call in to the supervisor for this region to ask - how long exactly have they been charging us a premium/over market price for oil and how do I cancel this contract. Thoroughly disgusted with them.

Saturday, 2/21/15, called at 8 am to make sure, and Petro said 2 tickets were issued for delivery. We waited but no oil delivery. All these calls I told them I was sick and did not go to work on Friday because I was sick and had fever, adding that we are seniors. Obviously, they don't care. And they won't even call us to inform that they won't be able to deliver. Today, Sunday, 2/22/15, at 7 am, I called and promised delivery again.

Currently, we are using 2 portable heat to help keep us warm. Bathroom pipes had already frozen. It's freezing at home and dregs might ruin the boiler if left really empty. Also, no heat means no hot water for us. I have been with Petro for quite a while and always pay my bills on time. This kind of service is unacceptable. You may contact me because I have a lot more to report.

Following day here comes Petro repairman number 2 with the correct fuel pump. He replaced the pump and changed the fuel nozzle with the incorrect part. This created an incorrect spray pattern which when the boiler was turned on, it was smoking up a storm. The repairman said the boiler was ruined and that we needed a new one. Meanwhile $47 for the service call and $499 for the pump.

Sooo... we are still cold and asked Petro to give us a price on a boiler. The next day after a quote for $8500 and the assurance that the salesman did not work on commission, and the price was very low AND it was one of the best boilers on the market and would save us lots of oil yearly what choice did we have as we were freezing?

Went through the weekend and started doing some research, found that this particular boiler has terrible reviews so we canceled our contract to have it installed. I started asking for other bids and stumbled upon George from George's heating and air. For $150 George sixth Avenue boiler, he showed me that the nozzle that was replaced was incorrect. In addition he showed me what was actually wrong which had nothing to do with the fuel pump.

You might ask why I waited so long to write this review, well here we go. I was without heat for 9 to 10 days in December it was cold in my house we were cold but also using no boil because our boiler was down. Petro came out in January and said they filled my tank they put in 125 gallons. I called and said "Please come back and ** it's cold and I'm worried you won't make it in time before I run out of oil." They could come out and look at my oil tank and see if my gauge was broken for a fee of $47. I replied "Come on however if my tank is actually half full as I believe it is then I refuse to pay the 47." They would not agree to that.

So now I am down to 55 gallon in my quilting the gentleman at Petro tried to tell me 75. However his math is a little fuzzy. He said that a ticket for oil delivery was issued for my house but he could not tell me when that delivery would take place. I told him I was worried about running out of oil and he audibly scoffed and laughed at me, telling me I couldn't possibly run out because I had 75 gallons.

When pressed with the issue he said "What do you want me to do? Call the delivery department and find out when your oil will actually be delivered?" Wow customer service, are you kidding me? Of course I do. I also forgot to mention that the previous Petro employee I spoke to told me in no uncertain terms that my oil tank was full and my gauge was broken and that was my problem. She told me based on the previous oil delivery I couldn't possibly have needed more than they gave me.

I tried to explain that my boiler was down for 9 to 10 days so the oil delivery from the previous month shouldn't have been used and they should have used different numbers considering the fact that I wasn't using any oil. I will see if we get oil on Monday, however if not, I’m sure there are number of companies that would be happy to come to my house and fill my oil tank. I am frankly shocked that an oil company would jump at the chance to sell the very products that they promote ....oil. Wake up petro or you will lose customers by the hundred as well you should. There is plenty of competition in the marketplace.

Then I found out recently as I began to search out what other oil companies are charging, that Fossil Fuel in Wharton, NJ is charging (today, 2/19/15), $2.59 per gallon. Today Petro delivered oil to me for $3.679 per gallon, over $1 per gallon more. So I called the company. They told me I have to pay an early cancellation fee of $466 or around that figure to cancel before my contract with them expires in August. As I have been hitting it rough financially, I owe them $400 plus today's oil delivery. But I am going to report them to the Better Business Bureau because as a consumer, I refuse to pay $1 per gallon more than I have to for home heating oil.

They are a rip off. They overcharge and then give a bunch of BS as to why they do. And it is all BS. Their argument in favor of their higher pricing is an insult to my intelligence. So I am through with this company even if in the end I will have to pay the early cancellation fee. I would not recommend this company to anyone. And I tell everyone I come into contact with about my experience with them. I wish I had shopped around more prior to having a new furnace and water heater installed. My advice to anyone who is looking to have a new boiler installed and to have oil delivered, is to shop around very carefully. Don't get ripped off by this or any other company. They charge more.

I expressed my concern to your technician that there was no oil leak prior to his arrival in the building. He was not able to show me the source of leak. After looking at this surprise oil puddle in basement I agreed with technician to shutdown the boiler and discontinue the oil supply till we complete the cleanup and find the real source of leak (He should have done this the minute he got in my house. If the leak was a real leak and hot he's mess up).

I spend a whole day cleaning and absorbing the surprise oil spill found in my basement and tried to eliminate the awful odor of oil from basement. After cleaning the oil spill from my basement I called Petro again and requested for same yearly maintenance by some other technician, who came in and performed the tuning in my presence without any problem. My boiler is up and running with no issue and this technician reported all positive tests on equipment. I didn't change anything in basement, except cleaning the oil from floor. I am going to claim my damage. Let's see what happens now.

It took more than 45 minutes and multiple phone calls to coordinate a delivery. Never was there a communication of, "We are sorry and will do everything we can to help." The customer service manager told me that they would adjust our bill for the delivery and provide compensation for a poor experience with Petro. We received two bills this week. The first was a bill for 15 gallons of oil delivered to get our system back up and running. It was billed at $3.44/gallon even though our current rate was $2.44/gallon. Not huge $, but a bit concerning. When I called and questioned it, I was told that service reps don't have exposure to customer pricing agreements, so all of the service call bills are billed at market rates. Following that, there is a manual process where a supervisor reviews the bills and adjusts to the actual customer rate. Apparently, ours got through and was billed at the higher rate!

I was assured that this is very rare and they couldn't remember when this had happened in the past. Doesn't sound like a process that works as too much of it is left to a single review and human error. Second, our bill arrives for the regular delivery and there is no adjustment. I find the customer service manager that I spoke to who didn't remember making the "we will adjust your bill comment." After providing her a detailed recap of the conversation, she said that she did recall saying it and would off a $25 deduction.

I asked to speak to her boss (reportedly the President) and provided a recap of my experience above and other events over two months and told him that it would be best to find another provider. I then ended up with a retention specialist who tried to tell me that Petro doesn't usually have these types of situations. After I said no three times, she then informed me that they would have to bill me $399 for early cancellation. Waiting for the customer service manager or the President to return my call on Monday! Stay tuned.....

Updated on 02/12/2015

This is a follow-up from my 2/9/15 posting. Customer Service Manager called and offered $100 off my current bill. I responded with I want to cancel my account, so allow me to cancel without penalty, or credit me $399. She increased her offered to $200 and said she couldn't go further. I accepting thinking I would wait for the credit and just accept losing $200 in order not to do business with such a dishonest and misleading company. Didn't know that dealing with an oil company was like buying a used automobile.

Petro responds today to my first posting that they want to resolve my issue and that someone will be reaching out to me. Same CSM calls tonight and now offers the additional $200 credit!!!!! After 5-7 hours of calls, emails, and follow-up I just end up back to where I was! I get a $400 credit, I will find another company to service our needs, I will then cancel my service and pay a $399 fee. So I stand corrected - they did compensate me $1 for 5-7 hours worth of work and disruption. Sounds like a great offering isn't it!!!

Original Review: Feb. 6, 2015

We ran out of oil two days ago even though we are automatic delivery. This happened to us last year as well. When we woke up freezing it took 40 minutes to connect to a representative. The rep was extremely rude even though I remained calm and professional. He would put me on hold and return 5 minutes later. They finally sent a service person at 5 PM that day who was not informed in advance why he was called to our house. He put 10 gallons in the tank and Petro promised that a full delivery would be made the next day. The delivery never showed up. Ten gallons can only go so far. We are still waiting for another service call where their only solution will be to add 10 more gallons until tomorrow.

The service person is already 2 hours later than the time committed to and still has two calls before our call (I found that out by calling and waiting 30 minutes to speak to someone). I have no confidence this company can ever get it right. We have been a customer for 35 years with the last two being a disaster. Aside from the fact that they have always overcharged. They have become incredibly good at apologizing and terribly bad a customer service. Last year!!

Original Review: Feb. 5, 2015

Has anyone else noticed a change in Petro's customer service attitude? I have 2 properties serviced by Petro, both on automatic delivery. My primary property ran out of oil 2 weeks ago and I spent most of the day either calling (begging) or waiting for a service tech. Well about 8 hours later a driver arrived with a shipment. My other property ran dry last Friday. 2 hours later a tech arrived with 10 gallons of oil. Today I received a $29 invoice for the 10 gal. of oil! It took all my willpower not to go ballistic when I called Petro and told them I refused to pay for the extra oil due to their mistake (the person from Petro dropped that I had been previously been scheduled for a delivery which never happened). I've been with Petro for about 9 years and I plan to go elsewhere after this contract.

Original Review: Feb. 2, 2015

Oil was delivered today for $3.299 a gallon at my grandmother's house. Oil was also delivered today for $2.399 at my brother's house, which is in the same neighborhood. Petro delivered the oil to both homes, and is claiming that variable, unprotected accounts are being charged .90 more per gallon than variable, protected accounts. Protected accounts are to aid the consumer in the face of rapidly soaring prices in exchange for a 12-month commitment, which is a non-issue because oil prices are dropping. The account at my grandmother's house has been in effect for over 30 years - has anyone else experienced this type of price gouging?

I called PETRO this morning and told them about her medical condition and tried to reason with gentlemen and he hung up on me!!! I called back and PETRO will not give any information to her daughter, PETRO now wants my mother to call. She is too ill to talk, I explained and they hung up again. I have made a complaint to the RI DEPT ELDERLY AFFAIRS LEGAL DEPT against PETRO. These people have no compassion and I blame them for my mother’s illness. This was a government check and I will continue to report PETRO OIL to all of the government agency. This issue needs to be resolved immediately.

Updated on 02/12/2015

This is my second time writing a review on this website for Petro Oil Co. customer service. THIS MATTER IS NOT RESOLVED! I do not want it MARKED AS RESOLUTION IN PROGRESS.

Petro Oil is still continuing to ignore all calls and mail regarding their keeping a check which does not belong to them. I have had one response since November from KIM, Petro customer service rep. I quote, "We are sorry for the all the inconvenience (SP) and always try resolve any customer complaints, but we do not have your mother's account number." My mother does not have an account with Petro Oil Co. The government assistance voucher/check sent to Petro was a mail error and they were immediately notified the next day to return it to West Bay Community Action, Buttonwoods Ave, Warwick, RI back in November.

I do not know why this is so impossible for Petro Oil to understand and so easy [HEARTLESS] to ignore! How do they have the right to withhold a check for almost 3 Months that DOES NOT belong to them?? Petro Oil does not care about the hardship and illness they are putting my mother through. She is still worrying about this while in the hospital. I have made complaints to the Legal Aid for Elderly Affairs, LIHEAP, BBB of RI Consumer Affairs and now TURN TO 10 television. I know these agencies have been trying to help resolve this quickly. All of this help lines have tried to reach Petro and Petro was told it would be turned to a legal matter, but what does my elderly mother do in the meantime- she's worrying herself sick. We all know what a bitter cold winter this is. I am beyond anger with PETRO OIL, THEIR INEXCUSABLE BEHAVIOR WITH ALL ELDERLY PEOPLE SHOULD BE PROSECUTED!

On 1/31/2015 I made contact with Petro about my contract and was told that all customers pay what they assign as their cost for oil. I told them that I was quoted $2.51. He told me my rate is $3.29 for this delivery and if the rates continue to go down maybe the cost might go down. He told me that the price included service and operating expenses. I pay $222.00 for a service contract. This does not make sense to me.

The man I was on the phone with was not willing to work with me. His demeanor was insulting and combative. The woman I originally spoke with was professional and her explanation of the terms were agreed upon. Nothing she quoted me was true. Instead of giving me the quoted price for oil (2.51 I was Quoted over the phone for delivery on 1/31/2015) she charged me $3.29. For me to cancel my contract with Petro is $399.00. I only paid $222.00 for the service contract. These people are the most unprofessional inconsiderate business I have ever worked with. Please if you are reading this to make a choice in what company to go with, Do not go with Petro because you will be posting next on this site.

Now, for more than 20 years, Servco has been serving my Mom's house. They were completely aware of the tank and the condition, yet they filled her tank automatically without any issues. We had little choice but to have the tank replaced. I met with the salesman and signed the contract. I asked if they discount for senior citizens, that the cost of $2350.00 seemed high. He said no discount and this is what we charge and we will handle the whole job. Removing the old tank, installing the new tank, etc.

January 29, 2015 @ 8:00 they arrived as planned and began the job. They removed the old tank, rusty yes but not leaking. They installed the new tank and new line to the boiler. They told my Mom the job was complete and left. I took my Mom out @ 2:00 to grocery shop and we were back home @ 4:30. A sign was attached to the garage door. Petro was here and please call to reschedule. I thought, why? As we entered the house, I realized it seemed a bit chilly inside. I checked the thermostat. It was 62 degrees. I thought, ok...well maybe the house just needed more time to warm up. But before I left for my home, 1 hour away, I better make sure that there is fuel. I went in the basement and knocked on the brand new tank. IT WAS EMPTY.

Omg, I ran upstairs and called Petro. After being on hold for 15 minutes a woman answered and I explained that they forgot to fill the tank. She said “they came out to inspect the tank, but no one was home. They will not fill the tank unless it is inspected.” I told her the men told my Mom she was "all set". Why would you have to inspect the tank you just installed. Why wouldn't you make sure the oil burner was running before you left the job? After holding, I was told they will come out by 12 midnight. It's 5:30pm and the house is getting colder by the minute. I didn't want to leave my 91 year old Mom in a cold house, but they said someone has to be there.

Long story short, Petro subcontracted out the work removing and installing the tank. That's why they have to inspect the work before they fill the tank. If we were made aware that the work would be subbed out, I may have gotten other estimates. But I was led by the salesman to believe Petro was doing the job. Petro did not disclose that multiple people would come, an installer, then an inspector, then the delivery would come. So here's the thing, How could they leave a notice to reschedule knowing the tank was empty and it was closed to 0 degrees out, and my Mom is 91 years old. They did not call or leave any messages.

And another thing: The cost of an oil tank seems to be between $500 - $800.00. Disposal of tank costs $200 - $300.00. Installation cost with new lines estimates $500 - $800.00. Top costing $1800.00. My mom’s installation had no complications. Wide stairs to concrete basement floor. Oil tank was pretty empty.

I feel Petro has taken advantage of my 91 year old Mom. They price gouged her and forced her into replacing her tank, which may or may not have been so urgent to replace, under the service agreement we had signed, they refused to make an oil delivery leaving her no choice. There should be laws against misleading the elderly, maybe there are but my Mom believes people are honest.

(Consequences): The Petro woman became angry, so I explained to the woman that it wasn't until today that the buyers received confirmation from there 'lender" (Bank) that their mortgage amount was approved. The woman told me that I would be charged a $399.00 fee for closing the account when I had a 12-month $3.87 price cap. That the only way I can be forgiven the $399 is to produce my "bank closing papers". Now I don't know about you, but that (bank financial info) is mighty personal information.

I then asked again to have an oil delivery of 125 gallons. The woman said that the driver would be here today (1.29.2015) - no driver. When I asked the woman if I could get another oil vendor to deliver an emergency oil shipment, I was given a 'terse" no, that going to another vendor would be a violation of my contract. I called the 800 Petrol customer service line, they told me there would be a delivery tomorrow on 1.30.2015.

I have been with Humphrey/Petro for 18 years and never experienced any negativity until today. Today I learned that with Humphrey the customer comes last. They have no regard for customer service. When I buy my next house I will inquire of other oil vendors. If you want service and support, do not go to Petro. You will receive threats as I have experienced today.

But today I experienced such cold, colder than yesterday's temperature inhuman indifference and no RESPECT. That is what you get from Petro after 18 years. I hope my pipes don't burst and hardwood floors don't separate. I'm sure Petro has a large legal staff, they sure have raked in the profits that is the business, but what they lack is customer care and customer support.

I called my Century 21 real estate agent and told her the story and she has been in the business for 30 plus years and never heard of such a thing. I will think twice before considering going with Petro ever again. I may be pushed to litigation. As a homeowner, I have the right and an obligation to the lender to keep the home in good condition. Petro's threats and irresponsible behavior is cause for concern. I need oil to heat my home. That is the bottom line and they're going to fine me if I get oil to heat my home unless it is from them. But they didn't deliver the oil today as promised. I will see what Petro does tomorrow, and then I will seek legal counsel and address this.

It's been 7 days and I still haven't been delivered oil. On Mon 1/26/15 I call Petro Oil 2 times to ask when they will deliver oil. I'm told the same thing. We are in for a major blizzard in the Northeast and my husband who is 75 yrs old with asthma will have to shovel a path from the front to the back of our home for oil delivery scheduled for Wed 1/28/15. Now I speak with a Manager to once again explain the situation and I'm told the same thing, but she will call me back after speaking with dispatch and they possible will deliver 100 gallons. Oh, she asks me, "don't you have someone do your shoveling?" Really, who does she think she is!!! This just seems nothing but BS. I will not be renewing with Petro for any services. GOODBYE, but do you really care!!! Don't mail me anything to come back.

I also reminded Petro that I have a 93 yr old at home and it currently was 10 degrees. Needless to say they promised to come out prior to midnight. Well we contacted Petro several times throughout the night and early morning hrs, never once did they call or communicate that there would be no service or delivery. We finally got a service person around 10 am and an oil shortly after, a full hours after my initial call, needless to say I now have frozen pipes in furnace room, furnace was primes so it would start but did not stay on for very long.

When we called back and asked for more help or service we were told that given we have frozen pipes "there is nothing we can do." When the service man finished and got furnace started he told my wife that some of pipes were frozen and that she should pray and hope that the furnace warms stuff up enough so that we would get heat on first floor at least (second flr did get a little warmer but furnace has not started again). Luckily we have electric heaters and propane stove so we are surviving barely.

I just want Petro to understand my wife and mother in law (93 yr old) have never ever dealt with something like this. I am currently on business trip so unable to get back home for a few days. I never had an issue like this with Castle Oil (I understand Castle has some fault here too, the way they sold my account and communicated specific requirements re my furnace and deliveries). Petro, this is just not the way to run a business, your clients are what keep you in Business and need to be treated with respect and understanding. Petro you have not heard the last word from us and Castle. I believe you too have some responsibility here too.

Anyway, before the next fill up I called after the price of heating oil dropped another 25% everywhere else and they told me the fill-up price again was $3.719. I again asked how the price could drop everywhere but at petro and was told that they were a full service company and the price is based on their costs and not the cost of heating oil. So basically the plan I was give was that if the price of oil drops then they raise the price to the ceiling and make excuses why the price shouldn't decrease. Since then I have to fight with them every fill-up as they continue to try and charge higher prices by a large margin than other full service oil companies. It's really a bait and switch technique. Offer a plan with a max price and tell people if the price of oil drops your price will drop but their price of oil doesn't drop but goes up. Anyway after much research this way of business is apparently standard operating practice for them.

Finally, on November 20th, I get a bill from Petro for $600+. I called them - a bit perplexed as you can imagine and it was for our annual service contract. I tell them to take that off of my account as I just signed on with their competitor Standard Oil for a GREAT rate - and half the service cost too. Of course they go into sales mode and I explain that I'm done with them after trying to work with them over the past several months - I didn't want to switch! I wanted to stay with Petro, they just could not compete. So guess what they did. Yes, they took off the charge for the annual service contract (thank you very much) but told me I am still responsible for that $25 credit they gave me back in the summer!!! Can you believe it? I don't care what kind of promo rates they offer me in the future - I will NEVER switch to them again! They are crooks and will milk you for every penny they think they can.

A week later, Petro returned when I was not home, and filled the tank, leaving me with a bill of more than $1,000. I refused to pay this bill, and ultimately Petro returned to remove the oil, after first attempting to charge me for removing the oil that shouldn't have been delivered in the first place. As my service agreement was void due to Petro's inability to make a regular and "timely" delivery, I refused to accept any additional deliveries. When my agreement expired on Oct. 31, of this year, Petro attempted to charge me a $399 early termination fee. I disputed this charge, but Petro threatened to forward this alleged debt to a collection agency. To avoid damaging my credit, I paid the fee. Petro clearly engages in deceptive business practices that include making unnecessary and unannounced deliveries. Since Petro did not honor its end of our agreement, I have asked that the company immediately refund to me the early termination fee.

In the spring a repairman came to look at the furnace and advised me that a large nozzle was on the oil burner which allowed more oil than necessary to pass through. He also said my hot water heater was turned up way too high. These creeps replaced the nozzle without my knowledge. Hard lesson learned. He told me about many problems this company has had as far as ripping off customers. Please, if you are looking for an oil company, I urge you NOT to call Petro. You will be sorry.

The tech never checked the unit, never checked the water level, never replaced the broken sight glass and as much as replaced a thermostat and said I'm good to go and if there is any other problems to call. Well the unit was run for one night and now it's completely trashed. Petro was called again, a different tech came out and said the unit it trashed, had no water in it when it was run, has a broken sight glass and now I have to get a whole new boiler. We have called them about this, and wonder why no repairs were ever made. They said the failure is because the unit never had an automatic water feed. I'm sure if this was suggested over the years it could have been installed likely for free or for a small amount by this same service. So now they won't return calls.

This say it's not covered in the service contract; it's our fault it's broken. They conveniently lose the tape recorded conversations for quality assurance with the supervisors there. My father has called. I personally have called. This is a publicly traded large company. I don't have 11k to replace a boiler that wasn't serviced or repaired per the agreement I have with them for 24 service for the past 40 years. I'm literally and physically left out in the cold. There more to be said about their accounting department failures but that's a whole other story.

The final straw was our last oil fill-up. We were on a monthly payment plan, what they don't explain to customer is that although you're on a payment plan you still get late fees due to the balance being on your account past 30 days. Our last oil fill-up cost us $4.75 a gallon when the competition prices were close to $2 less!!! After spending days attempting to negotiate a reasonable price the only explanation was you're on a payment plan, the prices are higher. After deciding to cancel Petro's service completely I attempted to get my almost $400 back I had just paid 2 weeks earlier for re-instating the furnace plan, their comment was that there are no refunds and it's in the contract we signed.

After asking for copies of this so called contract I signed, weeks later Petro miraculously refunds the full amount of the furnace plan and tries to negotiate a fair price per gallon that they originally overcharged us on, only if we were to stay with them. We decided to leave Petro and fight the remaining balance with the Better Business Bureau. The absolute worse customer service and business I have ever been involved with. Buyer beware - Petro will scam you and take you for every cent they have. Their payment plans are a trap only to add late charge after late charge. Their required automatic delivery will drain your account over the winter with weekly visits to top off your tank when unneeded. Petro is a horrible company to do business with!

When we called to attempt to straighten things out, we were told that we had a verbal over the phone contract with them that we agreed to use them for our fuel deliveries. They said that we told them we had no heat or hot water. NOT TRUE! We weren't even living there until month later. We tried to talk to a supervisor but got such a runaround. We were asked which supervisor, what department, who did we want to speak to and so on. We were transferred to several representatives until finally we just hung up the phone. We finally got them to put a stop on the delivery. We don't need fuel in July, August or September. Last week we received a bill for $699.00 for early termination fee for canceling our account and contract and premium promotion. WHERE DID ALL THIS COME FROM?? WE WERE HUSTLED. WHAT DO WE DO?

I then spoke to the SR customer service rep named Kim, and I asked her to put me back on automatic delivery so I can schedule my boiler cleaning, of which I already paid for. She said that, again, they were booked out until February 2015. I said, well, put me in then. She said that since my contract was expiring 10/31, they could not provide the boiler cleaning! Even though I already paid for it! I asked her if it said anywhere in the contract that if they are booked out I could not get the cleaning, and she said no, but still would not give me the cleaning.

In August, I called Petro to ask some questions. One of the questions I asked was about gas conversion. I was inquiring if there was a cancellation fee for the oil contract if we decided to convert to gas. I was told there was a cancellation fee of $399. I also asked when I could expect our first oil delivery, and the woman on the phone said “October or November.”

Within a week of this phone conversation, Petro came to fill our oil tank. We had a half a tank of oil left from when we purchased the house. There was no reason whatsoever to fill our tank the first week of September. This is still the summer. My husband and I were left to believe that our tank was filled because of the phone call I made in August. Since we had a full tank, we decided to drop all talk of gas conversion and just stick with oil for the year.

A few days after our oil delivery, our HVAC unit broke. We are currently without a working central air and heating system. Now, I obviously know that this isn’t Petro’s fault. It was an unfortunate event that did not make the Petro situation any better. My husband and I were forced to make a decision -- convert to gas OR still with oil and get a HVAC system. We decided to go ahead with gas. We had a Petro technician come out then look at the furnace. He actually encouraged us to convert to gas, and told us that our unit was very old.

I called customer service and asked why we were told that we had a furnace that was working perfectly in July. I was spoken to very condescendingly on the phone, and was of course made to feel like the furnace breaking was my fault. I questioned why our oil tank was filled in the beginning of September when we were still having 90 degree days. The response was that I was a new customer and they were filling it early because they’re not sure how much oil we are going to use. I think a 6 year old can tell what a ** answer that is.

I made it clear during this call that I was cancelling my oil contract with Petro. Of course she was trying to convince me to stay (telling me that oil heat is the best heat in the world!! -- please gag me), but my husband and I have been so incredibly disgusted with Petro that we couldn't wait to cancel. On September 25th, I paid my final oil bill. The $399 cancellation fee, and $119 the oil in our tank. YES, Petro charged us for the oil that they prematurely delivered to us.

In closing, Petro took advantage of me and husband as new homeowners. They squeezed every penny they could from us, and did not do one thing to help us. They weren't sorry at all that their technician told us our furnace were perfect. They weren't sorry that they came and delivered oil in the summer. They also weren't sad to lose me as a customer. I’M NOT SAD EITHER. My husband and I are now making in our mission to tell everyone what a disgusting and dishonest company Petro is. Anyone from Petro who reads this letter will probably think I'm a liar, but... I’m not. This is all true. Their customer service reps are nasty. Their technicians are incompetent. I'll think about Petro every time I use my brand new gas furnace. Good riddance, crooks.

I received no response other than continued harassing phone calls for nonpayment? I paid top dollar for the oil I did receive ($4.47 per gal) and had no intention of spending additional money for oil I would never use. I honestly feel like this company is ripping me off by charging me this fee and very frustrated because I didn't even get a bill for this; just phone calls stating that this money was owed. Their customer service is extremely poor and non-responsive and good luck trying to get someone in authority to call you back. These are the values this company stands for - and this is the customer satisfaction you can expect. Buyers beware when signing any contracts with Petro or renewing your annual contract.

She also told me to call a company that recycles oil if I didn't want it. I'm so disgusted. In this economy, Petro should be ashamed of themselves and their client service is absolutely horrendous. BTW - I have never posted a unhappy post about a company before. I absolutely felt the need to post this. So upset how their salespeople can lie and get away with this without any accountability.

We were without heat for 3-5 in the middle of a severe January cold spell. The most economical thing to do was to get a new gas boiler. We cancelled any further oil deliveries and got a Petro bill for our oil delivery balance, $100 promotional coupon and more than $400 for breaking the contract. We paid our balance plus the $100 promotional coupon.

We get weekly invoices to pay for breaking the contract or we will be sent to a collection agency or attorney for legal action. I have called several times to rectify the situation and each time, I am in an endless loop with their customer service department all stating the same lines: They don't care we had no heat for days in the dead of winter. Its not their obligation to provide an initial inspection for each boiler they service. Its not their fault our boiler broke. And the best line: We did tell you that you needed a boiler when your boiler cracked. I never signed a contract with them but they say the oral contract on the first call is good enough to take legal action against me.

We then called a third party contractor (Horizon) to come inspect the unit, independently. The Horizon tech found that the heating unit was wired so that the Air Conditioning and the heating unit were operating SIMULTANEOUSLY! In other words, all of the heat being produced by the heater was being immediately removed by the air conditioner. This explained why both our oil and electric bills were so high. We then called Petro out again, and they sent a supervisor to oversee the rewiring. The supervisor then assured me that the problem was fixed. I wish I could say the problem ended there...

A month later, I noticed our oil and electric bills were still inordinately high. Horizon was called back out to inspect the unit again and found that the unit was STILL wired incorrectly. During the heart of winter, the air conditioning unit was still coming on, even though the thermostat was set to "heat". Another Petro technician was then called out and confirmed that the unit was wired incorrectly. He fixed the problem, but by this point it was mid-February and our heating unit had been malfunctioning all winter.

I contacted Petro's "customer service" team and informed them of the issues we had been having. They bounced me around to a couple of different people before finally acknowledging my presence. I told them that if they agreed to pay the excess oil and electric bills, I will pay a rate equal to the previous years when the heater was not malfunctioning. For some reason, they could not accept this proposal, and offered no compromise. Instead, they insisted that I pay for the extremely high oil and electric bills that their company directly caused.

Petro has refused to compensate for their mistakes, even though the evidence is clear that they caused our heating AND air conditioning units to malfunction. As a student, I get a small stipend each semester to pay for living expenses. I simply cannot afford to be paying my oil company thousands of extra dollars because of multiple service mistakes on their end. I thought that as a big oil company, Petro might have procedures in place to deal with service mistakes. What I found out is that Petro actually takes no accountability for service errors they perform and stick the consumer with excess usage bills cause by their technicians. Extremely upset. Wish I could have rated them 0 stars.

I needed service on my boiler in 2008. The first person showed, changed a filter and left. Said there was no issue with the boiler. After he left, I still had no heat. Called back. They sent someone else that stayed for 5 minutes and tinkered with the switch, said it was fine. I still had no heat. Third call and the man they sent said, "I don't believe this", when he saw how bad the furnace needed repair. He was here for several hours but at least I finally got heat.

In 2012, right after Sandy hit, my heat went down. I did not lose power with the storm except for 1/2 hour. I called and they sent someone. It was freezing out and in. The guy blew dust off my thermostat, said that was the issue, turned on the heat. Before he got to the end of the street, it was not working. Call 2, they sent another person. He went downstairs for two minutes, did whatever, proclaimed he had fixed it. He left. No heat. Now I was really angry and called and said they had to send someone to fix it or I was calling the Attorney General's Office. The idiot that took my call said they did not know when they could send someone because they were so busy in New Jersey with all the people that had no heat.. because they had no power!

I told the woman that made no sense since without power most of them could not get heat and she said, "Exactly. It's been a nightmare because we are making so many calls." Calls for what?? To tell people they cannot turn the heat on because there is no power??? I was furious and told her that if someone did not show by 9 PM, I was calling the AG and that I was sure someone was going to be there since it was Election night. She tried to get me to wait until after midnight - I work in the morning and cannot call in on a whim. I told her it was 9 PM or else I would make good on my promise. Someone showed just after 9 PM, was there for over an hour, but he fixed the issue.

This past February, the furnace had a puff back. I called Petro and told them how bad the service had been in 2012, that I did not want some incompetent showing up, so they sent Rick. He was downstairs for a few minutes, came back up and told me I needed a new furnace. Not a huge surprise since it was over 25 years old. He called and made arrangements for me to get a new furnace the next day, turned the system off since it was so faulty, then told me my account was delinquent, which I knew it was not. The next day, they installed the new furnace, it works fine. But they held the check I gave them for over two weeks.

In the interim, my account was frozen because someone had hacked it and also stolen my credit cards. I was sure the check must have cleared so I did not add it to my outstanding checks when I called my bank. Well, of course it bounced. I explained to them what had happened, asked why they held the check for so long to which they had no answer. I am not trying to pay online using the account info they provided (since paying online with an ATM card means the payment will clear immediately as opposed to sending them a check) and the account number they gave me is not valid. Emailed them after a Jennifer ** sent me a snotty email, used the number she gave, and it came up as invalid. Emailed to tell them that and got a response from someone named Amanda who told me what the account number was - same number as from the Snot, and again, it is invalid.

I will not even go into their outrageous oil prices - I have seen prices for $2/gallon less than their "preferred rate." Once you are in a contract with these disgusting people though, you are in it for life, as other posts have shown. They have no scruples, are totally incompetent, and lack any decent customer service focus. I am kicking myself for not having someone else replace my furnace.

Bottom line... I get a $100.00 Credit, a Reminder that they are an Automatic Delivery Company and they don't want us to get cold, and to continue paying my monthly budget amount.

BUYER BEWARE!

Original Review: March 24, 2014

Petro Oil made a delivery to my home at the end of January. I called them and made payment arrangements. March 6 they arrived at my home again to deliver more. I was at home and told the driver I just had delivery a few weeks ago. I want to pay for what I got first. He left. On March 11, delivery was made without my knowledge! Today, March 24, I get another bill for that "top off" delivery made on the 11th!!! I called them and was told they are an Automatic Delivery Company. But he assured me another delivery won't be made on or before November 6. This added delivery was not necessary as I have more than enough to finish the little bit of heating season we have left and now I'm stuck with an extra $350.00 bill to pay!!!! He offered me a $25.00 credit!!! I will be looking for a new delivery company. Anyone else experience this??? Can money be refunded? I am on Social Security Disability and cannot afford an attorney!

They came out several times through a mild winter and would put less than 120 gallons in each time. Even when we got deliveries in the spring and summer, when oil prices were much lower, we were still charged our "cap price". When I called to ask why, I was told that oil prices were very high that year. At the end of our year contract, I opted to start to shop around and I wanted to see how much oil we were actually using. Just paying my budget plan, in 1 year I paid $3,132 for oil. Imagine my surprise when a week later I started receiving calls from their collection department that I was 90 days overdue on my bill. Turns out, if you cancel the auto delivery, the bill backdates to when you had your deliveries and mine happened to be in August 2013 so I was placed in collections because I owed another $500 OVER the $3,132 I had already paid.

So, they said I could stop collection calls if I renewed my auto delivery for another year and rolled the balance into my new monthly payments that would be just shy of $300/month. I declined and have been making payments to pay off the balance. Over the weekend, I received a collection notice from Sunrise Credit Services because my account had been transferred to a collection agency. I was told that as long as I was making payments to Petro, my account would not be transferred out of Petro's collection department and in fact, I had made a $200 payment March 17th, through Petro's website and yet received a letter on the 22nd that I was in collections.

This winter has been brutal and even paying higher oil prices in the dead of winter. I've only spent $1,500 on oil since we stopped getting auto delivery. I believe I was overcharged for oil prices and that they made extra deliveries that weren't necessary. Unfortunately, I can't prove it because I was oblivious to oil prices and preoccupied with other house related issues and the gauge on my oil tank doesn't work so I never really knew how much oil I was using. I trusted that this company was honest and fair and I was completely misled and now my credit has taken a hit due to their policy of backdating bills.

I paid my bill in full, every month and yet I was instantly sent to collections. I will NEVER do business with this company again and I am sure to let others know about how misled I was. I was never sent a contract to read over and never told that I would be instantly sent to collections upon ending the agreement. I have since found other oil companies that are fair, honest, and priced MUCH lower than Petro.

Something is up there though. Oil contract in place, generally I don't pore over line items. However, I noticed last summer that I had been charged for a central air cleaning. Hmm, weird. Called them, they told me I agreed to it. Not true. Would have been willing to go along with it, however, if they were charging me for a service that they had actually provided. They had never done any cleaning or maintenance on my AC. So, I got off the phone with the answer that service had been done and asked them to look into when it was done, and that I'd call them back.

I did some poking around and confirmed no, they never did any cleaning on my AS or service. Called them back, spoke to another rep. This rep said that no, I didn't have any service done (wow, I know), but that I agreed to have the work done, so they charged me. What? I told them since they hadn't done any work, I want a refund. Nope! At this point I let it go, but told them I'm not paying their BS fees for work they never did. Soon thereafter, I begin to get collection call after collection call from Petro. Each and every time, I document who calls, what our convo looks like. I am on the phone with some real A-class morons explaining the exact same thing over and over and over again (some calls took in the hour range as I used everything but smoke signals to convey a chain of events that shouldn't be too hard for someone with a modicum of intelligence to understand).

Each time they called though, the person I spent an hour talking to took a grand total of zero notes so I had to start from scratch. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Finally, after a breaking point of repetitive calls from them, I called and spoke to another employee, hapless. This person, aside from being mentally challenged was very rude. I ended the hour-plus long convo with her promising me that a manager would get back to me (this was the weekend), that she was taking copious notes, and that she would get me something in writing. I was to have my service with them terminated in a few months time, at the finish of my contract.

As you can imagine, I was shocked that the letter that came stated that my service was terminated "effective immediately". I called, spoke to another of their classless workers, who told me there was nothing they could do. I said, "Fine, I am so done dealing with you liars/cheats, I just want a refund of the balance for the service contract (AC) and a pro-rata refund on the service I have already paid for for the next 3 months." Sorry, no can do, I was told. This is a brief summary.

What followed were a couple months of calls from their company, until I finally told them I was recording them and if they called again, I would file a harassment charge. They passed my account to collection agency almost immediately. A fresh set of ears for me to explain that the money they are seeking would be covered, if only they refunded me for fees for services which were never provided and which were taken fraudulently. This did not impress the collections agency. You are NOT going to believe what happened next. Eventually, it got to the point I did the same thing with the collection company (Sunrise Credit Services in Farmingdale, NY), where I told them to cease and desist, and that if they didn't I'd send a letter stating cease & desist. They seemed unconcerned that I was calling into question the validity of the funds they were seeking.

I was glad they finally stopped calling. But not so glad when, a month later in reviewing my Capital One statement, that they TOOK $267.89 FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT. Yes, they stole money from my account. YES! I had to call Cap One, who were awesome, and refunded me the charge. I then filed with the CFPB and you will be further shocked to know that the reply Sunrise Credit Services (who are listed as exactly that on my Cap One statement, and the letter Cap One sent following crediting me) is that they "didn't take the money". It's like dealing with a 5-year-old who has red paint dripping off their hands, and you say "Billy, where did you find that paint?", and Billy says, "What paint? I never saw any paint?" Except here, we are not talking about a 5-year-old but a company who is licensed to collect debts in NY. Amazing. I even bothered (and looking back, what a waste of time) to call Petro and tell them what happened, another long-winded story. Another promise at the end that a manager would be in contact with me, that they took this very seriously, and that they would send me a letter detailing our conversation. Guess how many of those things are true?

Yep. Believe it or not (I'm sure by now you will), Petro had the nerve to send their collection attempt (with full speed, I might add) to yet another collection agency. This time, I knew enough to put everything in writing (Petro is the only company I have ever been in this situation in, in my life). I sent a cease & desist to this collection agency, and in it, I explained why I disputed the debt, and the nightmare of a show I have been treated to ever since, including the stolen funds from my checking account. I also, in a separate letter, asked for debt validation. So far, (and this has been over a month), I have received nothing.

The sad thing about all this is: 1) this is a very abbreviated version of the horror show I have endured at the hands of Petro, for a paltry sum (in fact, they should owe me money if we consider the hijacked funds they took without providing a service); and 2) I should really follow through with law enforcement, as I am still fuming that they gave this collection agency my checking account info. Of course, they never admitted they gave Sunrise the checking account information, and instead said it was possible when I suggested that perhaps Sunrise Credit Services was clairvoyant, and somehow conjured the number on their own. That seemed more plausible to the shill that I talked to at Petro.

I guarantee this company is routinely engaging in fraud, and if you do business with them, at some point, you will regret it. Not to mention, I now pay ALMOST A DOLLAR A GALLON LESS for OIL. LOL! With a smaller company who has been a delight to deal with. Hardworking, honest, ETHICAL people who have restored a little of my faith. I truly hope someone puts both Petro and Sunrise Credit Services out of business, to prevent more fraud from being committed on the folks just trying to get some heat. Thanks!

Sept 2013, I spoke with a rep & the budget plan was to start in Oct. Come late Sept. through early Oct, I receive a bill statement explaining nothing is due at this time yet. Starting Nov. 9th 2014, payments of 239.00 would start as per the budget. Ok, late Oct. rolls around & I get an outstanding bill with an auto delivery that very week for over $1200 dollars & the bill read, "You are now off the plan because you failed to make the Oct payment which included oil service, service tech for the a/c & boiler & late fees." Anyway, I was fuming. Both my ex-wife & I called different times & got different answers from disregard the last letter, pay the 239.00 to finally they don't understand why the other customer service rep told you that but the last letter was correct.

We both told them STOP THE AUTO DELIVERIES. Since then as of late Nov. & early Jan, my tank was filled twice from approximately 5/8 tank to more. No the balance is 941.77 with my last payment of 240.00 & I have to call them to remind them again. STOP THE AUTO DELIVERIES because every week I get a miss call from them 2-3 times a day. I work nights & sleep days by the way. The icing on the cake is that they said I agreed last month to some new bs budget plan with the cap over 4.93 per gallon. If I cancel it's a $300 dollar charge. I just shook my head & said when I call them back again, they have to prove that I agreed to this.

I'm just trying to save my home & rid myself of Petro. Words can't express how angry I am. The flip side is because I'm hardly home & the ex-wife moved out with the kids my electric bill is the lowest in years. I really miss them, especially my 5 y/o daughter + now struggling to up keep the home on my own. Point blank, Petro reminds me of crooked car salesmen angling for weakness, can't trust the way they do business these days & it's probably money hungry investors dictating strategies & loopholes to take advantage of customers at the corporate level. Either that or don't want me on the original budget plan to get more money. Dirty politics to me...

Every time I call these clowns it costs more and more money. After refusing to fill up my tank because of a payment I made online through my bank they say didn't clear (my bank is really good at sending people their money), they are hell-bent on making me pay a $98 service charge. My house was freezing so I had to agree, even though this is supposed to be covered under my service contract. Today I called these jokers. A new customer rep had so much of an attitude. Most do. They charged me from what he says, $98 for the service charge, but somehow my bill is now over $500 and all he did was put in 10 gallons of oil. I had them put in 10 gallons before and they charged $38. Now $500. They tell me they understand the charges.

I paid them late not because of lack of money, but because they like to fill up the tank when it is not necessary so I don't give them all the money up front until I need oil. They are quick to say they are not scam artists but reading most of these reviews seem to think so. Please do not do business with Petro or their affiliates. This business needs to be out of business. I can't wait until that day. Too many red flags.

Another issue is price. We are paying almost $1 more per gallon based on setting up the contract. I don't recommend that. It would be more economical to call places to get the lowest rate when you need oil. Thirdly, auto-refill. Don't do it. They come when the tank isn't even near empty. One time my husband was able to catch them when Petro came and told them there was oil in the tank and we didn't need it. And lastly. Petro will continue to contact you until you pick up to talk to them. They were trying to get us to buy a propane contract. No lie, they must have called at least 15-20 times before I finally picked up. I'm too nice to express my anger on the phone but I spoke with the person and said I needed to talk to my husband because we do buy propane. They quoted us a price and my husband said it was high. They called again to see if I spoke to my husband. I'm not interested in being sold to, so I didn't pick up. I was called at least 10 more times (on my cell and at home). Finally I picked up the phone, listened to her for 30 seconds and hung up. No more. That, in my opinion, is equivalent to badgering/stalking a person.

In the first message ever, they said on the answering machine that "IF we were interested, contact them". Well, I'm not sure what happened to that "IF", but they called anyway continuously. This is an extremely poor business model. My husband called today to cancel our contract that ends at the end of the year. My husband is closely watching the oil tank because we know they will try to fill it as much as possible before the end of our contract. We considered a lock on the tank with a note saying there is enough oil and it doesn't need to be filled. All in all, I would never recommend Petro to anyone. The decision is yours but I would stick with supporting your local oil companies rather than a big company like Petro. Also know that they own another oil company - Region Oil. Thanks for reading. I hope this helps.

They insist to telling us that we agree to start auto ship at 9/1/13, that we have never agreed. I requested to hear/see evidence that we set an agreement for the statement. They don't provide us any. They know we are not happy about the pricing/service, and requested to hold the service. For that matter they should have communicated us at least before start the auto ship to prevent this type of issue. They didn't give us a chance to communicate. They just came to my house and left the bill and told us that we need to pay the bill. It is very forceful and not fair.

In addition, they came to our house to fix our furnace. Unfortunately they have never fixed. So, we have no use for the oil. Now we have the large bill for nothing.

In addition to this, we pay a monthly amount yearly, but every time they fill up, the cost of oil is always $.75-$1.25 higher than the average amount. I am all done and if you go with them, you're as stupid as I am... 1 mistake, shame on them, 2 mistakes shame on me!!! Never again, I have learned a valuable lesson. Stupid is as stupid does.

It's a shame they lock their customers into yearly contracts before they can get an annual service appointment. I guess that's so they are stuck with them no matter what, unless they want to pay a ridiculous termination fee. I'm done. I will continue to fulfill the obligations on my side of my contract (even though they can't, or seem to think my time is worth wasting). Next year, though, will be a completely different story. They won't fool me three years in a row.

In my research, I discovered that Carroll Fuels and Hoffberger Oil where purchased as a merger acquisition in the last year or so, but have never informed the customer about the buyout!! What deception. Petro is actually headquartered out of Canada, so they are not even a US Company. Do not do business with this company or any of their affiliates. Stick with '"real" local full service oil companies, the service will be individualized and if you have a issue such as mine, you can drive into the office and speak with someone to get it resolved.

I will never do business with Petro again. I don't care what kind of pricing they offer. In case you are wondering how my double delivery was resolved, it wasn't!! They say I owe them the money for the delivery, and late fees will be accumulated!! This company has no integrity, and they are so big that the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.

Petro tried to sell us a new hot water heater that was not needed. The technicians were either dishonest or not competent. After the problem was repaired, we called Pedro to inform them of our dissatisfaction with their service. Petro informed us that the reason a new hot water heater was required and the warranty was voided was because there was water damage to the exterior of the unit. We were never told of any water damage until after the repair was done and neither technician mentioned any water damage when they recommended that we purchase a new unit. In addition, Petro acknowledged that their work orders and service tickets did not reflect or indicate any water damage. In addition, we learned that Petro installed the hot water heater in a pit below grade level and below the level of the concrete floor. We were told that this installation was improper and could be the cause of any water stains to the exterior of the unit.

Then calling the various employees, who informed me of my stupidity for not answering phone calls or written letters when a death in the family had occurred in July of 2012. Calling and making deals to pay a higher monthly amount, which wasn't sufficient and then raising my monthly bill to $681.00 to catch up or no oil. Getting deliveries when the price for a gallon was over $4.00/gallon and then but less than 100 gallons. Getting sarcastic employees who think they can fool the consumer into making deals because the senior may be running low and it's freezing out. Any bill should reflect exactly what is said on the phone - in emails and in letters. If the computers can't be programmed in this huge corporation to reflect exactly a mailed bill or a deal, then the consumer has a right to want to know why.

I am angry that I will be a victim of their mistake. I am angry that I am billing billed for what I didn't want. I am angry that I am being charged a late fee. I am angry I am being asked to pay for something I didn't budget for. I called and left a message today for the manager (Dave **) in New Milford, who was the original man who called us, stating my frustration and anger regarding this event. I hope to hear back from him soon with a resolution that I find acceptable. What disgusts and concerns me is that after reading all these complaints, I don't think it was an accident. It seems like a serious pattern of abuse.

If this is not resolved to my liking, I will take it absolutely to the end of globe. I will call the mayor of my town to make sure she knows what is happening; writing to congress is one of my favorite pastimes and oh yeah, 7 On Your Side, Eye Witness news. I think they should know too. I may be a little person, but I have a huge mouth.

However, a second delivery had been made without notice within one month of the first delivery. I was stuck with a bill of $2,323 rather than the estimated $1,330, which is actually more than what I would typically pay in a winter's season even at a peak season rate! Customer service will be very helpful in offering several options to pay, but to only pay the amount you are stuck with rather than looking for solutions to resolve the unannounced deliveries they make and the additional cost. I had immediately called Petro the same day they made a second delivery to inform them I did not authorize the delivery. "There was nothing they could do" was the response. The only advice that they could offer was to note in the account to not make any future deliveries.

Upon trying to close the account, being it was a contract, they could not close it out before the date of expiration unless I wanted to incur an early termination fee. The final unbelievable thing was that just before the account would expire, I would have to request a minimum gallon requirement fill to fulfill the contract's requirements and then permitted to cancel the contract. Why then must I be required to follow within the bounds of the contract, yet Petro was not bound to the delivery schedule of the contract?

I said, "Why not inform me on my online paperless account?" I was told "Oh, we sent it to you in the mail ... and called you." So I agreed to pay over $400/month. I then got a call that I now owe $681 a month and I have got to pay for this $2000 in three payments or else, no oil. I paid one month of $681. I had hardly any money left anyway after damage in the hurricane and began getting bills in the mail with late charges.

Btw, this money was debited directly from my checking account. I called again and got a woman who could not speak clear English and then get an arrogant boss who told me the late payments were a computer glitch. He said, "Funny, no one else has a problem" with Rosa's accent. What's wrong with you? I then went online and saw the gazillion complaints against this company.

They are frauds and abusing senior citizens along with everyone else, it looks like. They have no more access to my account. I am more than willing to pay my bills, but I will not pay them a cent more. How dare they!

I contacted Petro and was assigned to Kim (nasty little thing doesn't know how to treat people and should be fired). I explained what happened; they sent out someone to take pictures. I didn't hear from her and called back today (11/21/12) and was told she basically did not believe the driver did any damage since it did not show on the blue of the truck. Obviously, she did not understand the tire crushed the brick and would not have reached the body of the truck. She said, out of the goodness of her heart, she was sending a crew to attempt to repair the planter. In the meantime, I have someone coming to give me an estimate.

Petro, if you intend to deliver in this neighborhood, you may want to tell your drivers don't be such idiots to pull onto someone's property, do damage, and then not own up to it. And you need to have people, who have the courtesy that is needed to handle your problems, in place to deal with the public; otherwise, you will not have customers. I asked Miss thing if these people were masons, and she said no, but that is who was coming. I told her I was getting an estimate, and she said she would not cover that - practically called me a liar. Too bad I wasn't standing in front of her; I would be the last person she was able to speak to that way. Get rid of the **.

On 10/16/12, I called to find out how may gallons I used last winter. We then had a conversation about me thinking about going with another oil company. She wanted to transfer me to a sales person, but I said I was at work and didn't have time. Besides, I just wanted some time to think about it. She asked if they could call me that night but I said no, I would call them instead. They ended up calling that night, and every day after that. I finally answered their call. They didn't match the other company’s price, but they did go down enough that I decided to stay with them.

After I accepted the contract, I found out that because I looked for another oil company, they decided to cancel my November delivery and stole $400.00 from my account. I never reneged on my obligation. I also found out that either I misunderstood the first person or he wasn't honest with me, because the second quote said that the first ceiling price was $4.299. I call this dishonest. They definitely are out to screw their customers because this wasn't the first time they pulled a fast one, like auto-renewing my service contract. They don't even have the courtesy to tell you what they are doing.

This is definitely my last year with this company; they are definitely one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. The $400.00 better be back in my account when I call on Monday, or I will press charges.

When I called, they said that I was on a yearly contract with them. Now, they continue to send me a bill every couple of weeks demanding the money for the oil that I never wanted to be delivered. This is fraudulent. If this does not get resolved, I'm about to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I'm not going to invest $800 some dollars to have oil in a tank underground which I have no use of. I am shocked to see the number of complaints of this Petro on ConsumerAffairs.com and more than a few of them are for exactly the same thing. Very puzzling! And after what I have read on this site, I have real concerns about this type of business practice. It seems to occur on a regular basis. They deliver too much oil or deliver oil after accounts have been closed, then want to resolve this situation by reducing the invoice and setting up extended payment terms. Really? This is a huge red flag.

Petro wants to begin the clock of my request on 11 July 2012, but I did call one time before that. The call on 11 July was a followup. I also warned them last year, in 2011, to not do the same thing that they just did to me this year, in 2012.

When I called last year in 2011 to say that they had too much of my money and also overestimated my 2012 budget plan, they still increased my monthly amount despite the fact that I told them that my heating oil bill would be lower due to the installation of several ductless AC/heat pumps. They still proceeded to go with the higher monthly budget amount. Hence my reason for calling once more this year (actually more than once) to retrieve over $500 of my money. If I had not complained, they would have taken out another $250 for August.

This sort of behavior by this company puzzles me, but then I did read other complaints on ConsumerAffairs.com and more than a few of them are for exactly the same thing. Very puzzling but for me, also quite intriguing. I see it as a way that they manage your budget overage money for themselves. I work in business environments where days outstanding and cash flow are paramount to the moneychangers in our company. We even make our sales people, who are supposed to be the customer interface "good guys" be bad guys by participating in the "shakedown" and related. Petro makes its front line customer service people do some rather indefensible things.

Bottom line: Petro did send me my check, but the journey was not fun, especially after the very same debacle occurred last year as well. They asked for "honest". This is it.

Original Review: July 20, 2012

I had gone down this same path last year and after a false start and false promise by an untrained resource on your end, I had to retell my request. And after far too much time spent rehashing my request, I finally got Petro to not refund the complete and significant monies held in my budget account, but negotiated with me to get it back in drip and drabs until the next budget cycle. I am traveling this week. I expect a check in the overage amount in my mail. If not, my several phone calls to ask your customer service people just what it is that they did not understand about my very clear request and in several phone calls, will have gone for naught. You people either do not listen or are so tied into the time value of my money that you may only respond under threat. Your boilerplate response to me is mere window dressing.

I work in manufacturing and deal with people at high levels all the time. I know the game. To be frank, I know when I'm not a valued customer, but only one you are taking advantage of because your company seems to equate my longevity as a customer with some sort of schmuck factor. I will see if my refund check is indeed in the mail. I do not know you personally, so do not take it in a personal manner. But I do suggest that you set your standards a bit higher in the company you work for. You have been foot dragging. Period. You do not listen, but place poor frontline customer services resources in positions to have to defend the indefensible.

Yes, it sure does seem like a long time, but I hardly feel valued! I work in an industry that interfaces heavily with business customers. I know how the cash-flow prepayment ** works! Not with my money! Many companies eke out an extra percent by playing with your money in the autopay (ahead) plan! If this is not resolved quickly, I will leave to go to another oil supply company that I know well.

For months, I have fought with their customer service in as professional a manner as possible to negotiate my account to fairly reflect what I owe and what shouldn't be owed. I paid down half the balance in an effort of goodwill after Petro was kind enough to remove the $1,000 of unauthorized service contracts. Apparently, it didn't matter. Today, I received notice that Petro has decided to sue me over the remaining balance of ~$900. Lucky for me, I am an attorney and will prepare my own countersuit. I look forward to a positive result in court. Unlike most Petro customers, I am not afraid of having my day before a judge. I will be certain to follow-up with updates.

For example, my initial delivery was on 4/18/2011 at a price of $3.599 per gallon; even though the underlying futures on the NYMEX decreased over 10 cents per gallon from then until my next delivery on 7/18/2011, I was charged nearly 5 cents higher on my next delivery, $3.648992. In fact, out of the seven deliveries I had over the year, only two were lower than my initial delivery in April, despite the fact the heating oil market was decreasing for most of 2011. I have documentation with data from the EIA to support my claim and is included in this complaint. I also signed up for a "premium" service for an extra $185.45 and was still charged excessive prices.

If I am on a variable pricing plan, then I should have gotten the benefit of lower prices but did not. Petro has failed to adequately respond to my questions of how they are coming up with their prices and even though I have provided them with evidence of my claim of overcharging, they are not refunding me any money. I believe that Petro has overcharged me anywhere from $518.15 to $568.20 on my heating oil deliveries and they have also used deceptive sales practices when claiming the variable rate pricing plan fluctuates with the market when in fact. it does not.

Petro had two managers speak to me, one was Vincenza, but failed to adequately address my concerns or provide transparency as to where they are getting their prices per unit. Tim ** (Petro Customer Service) has admitted on the phone to me that they use the NYMEX Heating Oil futures as the basis for their pricing. They have not refunded me any money despite the fact they were raising their prices and margins over underlying heating oil futures during the winter months. We had an extremely mild winter and while this was reflected in the heating oil futures market, Petro took it upon themselves to mark up the price of heating oil and gouge their customers.

I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau of Connecticut and the Connecticut State Attorney General. Until these agencies complete their investigations into my claims against Petro, I will not be paying my outstanding bill and have requested that no late charges or other fees be charged to my account.

The reason we had no problems was because for years they followed the delivery instructions that were on the account. We have a seasonal home in Long Branch, NJ. The home is all but vacant through the winter months, so we consume approx 100-150 gallons per year max. One year they delivered 200+ gallons and it lasted almost 2 years. We always get oil delivered in the fall, so that we always make sure there is enough oil in the tank through the winter. This home is owned by my 80 year old mom who is on a fixed income and does not live at the address full time. They know this. My cell phone number is listed on the account along with my email address, as a secondary contact, but I was never contacted.

My issue is like others I’ve read on this site. We’ve just had an unscheduled delivery of 519 gallons of oil (more than double the largest delivery we’ve ever had) the first week in April, with a bill left on the door for $2,413. When I contacted Petro, I got confirmation from two supervisors that our account is set up to have the "customer call Petro for oil delivery". And they didn’t understand how this could have happened and would look into it. They are not to deliver oil automatically because it is not a full time residence. They claimed they called before the delivery, but since the phone has no answering machine on it (because the house is vacant), it just rings, no message can be left.

I have had 3 conversations with 3 different supervisors. The last supervisor claimed that the account does not have "customer will call for delivery" notation on it, when the other two supervisors confirmed it. I asked for the transcript of the conversations I’ve had thus far, but they will only provide it if the situation goes into legal. What tipped me off that this could be an inappropriate business practice was the last supervisor I spoke with immediately suggested he wanted to work with me to reduce the invoice and set up extended payment terms. I explained to him that based on years of our consumption history it would take us 5+ years to use all the oil that was delivered, we simply want it removed, and it should have never been delivered in the first place. He said that was not something they could do. He asked me to consider their offer to reduce the invoice and work out a payment plan. I asked him to please present his offer in writing, he refused, and said "we don’t do that, but the conversation is being recorded".

In the end, he offered to reduce a $2,400 bill by $145. I suggested that they remove all but 100-150 gallons of oil, which is our normal delivery, but he refused. This just sounds scam-ish to me. And after what I have read on this site, I have real concerns about this type of business practice. It seems to occur on a regular basis. They deliver too much oil, or deliver oil after accounts have been closed, then want to resolve this situation by reducing the invoice and setting up extended payment terms. Really? This is a huge red flag.

We had a very warm winter, warmest in 40 years. They are sitting on more oil than normal for this time of year. Home heating oil rate charged was $4.69/gallon, highest in years, we always get delivery for years in the fall, this time we got it in spring (end of the heating season). We have always called them for delivery, this time they just showed up and delivered it on their own. They won’t put anything in writing, and refuse to remove the oil that they delivered when it was not requested, and no message was left that it was coming. Considering all the complaints of this nature before mine, I think my next stop has to be the Attorney General's Office. Sharon, can you help me resolve this issue?

I never heard back so I called the following Monday. I spoke with a different rep who said that he saw that what had occurred was documented and that the delivery company was supposed to call me to discuss what I wanted to do. He gave me the name of the manager of the delivery company and said I should contact him directly. I left a message. The delivery manager by the name of Jose called me back and asked if I wanted it pumped out or if I wanted to work out a payment arrangement with Petro. He said that the reason there was a delivery made after the cancellation was because he did not receive the notification that the delivery was cancelled. I told him I did not understand why I was even involved as the person in the middle of this and that it should be handled between Petro and himself. He asked again that I contact Petro to discuss a reduced payment arrangement since siphoning the oil out of the tank would be a major inconvenience for both of us because it would require extra time, resources and manpower and that they would need to get in my basement to do so and it would be messy. I told him I would be willing to speak with Petro to hear what they would do.

I spoke with a rep today by the name of Chelsea who is now telling me that I had no right to cancel the order since it is not part of my agreement and that there is no documentation that I spoke with a representative who offered to cancel the delivery. However, the two prior reps knew about it, admitted it and said it was documented. I told her she was the 1st rep to tell me it was not documented. She offered 1st a $20 concession off my total bill and I told her that it was an insult. She then offered $50 off which I told her that was unacceptable since this was not my error and I was given the offer to cancel the delivery. She then repeated herself saying that I did not have that option according to my contract and that there was no record of that conversation. I then told her that I have been a client of Petro for 5+ years and could not believe I was being treated in this manner and that it is unethical. She apologized for the inconvenience but that was all they could offer and asked me what I wanted.

I told her that since they were now unwilling to admit their error and take care of the problem that they caused, that I want the oil pumped out and that once my contract is up, I would be cancelling any future business with Petro. She told me she would have Jose, the delivery guy contact me to discuss. I have not heard from him as of yet. I will also be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. And now reading what other people (and quite a few) have written about online (and not just this site), I am convinced this is not an isolated incident and appears to be a scam to extract more money from their customers. It is despicable!

Fast forward to this morning when Petro was in my driveway filling up my tank. My wife asked them to stop and they handed her a bill for 700 dollars and said they were never notified and had nothing on file to not come. I called customer service and spoke with a supervisor who only made matters worse. She informed me that she would suspend deliveries going forward, but that they need to gauge how often I need deliveries. She repeated this over and over, despite me saying that I was told otherwise last time. In fact, the supervisor informed me that my previous conversation regarding not delivering was confirmed and on file! However, she said again that they deliver to see our usage. So they admitted they made a mistake, but didn't have much to offer for the second time.

This was basically confirming that my previous conversation and what I was told ("we will not deliver without calling you first") was complete bogus, which is the last thing you want to hear as a customer. I told the supervisor that I wasn't complaining about how they figure out our usage and understand their policy, but that I was told it wouldn't be a problem and that I was bluntly told after my previous conversation that I would not receive calls without being notified. I then told her very calmly, despite her repeatedly trying to speak over me, that if I asked her if the moon would be blue tomorrow and she told me she could confirm it and the following day it was white, as a customer I would have no interest in why or why not it wasn't blue, but why I was told it would be blue. If it could not have been guaranteed it would be blue, why was I told that it would be? That is the job of customer service. Give me an accurate answer. If that's not possible, that's perfectly fine as long as I am told that there isn't an accurate answer. Do not mislead me.

She finally seemed to understand and said she would take a dime off of my $/gallon and that I could pay in installments, which doesn't come close to me needing to fork over 700 dollars when I wasn't planning on it. I had a horrible experience with Petro and I will be canceling my contract when the year is up, if not earlier. Due to two mistakes already and a non-receptive supervisor, as well as being called repeatedly about purchasing a new furnace (they had no problem contacting me about that), I will gladly pay the early termination fee and use a dependable local company. They might not have the same prices, but at least they listen to their customers. I have already told my co-workers and family members to never use Petro and plan on spreading the word.

They did tell me he complained the previous year, that their oil rate was too high, and they reduced it. Apparently, that is why he was using Carroll Fuel services. However, they cannot produce a contract. They should send out information at least once a year, saying their annual oil fill will be occurring on this date, please confirm or deny the delivery. They don't provide any notification, and or letters in the mail, saying they even provide annual services. Stay away from Petro, as they use this tactic to extract money where they can. Apparently, this has happened to many people using Petro Oil.

I have to pay the bill for oil I didn't authorize delivery on, and now I have to call a waste company to remove it? When I first signed up for the account, I informed the sales rep that this was only temporary, and I would let them know when or if I needed any future deliveries. I am still trying to settle this with Petro, and I do not recommend their service to anyone. I admit that the representative is trying to help, but I believe it's above his head at this point.

Back in December 2011, I scheduled an oil delivery because Petro was going to deliver right around Christmas which I didn't want to get hit with an oil bill when I'm trying to purchase gifts for the Holiday. Well, as of today, 2/8/12, they just delivered today without my knowledge. I just paid a bill on 1/03/12 for $903 for December's delivery and now I was just hit with another $550 bill. I called Petro customer service today to complain about this delivery. They kept telling me that they were an automatic delivery service company. I explained to them that I just received oil delivery in December which should have told them that I wouldn't need another delivery until sometime in March or the beginning of April.

I had half a tank left since the weather has not been cold this winter and I was using less oil. I told them that I wanted to cancel my automatic delivery service and they informed me that I couldn't because they were an automatic delivery service company. This was the poor excuse they kept giving me. I also asked to see my agreement stating that I cannot cancel the automatic oil delivery service and they do not have an agreement stating this.

Petro keeps referring me to the Service plan which covers maintenance of my furnace. Then on top of this **, I received my Service Maintenance bill for $450 for the furnace. I also complained to Petro about them having all of my contact information, phone, address and email and I get no notification whatsoever about upcoming scheduled oil delivery dates.

Why have all this information if you're not going to take advantage of this to notify your customers for scheduled deliveries? They have been doing this for the past 10 years and I'm really ** off with them now. The only thing they did for me was to take $25 off my oil bill and knock off $100 from my Service Maintenance bill. I'm still not satisfied because I still cannot cancel my delivery service. Also they told me that if I called to find out about a scheduled delivery date and I stated that I didn't need the oil drop off, it would only delay that delivery for another 2 weeks out. I would have to keep calling to delay that delivery. This is **. I can't believe that a company would conduct themselves this way. To keep your customers happy, you really need to change your ways.

Still, this means that they were charging him the higher locked in rate when they should not have been. I wonder how many other people they are ripping off without their knowledge. I don't mind paying a little extra per gallon to lock in a rate, get auto delivery, 24 hour service, etc., but $1.18 per gallon is price gouging, as far as I'm concerned.

On a side note, we've had them do our yearly furnace check up for the last 3 years. Each time they've worked on it, we've been plagued by problems for a while, until they finally come back a few times, and fix whatever they did wrong the first time. I see a lot of horror stories from other individuals that regular maintenance was either lacking, or non-existent. It seems to me like they're hoping to have to come back for more serious, and more costly repairs. As soon as my contract with them is up, I'm finding a new company. I'd rather pay more and have an honest, trustworthy company than to deal with this uncompromising, unfriendly, and dishonest company anymore!

I will never ever recommend this company to anyone at all. I feel so frustrated with them, not to mention that their managers are not customer friendly at all. When I spoke to Rose on Saturday, she advise to me that they would work out a price adjustment if I decided to keep the oil. Today I spoke to a Jugio and besides being rude, he did not help me at all.