I usually write reviews when I have had very good to exceptionally good experiences and ones that I am dissatisfied with to extremely bad. in this case, I am dissatisfied with the business practices of this company through an experience I had and felt compelled to write a review.
Let me first say that I feel like this is a competent company in terms of knowing heating systems and their services are good in this regard. Their prices for these services are in the ballpark, but on the high side as the negative experience I recently had has led me to find another company for oil deliveries and for service and I have compared prices, which I had not really done. Their prices for oil are also similar, on the higher side in a competitive market.
I try to see all sides of things and sincerely feel like I am able to see matters from the business side as a result of my professional experiences than through the lens of a demanding and unreasonable customer. But this recent experience is one I cannot overlook.
I purchased a home around March of last year and called Alpha Oil to do the inspection and service updating on a system that had not had service in some time. As I mentioned, I am very satisfied with what was done and they were accommodating to my requests for higher quality parts that i was willing to pay for. I originally decided to go with the automatic oil deliveries, but informed the salesman Mike that this would be based on my usage (unknown at the time) and we agreed that it may be in both of our best interests to review things over time. I was extremely conservative with my oil usage and when I was called by the owner Jim regarding a delivery in October, I informed him that I had not even used a third of a tank of oil since the last delivery (delivered less than 2 months after the first one and was just a "top off" that was apparently a mistake) and that I would prefer to wait until it was a little more empty to have it filled. At that point, it was more or less agreed upon that I would call as I needed deliveries, which I have done twice since in 125 gallon orders. My reason for mentioning the oil consumption is that I think that this may have been a factor in the negative business practice and related experience I am about to describe. I let the mistake delivery that I obviously had to pay for slide by.
When I stopped into the Alpha office in late March (one year from initial service) to investigate the maintenance services and costs for these services, I had what I thought was a friendly conversation with Jim. He told me that I was still a few weeks away from the service date and that I would receive a notice in the mail. It was at this time that I placed an order for another 125 gallon delivery and got the costs of the renewal services and the warranty plan on my tank. I mentioned to Jim that I felt good about the warranty because my tank was getting old and may be as old as the house (50 years). I had the tank inspected by Jim's son (service manager) Ed when I initially had my service done to get the annual warranty that gives something like $1000 toward a new tank if there is a leak or it needs replacement and cannot be repaired. He arranged everything at that time and offered me the warranty, which I accepted rather than to buy a new tank.
I called to follow-up last week and to change the service date sent to me in the mail as I was on vacation. The lady that answered the phone informed me that my tank warranty had been terminated more than a month before and that there was no explanation on their computer. I told her to have Mike or Jim call me back with an explanation for this. I had a very difficult time getting answers. I finally stopped in yesterday to settle my bill for the second delivery and Mike informed me that it was the owner himself who unilaterally terminated my warranty (no communication or refund for the remaining time left) and would not renew this warranty.
My issue with the owner of this company and their business practices is how they handled this matter involving the warranty. If they had refused the warranty to me last year, I would understand. If I had said nothing, he would never have terminated this. I would even understand if they had done an inspection this year when I was having service and they informed me that they would no longer warrant the tank. I get that the tank is old and that a warranty on an older tank could be a loser for them. But what I cannot fathom is this guy going into the system after our conversation and canceling my warranty without even so much as informing me about it and offering no refund for the remainder of the time left, even if it was very short. This is nothing less than sneaky and dishonest and I will NOT be calling Alpha Oil again for oil deliveries or any other services for that matter. read more
