OT--unexpected delivery, almost

[chrisasst]

So we were outside with the kids today and a oil truck stopped at the end of our driveway then backed up a little. I was like, what is going on here...so the guy got out and started pulling his fuel oil line out. Since I was outside I had to stop him because I don't use it anymore, I only use my pellet stove. He showed me the delivery note that indeed had my address on it, but had the previous owner listed ( the person I bought the house from 6 years ago !) there was another address on it so not really sure what happened there...
But if I wasn't outside, I would have gotten 150 gallons of oil...Now I am wondering if this has happened before. I should go check my gauge.

 

[MCPO]

You could have had some free oil.
But we know you aren`t that type of guy.

 

[chrisasst]

Also my oil furnace needs some work before I could even think about using it ever again..so the oil would have done me no good anyway.

 

[tinkabranc]

IMO I would cover the outside cap with something so if they show up again
they can't deliver. What happens if nobody is home to stop them?
That would suck to end up with a bill for an oil delivery that you didn't want.

 

[daydreamer]

Maybe the previous owner ordered some fuel oil but didn't give them their new address. Since it's been 6 years maybe they haven't ordered from that company in a while. Or maybe the company had a computer problem and lost their new address. Somewhere there's somebody mad because they didn't get their fuel oil delivery.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Maybe the previous owner ordered some fuel oil but didn't give them their new address. Since it's been 6 years maybe they haven't ordered from that company in a while. Or maybe the company had a computer problem and lost their new address. Somewhere there's somebody mad because they didn't get their fuel oil delivery.

dreamer is likely right , if a customer hasnt been updated the old info would stuill be there , the company may use phone numbers as a "customer id number" as we do , but in the days of cell phones that can sometimes complecate things.

 

[mainegeek]

They couldn't have charged you for the oil since it was their mistake and your not even a customer of theirs.

It's actually pretty common. When I worked for the oil dealer we used to have drivers fill the wrong house all the time. If the house they filled is a customer then they apply the oil to that persons account; if the house is not a customer then the homeowner just got a free tank of oil....

I even had a situation where somehow two delivery slips were printed for my house; so they filled me one day and the next day another delivery guy tried to fill me again. I got home to a voice mail on the answering machine asking that I please check my basement and make sure the overfill did not spill oil in my basement.

 

[imacman]

....That would suck to end up with a bill for an oil delivery that you didn't want.

Only suck for the oil company. As been mentioned above, if you aren't a customer, you have no legal obligation to pay for the oil. Same thing if you get a package in the mail, or from UPS delivery, etc.....if you didn't order it=no charge......yours to keep, if you want to.

 

[Arnold]

They couldn't have charged you for the oil since it was their mistake and your not even a customer of theirs.

It's actually pretty common. When I worked for the oil dealer we used to have drivers fill the wrong house all the time. If the house they filled is a customer then they apply the oil to that persons account; if the house is not a customer then the homeowner just got a free tank of oil....

I even had a situation where somehow two delivery slips were printed for my house; so they filled me one day and the next day another delivery guy tried to fill me again. I got home to a voice mail on the answering machine asking that I please check my basement and make sure the overfill did not spill oil in my basement.

We had that happen here in Ohio to a family a couple years ago........The oil company stopped & delivered a load to a former customer.......Only thing was they had removed the tank !! The outside fill pipes were still there.......The oil company pumped several hundred gallons of oil into their basement before they caught it............made for one big mess & some happy attorney !

 

[mainegeek]

Wow.... that sucks. I'm sure the delivery guy knew something was wrong when he had pumped 300 gal or so and the whistle still wasn't going..... especially if his delivery ticket shows a 275 gal tank at the residence.

I'm guessing the home owner removed the tank rather then paying someone. One excellent reason why the fill pipes should be removed also when rmeoving an oil tank.

The entire house must have stunk of oil.....

 

[yknotcarpentry]

This happened to me 2 seasons ago when I first started using pellets. It was around march sometime and I had about 1/4 of a tank left? Back in Feb I was talking to the oil guy filling my tank and told him I was hoping this would be my last tank as I wanted to drain my tank out to move it in the summer and I was hoping prices would go down next year, plus I had the pellet stove to get me through. Up until this time I was on automatic delivery, so I called the company and asked them to take me off the delivery schedule and explianed the same thing to them as I did the oil driver. Two days later I am pulling into my driveway, sure enough, there he is filling my tank! I run over screaming at him to stop and he says well I just ran out of oil anyway... I asked how much he got in and he said about 225G (@ $3.65G=$821.25) I told him how I had called and cancelled delivery and he said "yeah I remembered talking to you last time and thought it was wierd to see a slip with your name on it, especially for today as this is not todays territory." I called the company and was furious! I told them to come pick it up which they wouldn't do; so I told them look there is no way I can pay you for this right now, it is going to take me awhile and I need to make small payments, they said fine. I payed $50 to $75 a month but then in June I started getting letters, 2nd notices, 3rd notices, late fees added, threats of collection agencies. I paid them in full at the end of July, probably a total of about $950 after all their late fees etc. Well that next season, in january when I needed oil again I called them for a delivery (yes I know stupid after all that but it was convenience and oil prices where still high so my fury had subsided) they told me that they were no longer going to have me as a customer because of my bad credit history! Huh, go figure after being a customer for 6 years paying on time, even in advance most times, they "ban" me because of thier mistake that I sucked up. (which I don't really feel was a mistake, I know they intentally pumped it in to get the high price before the season was over as they too thought oil prices my drop for the new season) Well last year, I decided to just call around and get deliveries based on cheapest prices which I found several companies that are lower than my original Co (eastern propane and oil) so it worked out, I burned approx 500G oil and 4.5 tons of pellets last year. Today I am starting to make the move of the pelletstove in the barn into the house so I hope my reliance on oil drops even further!

 

[BJN644]

I'm in the oil spill business and we see spills every year caused by delivery drivers going to the wrong house or screwing up on automatic delivery. Some spills are catastrophic, some minor, I have seen where the tank was removed and the pipes were on the side of the house, and a wrong delivery was made to the newly finished basement. Overfilling any tank can damage it, oil will usually blow out the vent line, leak around the gauge on the tank, bulge the tank, leak from the pipe fittings. Modern oil trucks usually deliver at 60 gallon per minute, if the tank is all ready full and the driver isn't paying attention you're going to have a problem, I have seen tanks rupture from overfilling, emptying the entire contents of the tank into a basement. The moral of the story, automatic delivery is bad, you can't do much about the driver going to the wrong house, tag out your fill if you're not going to use it. The only thing worse than 200 gallons of oil in your basement is the house burning down, trust me.