Complaint Review: Standard Oil Company of CT - Bridgeport Connecticut

I had been on a payment plan with Standard Oil for 2 years.  Without notice, they took me off the payment plan and started billing me for every delivery.  Because I was unaware of the change, I continued paying my monthly payment plan amount of $240, every month, on time.  In May, I received a telephone call from Julie in the credit department.  She informed me I owed the company $1600.  Surprise to me.  We worked out a payment plan of $400 a month, a terrible hardship for me.  During this conversation, Julie treated me from the beginning of the conversation like a criminal; rude, nasty and terse.  Since it was summer, and fuel consumption was low, I asked her to please hold my deliveries and put me on a will call.  She agreed.  All the conversations with Standard Oil are recorded with beeping all the way through from start to finish.  An oil company recording conversations; that in and of itself is suspect.  

I began making payments immediately of $200 every two weeks for a total of $400 a month.  In July, I made three payments for a total of $600.  I arrived home one day in July to find a delivery receipt in my mailbox.  I called Standard because I had requested a will call.  They connected me with Julie in the credit department again.  Apparently she was "my credit person."  I asked her why I received a delivery when I asked to be put on a will call.  Again, she was rude, nasty and terse.  She said "you have to sign paperwork if you're going to be on a will call and you didn't do that."  I asked her if it was sent to me and she said no. I reminded her that I asked to be on a will call.  She denied knowing anything about that part of our conversation.  I asked her how much this delivery was and she told me is was over $600!!  So, even though I had already paid $1,000, I was right back where I started.  I again asked her to put me on a will call and to send me the paperwork.  She then said because it was summer, I wasn't scheduled for another delivery until November.  

In late August, Julie called me.  She said "you haven't made any payments on your account."  I was shocked and said no, I've been paying what we agreed on since May.  She said "I only have one payment for you for $200."  Again, rude, nasty and terse.  I told her I've been sending payments in all along and she said she didn't have them.  I told her I was not at my computer and until I could look at my bank account I couldn't see if anything went wrong with my payments.  She behaved like she didn't believe me.  I said "I understand you must have people tell you all the time they've paid and haven't but that's not me, I've been sending my payments in all along."  I told her I would look at my account that night and call back the next day.  Sure enough, all the payments were there.  

The next day I called the sales person on my account and explained what Julie had said to me.  He brought up my account and said, yes, I see all the payments, I don't understand why she called you.  I asked for another person to be on my account in the credit department because she was so rude.  He said he'd see what he could do and call back. The next day he did and told me he spoke to Julie and she said she never said that to me! I told him "all your phone calls are recorded, go back and listen, and if that isn't the case, then why did she call me?"  He had no answer.  So now Julie is not only rude, nasty and terse, she's also a liar.  I continued making my payments and in early November called my sales person to work out the payment plan for 2011/2012 - no, I can't speak to him about it, I have to speak to Julie again.  No, the credit supervisor decided I couldn't have another credit person!  I said to the sales person "she's an obstacle, she's rude and she borderline harasses me."  He said there was nothing he could do about it.  Great sales person. Very effective.  

So again, I'm on the phone with Julie.  She tells me I have to go on an 8 month plan because I should have worked out a 12 month plan in August!  I asked her "when you called me in August why didn't you tell me that?"  She said "because you didn't ask."  !!!!  

The payments for an 8 month plan she informed me, would be $450 a month!!  I said "are you kidding?" I reminded her my last payment plan also began in November and it was $240 a month. She said "no it wasn't begun in November."  I told her it was because that's when I worked out the cap on the pricing per gallon.  We went back and forth and I realized this woman was just an obstacle and I would get no where with her.  Again, I called the sales person on my account.  I explained all to him and he agreed yes, it was in November.  So I asked him again to please try to have me switched to someone else in the credit department because Julie was uncooperative and rude.  At this point, I had paid off the balance on the account in full with a credit owed to me from Standard for $91.  He promised to call me back the next day.

The next day I did not hear from him so by the end of the day, I called him.  No answer so I left a voice mail.  The next day same thing.  So I took caller ID off of my cell phone and called again. This time he answered.  I asked him what happened with my payment plan.  He hemmed and hawwed and then told me Standard Oil no longer wanted me as a customer!  I said "I don't understand, I have paid everything I owe and made all my payments on time." He said "the credit department doesn't want to keep you as a client."  So I guess the credit department at Standard Oil runs this family owned business.  I told him Standard now owed me $91 and I would expect a check.  

My total payments to Standard Oil from late May when I first learned of the balance, through October was $2,200.  If they would have held deliveries as I requested from Julie who did not put it through, It would have been $1,600.  These payments were a hardship for me, but I made them.  

I received a letter today dated November 2nd, sent registered mail (!) that stated the following: "Please be advised that, we have closed your account with us and discontinued oil deliveries and other services.  Due to unsatisfactory credit history." !!!!  Wait, I paid my monthly payment plan on time every month, made my payments of $400 a month totaling $2,200 from the end of May through October, they owe me $91 and I have an unsatisfactory credit history!  

One more point; last year, when we called in November 2010 to schedule an annual service for the furnace, the first appointment they had was March 4th, 2011!  They were inflexible on the date, that's what they had, period.  I don't want to be a prisoner of my oil supplier!

I have set up a great plan with another well known oil company in CT and they were very gracious about the plan being started later than usual for an 8 month plan and my payments will be $280 a month!  I told the companies I spoke to about my experience with Standard and every one of them said that they obtained a lot of customers from Standard because of their business practices, and also that they had heard from other customers that Standard was very rude and unhelpful to their customers.  My new sales person at the new company I'm using is effective.  I am to call her with any issues and she'd take care of them.  

So, in closing, I would strongly advise passing on Standard Oil and using one of the many other oil suppliers in CT if you want to be aggravation and Julie free.