Oil delivery, can you trust the oil company?

m1nder

Just a thought, I'm not making any accusations whatsoever.

I had home heating oil delivered the other day. I noticed the fuel delivery gauge is no longer on the side of the lorry. It's all electronic and controlled from a handheld unit in the cab. The only confirmation of the amount delivered is a printout from that.

So, how can we be sure that we are getting what we ordered? Is it possible to calibrate these delivery systems incorrectly? Greed is a human trait and when home heating oil is 90c a litre, I think it's a reasonable question.

tred

m1nder wrote: »

Just a thought, I'm not making any accusations whatsoever.

I had home heating oil delivered the other day. I noticed the fuel delivery gauge is no longer on the side of the lorry. It's all electronic and controlled from a handheld unit in the cab. The only confirmation of the amount delivered is a printout from that.

So, how can we be sure that we are getting what we ordered? Is it possible to calibrate these delivery systems incorrectly? Greed is a human trait and when home heating oil is 90c a litre, I think it's a reasonable question.

Fill the tank.....you know what your tank takes!

m1nder

tred wrote: »

Fill the tank.....you know what your tank takes!

You might be missing the point I think and you're proposal would only work if the customer either had an empty tank or knew exactly how much was already in it before the order. I don't think too many people are filling the tank this year anyway due to cost.

If you order say 300 or 500 litres, my question above remains. How do you know what you are actually being given. Can you trust any given oil company to be honest given the current massive prices and the low margins.

D1stant

m1nder wrote: »

You might be missing the point I think and you're proposal would only work if the customer either had an empty tank or knew exactly how much was already in it before the order. I don't think too many people are filling the tank this year anyway due to cost.

If you order say 300 or 500 litres, my question above remains. How do you know what you are actually being given. Can you trust any given oil company to be honest given the current massive prices and the low margins.

Get something like this

http://www.esbstore.ie/Product/Sensor-Systems-Watchman-Sonic-Oil-Level-Monitor/1244/301

m1nder

D1stant wrote: »

Get something like this

http://www.esbstore.ie/Product/Sensor-Systems-Watchman-Sonic-Oil-Level-Monitor/1244/301

and how would that work?

D1stant

m1nder wrote: »

and how would that work?

You want to know how muich Oil is in your tank before & after delivery right? This does that

m1nder

D1stant wrote: »

You want to know how muich Oil is in your tank before & after delivery right? This does that

No, it doesn't, it just gives you a rough level indication based on a crude pre-installation calibration. It shows levels as a series of bars each representing 10% of the tank. If I had a few hundred litres in a tank and ordered say another 300, this thing would just add a couple of bars to its output as far as I can tell.

It seems from the replies so far, that this is something that people aren't really thinking about. Now that may indicate that the industry as a whole is acting impeccably, or it may indicate that the situation is ripe for sharp practice and that the consumer is unaware.

Could there be a scenario where an oil company calibrates it's delivery system to deliver 5%-10% less than was actually ordered? How would thye consumer ever know? In the rare (very rare it seems) instance that the consumer ran an accurate check and discovered some anomaly, the merchant would simply appologise blaming faulty kit and add a bit more to the fill.

I'm just raising the question mainly because of the price of this stuff now is all.

THENORTHSIDER

Have heard of it happening. This can only be done if ur not there, the driver puts the hose back into the tank on the truck and pumps 100 litres into the truck he has the docket already started so its now showing 100 litres and he then pumps 900 litres into ur tank. The delivery will show a total of 1000 litres ( 100 recirculated into the truck and 900 for u ) Very easy to get an extra 1000 litre fill that has been paid for by previous customers.

Easiest way to overcome this problem is to stand with the driver when he is setting up if u feel ur being done.

If the company is reputable then their trucks will have to calibrated by International standards so 1 litre will equal 1 litre but that won't protect u from the already stated scam

aujopimur

The modern metering system are very accurate and pretty foolproof, the old mechanical meters although fairly accurate were easy to fiddle leading to the occasional short delivery to customers.

tred

Minder. Buy drums of it, and fill it yourself!. if your that concerned. At the end of the day, the main suppliers are running recent kit and recent pumps. I know my father in law is paranoid about your problem, cause historically they could do it easy, so he emptys the tank and fills 900 litres, and thats what he pays for.

m1nder

tred wrote: »

Minder. Buy drums of it, and fill it yourself!. if your that concerned. At the end of the day, the main suppliers are running recent kit and recent pumps. I know my father in law is paranoid about your problem, cause historically they could do it easy, so he emptys the tank and fills 900 litres, and thats what he pays for.

Well tred, it's all already done. I ordered 300L. When I asked the driver where the guage was, he was insulted and got quite heated. It was ridiculous. He told me that there is no gauge anymore, the only indicator the customer gets, is the printout on the receipt. This is what started me thinking and this thread.

sbsquarepants

A guy i know used to drive an oil delivery truck, what he used to do was pump say 100L back into the tanker before calling to the house, then pump another 900L (lets say) into the householders tank, the printout the housholder signs says 1000L, at the end of the day all the leftover 100 litres were his to do with as he liked.

Edit: Just noticed the northsiders post.....what he said!