Received a home heating oil delivery by Petro on 12/21/2022,
priced at $6.16/gallon. This was the ceiling price we were quoted
in summer 2022. We were told that the price would decrease as
the market improved. Earlier that day, we were approached by a
salesman for Slomin's oil, inviting us to lock in an oil delivery price
of $3.50 and a service agreement, which we declined because
we already have an annual contact with Petro, with a service
agreement for which we are billed separately. My husband and I
were not told in advance what the price of delivery would be, but
after the delivery was completed, we received this bill for almost
twice as much as we were quoted for the price of oil that very
same day. This prompted us to research the price of oil from
different providers across Long Island for that week, none of
which were charging over $4 per gallon for heating oil, and to
look at the average compiled by NYSERDA & the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. The average price of heating oil in
Suffolk County for the week of 12/19/2022 was $4.80/gallon, a far
cry from what we were charged. In order for the price of $6.15 to
even be contained within that average would mean that there
were companies charging less than $3/gallon, which is of course
ludicrious. Both my husband and I called Petro customer service
several times to discuss this discrepancy, and to request that they
reconsider the price per gallon at which our delivery was
calculated. We have since called several times, insisting on
speaking to a manager and concerned that Petro is using
summertime highs to engage in price-gouging their customers. In
every single instance, we were misled by customer service
representatives who dismissed our concerns, and were promised
call-backs from managers who never reached out, and having our
calls disconnected after more than twenty minutes on hold. Rude
representatives refused to provide supervisors' contact info.