Ways to Ensure Right Oil Delivery Quantity?

ChasMan

Well, there is a rule of thumb gauge on the tank.. The only way you could be shorted is if they say they put 100 gallons in and only put 95 or something. How you would detect that would be with a dip stick guage. All of the danks have a inches of fuel to depth guage. You would need to measue it before and after delivery.

D107

Ensure you're getting what you're paying for?

Had a talk with my neighbor the other day who claimed he had to switch oil companies since he felt they were shorting him on deliveries. It was hard for me to understand exactly what he meant but he felt there are ways that one person's delivery can be cut a little short and carried over to the next delivery if the distance was near enough. He said somehow he had caught them.

Anyway is this a concern? Are there tank gauges/meters available to ferret out inaccurate deliveries, whether intentional or not?

With all the talk of efficiency etc. this might be one area that could also add up.

Thanks,

David

J.C.A._3

Depending on where you are....

You can call the local weights and measure inspector and have them check the output of a trucks meter. Here in Ma. they are checked once a year and sealed. Any work done to the meter requires another trip to their shop for recertifying. Chris

Solarstar

Apparently caught one dealer in my area filling up his oil tanker after he filled your tank but it was on your houses bill so his truck fueling was free.... how long he had done this is a mystery. Paul

Guy_6

tickets

I have also known of unscrupulous dealers that made two delivery tickets for accounts. One was metered at their shop, and the other at the actual delivery. They would simply leave the higher of the two at the time of delivery. Unfortunately, wherever there is a system, there are ways around it. If only all of that effort and thought went towards something positive....

D107

sounds pretty straightforward

Sounds like the thing to do is make spot checks of the tank gauge before and after a delivery.

Somewhere perhaps on the wall I read that turning off the heating system during delivery is a good idea and then turning on a half hour later in order to prevent sludge problems. (I guess to let oil settle?) Never heard of anyone actually doing this.

Alan_11

oil delivery

Hookup an hour meter to the output of your primary control. Reset it to zero when the tank is full, and then next time the tank is filled use the accumulated hours times the actual firing rate of the burner to compare against what you are being billed for.Don't forget that if the pump pressure is set above 100 psi the nozzle size is not the same as the firing rate

Keith_8

How about

buying your oil from a reputable dealer?

Why is that consumers worry about paying a couple of extra pennies per gallon and then are suprised by crooks scheming ways to turn a profit?

Hire reputable companies with a long standing tradition of doing the right thing and rest easy. These companies wouldn't think of jepordising their reputation by hiring or keeping thieving, scheming employees.

Keith

Guy_6

Right

There are probably many ways, some costly in time, money, or both, that you could check your dealer, but it WAS best said above: Buy from someone reputable. If an oil company has a profile in the community, chances are that the local sealer of weights and measures will remember them at the time that meters need to be sealed. Also, someone known will NOT take the chance of ruining their reputation. There is more money to be made in building a solid business. When you figure it out, $.05 per gallon more totals out to $40 per year for the average home. Pretty cheap for peace of mind, and hopefully better service as well. It's like gasoline- how much fuel have I burned driving around to get to a station where I could save 2 cents per gallon. A whopping 50 cent savings...

D107

I think that generally is the right answer

With a little extra homework, most of us can find the best companies, and aside from occasional spot checks to rule out error, I wouldn't want to have to spend time and energy checking every gallon. And I would certainly pay a little more for better service.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have thought to start this thread had not my neighbor --usually a rather alert consumer--given me an earful about a company he THOUGHT was reputable. Also, in general, the Wallies seem to generally decry what they perceive as declining standards in the industry. (Of course they're also not happy about how so many consumers are pre-occupied with saving $$ at the expense of quality, all of which may drive the declining standards.)

Thanks to the Wall for educating PROs and consumers alike.

Weezbo

There was a Robin Hood type charater delivering fuel in the

60's who know who had what size tank and who needed what ,was able to get fuel to the needy at half price by shorting people on on auto fill.....that guy is Gone.he's Outta Here. there are all kinds of meters weights and standards gps clear communications it is unlikely that could happen in this day and age....

There is a great many up and running crooks that run about pumping down oil tanks on New homes under construction,recently.... i have no idea the whys and wherefores of that or how they doit or what posses them to think and then act out buh someone will catch them ...this rollpin i have in my pocket is to keep in mind to drill out and bang in a steel roll pin on every fuel oil tank fill and vent.in winter the ground is froze so i suppose they will simply bring a bigger wrench and spin the pipe outta the tank.

well at least it may slow them down a bit.