# Payment requested for unsolicited heating oil delivery



## Old Jim (3 Aug 2007)

An oil truck pulled up outside our house and proceeded to fill our tank with oil. There was none ordered. By the time the mistake was realised and stopped the driver, he had €35 of oil added to the tank.
The oil company have now sent a bill for this €35.
Is it fair to expect payment for this?


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## ang1170 (3 Aug 2007)

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Tell them they're welcome to take their €35 worth of oil back, anytime they want!


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## Graham_07 (3 Aug 2007)

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What if they had put in wrong fuel, dsl instead of kero or something and messed up ur boiler ? Would they be so smart then? As ang said tell them collect it or forget it.


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## z109 (3 Aug 2007)

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Make sure to tell them to only take their oil out and not any of yours!


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## Graham_07 (3 Aug 2007)

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yoganmahew said:


> Make sure to tell them to only take their oil out and not any of yours!


 
Exactly, last in first out a bit like Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, take your pound of flesh, no more no less and no blood. That'll teach them to be more careful.


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## Old Jim (3 Aug 2007)

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yoganmahew said:


> Make sure to tell them to only take their oil out and not any of yours!


I like this suggestion! Thanks all.


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## pat127 (3 Aug 2007)

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Old Jim said:


> I like this suggestion! Thanks all.



In my opinion it's a poor state of affairs when some poor unfortunate driver makes a simple mistake and the company is expected (or maybe he is) to take the loss. To suggest they take their own oil back is plain silly but I assume that's some sort of joke. What if the shoe was on the other foot, if you were the driver, how would you feel? I agree entirely that if the wrong oil was added then that changes the situation entirely and I'd expect the company to sort the issue out but otherwise why not just pay for the oil anyway? You'd have been buying more sooner or later....


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## ClubMan (3 Aug 2007)

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I disagree that the individual in question should be obliged to pay up or be inconvenienced further for the company's/driver's mistake. The point about them collecting the incorrectly delivered fuel is not silly - it can easily be done. As for having to pay for oil sooner or later the individual should have the right to shop around and not be forced unilaterally to take fuel from a particular company.


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## Sherman (3 Aug 2007)

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pat127 said:


> In my opinion it's a poor state of affairs when some poor unfortunate driver makes a simple mistake and the company is expected (or maybe he is) to take the loss. To suggest they take their own oil back is plain silly but I assume that's some sort of joke. What if the shoe was on the other foot, if you were the driver, how would you feel? I agree entirely that if the wrong oil was added then that changes the situation entirely and I'd expect the company to sort the issue out but otherwise why not just pay for the oil anyway? You'd have been buying more sooner or later....


 
Unbelievable. The driver is 100% at fault. He has a bloody cheek sending an invoice for a measly €35. As pointed out above, what if he had put in the wrong fuel type - would he have volunteered to make good the damage caused? I doubt it.

Don't give him a cent - €35 is a cheap price to pay for him to learn how to be more careful in future.


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## Old Jim (3 Aug 2007)

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Who's to say I would be buying the oil from them, at their prices? I would shop around for the best price. So you reccommend that I suffer a loss (due to potentially higher cost oil) because they made a mistake.
And what if I don't need the oil? Maybe I am moving out of the house and don't want to pay for someone else's heating?
Maybe it is an anti-competition practice on their part, empty oil into everyone's tank and then go around and collect the money?


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## ClubMan (3 Aug 2007)

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One other point - I would not necessarily ignore this but would probably write to them outlining the background to the incident and explaining, politely but firmly, that I was not going to pay and the reasons why. If I was feeling generous I would also give them a specific date that was convenient to me for them to call out and take back the amount of fuel incorrectly delivered. At least that way you have something on paper in case the issue escalates and others get involved.


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## Lauren (3 Aug 2007)

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Is there also a question of tresspass here? Did the driver enter your property without permission? I'd also be mentioning that when returning the 35 Euro invoice!


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## Guest120 (3 Aug 2007)

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Lauren said:


> Is there also a question of tresspass here? Did the driver enter your property without permission? I'd also be mentioning that when returning the 35 Euro invoice!



If he injured himself whilst putting the oil into the incorrect tank on the wrong premises I wonder would they be passing on the medical bill to the OP too.


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## BillK (3 Aug 2007)

You might also consider sending them a bill for the rental of space in your oil tank - 35 euro would probably be about the right figure to bill them for.


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## Joe1234 (11 Aug 2007)

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Graham_07 said:


> What if they had put in wrong fuel, dsl instead of kero



This actually happened to us a few years ago.  The oil company realised their mistake, drained the tank, filled the tank with kerosene (what was ordered).  They didn't charge us and actually gave us the next fill free too - purely to keep our custom, of course.  Naturally, we took our 2 free fills of oil, and havent bought from them since.


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## bytelive (12 Aug 2007)

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Nice offer all the same.  I can't imagine too many companies offering 2 free tanks of oil, regardless of their mistake.


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## Joe1234 (12 Aug 2007)

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bytelive said:


> Nice offer all the same.  I can't imagine too many companies offering 2 free tanks of oil, regardless of their mistake.



My wifes family business would use a serious amount of oil and would probably be one of their best customers.


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## Trish2006 (13 Aug 2007)

Last year I got home one day to find a bill in my door for €600 worth of oil, my address but not my name (didn't recognise it). Thought it strange since we use gas, not oil. Since I was on maternity leave and bored silly I rang the company and asked someone to look into it. They found the driver who said he put the oil into my tank. Good trick since we don't have one. Left them to it to sort it out and they rang back with an explanation. Turns out it was for someone across the road. The wrong number was taken down, 22 instead of 23. The driver went down our side passage and saw our next door neighbour's tank (the wall only separates as far as the tank at the back of the garden) and proceeded to fill that. Of course he filled it with kerosene when she used gas oil. So they had to empty her whole tank and refill with gas oil for her. Then go back and take care of the original order. Costly mistake for them. The bill I'd seen said credit card payment so there wasn't going to be any bailiffs calling but the guy from the oil co thanked me for letting them know cos it could have been worse if the neighbour had damaged her boiler using the wrong oil (unlikely but you never know) and the original customer would have been annoyed when they ran out of oil a week after paying for a full tank.
There was never the suggestion of the company doing anything other than undoing their mistake. They've a cheek to ask you to pay for their mistake. If it was a full tank maybe they could have tried to compromise with half price or something which would have benefited you too, but for €35 they're taking the mick!


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## dave28 (13 Aug 2007)

Personally I would offer the oil company something, say 20 euro, to call it quits and not have any hard feelings. If they dont accept. tell them they can recover their oil.
Also, I think it's a good idea to fit a lock on an oil tank - it helps avoid these mistakes and also discourages thieves / vandals. (A friend had half a tank siphoned off overnight - the following night the tank was stolen !!!)


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## Graham_07 (14 Aug 2007)

A neighbour of ours has a bulk gas tank. They had to put a lock on it as the company kept "topping up" the tank when they were in the area and obviously billing them for this. They asked the company not to deliver unless they had an order but they kept doing it, hence the lock. The best part though is the tank is rented, you can't buy it when it's bulk gas apparently. The company said the customer had no right putting a lock on their tank...brilliant! Needless to say, the lock is still there.


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## Jock04 (15 Aug 2007)

I suspect that the driver is not also the owner of the delivery company?
And that maybe his boss was sceptical about his tale of "wrong address", maybe suspecting said driver had put the €35 worth in his own tank?

I reckon a letter from you saying you'll accept the unwelcome intrusion & ongoing hassle for the princely sum of €35 & offer to call it quits, will be enough to satisfy the boss & you'll hear no more.


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## BlueSpud (15 Aug 2007)

Lads, get a grip.  We have turned into a nation of scalpers, and it is not nice when you are being scalped.  The guy made a mistake, offer him €20, not because he might get pissed off & come after you, but because you got €35 worth of oil.  Try being a more decent human being, you will sleep better for it.


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## car (15 Aug 2007)

> Lads, get a grip. We have turned into a nation of scalpers, and it is not nice when you are being scalped. The guy made a mistake, offer him €20, not because he might get pissed off & come after you, but because you got €35 worth of oil. Try being a more decent human being, you will sleep better for it


But how do you know that the 35e worth of oil was actually put in?    there are chancers out there, and was alluded to, how do you not know that the driver took the 35e worth of oil himself.  very hard to tell from looking at a tank how much oil is in it.  
How many posts are on that "beware of being scammed" thread?


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## ubiquitous (15 Aug 2007)

€35 is a piddly sum for the oil company to get worried about. Ring them up, explain why you wish not to pay and it should be easy to sort amicably.


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## KalEl (15 Aug 2007)

BlueSpud said:


> Lads, get a grip. We have turned into a nation of scalpers, and it is not nice when you are being scalped. The guy made a mistake, offer him €20, not because he might get pissed off & come after you, but because you got €35 worth of oil. Try being a more decent human being, you will sleep better for it.


 
Your attitude is outrageous...what has this situation got to do with being "a more decent human being"?! I'm amazed at some people's attitude in this thread...some idiot delivers something you don't want yet you should pay for it? 

Don't pay them a cent...I'd even be annoyed at having the hassle of ringing these people to get it sorted out.


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## Trish2006 (15 Aug 2007)

Bluespud, if I drove up to your house, painted the front of it and asked for €500, saying it was an accident, I got the wrong road, would you give me €400, being the decent human being you are??

The sum is so paltry that the company are incredibly taking the p**s asking for it.  And the principle is the same for the situation described above.  Would you pay for a dinner in a restaurant that you didn't order?


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## BlueSpud (15 Aug 2007)

Trish2006 said:


> Bluespud, if I drove up to your house, painted the front of it and asked for €500, saying it was an accident, I got the wrong road, would you give me €400, being the decent human being you are??
> 
> The sum is so paltry that the company are incredibly taking the p**s asking for it. And the principle is the same for the situation described above. Would you pay for a dinner in a restaurant that you didn't order?


 
Use better analogies, you cant return a paint job & it would depend on whether i ate the dinner.  If someone delivered by mistake a €35 item which I could use, I would either ask them to collect it or offer them what I believe it would be worth to me. I certainly would not try & stiff them for the item. That would be stealing!


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## BlueSpud (15 Aug 2007)

KalEl said:


> Don't pay them a cent...I'd even be annoyed at having the hassle of ringing these people to get it sorted out.


 
I am curious as to where you would draw the line?

If the bank accidently put €35 in your account, would you tell them & then return it.

If the bank accidently put €3500 in your account, would you tell them & then return it.

In your opinion, would it be stealing?


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## Trish2006 (15 Aug 2007)

Letting the bank take the money back is exactly the same as what people are suggesting here, tell them they can take the oil back which is very possible.  Noone has suggested that they shouldn't be allowed to remove the oil.
If the bank told you that they want the money back in the form of €35 worth of oil would you accomodate?  So for the oil company to say they want their oil back in the form of money...
Just because it's 'only' €35 is irrelevant.  If they put in €500 worth should you pay up??  
As you asked, where do you draw the line??
And if the house painting analogy isn't to your liking then substitute the local garden centre planting €500 worth of plants.  Would you tell them they can come and take them back or be happy enough to pay for their mistake.


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## KalEl (15 Aug 2007)

BlueSpud said:


> I am curious as to where you would draw the line?
> 
> If the bank accidently put €35 in your account, would you tell them & then return it.
> 
> ...


 
Eh, the bank puts €35 euro into your account and then takes it out.
In this case €35 of oil was put into the OP's tank. This was unsolicited...you could even argue they trespassed. Now they are invoicing for a product/service which was not ordered and cannot easily be returned.
I worry about the sanity of anyone who suggests paying this oil company.


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## BlueSpud (15 Aug 2007)

I must be making my point badly. I am not suggesting that they *must* pay the €35, I am suggesting that they at least give the oil company the option to remove the oil. If the oil company said no, they want the €35 (and not the oil), then I would draw the line.

With the plants, the garden center would be welcome to their plants back, but if I liked them, but was not prepared to pay 500, but would be prepared to pay 250, the the garden center would have a choice.


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## KalEl (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Payment requested for unsolicited goods?*



pat127 said:


> In my opinion it's a poor state of affairs when some poor unfortunate driver makes a simple mistake and the company is expected (or maybe he is) to take the loss. To suggest they take their own oil back is plain silly but I assume that's some sort of joke. What if the shoe was on the other foot, if you were the driver, how would you feel? I agree entirely that if the wrong oil was added then that changes the situation entirely and I'd expect the company to sort the issue out but otherwise why not just pay for the oil anyway? You'd have been buying more sooner or later....


 
I think it was this post which set the ball rolling really...ridiculous stuff.

Given the amounts these companies deal with, invoicing the OP for €35 is laughable. The whole incident should be forgotten and no action taken.
Syphoning the oil out, negotiating a settlement figure or paying the €35 would be ruled out by most rational people.


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## ang1170 (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Payment requested for unsolicited goods?*



KalEl said:


> Given the amounts these companies deal with, invoicing the OP for €35 is laughable. The whole incident should be forgotten and no action taken.
> Syphoning the oil out, negotiating a settlement figure or paying the €35 would be ruled out by most rational people.


 
Exactly why the option of explaining the mistake and offering them the oil back is the sensible approach to take. 

Presumably someone in the oil company will realise the idiocy of the situation of even looking for the amount "owed", decide the cost of retrieving it makes no sense and will close the whole thing.

Just doing nothing will probably keep the invoices (and ultimately the baliffs) coming. Believe me, stranger things have happened.


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## Old Jim (16 Aug 2007)

It's interesting some people's views on this situation.

In the end, I told the advice here and sent the company a letter stating that I would not be paying and to remove the sum from the records.
Haven't heard anything since, so hopefully commonsense has prevailed and that the company realised that it would not be worth the effort to recover the oil (or the money) and that the matter is now closed.
Thanks all for your thoughts and help (even the ones I don't agree with!)


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## roker (19 Aug 2007)

While we are on this subject. Does anyone calculate the amount on the meter reading x the price. Our delivery man charged €6 over and then the company refused to refund it when I phoned them up, they said they would take it of the next bill.
If he does this at every delivery he his making a few Euros a day.


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## dave28 (19 Aug 2007)

Old Jim said:


> An oil truck pulled up outside our house and proceeded to fill our tank with oil. There was none ordered. By the time the mistake was realised and stopped the driver, he had €35 of oil added to the tank.
> The oil company have now sent a bill for this €35.
> Is it fair to expect payment for this?



Most of these oil companies now have computerised accounting systems, so its my guess that the invoice went out automatically having not had any human intervention (some trucks even have data loggers which means the ball is rolling immediately - in this case the driver HAD to record the delivery).
 All it would take is a phonecall to the oil company, have them hit a keyboard a few times , and bingo, problem solved - "no charge / driver error" !!!


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