How to Choose an Oil Company
 

Here is a brief look at the three different types of oil companies that you may find.

First, it is important to know that all home heating oil companies buy a gallon of oil at the same price, no matter if they buy 10 thousand gallons a year or 10 million gallons a year. Unlike Walmart and car dealerships, where the more they buy the less they pay for their product, an oil company sets its price based on how much overhead it has.

There are basically 3 types of oil companies. First there is the discount oil company. They normally have the lowest price per gallon because they have the lowest overhead - but they offer limited services. You have to keep your eye on the level of your tank yourself, and you have to call when you need an oil delivery. You better not let it get to a ¼ of a tank because these companies can take days to deliver in the cold weather. Also, they want payment on delivery. Sometimes in the cold weather you may need two deliveries in a single month, so think of what that does to your budget. The big reason these companies can keep their price down is they have no in-house service department to fix your heating system should it break down or need an annual tune-up and vacuuming. Oh sure, they will tell you that they provide services but typically they give you the phone number of an outside contractor servicing five or six oil companies that doesn't know you at all. The big question you want to ask them is, "Will the service truck that comes to my house have your company's name on it?".  That will tell you what type of service to expect from that company. You see, it costs a lot to have an in-house service department on call 24/7.

Now, on to the next type of oil company - the big oil company. They're the ones that sell 10 million gallons a year and they have the most overhead. They do have automatic deliveries and 24/7 service departments but, because they are so big, they're tied in with the unions. Their employees are only allowed to do union work, which dictates the number of deliveries and service calls they can make each day. They have a president, a few vice presidents, a sales manager, a sales force and telemarketers. Their delivery area tends to be very large from Boston to the Cape, up to New Hampshire and out to the western part of the state. All of this brings their overhead way up, which causes the price of their oil and services to be high.

Now, the third type of company is the type that Anderson Oil Service is - in the middle. We at Anderson Oil offer an in-house service department that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have computerized automatic deliveries and offer a discount if you pay within 10 days. We also offer a budget program so you can spread your oil payments over a 10 month period, making your oil cost more affordable. We deliver to a small area of 8 towns so we can streamline our deliveries to keep your costs down and provide quick responses to your needs. Being close to you could be important if we're battling a Northeaster outside. We truly are your local oil company. Our friendly staff is here to serve you, whether it's answer billing questions, providing prompt automatic deliveries, or giving you expert oil burner service. Just to let you know, we have three oil delivery trucks and three service vans. We're big enough to serve you but small enough to know you.

I hope this has been informative and answered some questions on how to choose an oil company. So, give us a call to answer any questions or set up an appointment with me to go over your heating systems.

John T. Anderson

 
 
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