Oil company, customer dispute late call
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Reporter

Gregory Fagan, of Chapel Street, can't seem to understand what went wrong when the gage on his oil furnace broke overnight and he could only get oil for a cash payment.

Fagan's mother-in-law called him, while he was with his wife who had just has a C-section to deliver the couple's second son, to tell him the house was very cold. As he arrived home from the hospital on the night of Feb. 15 it appeared that his gage was stuck at the halfway point and the tank was actually out of oil.

Fagan and Huhtala Oil President David Huhtala differ in their opinion of what happened next. Fagan said they refused to deliver except for an immediate payment, while Huhtala says Fagan misunderstood the policy and hung-up.

The company president said there are pay on delivery customers and continuing account customers.

"He likes to pay when the oil is delivered," Huhtala said.

A customer can pay through cash, check, credit card or money order no mater when the delivery is requested, the company president said.

"If he had been a regular charge customer he could have paid in the next 10 days," Huhtala said.

But Huhtala said if Fagan had explained the situation then there would not have had a problem, even if he did not have the money on him at the time.

"(The driver) is not going to let the guy go without hear," he said. "The guys are used to going out at night."

Fagan said the company representative was very clear - no money, no oil.

"We never got oil that night," Fagan said of the night his family spent huddled under blankets.

The pair both agrees that the company was closed when Fagan called, which required the answering service to answer and have the driver call him back.

Huhtala Oil Company is based in Templeton, so the company charges a fee for after hour deliveries that includes driving time and service time.

"We have been receiving oil from the for years," Fagan said.

A point which the oil company agrees with.

Fagan said he doesn't usually have a problem with the oil tank but that it is has been different this winter because they have been going through the fuel slower.

"It's been a warm winter," Fagan said. "I check it in a regular basis."

He said this incident made him realize that he needed to be "more in tune with the oil tank."

Huhtala said when a customer calls for delivery they don't track how often they go out to the home. They company just keeps track of the bills and the services.

"If he was on automatic delivery and it was our fault (he ran out), we wouldn't charge," he said.