Home heating oil delivery less than online quote, no notice online price cheaper.

JP1234

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I had some oil delivered on Saturday ( I was out when it arrived) and was surprised to find that I received roughly 10% less than I thought would arrive. I had checked the price on cheapestoil.ie and on the company's own website prior to ordering. It clearly stated that €xxx would buy by XXXLitres of oil.

I rechecked it again this morning and the price is still the same. Rang the company and have been told that the price online includes a discount but there is nothing on the website to suggest this. I checked the T&C ( going as far as to fill in the online order form so I could view the full T&C before submitting the order) and also checked the back of the delivery docket put through the door.

I know there is little hope of me getting anything back of them but I am wondering what the legal position is. If the price includes an online discount do they have to state this. I have checked a couple of others this morning and they all have "price applies to online orders" or similar displayed prominently.

I didn't order online as you have to input your card details and the order form is not secure ( no https and padlock confirming the site is secured)
 
Hi,

It seems you have to be pay online for the cheaper price. I have been stung quite a few times in a slightly different way.

I would have been very loyal to one company over the last few years. I am a commercial user and for reasons of access etc.. it suited me to use the one delivery driver etc..

I never realised for a long time that I was being " done" for being loyal. I always just rang in my order and paid on delivery or on account. It turns out that by doing this, I was paying upto €50 extra per fill.
Nobody ever told me to pay for the oil online.

It purely was by accident that I found out. A staff member rang looking for a quote and was told to pay via their website.

Disgraceful behaviour in my book .. I'm also assuming that a large percentage of loyal customers are probably older and not all that computer savvy.
 
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Sue Ellen - I had a look around the consumer website, couldn't find anything about online prices being different, I may call them. I know a lot of them do offer cheaper prices on line but they normally would say it was an online price, this particular company don't have anything to suggest the online price is different to ordering by phone. That is what is irking me most.


Armard - This is a VERY small company, they only have 2 delivery trucks, one driven by the owner and one employed driver, the orders are taken by the joint owner ( husband and wife), so I wouldn't expect them to make big savings via online orders as they don't employ any extra staff to deal with taking orders however they come in. I would imagine they have a lot of established customers who may also be getting stung like this

If I had known it was an online price only I would have just stuck with the place I have used for the last 9 years, they just charge the same no matter how you order, at least with them I can trust the price given is accurate.

Lesson learned I suppose.
 
I doubt you have any recourse as I'm assuming (having read your post) that you didn't ask them what the price was when you phoned in your order. They are perfectly entitled to charge different prices, many businesses operate such a model.

T&Cs etc. on the website only need to cover the terms for orders processed through that channel.
Leo
 
Thanks Leo, I thought as much, when I ordered it didn't occur to me to check how much oil I would be getting, just presumed it would be the amount quoted on the website.

I just won't be using them again.
 
In fairness to the company, I just got a phone call apologising for the error and they are going to refund me the difference.

They are also going to update the website to reflect the price difference for ordering online
 
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