did they inform you at the time of the verbal agreement that there would be a penalty of 399 dollars to release you from your verbal agreement? and since you have been with this company for several years were you aware of this policy prior to the verbal agreement?

if so then you are definatley obligated.

if not it would seem that they would have a hard time collecting this fee. a party to a contract cant just interject fees and service charges whenever they see fit and at whatever amount suits them.

you know what you can afford and what you cant. dont listen to anyone on here telling you what "honor" is. your not screwing anyone by changing your mind. make your own decision. but definately consult a lawyer in your state prior to making any decisions. laws vary greatly from state to state.

some of you guys need to get a grip and gain some perspective....................... and maybe a little respect along the way. the issue is not if the agreement was made but if they have the right to collect a fee in the event of the cancelation of a verbal agreement.

This makes the most sense, and in this case they followed up with the written contract to explain all the fee's.

A written contract which they wanted signed after the fact.

Geezzz... All I did was ask a simple question and look what it turns into.



Just a few facts:

No credit card info was ever given over the coarse of the of the past few years contracts (At least I don't recall ever giving them one). I always payed by check after the deliveries. They would send me a bill. And I always pay my bills.

Contract terms are for 1 year. You have to purchase oil from them exclusively

When I contacted Co.#1 it was with the intentions of barganing with them based on the quote from Co.#2. and they were not willing to negotiate

I asked Co.#1 what they would do If I cancel. They said if I don't pay the $399, it would be turned over to "collections". Then it goes against my credit report and that's not good.

I'm not trying to weasle out!

And here's the most prevalent Fact:
At about 9:00 pm one evening, the phone rings and it's Co.#1 contacting me to let me know that my current contract is about to expire. They totally catch me off guard and proceed to tell me the terms of the new contract. It was a fairly lengthy mouthful that was read to me. I don't recall if they ever mentioned the cancellation fee / nor do I recall them saying anything about having time to think about it. But at the end of them reading the terms, I say "I'm not crazy about the price but OK I agree. Thank You and goodbye.
A few days go by, and I recieve a flyer in the mail from Co.#2. I give them a call to check out their pricing. Not only is the cost of oil cheaper on that day, but their cap is significantly less, They are also cheaper on the yearly service contract in the event that the oil burner/heating system fails. All sounds great. Let me call Co#1 and try to chew them down a bit seeing how the new contract is not yet in effect. No oil has been purchased under the new contract, so it's not like I'm trying to renage on something that has already been done.
In my Opinion, they catch me off guard and don't allow me any time to check out the competition is kind of a foul.

Shame on me for not telling them to send it to me in writing so I can look it over and then decide. I should have known better because they do this everytime the contract is up for renewal.

I'm going to stick with Co.#1 just to avoid the headache.
It's not about money now, they just pissed me off. Next year.... rest asurred I'll be changing to another company.

Three days right to cancel
 

Here in Michigan we have three business days to cancel. If it was me I would call company #1 and tell them that they have the right to match company #2's price. If they don't like it too bad. If they wasted there time to make a bad credit report I would sue them. I am a business owner and if I quoted a job and the customer called up and told me he got a better price ( even if I had a signed contract - as long as NO product was purchased ) I would concider it void but would try to resell or rework my price. It wouldn't be good for my name if I went after someone over something as petty as this. If the oil company went after YOU for this I would make it a part time job to smear them.

Raytart: how much you figure you will overpay with Co. 1 vs. Co. 2 over the next year?

Not sure. I figure that its just a matter of time that I will be charged the "Cap" price. Seeing how crude is in the upswing.
I really don't keep a record of how many gallons I use.
But last year (2011) from Jan thru Dec I spent $3704 on home heating oil. I would have to estimate 1000 gallons.
So, at differance of 60 cent that comes out to $600 over the 1 year period, assuming that I use the same amount of fuel as last year.
I forgot to mention that Co.#2 will give me a $100 credit for the first purchase as a new customer incentive. Plus the $30 differance in the cost of the Burner insurance plan.
Like I stated in an earlier post, It's not a tremendous amount, it's just the principle of them not being willing to renegotiate. Now they left a bad taste and I would not reccommend or reuse them.

I understand, hopefully with the warm weather this winter so far you'll be a bit less.

My annual cost for natural gas here in WI is ~1000-1100. 2300 sq ft multi-level home.

Inform them in a polite manner you will agree (if that's your decision) and will never use them again in the future if they can't work with you.