H. John Davis John Davis Oil This company will nickel and dime and ultimately STEAL your money Internet, Internet

I have been a long-standing customer of theirs for at least six years now. On March 19, 2012 I contacted them to see if they would be willing to give me an estimate for some service work on a relative's furnace.
Initially the rep (Debbie) said they don't do any service work unless that relative has an account with them. But they made an exception and sent someone out....for which I was grateful because my intent was to ultimately open up a
second account for my relative with HJohn.

The service tech showed up at my relative's house that same day.  After diagnosing the problem and pouring some cleaning powder on the oil tanks (a process that in total took no more than 15 minutes), he went to his van to (what I thought) write up an estimate on what the repairs would cost so I can then provide that to my relative. When he hands it to me, he also hands me a bill for $175.00! I was in complete shock because ALL I wanted was an ESTIMATE for future service. He said by default they charge $125.00 just to come out...and the additional costs were for the powdering he did. He said there was nothing he could do and advised I call the office.

So 10 minutes later, I did. And Debbie was absolutely NO help...to the point of talking to me like I was a child. She said it wasn't her intent to mislead me, but that "no one does something for nothing."  The fact she would even make a comment like that really got to me. i tried explaining to her that my initial call was just for an ESTIMATE, and that they WOULD have gotten ten times that amount for the service work and potential contract when my relative
was ready to move forward with the repairs. I told them I would consider cancelling my account if they don't work with me, and she had nothing to say except "this is what it is"...and "there is nothing they can do".

I am extremely upset with them for leading me to believe they were going to do what I wanted (come out for an estimate) only to then get billed $175.00 for 15 minutes of time...a fee that was NEVER disclosed to me
when I made the initial call.  I am even more upset that they did nothing to try and work with me...a long-time customer
who has easily paid them more than $10,000 over the years.

So I submitted a letter via fax to H. John Davis on the very same day (March 19th) indicating that as of April 1st, I no longer want to be a customer of theirs. I had pre-paid my fuel back in August 2011 in the amount of $2651.32 and signed a contract with them that was valid through March 31st 2012.

According to the terms of that contract, I would get penalized if I cancelled the contract prior to March 31.  Despite the fact my letter was for cancellation as or APRIL 1, they are STILL penalizing me .75 cents per gallon of the unused gallons I had pre-purchased.  I called them on March 22, 2012 and asked Debbie to tell me exactly where in the contract it said I would get penalized this fee after April 1st.  She couldn't give me a straight answer and said it was because I was not authorizing any more oil deliveries between now and April 1.

So not only have I lost $175.00, I have now also lost another $328.00 for this penalty fee that I should NOT have to pay according to the written contact.

I am at the point where I am ready to take them to small claims court. My previous customer-service history with them has never been fantastic...and this is just icing on the cake.  I am absolutely disgusted at how little they care about keeping a long-time customer satisfied. 

And please note - unlike other people who complain about everything, I have NEVER posted a complaint like this for any company I've dealt with in my lifetime.  H. John Davis in Mt. Pocono Pennsylvania is the first company that has pushed me way too far.