Marts Oil Deceptive Advertising of Lowest Available Oil Price Wilmington Delaware

Everyone knows or should know in that in reviewing advertisments, that you have to be cautious of the attention getting phrases and see what price applies to you.

It is clear the complaints of this service are based upon the experiences of individuals who do not completely read or review the options being offered.

I recently considered Marts Oil's service to see if I could save money on oil deliveries.

I went to their website and reviewed their information.
- It was clear from the beginning that you had to read their terms and conditions completely and that they had several different price programs.
- It was equally clear their 'contract year' runs strictly from May 1st through April 30th of the following year, not from when you sign on to any of their programs.
- Any changes to your individual program to avoid any fees have to be made from May 1st through May 15th.

I learned this in 15-20 minutes from reading their published information.

I then called their offices and asked several questions.

You can either pay:
1. a 'variable' price which is their retail price effective upon delivery OR
2. a 'price protected' price OR
3. a 'wholesale' price.

1. The 'variable' price would be the highest. It is likley similar to your local oil company's price with little or no advantage.

2. The 'price protected' price is cheaper than the 'variable' price, but has a fee for your being able to protect this lower price. The current $30/100 gal fee is equal to an additional $.30/gal.

3. The 'wholesale' price is cheaper yet and is the price usually quoted in the advertisements. It requires your joining their 'Partner' program. You either deposit $3,500 OR merely pay upon delivery by credit/debit card. The credit/debit card option has a 3.5% 'convenience' fee added on to the delivery bill. There is an annual fee of $399 to join the 'Partner' program.


The info below may be helpful to other consumers considered Marts Oil, but perform your own calculations before getting involved in any contract.

It assumes you will be charged the 3.5% convenience fee against the $399 membership fee as well. Per Marts customer service, the 'Partner' membership fee can be spread across the first three (3) delivery payments.

If I were to join the 'Partner' program, use 1000 gal per year, pay upon delivery by credit card (without any $3500 deposit) and have 5 deliveries of 200 gallons each per year, the current annual cost would be - assuming the current 1.699/gal 'wholesale' price (as of 12/02/08) does not increase:

1st delivery: 200 gal @ $1.699 + $133 (1/3 of $399 membership fee) + 3.5% convenience fee = $339.80 + $133 + $16.55 = $489.35 ~ $2.447/gal.

2nd delivery: same cost as 1st delivery

3rd delivery: same cost as 1st delivery

4th delivery: $339.80 + $11.89 = $351.69 ~ $1.758/gal

5th delivery: same cost as 4th delivery

The overall cost per year for 1000 gallons is $2,171.43 ~ $2.171/gal


My local guy just got $2.89/gal from us for 200 gallons. On that basis, for a full year (1000 gal) that would save me $718.57.

However, at this point I need only 800 additional gallons for this year. I will have to spread the $399 membership fee over that lesser amount of oil and the annual savings will be reduced. I will basically lose the cheaper 5th delivery as outlined above and my cost will be the combined cost of the first four (4) deliveries, since I still have to pay the full $399 'Partner' membership fee. I estimate the remainder of this heating season (if bought through Marts) will cost me $1,819.74 for 800 gal, which equates to $2.275/gal.

As a result, I could save (Dec '08 through May '09) $.615/gal for 800 gal or $492.26 using Marts' 'Partner' program.

It seems worth it to me. However, any savings depends upon Marts' 'wholesale' price remaining substantially cheaper in comparison with local prices, especially as prices go up and down for oil during the heating season.

I am not affliated with Marts in any way and have yet to use their service. I live in Burlington County NJ.