Hoffman Fuel Company of Danbury Inc

I have contacted Mr***, and we have reached an agreement for the damage to the carpetWe
will be issuing him a credit on his account after he sends us the paid receipt for the damage
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Service Manager
Hoffman Energy
Phone ***
Customer Service ***
Fax ***
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All of Hoffman's daily delivered prices under ceiling contracts are driven by a variety of factors including our cost to purchase the product, which is driven by the daily fluctuations on the [redacted], transportation charges, the cost of hedging and ceiling protection purchases,...

operational costs and profit.   The comparison [redacted] uses is to a C.O.D. market, which is not a fair analysis.  All of Hoffman's price protected customers delivered prices will vary based on several factors, including the cost of the ceiling protection which fluctuates and margin attained.   In an effort to provide some relief, we have issued a $50 good will adjustment to the consumer's account.

Review: We have been clients of Hoffman's for more than 20 years. We bought and installed a new furnace from them 4 years ago.Each year we enroll for the service plan and pay monthly. The past three years we have paid for a service call to fix "air in the pipes". Last year we paid hundreds to have it repaired and we were told it was not covered in the package. This year we had the inspection to qualify for the Platinum Plan, and the quoted estimate to repair so the furnace would be eligible for the plan. When the service tech came out to do the repair he said "this unit was not properly installed" he also had not even seen the quote when the invoice was done. We have been paying Hoffman for coverage and repairs on a unit that was never properly installed. When we called and spoke with the Service Manager, he was annoyed and uninterested in hearing the complaint. The service tech has more integrity than his own Manager. The service manager decided to take $300 off of the bill of $1170.16. This is not a solution. We are still currently paying the protection plan every month on a unit that was improperly installed and billed $1170 for service. I have continued to pay my monthly budgeted amount but now they are with holding any delivery until the invoice for service call is paid. There is still air in the pipes and the unit should be covered under the platinum plan but that would require another interaction with Hoffman, making myself subject to there unfair protection plan and practices.Desired Settlement: I am requesting an independent inspection of the furnace and all of the invoiced work verified. I am requesting a refund of the service calls for the past three years because of their improper installation of the unit.

Business

Response:

Listed below is a history, from a service perspective for the property of [redacted] since the boiler installation in 2007. Installations are generally accompanied by a one year warranty.

12-12-2007 - Boiler installation

5-12-2008 - Hoffman received a request for a service call related to a no heat situation ; a nozzle and electrodes were replaced at no charge

10-19-2010 – Hoffman inspected the mixing valve at no charge

11-29-2012- A cleaning was performed and a mixing valve was replaced at a cost of $236.31 + tax for the valve and labor

3-9-2013 – Hoffman received a request for service for a no hot water situation; a [redacted] temp valve was replaced at a cost of $351 + tax.

7-8-2013- Hoffman received a request for service for a water leak – the customer refused service

7-10-2013 – Hoffman returned for service for the water leak and tightened some fittings at no charge

11-3-2014 – Hoffman received a request for service for a heating zone not working; the expansion tank and relief valve were replaced at a cost of $284.18 + tax.

8-26-2015 – During the tune-up, the Hoffman technician recommended that the coil gasket, mixing valve and fittings be replaced.

11-13-2015 Hoffman returned to complete this additional work at a charge of $1100.30 + tax.

During all the above service work, the customer maintained a Gold Service Contract that did not cover any of the plumbing and water controls that were replaced. The customer had no service work requests for 3 years and had their 1st billable service call a full 5 years after the installation in 2007. Thereafter, service requests were received each year until the present date. The customer was upgraded to our Platinum Plan after the latest repairs were made and a total credit of $309.53 was issued against the 11-13-2015 repairs. The platinum plan annual cost is $485.95; Ms. Brown was billed at a discounted rate of $156.00 plus tax.

In reviewing the service history, the visits on 3-9-2013 and 7-8-2013 should have been combined and more than likely were the same issue but not fixed on 3-9-2013. We will be adjusting the call on 3-9-2013 in full and credit the customer’s account for $351 + tax.

No service visit that was subsequent to the installation was related to improper installation of the boiler.

Review: I signed contract with HOffman Energy at heating oild ceiling price at 3.489 per gal from 11/1/2014. It means when the mark oil price is lower than 3.489, the price is market price. If the market price is higher than the ceiling price, it is the ceiling price.However, the price charged to my home is 44cent/gal higher when the company deliver to my home (my home: $2.93/gal on 12/31/14 and @2.93 on 1/30/15) than other homes ($2.49 or so/gal) with the same ceiling price. At the same day, the retail price (delivery on demand) is only $2.19 on their website. I called the customer sercie,confirmed that oil price is $2.14 for 150gal, and $2.17 for 120gal. I am also told the price to contract customer include service fee. the price was increased recently. I have paid additionly contract service fee $109 for signing silver contract service plan. Based on their website price, the price was not changed from $2.19 to $2.29 until 2/5/15. Apparently, the company is charging variably to different cusomter at much higher price. The company charged existing customer with much higher price on heating oil.Desired Settlement: I need price comparison of retail priced and daily price to existing customer with ceiling price contract from 12/1/2014 to now:Daily price to the customer signing ceiling prices (different daily price to different ceiling price) to show the difference. If the price to my home is higher, a refund should be issued.

Business

Response:

All of Hoffman's daily delivered prices under ceiling contracts are driven by a variety of factors including our cost to purchase the product, which is driven by the daily fluctuations on the [redacted], transportation charges, the cost of hedging and ceiling protection purchases, operational costs and profit. The comparison [redacted] uses is to a C.O.D. market, which is not a fair analysis. All of Hoffman's price protected customers delivered prices will vary based on several factors, including the cost of the ceiling protection which fluctuates and margin attained. In an effort to provide some relief, we have issued a $50 good will adjustment to the consumer's account.

Review: 6/12/2015 - Damaged caused to my property due to improper installation.

Details of the email I sent to are below to [redacted] (Hoffman Service Manager) and [redacted] (Sales Rep).

Dear [redacted] and [redacted],

I am writing this email to you to let you know that I have reached a point with all the installation issues for my Heating and Air Conditioning system through the Hoffman Company where I need to seek out some type of restitution.

Last week Hoffman completed the installation of our new Air Conditioning unit and yesterday we ran it for the very first time. The result was water damage in our basement. The root cause was due to the installation error of plumbing (line trap and pitch) going to the condensation pump. This failed and water leaked onto the basement floor for 15hrs. The amount of water was significant running into our T.V. and damaging newly installed carpet/pad.

I had to take more time off from work again to address the clean-up as well as wait for a service technician to come to the house and fix the problem.

Regarding the Heating System. As you are well aware we have had many installation issues, system failures, parts on back-order or wrong part arrivals taking 4-months to correct.

I have lost more than 1-week of time from work to address each of these issues.

The heating system does work now, but it was pointed out to me that they should have added a separate electrical shut off for the boiler and not combined it with the air-handler. Since they are separate systems, this basic feature would allow the boiler to be shut off in the summer to save money while allowing the air-handler to work for fan or A/C in the other three seasons.

I am completely frustrated, disappointed and now have added expense and more lost time.

Feel free to contact me to discuss a form of restitution.

Regards,

[redacted] -Desired Settlement: Refund of balance of A/C unit cost since I now have to replace carpeting and remediate water damage.

Business

Response:

I have contacted Mr. [redacted], and we have reached an agreement for the damage to the carpet. We will be issuing him a credit on his account after he sends us the paid receipt for the damage.