Burke Energy

They are completely incompetent, which I can only assume is an intentional money-making effort. They are super nice on the phone and then do nothing to correct their errors. We have been using for 4 months and in that time: 1. They signed us up for a service contract when we could not have been more clear that we did not want one -- they used the sign-up fee for the service contract we did not want as the $150 sign-up fee "credit." It took four phone calls to correct and obtain the actual advertised credit. 2. First fill up took three phone calls to get -- notwithstanding being promised each time that they would deliver later that day. 3. They fill up our tank without asking, even if we still have 3/4s of a tank. This has happened three times even though they said they would only fill when we were down to 1/4 of a tank. This practice allows them to fill when oil prices are high. 4. The manager that signed us up somehow thinks it is appropriate to call repeatedly on our cell phone to try to sell us an alarm system. 5. Fed up, we asked to terminate our contract due to their ineptitude and they won't do so without a termination fee.

We ran out of heating oil 3 different times because they did not calculate correctly the oil we needed. They came fairly promptly to fill the tank but we had to be without heat for several hours each time. Their service people were all professional and competent once they showed up.

I have a maintenance contract with them. It is very hard to get an appointment for just a standard annual evaluation the wait list is very long and I would say they either need to hire more employees because the normal wait is about four to six months and I find that very frustrating. They are willing to negotiate when you sign an annual contract and my biggest complaint is the ability to get an appointment. If you have an emergency they are very prompt, but they don't do anything else but address the emergency and if you just let them to come and do an annual tune up which is part of your contract you have to call them October if you want to come them in February.

Their price runs a full $1 higher than competitors. Though I'm on auto- delivery, I have run out of oil 3 times. When my contract is up, I plan on finding a new company.

I signed up with Burke for service contract &oil delivery. I had my credit card on file with Burke for automatic billing. My credit card was charged for oil delivery with a late payment fee added on. When I called to complain I was told it was an error & they would refund late fee to my credit card. This did not happen but late fee was credited to my next delivery. Several deliveries later my card was again charged for delivery plus late charge. When I called to I was told it was an error & would continue to happen, just call & notify them every time it happened & they would make adjustment. I received notice of change of term & conditions stating if I did not agree to terms & conditions I could cancel agreement. When I called to cancel I was told terms & conditions did not matter & if I cancelled I would be charged an early termination fee. I said I did not want to pay early termination fee, but did not wish to continue relationship past end of agreement. I also notified them by e-mail & US mail return receipt I wished to end our relationship at the end of agreement. Upon my next oil delivery I sent a check for entire amount to avoid another late fee error. Four days after my bank cleared my check Burke generated a statement saying my credit card was about to be billed for the oil I already paid for plus renewal of service agreement. When I called to complain they they had record of payment & notice not to renew contract & I would not be charged. I just received an invoice stamped "Final Notice" stating they had renewed my tank protection & are expecting payment. I can't say if this company is dishonest or just grossly mismanaged. I only know I am fighting stage IV kidney cancer & should not have to waste so much energy fighting an oil company.

We signed up with Burke in September of 2015 to provide Automatic delivery of our heating oil for the winter, and though the price we negotiated was great, the overall experience was terrible. In brief, despite being 'automatic' we ran out of oil two times, necessitating two service visits, a cancelled vacation, ultimately a broken furnace, and now we are responsible for a $400 cancellation fee when we "broke" the contract having decided to convert to gas instead of replacing the furnace with a new oil furnace. In the first instance of the oil running out, I noticed that we had not had a delivery in quite awhile, so I checked the oil level and we were down to about 1/8 tank. I immediately called to ask for an oil delivery the next day, and was told that I was "on the schedule" and it would be another 3-5 business days. I said that was unacceptable, that I shouldn't have to call for "automatic delivery" and that we needed oil the next day. The representative told me to "call when I ran out" and then they could send a service guy out to bring emergency oil. Surprise - about 1.5 days later, we ran out of oil over the night- but, as I was calling to have the service guy come out, the oil truck came and delivered, so I thought I was okay. I didn't realize, though, that the furnace needed to be bled in order for it to start up properly. So, a few hours later (when I realized the furnace was not running properly) I called back and was given a long window for when the service guy was going to come (until about 10 pm at night, as it was busy, as I recall). He never came... when I called again, another representative said they had no record of my call and that they would send a new person out by 3 am. I slept on my couch in a very cold house until he arrived at 2:30 and restarted the furnace. The next time we ran out was a somewhat similar situation - we were noticing the tank getting low (it was a very cold snap, so we were going through oil quickly, as was everyone I assume) and called when it was about 1/4 tank. We actually had travel planned for the weekend, with my older parents coming to take care of the kids. As snow was in the forecast (a blizzard even), and because of our terrible previous experience, we actually cancelled our trip, as we didn't want my parents to have to deal with running out of oil, etc. And yes, we did run out of oil again. And again, oil was delivered on the day we ran out. This time, I knew to call to have the service guy come out (and followed up repeatedly to make sure the guys was coming), so the furnace was turned on quickly. We did not run out of oil again over the winter, but in the early spring, the furnace broke. It was an old furnace, and the Burke guy who came out said there was really no way to fix it safely, and therefore cut a number of wires, rendering it non-functioning. We had been thinking about converting to gas, and thus it seemed the right time to do so, rather than purchase another oil furnace. And here is our problem - when we called Burke, we were told that we would have to pay a $400 cancellation fee, as we broke our contract. I tried to dispute the charge, arguing that they did not hold up their end of the contract, as we ran out of oil twice (as described above). Additionally, we were told by one of the service guys that running out of oil is very bad for an old furnace could cause real damage (and surprise, it broke!). And the best part, since we actually did get oil delivered on the same day we ran out, Burke says they have no record of us actually running out of oil (as the service guy did not have to add oil), just that we had two service calls (coincidentally, or course, on days the truck came to deliver). I neat trick to not actually record the reason for the service calls... Burke also told me that "occasionally, with a new customer, it takes a while to know when to deliver" which I can understand, except I called both times to request a delivery, and we still ran out! Therefore they said there was nothing they could do about the cancellation fee, as they acknowledge they have a loose definition of "Automatic" delivery. I would not recommend Burke Energy to anyone for oil delivery.

This is an awful company to deal with. I signed up for a variable rate contract and they locked me in to a fixed rate. It took me numerous times calling them and many frustrating conversations for Burke to change me to the variable rate I originally requested. In the interim they billed me at a much higher fixed price rate. They could not figure out how to adjust this and then continously billed me incorrectly after I had it changed. I had a manager actually send me a letter stating that I was actually on the variable rate plan and I was being billed incorrectly. The customer service and credit department could not even communicate properly with each other. Because I refused to pay the incorrect difference in bills and only paid what I owed they sued me. I received a letter from a law firm and they filed in court. After speaking once to the lawtyers and showing them the letters I had and documentation, they immediately dropped the case. Burke Oil is a horrible company to work with. I recommend using a different oil comapny. I use a company now that just delivers my oil on time and bills me correctly. When I call they have a normal business acuman and handle my needs without issue. This message is so long that noone is probably reading this far but it was such a bad experience dealing with Burke Heat that I had to write it down.

Was a prior Castle Oil customer whose account was taken over by Petro. Petro was great, very transparent on pricing. They spent lots of time explaining pricing and their cost margin and how they come up with price per gallon charged instead of just focusing on the price cap. Got a notice last month that my account was being transferred to Burke. They did not uphold the pricing I agreed upon with Petro. Classic bait and switch. All they kept focusing on was the price cap that I was paying, completely ignoring the underlying cost of oil and the expanded margin they were now charging me. Unfortunately this is how they rip off unsuspecting customers, focusing on what you are being charged and your price cap versus what they are paying for oil and the amount of profit margin they are really charging their customers. Don't only focus on your price cap, ask them to quantify how much per gallon they are charging over the current New York Heating Oil futures that trade on the NYMEX. That way in future months you can track if they are overcharging you based on the underlying price movements of the oil market. Stay away from Burke, they are deceitful, outright crooks.

I became a customer of Burke's this winter when my old company, Castle Oil, sold them their accounts. This morning, I woke up to a cold house. I called Burke, and they told me I was scheduled for a delivery today. Apparently, they'd screwed up estimating my usage (which has been normal). Whoops. They sent a tech to give me 10 emergency gallons. I live ten minutes from their office but it took him 3 hours to get here (on a cold day), but I was okay with that. But I was never called back with an ETA (or an apology). No effort to stay in touch re: addressing their error. He just showed up when he showed up. I asked him when I'd receive the rest of my delivery, he bashfully suggested I keep calling and bugging the office about it so they wouldn't forget. Can't imagine why any customer should have to do this...much less one who was just royally screwed up. I get the sense the office is chaotic. Finally, the truck did show up, and the workers threw a tantrum about having to walk through snow to get to my valve (which is far from my driveway, near my basement door in the back yard). They got belligerent about it. I've never complaints from oil guys before; maybe they're not cut out for such rough work. Anyway, I wasn't feeling receptive to complaints from Burke after sitting in a 50 degree house all day (not the deliverer's fault, but they definitely knew what had happened to me). So I surfed here to Angie's List to find another oil service. First, I took a look at opinions on Burke, and it looks like everybody else loves them. My feeling is that I can easily forgive a mistake or two. But that's a whole bunch of bad actions in one day, and I'm moving on. Positives: one person I spoke to on the phone seemed competent (the other was robotic), and the tech was polite, friendly, and competent. Price per gallon is fair. The deliverers did, eventually, deliver. ---------- Update, about a week later. I had an appointment for Burke to clean my oil burner. They never showed, never called. Is there anything these guys can get right? I've been puzzled about the great reviews for Burke here on Angie's List. But now I understand. A woman from Burke has been calling and calling and calling. I finally picked up, and she wanted to "discuss the concerns I'd expressed on Angies List". So they've got an employee managing online reputation (I see she's also "managed" my review with a reply below), trying to persuade customers to soften or undo their negative reviews. I don't have "concerns" about Burke...I've had really bad experiences. Burke is the one that ought to have concerns - that they let customers run out of oil, that they're sluggish in getting them emergency oil, that they don't stay in touch once they've screwed up, that their deliverers are angry, dainty prima donnas, and that they can't make scheduled appointments work. They need to be dealing with those systemic problems, not dealing with me, a bad reviewer, like I'm the problem. This woman (who works two states away in the corporate office) should be calling my local Burke office and figuring out how so many people from so many parts of the company are screwing up so egregiously in so consistent a way. So spare us the boilerplate, ma'am, and get on the phone and fix your sucky company. ---------- Second update, two weeks later In my previous update, I described how the Burke person who "manages" customers who complain online was calling and calling. Finally, when we spoke, I told her I didn't need to "discuss my concerns" because I intend to switch to gas. She said "oh", and there was silence, which seemed like a good opportunity for me to say "bye" and hung up. So she marked my account "canceled". Even though I hadn't actually said that. But, hey, no problem. The guy in the local office called yesterday to doublecheck that this was correct. I told him I hadn't asked to close my account, and he said I was due for a delivery, because my tank is estimated to be only 1/4 full. So we scheduled the delivery for today. And (geez, you could have predicted this), I woke up today to a cold house again. Guess it ran out. They screwed up the estimation yet again. Keystone cops. Idiots. Morons. Simpletons. Sorry for the outburst, but if you've read this far, I'm figuring you'll excuse me.

Work was done when promised. Out old furnace was removed from our home. Burke pulled the permit required by our town. They arrived on time and completed the work the same day. The new furnace came with a $200 oil credit, and one year's advantage service agreement. These guys are so good we also gave them our propane business, which we use for hot water, dryer and a generator. You will not be disappointed.

My experience was wonderful. They did a great job. They were efficient. They were responsive to our calls.

They delivered the oil reliable. They did a fine job. They were great when I needed to get ahold of them.

We used them for many years. I never had a problem with them. They were very reliable. They resolved issues quickly.

They are excellent! They are friendly and responsive. I have no complaints with them. Their price is pretty average.

They are johnny on the spot. They can come out right away. They are expensive but they reliable.

They are a great company. I would highly recommend them. They helped me finance the service. They were a professional team and I was happy with them.

.When I called on 9/12/2014 to have the burner cleaned i was old that I DID NOT have a service contract. I do have the check that they cashed in January 2014. I had no knowledge that they DID NOT honor the contract because I did not have the burner installed by them. I was also told I had a credit and was locked into purchasing oil from them until the contract expired. in January 2015. We all know that they charge the highest prices for oil in the area. So my contract WAS NOT honored for a cleaning but was locked into the oil prices.. So I guess I wasted $159.00 on a contract they was never honored. The conversation ended with a promise to refund my credit in 7-10 business days. This post is just to let readers know that they should be mindful when signing contracts, and when purchasing new oil burners.

They were very professional, quick, and they beat the price of four other companies.

They come out twice a year, and come out in between if we need them.

My previous heating oil delivery company let me run out of oil quite frequently this winter (as well as last winter) even after numerous and timely phone calls to them requesting delivery. I got fed up and chose Burke. So far so good! Burke immediately filled my empty tank and set me up with a contract that was tailored to my needs. Their staff was very friendly and courteous, and their price for oil was a tad better than my previous company. Though I have only received one fill so far, I am happy with the service. Next winter will be the real test, but I am confident-- at this point-- that Burke will be a good provider.

They are good. The way of working out the pricing with them is fine. They keep tabs once if empty. So they automatically deliver it. They give you any works with the house and everything works out fine for me. I’m not sure if they have the best price. They are a little bit expensive. I’ve never had any other problems with them.

We had significant problems with Burke Heat, their inflated prices and their "automatic renewal" policy, which we found oursleves trapped in. It did not surprise me to later learn that this company had been investigated--and reprimanded--by NYS attorney general. We are beyond happy to no longer be doing business with them. We were customers for 6 years, they charge almost a dollar more per gallon for home heating oil than many other companies, be mindful of them

Highly efficient, professional and responsible. Installation took two full days. Company followed up with all necessary permits and came to premises when inspections were conducted by City of White Plains officials.. When the initial inspection required part of the job to be re-done, it was done within a few weeks. A second inspection was scheduled and all permits have now been issued.

I need to upgrade my boiler to keep it up to code. The problem is this company is very expensive. They are very professional but extremely expensive. The oil prices are some of the highest in the area. I was sorry I could no longer afford the service contract and the price of the oil.

I had a service contract with Burke for many years and they were always they when I needed them, even in the middle of the night. When I had another company install a new burner Burke told me ,"We will not honor your contract because we did not do the install." This lead me to look for another oil company.