SOS Xtreme Comfort

The one-star review is not about the service person, Michael. Though somewhat patronizing in his explanation of the problem he found, he appeared to be knowledgeable and (hopefully) accurate in diagnosing and fixing an intermittent problem. My problem is with two policies of the company, both of which unfairly take advantage of customers, who are essentially at their mercy. First of all, even though I have well over $1,000 in reserve for heating oil, since I'm on a monthly plan, they refuse to use any of that money to cover maintenance/repair services. Second, they charge over $100 after taxes for scheduling a visit and do not apply any of that to the cost of the actual repairs. That's bad, really bad. It ended up costing over $250 to essentially slightly bend back a metal piece. Though a customer for over 20 years, I will explore alternatives. Additional comment two days later: I received an invitation to call Rosa, their customer service manager. After about 10 to 15 minutes of a conversation I found increasingly frustrating, she offered to reduce the cost of the service visit and also make a special accommodation to my account so that the cost of service calls could be covered by any balance I have in my monthly plan account. I told her that the latter was disturbing since I was told clearly by another representative that doing that was not possible and that she herself had confirmed that as a fact earlier in the conversation with me! I declined both offers and wish there were a way to reduce a one star review to zero. This is likely my last season with SOS and I suggest others to look at other options, as well.

Every aspect of every service they provided me went flawless. Customer service was 2nd to none, they made everything very simple. And the techs.... The techs we're some of the best I've ever had in my home, they were clean, courteous, Extremely knowledgeable, and trustworthy. Explained everything in great detail. The best part was I felt so comfortable with them I was able to hide a key so they could access everything while I was at work so I wasn't inconvenienced at all! And that was the delivery tech, and two different service technicians. Honestly comeing from having natural gas for everything in my last home, to my new home having fuel oil and propane , yes fuel oil and propane are an inconvenienced, but SOS made every aspect SIMPLE, and EASY.

They top up the fuel. I think it's quarterly. It's a quarterly billing cycle. I believe that they visit quarterly, but I am not sure. I think that it's quarterly. I don't necessarily see them. They have an external tank and they make sure that is filled up and I am pretty sure that is quarterly. We have a gas Stove, been using them for 3 years.

.

.

unknown

unknown

unknown

They are honest and upfront. They are courteous, prompt and open for negotiation, and I did negotiate. They are considerate. They return calls promptly. I recommend them for their fair pricing, honest policy, forth righteous and upfront correspondence of budget plan. They put you on a plan and I am paying them monthly. The plan has locking rates at $350 per gallon, and if it goes below that, I pay the market price and if it goes above it, then I only pay $359 per gallon. The excess credit when on a budget plan, will be refunded or have it rolled over to another new contract. I don’t know if I would have any issues when the contracts end in June or July, because I read in other review about SOS where They are very disturbed about how they get the balance back of the budget plan, so that would be pending on how they would be honoring their budget plan. I did have an issue with them of why they would be filling me so soon, that I did not authorize it, they said they would contact the driver right away and then they got back to me, saying I can let them know when I want the deliver. So their correspondence, responsibility and professionalism, pricing are excellent. The best deal that I got when I signed with SOS is that they have given me a free promotional, fifteen point free furnace service. That is a five star tight there! They even reminded me of the service. Their service includes oil filter, points and cleaning for free.

Control valve was replaced and issue appeared to be resolved. However after a day, we continued to have the same issue where we were not getting heat to our second floor. Called them back and they came right out the next day, diagnosed and fixed the issue. Also, the tech did not charge us right but received a call from their office shortly after explaining what occurred and promptly resolved the issue.

The guys that did the work were extremely professional--polite, they cleaned everything, brought lunch with them. They seemed to work extremely hard all day, every day.  Would definitely recommend them.

unknown

unknown

It went well, they're very knowledgable and professional, and punctual. The only thing is their visit charge is a little pricey. Other than that they're were good.

we have received 3 shipments so far and have been pleased every time.  the second and third times, there was a gigantic pile of snow between the driveway and fuel tank so we were particularly impressed they managed to fill the tank.  the only consideration is that you do not know when and how much each refuel is going to be.  so far, our costs have been $900, $875 and $675 each month, even though we are at the house only on the weekends.
SOS has great customer service and really works to help you.  the first time we called, we were dangerously low on fuel with a snow storm on its way.  they slotted us in immediately and sent out a very nice / professional truck driver.
we would highly recommend them, even if it means paying a slight premium in fuel prices.  being warm in the winter is not something to mess with and SOS is extremely reliable.

They highly recommend and aggressively sell a yearly budget plan option that was attractive because the cost of our estimated oil & service use for a full year was broken down and projected on a monthly payment basis. My ONE BIG problem with SOS is with their credit department, and that translates into the complexity of their billing statements and unclear renewal policies. We are ten months into the contract, and they started calling and telling us we are in arrears.  I was told that my original contract's "price guarantee" expired because we had used more than what was originally estimated.  I get that. But they should have called me then to review the usage and discuss options. Instead they didn't start calling us until recently when "they say we are in arrears". The "in arrears" call from the credit department had the tone of old school collection calls. Our phone call review of the account and how it got into arrears was murky and confusing. I requested accounting documentation and a copy of the original contract.  As of today, they have only sent a line item "Transaction Report" with "no totals" that is difficult to review. I am keeping an open mind until we get this resolved, but my impression is that they renew contracts and raise per gallon prices automatically without noitification. I am suspicious of companies that can't provide simple answers to billing questions on the phone. I also noticed that: "SOS Fuel" is the dba for a company called "M. Spiegel & Sons Oil Corp."  My impressons are that this is a good service company with agrressive legal and billing policies. I've already had to spend too much time reviewing a confusing coded "Transaction Printout" and waiting for requested documents that will confirm or dispute their numbers. Keep a close eye on their accounting practices and contract language.

Charged too much.  Unprofessional billing practices.  On must constantly stay on top of them to correct over billing.  Perhaps a change in management has occurred.   This company was very good in the past but many people complain about current SOS Fuels' billing practices these days.  We do not have many options in this community and are thus stuck with them for the time being.

SOS fuels prompty delivers oil when asked to.  As we also use a wood stove we are not eligible for their automatic deliveries. 
Their field personnel are pleasant and professional.  The ladies in the office are also helpful and courteous.
There are a few gentlemen in the office who could use a bit of charm school.

I dealt with SOS FUELS up to the summer of 2012.  We were on a budget with them.  I was with them for a while.  Of course with the fuel prices they changed every year.  I think they estimated the last year that we would have about a $3,000 budget.  We were put on a budge but what we did we would receive an additional percentage off if you paid in full, so that's what I would do every year.  You would have a locked in price by doing that so it didn't go over a certain amount.  The basic thing was they delivered fuel oil every month for I forget how many months out of the year, because it's not a full twelve months.  For me anytime I had to talk to any of the office people, their staff they were fine, personable and very helpful and kind.