Merwin Oil Company
Meadows, Fond Du Lac, WI

Merwin Oil Company Reviews

3.4 stars based on 36 reviews

Featured Comments:

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  Audrey M

  1.0

  Terrible company. Thought about using them but then I saw the low reviews. I started asking around and found out they have a tendency to make up charges, then sue the people who try to only pay what they legitimately owe. I looked into it and they have taken around 200 people to small claims court over financial disputes. Either they have a lot clients that are deadbeats that don't pay their bills or what I've heard about them is true. I would steer clear of this business if you don't want to deal with a headache.

• K

  Katie C

  1.0

  I rarely waste my time on writing reviews but my experience with Merwin was so tremendously awful I wouldn't feel right keeping my mouth shut and some one else getting treated as poorly as we did. We used Merwin to fill the propane tank used heated our home. I would like to begin by sharing that I was warned that Merwin Oil was a mistake to use before we chose to go with them. They had great rates so we decided to try them out. Well, take the advice that we ignored and do NOT use Merwin Oil. They are unprofessional, deceitful, and, yes, their rates are great because they add bogus fees in your bill. First, we were on an auto fill program with them. That meant that anytime they were in our neighborhood, they would stop by and top us off. We weren't always sure when, and/or if, they stopped until we got a bill in the mail. The bills always seemed extremely high since every time they stopped we would apparently be almost empty. We were completely filling our tank every 3 - 4 weeks. After auto - filling 3 times they just stopped. No warning, no nothing, just stopped until we ran out of propane one night and woke up to a 40 degree house. When we called, they said we'd have to pay up our bill and charged us about $200 extra in emergency fees. Every other propane place I have work with has never expected full payment before filling during the winter months. They understand that when it's really cold you could spend well over $1000 in a very short time and it may be until spring before the bill is paid in full. The point isn't the money, though, the point is that we were never told we weren't on auto fill anymore and then not only did we have to deal with a freezing house for a full day (didn't come until well into the afternoon) but also had to pay the extra $200 for them to come fill us up. We dealt with it the first time, gave them the benefit of the doubt as miscommunication, but then, 2 months later it happened again. You see this time we didn't even know we owed them anything since we hadn't received a bill in the mail yet and never saw one on the door to tell us they had come. We had no idea we weren't on auto fill anymore. So, once again, wake up to a freezing house. Once again, told we would be charged the fees. All this is reason enough to leave the company but the story gets even better. So, one of their fees is a propane leak check. I was home when the delivery driver came and he said that luckily I wasn't completely empty so he didn't have to do this and we wouldn't be charged this $89 fee. He then personally handed me an invoice without the service fee on it. About a week later, I got a "corrected invoice" in the mail with an extra $89 + tax fee on it. When I called and asked about it she said it was for the propane check the driver had to do. I explained that the driver specifically told me he didn't do one and she said she had proof he did. When she refused to give me this proof, I told her we would not be giving them any more money until this was taken care of. Well, they refused to admit to their lies and have been charging us $35 in late fees every month since then. I made it clear I was willing to pay what we owe them but they are greedy and want money that they did not earn and that we do not owe. Well, today we paid up when someone came to the house and we were told he'd take care of the fees we didn't owe. Well, now that we gave them money, they are now insisting that we abide by the contract we signed. Funny thing is the contract is currently sitting on my kitchen table unsigned. They had been asking us to please sign and mail to them and we never did but now they magically have a signed contract on file. Just more lies. Can't say I'm surprised. Luckily, since we never did signed their contract, we were able to call a different company to work with. That company came out that day, and has been amazing since. When we need propane (we are not on auto fill with this company so we need to call when we are getting low) they are out within an hour or 2. No special fees, they just come. DO NOT USE MERWIN!!

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  Response from the owner

  Katie, We are empathetic to you and your unpleasant experience. You are not the property owner nor the account holder, so we are limited as to how we can respond. Regardless, please know we have a relationship with each of our customers that we take very seriously. Keeping propane in the customer’s tank such that the tank does not run-out and the customer does not wake up cold is our top priority. However, every relationship is a 2-way endeavor. Our job is to keep your tank full. The customer’s responsibility is to pay per the terms of their account. Our terms for payment are Net 30-Days from the invoice date. We are not sure why this account has been consistently delinquent (consistently requiring collection efforts). We are extremely generous and work hard with any customer that has difficulty paying their heating bill. We will extend terms when necessary. We also work with numerous charitable and industry funded organizations that can step in and help. In our 82 years in this business, we have always been able to work through hardships with our customers. In addition, we have never had a customer run-out of propane due to account delinquency. However, a customer must be willing to communicate. When this account became past-due, we attempted to contact the owner numerous times. We left voice messages and asked for a return call. We never received a return call... In addition to our phone calls, this customer received delivery invoices at the time of delivery & monthly statements via US Mail. When the account balance was not paid within the account terms, and the customer would not communicate with us, we had to place a credit hold on the account and stop deliveries. A past due account balance of almost $1000 cannot be ignored. The leak check is a procedure to verify that there is not a gas leak in your home. Your safety is our primary concern. The State of Wisconsin mandates that this test be performed. It does not speak well for your new provider that they by-passed this critical test.

• D

  Dale Smith

  1.0

  It almost seemed an inconvenient for them to schedule an estimate for furnace and central air conditioning. Give me a break. I am going to spend over $10,000. Three other companies immediately scheduled and estimate at my convenience. No wonder why they have such a low rating.

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  Response from the owner

  Our operating hours are from 8 AM-4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. We are more than happy to get you scheduled during business hours, but after hour appointments are saved for emergencies only. Thank you!

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