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CharacterBrief9121 t1_j50yhcn wrote

So what company did it? I raised hell with my propane supplier for doing a uncalled for delivery. And before anyone says that’s what they do, I explicitly explained when I first am started with them that under no circumstances were they to fill up my tank without my consent.

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Redrobbinsyummmm t1_j510f4x wrote

I also found it curious they don’t name the culprit

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_j510k2j wrote

My daddies momma is friends with the aunt of the guy that owns the business don’t put it in the article or fine him he did nothing wrong. /s

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enemy_of_your_enema t1_j51el9l wrote

It wasn't clear to me after reading the article if the homeowner or the company did it. This line suggests it could have been the homeowner. Why would the company leave their bucket and "oil contaminated household items?"

" Oil contaminated household items and a bucket of heating oil was outside the residence at 111 Minnesota Street,” DEP said."

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MrMcFunStuff t1_j52vh68 wrote

Probably because the homeowners tried to clean up the mess.

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kiddestructo t1_j537v30 wrote

Exactly!

Edit: If you care at all about your house, you immediately address disasters, at the very least.

As a disaster guy, you should definitely take pictures before you clean it up, so you have a record for insurance, Fema, or future litigation.

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Grashopha t1_j5500er wrote

I mean, this response sounds kinda entitled. Propane routes are set so that they are as fuel efficient and just plane efficient as possible. Asking them to deliver at your own personal request is kind of a dick move, just saying. Imagine if everyone demanded they be refueled as they see fit. It would be chaos for the propane company and extremely wasteful overall having to dart all over the place. I say this as someone who is also on propane.

Edit: To clarify, this oil company was definitely wrong, not saying that at all.

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_j55085o wrote

They can add and remove people from routes you know. Same as trash people that do weekly or bi monthly are on the same routes. Entitled because I’m a paying customer, the hell is wrong with that?

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Grashopha t1_j550gcy wrote

Yeah, but you’re asking them to bend to your whim instead of just letting them set their routes. You’re making their job harder because you feel entitled to be served as you demand. Get over yourself lol.

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_j550nrk wrote

No I’m not? I get two delivered a year my tank is 330 gal and I don’t use more than 3/4 a winter. They constantly want to top it off. On top of changing rates that’s a cash grab. You can get scammed but I’m good.

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worstatit t1_j567it8 wrote

My propane company charges a delivery surcharge when the tank isn't "sufficiently" empty (less than a certain amount purchased). Also, it's nice to plan for a bill that will run from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars. I don't have a contract, as I own the tank, so your experience may differ.

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DonBoy30 t1_j50w1xs wrote

“So I saw this grey box with a fan in it. So I just started filling it with oil. Stay warm!”

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Jumpy-Natural4868 OP t1_j50wnwa wrote

"Here's a bill for $2500"

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Inner-Figure5047 t1_j512uk5 wrote

That happened to my household. We were sued. For the cost of the fuel. They won the court case as it was a work day and there was no way to appear in court. That was a few years ago, still livid.

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gslavik t1_j51l0av wrote

You were not served law suit papers and couldn't file a response?

Sounds like a default judgement, which could be set aside if you weren't properly served.

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Inner-Figure5047 t1_j51lyki wrote

Partner was served, court date was two days after he was served. He had just started a new job and couldn't miss any time during his shift for this. He contacted the courthouse to explain his work situation and they were like cool, sucks to be you.

He had even sent payment for the fuel that was erroneously delivered the day it arrived. The check came back return to sender in the post. Never gave it another thought until he got served.

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MagikSkyDaddy t1_j52b7qm wrote

Home heating oil is just diesel, is it not? So they just poured diesel into the water?

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Anonymous_Otters t1_j52eisa wrote

Not exactly. While diesel fuel can contain the same length carbon chains as it found in heating oil, diesel has a range that includes much lower carbon chains than the shortest chains in heating oil. So, generally speaking, heating oil will tend to have more long chain carbon molecules than diesel fuel.

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Disturbingavenger t1_j52owp4 wrote

Ummm No it’s the same… other than additives and dye

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Anonymous_Otters t1_j52pzcm wrote

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_fuel

It is produced from the fractional distillation of crude oil between 200 and 350 °C (392 and 662 °F) at atmospheric pressure, resulting in a mixture of carbon chains that typically contain between 9 and 25 carbon atoms per molecule.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_oil

Heating oil consists of a mixture of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons in the 14- to 20-carbon atom range that condense between 250 and 350 °C (482 and 662 °F) during oil refining.

Umm feel stupid yet?

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Puzzleheaded_Elk_665 t1_j5bot0u wrote

Wikipedia is wrong. It's the same cut off the crude unit. May have different sulfur specs depending on state regulations. Heating oil is not subject to RINs where ULSD is. I have worked as engineer in oil refining.

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kelvin_bot t1_j52q0e9 wrote

350°C is equivalent to 662°F, which is 623K.

^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)

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[deleted] t1_j52qwsv wrote

[deleted]

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Anonymous_Otters t1_j52r4ph wrote

Almost like that's exactly what I said, that diesel ranges include molecules that are also in fuel oil but that fuel oil has a higher minimum, meaning fuel oil, on average, would be expected to have longer carbon molecules. Fucking reading comprehension. Get some.

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the_real_xuth t1_j52xqem wrote

They are close enough and overlap in their specifications to the point that they can be used interchangeably and I've seen sources of it in smaller markets say that they start with the same refined product (presumably since it would take more effort than it's worth for a refinery on the west coast, where there is a heating oil market but it's tiny relative to the northeast, to sell a separate product).

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Disturbingavenger t1_j537uhm wrote

No I don’t Close enough for anyone who gives a shit

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Anonymous_Otters t1_j538dxv wrote

Willfully ignorant, the most despicable kind of person. Waste of carbon, be better off as fuel oil.

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kiddestructo t1_j51i4aa wrote

WTF? Seems like they took the tank out of the basement, but never capped or removed the fill pipe.

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petefromeastpete t1_j51ko02 wrote

That was my first thought, too. When I switched from oil to gas, the guys installing my new furnace made a big deal about capping it, plugging the other end, and somehow gluing the cap in to place. It’s really easy to see how a small mistake could compound if some installers weren’t as thorough.

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gslavik t1_j51l8fz wrote

The company that removed my tank actually dug down a bit in the front yard and cut the pipes off.

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Anonymous_Otters t1_j52dw8t wrote

Didn't someone here or at least somewhere on Reddit post that a company delivered oil to them unasked, and the owner tried to tell them that a "real man" would just pay for the oil and made no effort to atone for their error?

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feudalle t1_j51d2aj wrote

Personally I have to call when I need an oil delivery.

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bitterbeerfaces t1_j53m4qv wrote

I'm on auto delivery. It just randomly shows up. I have no notice. No idea how they know when I need oil, but I have never run out. It's great.

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lemonsforbrunch t1_j52jdy8 wrote

You would be surprised how often this happens, an unintended delivery. Usually the driver has the address slightly wrong, sees a fill port and delivers the oil. Make sure if you had an oil tank for heat that your fill pipes are removed and any unremoved pipe fully sealed. It’s a pain in the ass to clean up if the driver doesn’t notice before a couple hundred gallons are spilled.

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Ashamed_File_156 t1_j53hmha wrote

A company did that to my uncles house in NJ. They put about 2.5 foot of heating oil in his basement. He use to get it, but about 6 years ago he converted to gas. The house was a total loss. They had to buy him out.

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Juidawg t1_j54wqza wrote

Holy fuck, that’s what I wondered with the house in Easton. Any kind of non sealed/coated concrete on the basement floor would absorb a ton of oil. I imagine the home would forever smell like diesel.

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Ashamed_File_156 t1_j54wzp9 wrote

Oh yes, that's exactly what happened, even after they drained it and everything smelled that was upstairs for the longest time.

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Benanov t1_j52jndm wrote

What the actual hell. My parents live near there and this might have impacted their water supply.

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Mijbr090490 t1_j51i7bo wrote

Why can't I ever get an accidental heating oil delivery?

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artificialavocado t1_j51pw1v wrote

The PA DEP does their best but unfortunately they are basically a toothless agency. I worked for them in the early 2000’s. I wasn’t there are the time but was told by the older guys the when Republicans were in control of the state in the 90’s (Tom Ridge years IIRC). Any sort of fines has to go through the state attorney general. Not that that is inherently a problem but I can see a cleanup like this easy costing several million dollars and every best case scenarios 50% of oil recovery is considered a good recovery.

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wagsman t1_j52nvle wrote

Meanwhile the company is like, “yeah bummer about your water and environment and all, but who’s going to pay us?”

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Outrageous-Divide472 t1_j52picp wrote

Years ago a neighbor converted from oil heat to natural gas, removed the big oil tank and refinished the basement. Fast forward 3 yrs, he comes home to a basement full of heating oil. The owner never sealed the outside opening for heating oil and the oil company guy delivered to the wrong house. Was a humongous mess and clean up.

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Juidawg t1_j52r9ce wrote

I remember an old timer telling me about when he used to work with the family biz delivering oil in Easton. The guy he was working with had 260 gallons on the truck register during a home delivery, and was like “man we shoulda heard the whistle by now”… Another few gallons and they stopped.

Went to leave the bill at the door and got a bad wiff or feeling and called the homeowner. Long story short the old lady that lived there passed and the home was turned over to family that ripped the basement oil tank out, but left the fill pipe installed AND the heating oil refill contract OPEN.

From what he said it was a disaster of a mess. Hip waders, pumps, 55 gallon drums, and plenty of kitty litter. WOW

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OGLadyOfTheNight t1_j53tuaq wrote

Yesterday, in PA, I saw a propane truck pull up to my neighbor’s house and noticed it immediately because just one day prior, they had a propane truck in our shared driveway for a solid 40 mins and only they use propane. I was like, there is no way they are getting more propane today from another company. Texted my neighbor who replied, “well that’s weird, never heard of that company - it isn’t ours.” So, yeah, propane truck #2 delivered here but wasn’t contracted here. Lucky for them, the tanks were filled just one day prior and couldn’t have taken much.

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Grimm2785 t1_j5534l6 wrote

Something this happened around here like ten years ago. Someone ordered heating oil but the delivery driver screwed up and pumped it into the neighbors house. Unfortunately that house had switched over to natural gas and didn't use oil anymore. The fill pipe just dumped out into the basement because the homeowner had removed the old storage tanks. I forget the exact amount but I believe they put a few hundred gallons into that basement.

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30686 t1_j59wexw wrote

I've heard of this happening more than once. Owner switches from oil to gas, the filler pipe or whatever it's called gets disconnected inside, but is still there on the outside . . .

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JesusOfBeer t1_j52vvy8 wrote

This should result in an execution

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