As I’m sometimes reminded at home, I’m not always the most business savvy.
I’ll scan Amazon for the cheapest edition of a book I wanted to read (not always settling for the most recent print as they tend to be more expensive than older ones), I'll shop around for gadgets online, and in a multi-million pound ITT exercise I’ll pour over the pros and cons of what the tenderers are proposing. Bit I’m less rigorous when it comes to home purchases like heating oil.
I’ve been using Hylands Fuels for a long time. When we moved into Dundonald six and a bit years ago, Hylands were a local Dundonald-based supplier, offering a same-day fill-you-up-on-the-way-back-to-the-depot service. Three years later when we shifted to Ballyhackamore, they kept the business.
Most of the time I didn’t even phone around to get other quotes. Supporting local seemed more important than saving a few pounds.
But with the move to Lisburn, I had a crisis. Take the cheapest option available on cheapestoil.co.uk or boilerjuice.com, find a local Lisburn supplier, or stick with Hylands (who are no longer local)?
In the end I made the call to Hylands, and after the embarrassing conversation about having a lower quote but wanting to give them the business, they matched the deal I’d found as long as I paid in advance by debit card (which I would have had to do for the other quote anyway).
4 comments:
We've been through all that rigmarole, too. More recently, I've been using Cheapestoil.co.uk, mainly because they're very competitive.
I've been using them for two years; I always check the comparison site first, before I re-order, to satisfy myself!
Tim
Sorry, I meant to say Valueoils.co.uk. I use cheapestoil.co.uk as a comparison site!
Tim
Cowardly anonymous comment here, but no need to feel embarrassed about asking for a discount on home heating oil. I've seen it from the other side and such requests are more common than not, particularly if it's to match a price obtained elsewhere.
I've also used ValueOils (although only once so far) and found it pretty decent on both price and delivery. They also don't change the price based on quantity and allow you to set a "maximum" delivery amount for those "I'm not sure howw much room there's left in the tank" moments.
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