Total Butler Oil – Central Heating Oil
Update 15th January 2010
As can be seen by all the recent comments at the bottom of this page, not only are there a number of complaints about the pricing policy of Total Butler there are also a number of complaints about communications and the fact customers are apparently given misinformation about delivery times.
We cannot blame Total Butler for the weather conditions, but surely we can expect the sales and call centre staff to communicate with their own drivers and not promise deliveries unless they are possible?
Initial post about sales staff discounting prices (made on 3rd December 2008)
If you are a regular customer of Total Butler for domestic heating oil this might interest you and save you a lot of money.
I have been a regular customer of Total Butler for over 10 years now and have always had my central heating oil delivered by them.
In all that time I have always paid my bill as soon as it arrived and never queried anything.
Last week I phoned Total Butler to order my oil as usual and out of interest asked how much it was now? The reply I got was 48p a litre, I said “Is that the best you can do” and it immediately came down to 44p a litre. Deciding to push it a bit further I said “surely you can do better that that” the guy on the end of the line went away for less than 20 seconds and came back with a price of 40p a litre.
Basically, for the sake of less than a minute asking about the price (only slightly haggling) I got nearly a 20% reduction of my £500 heating bill.
You may think I am happy with this, but no, I am livid. What it shows is that because I have been a regular loyal customer, never queried the price before, I have probably been paying a 20% premium for the last 10 years.
So if you get your oil delivered from Total Butler, have been a regular customer for a yew years and would like to save 20% of your heating costs, don’t just pay the initial oil price they tell you, ask if they can do any better, haggle more and see what happens.
If anyone has any views on Total Butler oil prices please comment below.
Update 14th February 2009
Since writing my initial post the number of comments has obviously revealed that a lot of people are not happy with what appears to be a new telephone ordering system Total Butler have recently bought in.
I was surprised when I ordered my last top up not to speak to my usual local office, but didn’t really think anything of it at the time. I now understand that Total may have changed the system of ordering on the phone? (confrirmation would be appreciated)
This post receives regular visits from users using an IP from par.totalfinaelf.net if anyone from Total would like to leave a reply to these comments I will be happy to publish it here. tj@nrac.co.uk
157 Comments to Total Butler Oil – Central Heating Oil
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Despite being loyal customers, having an account, and paying Total Butler by direct debit we found that this loyalty counted for nothing. Not only were their prices generally higher than their competitors, but they were also routinely unable to deliver with any priority for account holders. In fact we always had to wait longer for delivery than if we had used another supplier. So, contacting other suppliers on spec when we needed oil always resulted in a quicker delivery at a better price.
I have been A Total Butler top up customer for years and always paid my bill by return. On the 3rd November my tank was topped up and I was charged 20% over the market rate available locally at the time. Two letters – not even the courtesy of a reply – I will be buying my oil elsewhere in future.
I to was a customer of Total Butler for 16 years paying by direct debit and usually in credit. I was on automatic top up, no problems there, but they would top up with about 600 litres and charge me about 10p a litre more because I was having a small delivery so I stopped that. When I called on the 16th December for a top up they could not do it until the 5th Jan.
I tried another local firm (peterborough)and it will be delivered this week. They now have my custom.
I have cancelled my direct debit with Total Butler and I will never deal with them again.
We have been customer of Total Butler since they took over our local fuel supplier BDW. BDW never let us down and were always available on the phone if we had query. On 3rd Dec I placed an order with Total Butler for 800 litres (incidentally I was quoted 33.87 a litre). I was told 7 working days delivery. After many panicky phone calls to useless so-called customer service agents the oil was delivered on 22nd December. Quite unacceptable. We discovered that customer service cannot communicate directly with the depot so could never tell us what the problem was. We are looking for another supplier now.
I too was ripped off by Total Butler for years until I discovered Boiler Juice. Just go to their website for a free online quote from local suppliers. Then either order the oil through the website (no additional cost) or use the information to haggle with your usual supplier. I usually manage at least a 5p/litre reduction.
The worst thing you can do with Total Butler is use their automatic top up system. Not only do they charge above the market rate, but you have to pay for more deliveries and so more delivery charges than if you just keep an eye on your tank and top up when necessary.
Just tried boilerjuice.com – their cheapest price was 5% higher than my local supplier, so don’t just rely on that site. Just phone around.
But I’m amazed that you can haggle over the price! Thanks for the tip, which I shall use next time around.
Maybe I’ll try when I next top up my car with petrol
Don’t waste your time with them. I was still waiting for a delivery 10 days after ordering. I have made 4 ‘phone calls to try and get a confirmed delivery time. Each occasion I was told someone would ring me back – nothing. I have ‘phoned the HO and the call is put through to answering machine. So zero oil, zero customer service. A company that deserves to die in this economic situation.
I have used the top-up service for years and only twigged the rip-off this appears to represent in December 2008. I am still waiting to receive the credit note promised at end December when I challenged their price and they “had made a mistake”
I have been a customer for a number of years and was able to contact the local depot directly…now there is a horrendous phone system with no operator where you have to record a message..or tap i an extension no. really frustrating they make it really difficult to place an order!
I’m fuming total butler. Ordered oil on the 5th Jan and was told it would be 8 days max. It got to the 21st and still no delivery. We phoned constanty never got through to anyone that could deal with your query. Was told constantly that they would get back to us and never did. Tried other suppliers and in the end phoned and cancelled the order. By this time we had got so low on oil that we had to turn off our heating in order that we had enough oil for hot water. This isn’t great at the bext of times but my wife is 8 months pregnant so it certainly wasn’t good. Ordered with another supplier (cheaper with 2 day service) only for total butler to turn up unannounced fill our tank and put a receipt through the door. As we were at work we didn’t know and now have a charge from the secong company as they turned up and the tank was full.
I concur with all the above messages. I am a woman of 68 living on her own in Cornwall and dependent on oil for cooking, heating and hot water. I ordered oil on 19 January with, as I thought, plenty of spare capacity. I made 2 phone calls on 29 and 30 Jan to say that I was running low and ice and snow are forecast for the beginning of next week. “We do not arrange deliveries based on the weather forecast” I was rudely informed. The A30 was closed by the police for some hours during the last cold spell and there is every likelihood this could happen again.
Total Butler were uninterested and would give me no date for a delivery.
I found a local supplier who guaranteed me oil by Monday 2nd Feb and said they had received over 600 orders since Christmas from former Total Butler customers.
I was quite horrified when we met with problems and deliveries with Total Butler Oil and went on their website to find so many other customers hopping mad. Please add us to the list. We pay with direct debit and are now in credit and have been a customer of this company for many years. We are now sitting without oil, more snow forcast on top of the cotswolds hill where we live and we have no idea when the next delivery will come.I pity the poor people on their phone lines taking all the complaints just now. Deliveries within 7 days, we would laugh if it wasn’t so maddening. A sad state of affairs for a national company, might they be another casualty of the credit crunch or is it just incomptence.
We too were long serving customers of Total Butler. We ordered our oil 26th January. One week later no sign of it so we rang and said we had run out of oil when could we expect a delivery – sometime before the 19th February but we could ring the local depot. Rang and explained out predicament and was told we would receive it before 2pm. By 4pm we were concerned rang again this time we were told the delivery route had been changed and the router had gone home. Therefore we were left with no heating at all. Thanks a lot Total Butler. Cancelled our order and went to our local Oil Syndicate. There was nothing wrong with the old system of ringing the depot.
I too am a dissatisfied TotalButler customer having purchased around 10K’s worth of oil from them over the past ten years. I ordered 1000 litres on the 5th Feb to be told that we would be unlikely to receive the delivery before the weekend but that we should phone our local depot each day for an update. This we have done to be told on each occasion that they cannot predict the delivery date but the extrem dedaline would be this coming Friday. We now believe that we will receive this delivery on Friday and that this delivery was always been destined for Friday. If we’d known that fromt he start we’d have shopped elsewhere and feel that we have been deliberatly kept on a piece of string!!
Check that Total Butler have not overcharged VAT on the heating oil – they put 17.5% on my delivery – it should be 5%.
When I queried the bill – they said it was a mistake.
5% is standard VAT rate for domestic heating oil – buyers beware with Total Butler
I thought I was alone in my utter exasperation at Total Butler’s incompetence. My problems started when I signed up for the Total Butler top up service. Let’s just say it doesn’t work, though this doesn’t do justice to the misery and frustration this has caused me.
Thank you for the opportunity to air my grievance.
Just fell over this site as part of my routine checking for problems!
Well; just to show both sides of the story, I have just placed an order with Total Butler. Their price for 1,000 litres was 32.27p/ltr (I got an extra 1p off the first price quoted just for asking). BoilerJuice (whom I used to use till I discovered that their prices were significantly elevated for their own benefit)were quoting 38.69p, and Oilpricecheck showed 35.5p. One or two others were all around the BoilerJuice price.
I have to say that I have never had any more problems with T/B than with any of the others. None of them seems to value service these days – probably because demand so much exceeds supply – hence the delivery delays from all (NB I was quoted w/c 23/02 by T/B).
In fact, last time I tried to order from T/B in January, I was quoted an even lower price of 31.66p, but was then told that they weren’t actually accepting orders for at least 2-3 weeks – so I should go somewhere else! I did – for a much higher price, so got just 500 ltrs.
So my motto is: order very early; check prices everywhere, and always ask for a better price. Finally, don’t even dream of anything related to loyalty or service values from any of them!!
If any problems arise within the next two weeks, I might amend the above!
We phoned Total Butler yesterday(before reading all these comments, may I add). We wanted more fuel in an emergency, and all we got was a man at some call centre who sounded as if he was more interested in the newspaper he was reading than talking with me. He was not helpful at all, and couldn’t find our name despite the fact we have been customers for around 15 years! I came across this website by chance today, and all the comments have reaffirmed the fact that we are trying to find someone else today to deliver our oil.
I was given a latest delivery date of 11 February. In view of the recent bad weather I called Total Butler on the day to confirm that all was in order and was told that my oil would be delivered by 5pm on the date planned. Guess what, no oil was delivered, and what followed was frustration and anger. I spent a long time on holding calls and finally managed to talk to a person who advised me that she had no idea why the delivery was not made and that she would call me back later. I received no return call and startd the whole process again. I ended up talking with the area manager, Arlene Winter, who advised me that the oil would be delivered on 13 Feb and that she would call back to explain what happended with the original delivery. 1 day later and still no reply back.
Total Butler have lost the plot and are off my list now.
Interesting comments. I have to say in their defence that these comments do not reflect my experiences with Total Butler AT ALL. In fact quite the opposite.
I have ALWAYS found them the most competitive – today 2.26 pence per litre less than the closest competition.
And a whopping 4.71 pence per litre less than the cheapest Boilerjuice supplier. Plus no credit card surcharge. Plus plus a posted invoice if you become a customer – so a bit longer before you have to pay. That seems pretty understanding to me??
I have always found their staff to be helpful and obliging – even ‘phoning back on occasions. And no, I do not work for them, nor do I have any connection with total Butler whatsoever.
Perhaps it’s the manner with which some of you deal with them…….?
Incidentally, whilst I was told two weeks to delivery when I ordered today, when I enquired why I was told it was due to the inclement weather we’ve been suffering recently – which seems pretty understandable to me.
Order early is my advice.
I’ve always had the best service from TB, they have been busy lately and have been quoting big delivery windows but i always order in plenty of time so i never run out and have found that most other fuel companies are in the same boat.
Edit from blog author:
Please note: This comment came from a user using the IP
par.totalfinaelf.net – read in to that what you like!
I am amazed at some of the remarks on this website! Many people who use the top up services of any of the oil suppliers are too lazy or incompetent to either check their tanks, read their gauges or sight tubes. As for people moaning that loyalty counts for nothing these days, well if you look into any aspect of the commercial world they will find this is the case; banks, phone companies, home and car insurance. Even loyalty incentives from supermarkets are design to maximise profits from customers. The public has only its self to blame for the change in the way any companies sell to them. If you think buying groups are such a good idea then join one but this of course means you are already one of the sort of people who are likely to check they tanks and know what they’re looking at. And when a buying group gets all its orders together into one huge lump, they may get a good price but they won’t get your oil to you any more than service you already get from your supplier. My advice is work to get best prices and best delivery times or sit on your backside and let someone’s else do it, but you will pay for it, oil, phones, food, insurance…it’s your choice
Hold on a minute B Lamb – Total Butler push hard to sell their top up service and I am neither lazy nor incompetent, simply naive enough to think that when a company say they have a system which will ensure oil is delivered at the right time I believed them. It is the company at fault here – not the customers.
Hi
We ordered heating oil as a group of seven on 23 January. After numerous phone calls (yes mostly answering machines) and one of the group running out of oil completely our order was delivered by tankers visiting our very small village on four separate occasions before we all received our orders. The final delivery was 9 February.
One of main reasons for ordering as a group is to save road miles and the planet!
We did not receive a discount as if we had ordered separately rather than as a group we would have received the same price anyway. This was confirmed by a neighbour who received oil same day as us but had ordered only 3 days prior.
Phone calls to HO resulted in the response that we are recording this as a complaint. No contact has since been received and nothing was done following this conversation to assist our elderly and unwell neighbour who had run out of oil.
Another unhappy customer.
My previous delivery of oil from Total Butler in Devizes, just didnt come and didnt come despite that I had pre paid it on a Bank card. I was not alone because others who had ordered as a group didn’t receive their delivery either. After writing a letter to the Local Press in Devizes and to the Department of Consumer Affairs. The oil eventually arrived because I ‘Happened upon a man making a Delivery some four miles away, by which time the price of oil had fallen, to the extent that I later asked for a price adjustment and received a £30 refund.
Out of respect for that delivery man,I again sought a quote for oil from Butlers on the 6th.February. I was quoted a trifle over 32pence per litre plus 5% Vat on 900 litres. The price seemed so good that I asked for 1800 litres. And so having ordered, I asked Butlers to send me the quote in an e.mail. When no acknowledgement was received by the 11 feb, I again requested confirmation, and must advise you no such confirmation has been received, and needless to say no
delivery has been made here as at 10.15 am today Feb 17th.
When I mentioned delay on the first order, I was advised that the tanker had turned over, and that someone had siphoned off the oil, and at the time of the second delivery
the forthcoming delay was excused by the snow.
I really can not recommend this firm as a supplier of Domestic Heating Oil. Wyndhams, Chicksgrove,Tisbury.
Power of the Internet? the tanker delivered today at 11 am. Very pleasant driver, told me was delivering to three other addresses in the Village. How much does it cost?
Cant say he said, they no longer put the price on the ticket. Thus it was that I took just the 900 litres quoted for originally. Apparently recipients elsewhere all tell him of their price quote being something like 6 pence per litre less than other suppliers. If this is the case why is it that the firm seem so unwilling to put their quote in writing? After all I twice asked them to confirm, and had absolutely no acknowledgement of the e.mails sent. Will get back to you when the bill arrives.
I thought I was alone until I found this site.I ordered oil a month ago, still haven’t had it,many resons given for non delivery, none of them good enough now that I am cold and without oil.Total Butler just don’t want the business or care, customer loyalty counts for nothing. Go else where and let them go under.
I ordered and paid via my debit card for 880l of oil, 660l was delivered over two weeks later. I have just spent five weeks trying to get a refund, my details were taken on 8 occasions and the refund promised.
Total Butler are very efficient at taking money but poor at delivering oil of refunding moneies owed.
I have also been messed around. We use Kerosine for heating and cooking on the aga. We were priced and told monday was our delivery date. Monday arrived just in time as we ran out on the previous saturday. No delivery. It’s now wednesday and despite 5 phone calls and two more to customer services complaints dept.. I’m still cold and hungry. Watsons are looking far better.
As a company owner that uses lots of fuel, AND buys domestic heating oil for my home, I have always found my local Total Butler depot very helpful, prices competitive, and delivery service more than satisfactory.
By bothering to get to know the names of the local Total Butler staff, the managers name, and using the joy of direct e mail contact for all my orders, if the phones get busy, I always get excellent friendly service.
At least Total Butler goes the extra mile, since I changed 5 years ago, from a small “fly by night” heating oil company, who contaminated my fuel tank, cost me hundreds of pounds in time, and money, then left me high and dry.
All I can say to other users who moan is GET ORGANISED, don’t leave things to the last minute, run out, start shouting, and then blame the supplier.
Total Butler gets my vote of confidence, and well done local depot staff for some good old fashioned service.
Comment by blog author:
I think you will find David this was the same case for most people who have commented up until a few months ago.
I was on first name terms with the lady at my local depot where I have always ordered my oil from.
When we have a delivery we have to make sure the smaller tanker is used and that we move a couple of cars before it arrives.
The local lady was aware of this, so always ensured she
let us know when it was to be delivered. Her husband was the driver, so we always made sure the kettle was on before he got to us.
The last time I ordered, I got through to someone completely different (a call centre judging by the background noise) I asked to get put through to my local depot, but was told they don’t do that anymore, it was then that I asked about the price and got the discount.
I asked when it would arrive, but he couldn’t give a day but said 7 to 10 days.
The personal service that you talk about (and that I used to receive) had compleely gone.
I thought it was just a one-off initially until people started commenting here, judging by the comments received it looks like they have changed the system for ordering,
and you can no longer speak to your local depot.
You might be fortunate that you still can speak to your depot, or you might get a better service because you are a commercial customer too, but it appears a lot of people are not as fortunate as you.
End of comment by blog author
Thanks for that blog author, and do appreciate yours and other peoples comments.
If when contacting Total Butler, or indeed any oil company, it’s always worth getting a few e mail contact names, and that way it’s always easy to get through to the staff you prefer.
And of course if there are any problems, you have a clear e mail trail, that could then be sent along to the managers or above.
It’s worked for me, but luckily I’ve had to go no further than my local staff contacts.
I also try to fill up at the end of summer, or early Autumn, never fails, and beats the rush.
Best wishes David
We ordered some oil on the 18th February 2009 from Total Butler. We have noticed recently that the deliveries are taking longer to arrive. We have been customers of theirs for years. On Friday 27th February I phoned them to ask when to expect delivery as we had just about run out of oil. I was told that I had not confirmed my order which was completely untrue. When I ordered the oil, as usual, I asked to give them my credit card details and they informed me that they were now charging for credit cards (fair enough) and said I would be better off paying by cheque when the oil was delivered and I agreed to this. I was then informed that the oil would be with us as soon as possible. I explained the above to them but was told the order would have to be placed again (no apology) and the earliest we would receive it would be in a weeks time. I said we were just about out of oil but that made no difference. I then informed them that I would go elsewhere and was told “fair enough” and they then hung up. They must be doing so well during these times and assume they do not need the business. At 4 p.m. on Friday 27th Feb I ordered from another Company, Blackwater Fuels, was told it would arrive by Wednesday but if they could would deliver it earlier. It arrived Sunday 1st March. Less than 48 hours after ordering it. Was informed they are getting lots of business from Total Butler customers. I am not surprised. Really impressed with the new company’s service. Unimpressed with Total Butler after giving them thousands of pounds over the years.
I run an oil syndicate in Wiltshire. We’ve saved about £10,000 since starting. Drop in on the village web site to see – http://www.broad-town.co.uk.
Up to March 08, I included Total-Butler (Devizes) in my quote ring round and they were usually too expensive, although they won the business once.
More recently I could never get the phone answered. Once I got lucky and discovered about the new call centre and the numner that works. Since then they have quoted good prices. They won the business in January quoting two weeks delivery. Many of the other companies mentioned long delivery delays when they knew whom they were quoting against. We didn’t have anyone that desperate.
The service was poor to average. They didn’t ring the, clearly identifed, people needing notice because of tank locks. They only filled about 2/3 of the tanks where the order asked for a total fill. That’s quite relevant, because 2 weeks delay in the coldest part of the year meant most wanted another 100/200 litres to properly fill up.
Speaking to the call cenre operator does not help because she has no effecive communication with the depot.
I make no claim to loyalty, either from them or to them – I’m a price whore. I organize buying a lot of this stuff and I know that some suppliers it just ALWAYS works fine. They provide good service and can STILL do great prices.
Total didn’t get my February order. Their price was good; but not good enough to justify the hassle I expected it to cause. I went somewhere I knew would just make it work well. I paid slightly more, got earlier delivery, it all worked fine.
I install and repair oil boiler heating systems in the surrey/sussex area and the independant oil companys are being absorbed by Total Butler and other large companies, it is getting harder for customers to get oil at short notice/urgent deliveries (cartels policy ?). This year has been the worst I have seen for extended delivery times as I get called out to restart boilers throughout the winter where oil has run out so have more than an inkling that the service has deteriated. I would try and support the independant companies so they can survive, at least they pull out the stops when they have to.
Until the last year I could go and get some oil in a 200 litre drum and transfer it into the customers tank as a last resort but this has now been stopped by the fun police of the goverment or at least that is what I have been told by Total Butler!
Another unhelpful suggestion to “GET ORGANISED”. Do you people not actually read what is in front of you? This site is stuffed with people who have ordered weeks in advance, paid in full, signed up to TB’s laughable ‘top-up’ service and done everything humanly possible to get organised, all to no avail. I see this site as a warning to would-be users, and a comfort to know I am not the only one to have been well and truly let down by a company who has changed out of all recognition.
I left comment on this web site on February 17th see above.
I have since received and paid the Invoice for this delivery, and can confirm that the price was as quoted to me on the telephone at the time I placed the order. It was indeed a lot cheaper than other quotes, Cheaper too than the Oil Price Comparison Site and too far cheaper than Boiler Juice, the which continuously bombards me with weekend buys. (Maybe they are a commission agency?) Regret that Total Butler’s Customer Relations are disappointing. Having sent the firm two e.mails one might have expected an acknowledgement to at least one of them. One hopes that the oil is the same grade as everyone elses, if so I would have filled out tank rather than accepting but the 900 litres.
Hi
Just found this while looking for ‘Oil’ suppliers. Eek. Have only been an oil uses for 3 years and have always used Total Butler – but was forced to cancel direct debit in Nov last year as we were going into credit – having just received oil – so I wanted to reduce the d/d to what I calculated to be our annual spend divided by 12 (£70 month) but I was told that d/d had to be for a minimum of £95 month (remember I was already in credit and unlikley to need more oil before – well, now, actually) I thought I was being generous already oferring to start overpaying from December. I cancelled the direct debit and now, after reading this thread, I am not sure where I should order from. Yes – I do need oil in a hurry! oops…
C’est la vie!
fascinating particularly jon re cartels[?] After much ringing around for prices in surrey realised that many companies part of same group eg scf, cpl, emo, all GB group.An illusion of choice.Who are the competitive independants?
I RUN a family business distributing fuel, this winter Total Butler have frequently been unable to deliver to their customers in our area which has been very good for us.
Now that work has quietened down a little they are currently offering our customers prices below our buying price while we continue to come across their own customers paying way over the odds.
We recently rang them quoting the price given to our customer and said we wanted to buy a large volume at that price. The order was taken then they rang back and said we could not have it. I threatened to take them to the office of fair trading and they then supplied us. WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING AT???
I have used Total Butler for many years and recomend them to my friends.Yes there has been a change in the last 14 months but this has not changed the delivery service I recieve with all large companies you may get through to a differant sales person but if you order in plenty of time talk to the sales person and get the best price they have why change! With all large companys you will recieve some bad fedback but over all Total Butler give me a great service.
Ok so we can get the oil cheaper by bargaining – but it still doesn’t get the new oil formula to work with our Aga – cleaning it every two or three days because it is so sooted up is soul destroying – any suggestions (please don’t say get rid of the Aga – not an option)
I have been a customer of Total Butler since the end of 2007. They always beaten Boilerjuice on price, sometimes by as much as 5p a litre. I am sure that they have delivery problems (drivers off ill, depote being picketed) like any other company, but the only time that I ran really short due to my miscalculation and sudden cold weather, they were very helpful in bringing my delivery forward by 10 days. My suggestion is that if you want to get the best out of TB, do your homework on prices, order well in advance to give yourself the best possible negotiating position, recognise that they are running a business subject to international and local pressures and deal with the sales department at their head office in Cheltenham in a polite but informed way.
i have worked for 2 major heating oil suppliers, not total butler. All domestic and commercial heating oil companies do it, no matter who they are. Its best to ring round and get the best price, most companies will better or match.
I have been with Totalbutler now for 4 years and ring up everytime for my quotes. I have personally not had a problem with them apart for in february when there was a wait but I accept that things like this happen every now and then. I have always found there prices reasonable and I think if you have a problem then maybe you should speak to them as I have read that some of youal ready have done.when I spoke to them last winter they did tell me they were changing to a new system so hopefully this winter things will be back to normal.
had appalling service since they took over our local supplier. I was on auto top up and direct debit. Almost ran out because they didn’t top up. Then struggled to get them to fill up on request and customer services never returned calls that they had offered to make. Took 4 weeks to get a delivery even when advised that we were empty. Just about to cancel my DD and move elsewhere
I’ve just stumbled on this site while trying to find a tel. number for the local TB depot to get around the call centre(which appears to be impossible). My problem is the same as everyone else’s – failed delivery. I was expecting a delivery today (paid for by debit card when ordering) and when I rang this morning to see if I could get a time window I was told that my order wasn’t on the truck; they said they would check why and call me back. When they called back the story had changed and now I was told that my order WAS on the truck but the truck had broken down and they couldn’t say when it would be delivered. I just don’t believe the story – sounds like every cowboy builder’s excuse for not turning up.
This was my first time with TB but after reading of all these other experiences I decided not to wait to be messed around even more and have cancelled my order, and am waiting with baited breath for the refund to appear in my account.
I have an AGA and a boiler fuelled by the same tank(s) filled with 27 second kerosene. Until this year I had Torpinol added and had no problems with the AGA. Since Total Butler replaced this with GLOMAX I have had trouble with the burner needing attention every few months.
I intend discussing this with Total Butler so do not have their comments yet.
I run an oil syndicate in Wiltshire – I posted higher up in this thread.
I’ve used Total Butler twice recently (two weeks ago and back in last August. I also had a personalised (joke!) letter from the MD apologising about the awful service. I have to say they are better – at least round here. They still seem to do some odd things. A tanker came to me and my neighbour, then another one came to opposite and farther up the road.
Maybe I need to let go. It is not my job to fulfil the order, it’s theirs. They did it without annoying my group. A couple of people commented on how nicely they had been treated by the drivers. So maybe their service has turned a corner.
I have to say that they have been *really* competitive on price. 18 months plus ago, I always called them and their prices were never competitive.
i have no oil in my tank. i placed an order with total butler on the 2nd Dec for delivery latest monday 7th dec. they called sun to say it would be there mon – they called mon evening to say it would be there tues and now they have called wed 9th dec to say it will be another five days. i wait for the next call in 5 days to tell me of another delay. they are completely useless
I work as a driver for Total Butler and can tell you that they have had a big shake up this year with some managers being sacked and a new regime of being more customer focused.They really are trying to put their house in order.
Avoid this company like the plague, my order was placed in mid November they were 4.00ppl cheaper than any other supplier, we ran out of oil last night, we are completely reliant on our oil for heating and cooking. I must have rang over 30 times to their call centre, each time lame excuses and no positive answer to when we can expec our oil, I rang a local supplier today Compass Fuel Oils , I explained we had run out I rang at 7.30AM they were delivering into my tank at 9.00 AM . What a superb service I will be using Compass for my future deliveries, Total Butler will never have my business again, they may give the best price but give the worst service and worst customer service, Compass Fuel are an independent family business and I would reccommend them to you all they can be contacted on 0844 3356447 (24 Hours) and you speak to a real human not an answer service, please do not be fooled by Total Butler pricing policy I am sure they give out prices way below market levels and then wait until the price has improved to their benefit, and are just playing the oil price against customer service and when the price goes wrong they just do not deliver, how a multinational company like Total can be associated with a Micky Mouse company like Total Butler is beyond me.
Someone above said Total Butler don’t charge a credit card handling fee. They do now. I ordered over the phone and was told I would have to pay in advance. I was not referred to terms & conditions, told a CC charge would apply, or given the option of using a debit card. When the payment receipt arrived there was an extra £6.22 on the bill. When I add that charge on to their original quote, hey presto -their quote would have matched my usual supplier. Its clever, but it flouts contract law, and I will not use them again.
I have been a Total Butler customer for 12 years.Because they were so unreliable last winter I ordered oil a month ago and let tank run down so it would be full through ‘snow’months. Today the driver told me he wouldn’t fill my tank as it was ‘rusty’ even though the last driver was perfectly happy with it 3 months ago.
I have another plastic tank for holiday cottage which he was about to fill when I said,desperately, I can’t believe that you are leaving me with no *** heating oil over Christmas. He said, ‘Right that’s it .. I’m leaving’ and drove off without putting in ANY oil at all. Another company came straight out .. said the tank was perfectly adequate and will bring oil in two days.
I have obviously closed my account.
I am another very unhappy TB customer. I ordered my oil on 5th December and was promised delivery would be within 7 days.Today 17th December still no delivery. I have exhausted by patience with the customer service team, they make all sorts of excuses, promise to call back and never do. I am now going to drive to my local depot and demand they deliver. I will never use TB again.
I posted back in March (about direct debit rates) and since then have not needed oil. I ordered on 27 November from Total for delivery 18 December. Was told absolutely no problem with delivery and oil plentiful so should be fine – did say to them I would probably be low on oil by then but wanted to ensure tank could take the full 1000 litres as they crank up the price if less than 1000 litres taken. So, when no oil arrived by lunchtime on Friday 18th I phoned them, Yes, they could see I had ordered on 27th Nov for delivery on 18 Dec but the order had not made it through to delivery. No reason given. Told they would try to get order to us by Monday 21st so hoping they do as oil ran out completely on Friday afternoon. It seems wrong to now try another supplier at such short notice as I may be doing someone else out of a delivery so I will be patient and just hope we get our oil on the 21st…what is so difficult about making timely deliveries?
We placed an order through a syndicate over 2 weeks ago – I have had 3 phone calls promising delivery the next day but nothing has materialised – they fail consistently to return calls – and now their telephone line is unobtainable! We are out of fuel and Christmas is 4 days away; this is unacceptable.
Just tried to cancel my order with Total Butler (can’t even get through to do this, had to leave a message on their answer machine).
Anyway story very similar to everyone here. Ordered 2 weeks ago (7th December) told it would be here within 7 days. Phoned last Thursday to see where it was. Was surprised, but happy to have a phone back to say they would deliver on Friday. Arrived home on Friday to no oil.
Phoned all day today, got through twice – 1st time 8.30am, said someone from the local depot would phone me back, still waiting on a call and still no oil.
Decided I can’t take this anymore, so went to a local supplier – who have been very helpful and can deliver on Wednesday.
Why I am having this problem, it’s what they are meant to do isn’t it – deliver oil????? What is the problem and why can’t they speak to their customers. I am very angry and disappointed. I have been a with them for a long time and now they have lost another customer.
If things are getting better, I dread to think what happened before.
Total Butler are incompetent, they dont deliver when they say they will. We ordered last year and they were late by 3 weeks. Stupidly we ordered this year from them as they promised delivery and are 3 weeks late despite saying they would deliver every day for the last week. Will never use them again – badly run badly managed and their”systems” for delivey and follow up is rubbish the managing director should resign
A top up customer of some 12 years – then I discovered I was being charged extra for my loyalty just like everyone else who has posted here. I also believe that I received top ups in the summer when I didn’t need them and this seemed to happen when the price (for one reason or another) was higher than normal. What a mug I’ve been I closed my account and ever since I check the market and my experience with all dealers is that you have to haggle and quote lower prices to get a reasonable deal.
Truly the worst customer service of any company ever to receive a Royal Warrant, they rip off their customers and quite frankly provide the most appalling ‘service’ when they mess up, which is far too often. I suggest we all switch to local suppliers and complain to the Prince of Wales asking him to strip their warrant with immediate effect.
http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/
We ordered and paid for 1000litres on the 8th December. It is Christmas Eve and we ran out of fuel 2 days ago. Countless phonecalls to Southampton depot and Customer Care line have all said it is down for delivery and we will get it. I have already written a complaint letter to the UK Managing Director: Didier Harel, Total UK, 40 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts, WD17 1TQ. Will I get a reply, I wonder, and will it be full thermals for us this Christmas?
Further to previous message – I phoned after lunch on the and asked if our oil would be delivered and was told ‘no, along with about 500 others’! The person I spoke to told me it had been awful taking calls from customers with the the same question – she had been in tears. I asked her how to get my money back and she gave me a phone number which I contacted and hopefully the money will be paid back into my account. I phoned Pinnocks, a local supplier and he told me that every other call he had taken had been from TB customers. I have now ordered for delivery next week…we are keeping lovely and warm with a log fire!
We ordered and paid for oil from TB on 11 Dec with a promised delivery on 21/12. I phoned on 21/12 and was then told it would be with us the next day. Come Tuesday I got a phone call promising it would definitely be with us before Christmas. Just lies and no fuel so another lot of pensioners cold this Christmas. Do they care and how can they be allowed to get away with it?
The managing director is DIDIER HAREL at TOTAL UK, CLARENDEN ROAD, WATFORD WD17 1TQ. Perhaps if he gets a lot of letters from unhappy customers and we publicise their failings he might just sit up and listen. Our ultimate sanction is to vote with our feet and never use them again.
I am writing to Didier Harel as suggested by the previous complaint and will never use Total Butler again. We live in Northampton and ordered 1000 ltrs and had our payment taken in early December for delivery week commencing 21st – as near as we could get to a date from them. Then the cold weather started and we ran out of oil. I phoned and got nowhere, my husband phoned and they are simply not interested. Every other oil company in any house we have previously lived in has pulled out all the stops to get oil to us when needed and has certainly tried to get us a firm date. It arrived on 24th at 3pm but without the ordered clean oil just kerosene they said we did not order it, we certainly did and at the time went over it with them because we have problems with the boiler if an additive is not added to clean the kerosene. Useless company and terrible customer relations. Suggest Nolan Oil, Fuelcare, Watson if in our area they actually care about having customers.
Ditto, ditto, ditto to all the above comments. I am so angry that I cannot be bothered to waste anymore time or energy on this company. Do they ever look at this site to address any of these complaints and can they not see the damage that they are doing to the company? Having, for the second time this year, been promised a delivery of oil within 5 days of ordering on 5th December – well before the bad weather -we are still waiting. Our tank is now empty, we are likely to get air locks and other problems resulting from this, and the forecast is for temperatures to drop to minus 6 degrees over the next few nights.
So much for the letter promising delivery before Christmas. You can keep your mailshots and promotions, we don’t believe a word of them, and have no intention of ever ordering from Total Butler again.
Came home from holiday Dec 29th to find our heating had been off since the 28th (neighbours told us) eventually found the reason to be we had run out of oil and we’re on automatic top up! Told we’d get a delivery two days later, today, 31st Dec, rang up just now to be told maybe not until Jan 11th AND WE HAVE NO HEATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just rang head office to be told the man was going to speak with the manager who had just walked in and would get back to me within 10 minutes. Half an hour later….. Nothing….
It was only when I tried searching for a number to call that I came across these comments – we have run out of oil after being promised a delivery on Christmas Eve. We have been on the “top-up” scheme for years and it is clear that our experience is no different to other people’s…
Another customer lost.
I know someone who works for Total Butler – or ‘Total Disaster’ as she calls them!. She works in sales and says they are all on commission so push to sell as much product as possible, but the problem is that they haven’t got the ability to deliver all the orders they take!
She says the management is really bad – everyone running around like headless chickens with no sense of direction or leadership. A lot of the sales girls have been in tears because of the the hassle they get from the company and customers…. make your own mind up, but it doesn’t sound like a good place to work or deal with
Does it make me feel any better reading the above comments – yes but no I am still not any warmer. We were promised our top-up on 14 December and here we are 3 January and still no oil. My biggest complaint has been the false promises with dates (maybe I should call them lies). Promises to phone us back have also been broken. We too are now VERY COLD and worried about the damage to our Rayburn. I am so angry that I cannot be bothered to waste anymore time or energy on this company. WHAT IS GOING ON? Do not use this Total Butler.
I use to work for Total Butler and left as in the middle of 2008 they implemented a operational and sales change. The result was commisioned based sales and no team work between operations and sales. We use to run as small depots with targets and looked after our customers. All the routing and sales was done from one local office and constant communication took place on ability to fufil orders. Since mid 08 this changed. Routing is now done centrally at regional HQ and the routers have no geographical knowledge of the area. All they see is dots and do not prioritise or communicate with the sales force. The sales people are told just to take orders, not there problem to fufill the orders. I know when I left a number of large commercials accounts were leaving due to the poor service.
Never go on top-up and always haggle. You can save 4-5 pence a litre if you do – easily
We have been customers of total butler for the past two years, not realising the extra we were paying for oil. In October we signed up for the automatic top up system but noticed on the 28th December that we were practically out of oil. We were also promised a complimentary box of chocolates which was never delivered. We rang Total Butler who promised a delivery between then and 4th Jan. No delivery. On 4th Jan we were assured a driver would be out that date. No delivery. We have spent the last three days without heating. On 5th Jan Total Butler agreed this was unacceptable and we were promised a call back by management and a delivery that day. No delivery and no call back. We are still very cold, it was minus 9 last night. I cannot describe how angry we are with the poor service by Total butler and would never reccommend this company to anyone.
Having dealt with Total Butler for eighteen years I ordered oil on 14th December 2009 and was advised delivery before new year. No delivery and we ran out of oil on new years eve in below freezing temperatures.Chased Total Butler every day after the new year but they did not seem too concerned that we were out of oil.Eventualy a delivery was promised on Sunday 3rd Jan but this did not arrive. When enquiring on Monday I was advised that the oil was on the tanker but the driver could not find the paperwork.Still no oil on 7th Jan.Temperature still sub zero and we are freezing.
ordered on 19th dec,
1st delivery date was 29th Dec, no show
complanied next delivery date was 2nd Jan, no show
complained then promised 5th again no show
when I shouted at them again asked them to turn off the heating in their office so it matched the 4degrees in my house, they said the driver had run out of time to deliver my oil!!!!!! No other utility industry would be allowed to get away with this.
I then received a call this morning assuring me it would arrivr today. at 5.30 pm nothing….
if they didn’t lie to me i would not have such an issue.
I was shocked to read so many poor comments re Total Butler delivery service. I thought I was the only one!It took them about 3 weeks to deliver my last order. They made excuses like I hadnt paid ( when I had ) or the account name was wrong! driver off sick! you name it they used it. In the end we got really angry with them and they reluctantly delivered.
I thought by using such a large concern we would get a better service. Clearly not.
Unbeleivable
We too have been a customer with Total Butler for 10 years; we are now out of oil despite being on the TopUp scheme.
Have called them over and over again in the past 2 weeks and only ONCE have talked to a real person; who promised a delivery – didnt happen.
Does anyone remember Simon Palmer (MD) letter in April called “Our Commitment to you” where he promised that last years mess would not happen again; well its obviously not working!
I think custormers should not leave there order fot fuel till the last minute in december nowing that the company will be vry very busy… also WHY do all custormers think they MUST HAVE A FULL OIL TANK FOR CHRISTMAS DAY we are only shut 2 days . are you going to use a whole tank in 2 days ??? No I DONT THINK SO !!!!!!!!!!!!!! as a driver for an oil company i can tell you we are doing our best to get the fuel to you however how can we get a 26tonne truck down the road where you cant get a car.. some custormers are not fair and have nothing better to do than moan about anything they can because they have such a sad little life. why dont you get of your bums in november dip the tank and order some fuel early then if we get bad weather you wont be having a cold christmas will you, and let me tell you from a drivers point of view.. we do are best as drivers and when the office tell you the truck has broken down or the driver could not find you 9 times out off 10 its a lie…… we get routed so many drops in the winter we struggle to do them. and when a custormer cant be arsed to buy a house name plate or number and then the driver takes it back to the depot as we cant find it and dont have a crystal ball in the lorries to find houses with no names its the drivers fault like normal…….
Total Butler are a great company, however the changes that the company went though 2 years ago have made it very challenging however the bad weather this year has not helped at all ……….
the snarling tiger of total butler accounts dept will be set upon any poor soul who for whatever reason misses a direct debit.oooh my poor ear….
My point is that I am on Auto Top Up and Total Butler AUTOMATICALLY take my money each month and so I require/request/demand a level of service…. which I have NOT received.
I have STILL NOT received a call back from Total Butler from my 8 voice mail messages, 3 emails from the website, fax to the Managing Director, etc.
I do NOT have an axe to grind with the drivers as I know how difficult it has been over the past couple of weeks. The issue here is that TOTAL lack of customer service from the company that currently has over £1000 of my money sitting in THEIR bank account from the direct debits.
The drivers are doing the best they can in the circumstances; the problem here is management!
Ordered 1000 litres of oil through a village syndicate, was asked to pay for 500 up front. Delivery was cancelled and rearranged – not great as it meant having to be home two days instead of one, but these things happen. However, when the oil was delivered, the driver would only give us 500 litres, as this was what his paperwork said. Not his fault, so I rang the depot who were very rude and tried to argue that it was our fault and that we had only ordered 500 litres. They backtracked somewhat when we pointed out that we were part of a large syndicate and agreed to deliver the remaining 500 litres the following week. A few weeks later they called again and said they could not deliver unless I paid for the remaining 500 litres in advance. I pointed out that this was not what was originally agreed – but, tough luck, apparently, the terms had now changed. I paid over the phone. Anyway, the oil was eventually delivered but I was then repeatedly billed for an outstanding sum I didn’t even owe them. After telephoning them five times and them agreeing that the invoice should not have been sent out, I today received a letter saying they are referring my “debt” to a debt collection agency. I don’t care how much cheaper these people are than their competitors, I will never use them again. Hell, I would even change my entire heating system to electric than have to deal with them.
We have an account with Total Butler which debits our bank account every month and usually means that when I place an order we have enough credit to cover the cost of a fill-up. I always assumed that as a customer in credit I would receive a prompt service, and of course you tend to assume that such a huge company would have decent customer service etc. NOT SO! I placed an online order with TB on the 16th December and received an email back confirming receipt of the order. It also stated that someone would be in touch within 24 hours to confirm accessibility etc. No-one called but I was not concerned as they have delivered oil to us several times and there are no access problems. We were away at New Year so I thought I would come back to a full tank but no, and were were by then dangerously low. Tried calling and calling but just got diverted to an asnwerphone. Left messages and sent emails to no avail. Had to switch off the heating as it was about to run out and eventually got in contact with Customer Care for the whole Butler Group. A very helpful lady tried to find out when we would receive our oil but eventually came back and told me that they had not added our order to their schedule, probably because they had stopped accepting orders. So, they have around £600 of our money, and we have no oil at all. Is that acceptable? Damn right it isn’t! I’m taking my money back and my custom elsewhere (and why does it take two weeks to get your money back?). Total Butler are useless and don’t deserve to be in business.
Oil order placed 21 December Delivery promised for 4 January now 12 January, no oil no response to telephone, 2 days supply left. Total Butler appears to have no managment skills or organisation. Bring back local offices and staff with a sense of responsibility.
As expected, we ran out of oil. The repeated promises turned out to be worthless until I eventually spoke to somebody who DID call me back and even arraged an emergency delivery of 200 litres from a guy with a few oil drums in the back of a van…
I then had to hassle them for the other 2000 litres. Having read the comments I queried the price and got an immediate 4p per litre reduction. This begs the question why they treat their loyal customers so poorly?? Had I not asked I would have paid another £80.
We eventually received our oil following numerous calls, most of which did not get through. The driver was as helpful as ever and I am sure that he must be as fed up with getting negative comments about things outside his control.
To the driver,KingJohn, writing above: most of the complaints about service have nothing to do with the actual delivery, but with the organisation behind them. Also, people running out of oil because of this is not the same as just wanting a full tank over Christmas. It is only when things go wrong that most people even notice. In rural areas we depend on reliable oil supplies – if gas or electricity supplies are cut off for several days the local council opens help centres yet we are expected to burn the furniture and carry on as usual :0) The top-up scheme is designed to stop this happening and when it fails, people get very frustrated by the company’s response. Please don’t take it as a dig at the delivery drivers as we all appreciate that you can only work with the information that is given to you.
Nick
Came across this website by chance. Have been with TB as “auto top up” and direct debit (of course)for 15 years, Currently (in the middle of winter) £1850 in credit (OK, so I was a sucker) but oil-less. In various correspondence with TB at various places and looking forward to some outcome, which I will be glad to publish when I get it.
Took emergency action (at cost) with jerrycans from a local source to keep things going. Whilst phoning around, heard some rather dreadful stories about TB.
When I have a full tank, I will finish this post! However, I do have a much better and cheaper local alternative (Devon/Dartmoor)and will be glad to share with others in same boat.
But TB has had it for me. Closing the local depots and losing the local knowledge was the end. Presumably the plan is big customers on major routes, not small customers in rural locations.
I too pay direct debit monthly thinking I was keeping my tank topped up. Cold weather has hit. I am off sick recovering from major cancer surgery. Total butler visited in Dec – I felt happy topped up- wrong they decided not to top up. My last top up was April 09 (found out today) The have more than £1000 money of mine. The cold weather 3/4 empty tank has led to my boiler blowing fuel jets (boiler only 2 years old serviced regularly. I have had to replace fuel jets daily cant speak to anyone in authority the people in the depo in Castleford are really nice, but I feel cheated. I guess I was stupid and unlucky.
Like most of the comments on here I have been with TB for over 10 yrs.
I ordered oil on Mon 28th Dec, I appreciate that we had New Year and snow but we are still waiting for oil despite BT promising to deliver on 3 dates (when there was no snow!)
I have 2 small children & we are frozen!
I’m really not happy
just wanted to add to my comment above that its the customer service I’m cross with, or lack of it.
My firm recently ordered oil from Total Butler. Our fuel became unusually low due to the cold spell and we were nearly running out of oil. We were told delivery was going to be 3 days minimum, then we had the snow so we knew it would probably take a little longer. I did mention that we were extremely low and they said they would give us priority. RUBBISH! What got our backs up is that they kept fobbing us off by saying it was booked to come the next day – on 4 occasions! One day I phoned and they said it was actually on the lorry to be delivered to us that day. That was 6 days before it was actually delivered. One day it took me from 8.45 until 12 noon for someone to actually answer the phone. At one point I told them that if it wasnt delivered on the day they stated that we wouldnt use them ever again, considering my firm has used them for the past 10 years and at least 2500 litres every 6 months (we supply other offices hence the large amount). You would think we would be classed as a good customer but the people on the other end of the phone just didnt seem to be bothered that we would go elsewhere. We eventually ran out of oil so had to provide the other offices we supply with radiators and have had to call an engineer in to bleed the tank. The customer service is absolutely appalling – a courtesy call to your customers to apologise and to tell us there will be delays wouldnt have gone amiss! So if someone from Total Butler reads this: you’ve lost a good customer as we will be going elsewhere from now on! We would never use you again.
like so many others Total Butler let me down on delivery and we ran out of oil for 5 days. Ordered 3 weeks before delivery was promised by 4th Jananuary, it eventually arrived on the 11th. Their local depot shut for the whole of the first week of January, the call centre didnt even know ! I am moving way from them and will certainly make all my friends aware of it and even more certainly drive straight past any petrol station with the word Total on. I urge others to do the same.
Another unsatified customer here.
A long term customer with direct debit and top-up service. A big mistake.
Ordered oil before Christmas and was told it would be delivered on 29th December. Still waiting and we will run out of oil this weekend.
Does anyone know where I can get emergency supply in Hampshire (near Winchester)?
Ordered oil in December and was promised delivery before Christmas. Rang 23rd Dec and was told we were scheduled for 24th. Rang 1-30 on Christmas eve and was told we were not down for a delivery until the following week. We ran out on Christmas morning. 4 adults and two young dogs huddled together for 4 days was not an ideal way to spend the break. Oil arrived on Monday 28th but we had to call out an engineer to re-start the boiler on 29th. Cost £48. Total butler offered us a compensation payment of £65. I will never use them again.
After the heavier than normal use of oil over the cold spell last Monday (13th Jan) I found that I was running out, I phoned Total Butler, their sales staff told me that they couldn’t get to me until 22nd Jan. I explained how low I was and that I was an account customer, they could not care less, no heating etc with small children – who cares! Imagine my surprise when speaking to a friend today (who still has oil and enough for acouple of weeks or so) and she told me that she phoned them today and has a delivery for next Wednesday – Mind you will she get it! – Watch this Space!! Now sitting here with no heating etc still trying to get through to Total Butler!
Well, to continue my tale – Total Butler finally delivered 1195 litres of oil (our tank holds 1200 litres).
The only way that this happening in my opinion is because I hassled the crap out of the area Sales Manager until he got bored/frustrated/angry at me and told someone to get me off his back.
BUT even though I had his direct dial number and he had mine, the initiative had to come from me – he only returned 1 of the calls he promised to return over 5 days.
In the Berkshire area this has got so bad that TB have released a press release apologizing for how bad things are (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8458666.stm) Have a read – WHAT A JOKE – Marketing spin gone crazy.
So I am now going to take up the Sales Managers offer of a refund for the boiler guy emergency call out to get my boiler working (bleeding didnt work – loads of rubbish came down the pipe as well). Once I get that I guess my decision to stay or go will be based on whether their Managing Director ever decides to respond to the written letter/email copy and faxed version I sent to him last week. Not holding my breath on this one.
I would love to see these people on Watchdog explaining how they can say they care about their customers. I have literally met 20+ people in my small area near Marlow who have horror stories about them and have moved to other suppliers.
TOTAL BUTLER IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN I THINK WE ALL DESERVE A RESPONSE FROM YOU ON THIS BOARD.
But given their use of telephone technology and call centre expertise, then I doubt they have worked out how to use the Internet yet. Maybe I could help them as I have been in the call centre/customer service world for 30 yrs – but then again maybe not as then you would all be angry with me and I prefer to be friends
I work for TB, and i do agree with many of your comments, but as with anything these days, you don’t get something for nothing, and you can help us to help you!
1. Dont use the top up system. A computer programme CAN NOT estimate your useage, and secondly you wont get the best price.
2. At our busiest time, dont leave ordering at the last minute. Why on earth do you all wait till christmas week to order?? If you valued your warmth that much, you would order in plenty of time!
We have been through a lot of changes the past 16months, and its been pretty tough. When trucks are sent out with your order that never arrives, its due to 1 of you that screamed or cried down the phone demanding your fuel because you ordered to late and ran out, and because of this a driver has had to be sent 20 miles away to you, meaning the rest of his promised load had to be dropped!
And the comment about a driver not delivering to your tank because he deemed the tank unsafe … You would be quick enough to call complaining that your fuel had leaked all over your property! Health & safety regulations are there not just for you, but the environment!
I think some of your comments are ridiculous. Especially those that are given the delivery window when ordering, and then crying they ran out the next day.
Its a joke, maybe you need to think of changing your ordering habits!
I have spent the past ten days trying to get oil to people who can’t even be bothered to clear their driveways of snow so we can get the trucks close enough to deliver and then bleat that they’re cold.
NOBODY bothered to clear a path to their oil tanks (or even around the top of their oil tanks) so on many occasions I’ve been struggling to keep my footing while dragging a long,extremely heavy hose and up to my knees in snow, most of the last week I’ve been unable to feel my feet from the cold.
This is a 2 way street. If people make our jobs harder, it takes longer. If you add 2 minutes onto every delivery because we’re struggling,by the end of the day someone doesn’t get their oil. Then add (as KingJohn said earlier)it takes us half an hour to find your house because you thought it’d be a good idea to give your house a name but can’t be bothered to put up a nameplate-or even tell us the road your house is on in the village of 200 houses. If people weren’t so self-centred,you’d be waiting a lot less time for a delivery.
To the man complaining that his tank was deemed unsafe:-
When your tank leaks 1000+ litres of kerosene into your garden because it’s rotten you’ll soon change your tune when have to remortgage your house to pay for the cleanup. Contaminated soil is hazardous waste and costs a small fortune to remove and dispose of.
I think it is fair comment by the drivers, people can’t blame them, and perhaps if people were a little more considerate about clearing a way to their tanks this would help.
To be honest though, I think there has been very few complaints about drivers, it is more the call centres and sales staff who promise deliveries which never materialise that is the problem.
With regards the unsafe tanks, I’m amazed the drivers don’t refuse to deliver a lot more, the regulations that came in not long ago put the onus on the person delivering the oil to regulate things. How many people have proper bunded tanks situated on the correct size drip trays, as opposed to single skin metal tanks on a few concrete blocks?
When something goes wrong the buck will probably land on the driver.
Yet another totally disattisfied customer of Total Butler – paid for years on automatic top-up – not even realising we were paying over the odds – advised them we were critically low even though shouldn’t have too – they said we would get priority was we paid by SO – what a laugh – we ran out of oil, delivery took a week and then we had to get engineer to start boiler. Left loads of messages and only recieved 1 call back from an office junior – Management wont speak and aren’t interested! Will never use again.
I am amazed- the response above from Officeworker that we should NOT use auto top up because its not reliable and we wont get the best price is UNBELIEVABLE!
This basically means that all of the marketing information and commitment to customer service that Total Butler generate is complete and utter bull.
This has confirmed (if it ever needed confirming) that I will look for another supplier who treats me as a customer and wants to build a long standing relationship.
I have never had an issue with the drivers; they go where they are told after all. But reading the rubbish that Officeworker posted makes me have even more admiration for the drivers; imagine working for a company that is so badly organised behind the scenes.
Total Butler need to remember that customers forget what you say, forget what you do, but they NEVER forget how they feel.
My feelings towards Total Butler are well documented above and nothing is happening to make me change my mind.
PS Also havent heard back from the Managing Director to my letter (confirmed delivery) yet…. another broken promise by TB Customer Service.
Ordered and paid for my fuel well over a month ago – still not received it! After phoning a couple of times, it was promised for delivery last Thursday – nothing arrived, no phone call to tell me there would be a delay. I’ve phoned 4 times since then, and depsite promised that my account manager would call me back wtihin 1 hour, no one has called me back!
Never had a problem with them in the previous 4 years – but will def be changing suppliers now.
I’m another unhappy customer but I have some advice for anyone who’s been let down and getting know where like I was. Don’t bother writing to Total Butler or to the MD, because he will have no idea you are even complaining. You will simply be passed to a local manager in your area who will probably offer a small amount of compensation and then advise that trucks have broken down, drivers been off sick, bad weather etc. etc. My advice is to write to the MD of Total, the parent company, as he may take things more seriously.
Hi
Similar story, ordered over a month ago and promised delivery on 6 or 7 occasions with no show, long time customer etc. I was on their website totalbutler.co.uk and noticed a Your Feedback tab. This takes you through a series of questions and into a survey where you can rate their service. Not surprisingly I didn’t rate it very highly and was very damning in my comments.
This afternoon I got a call from a Communication and Marketing Assistant. She apologised for the issues and guess what the delivery that was scheduled for today actually arrived! I fully apologise to anyone whose delivery was diverted to me but I do now have full tank.
If you are unhappy I would recommend filling in the customer survey as I now know it is read. It has the additional benefit that it will severely bugger up their customer satisfaction figures that the managers no doubt refer to.
I too have been let down by total butler. What i found helpful, after several non answered phone calls and non delivery even though it was promised time and again, was to find a small emergency supplier. They are much more expensive but as long as TB have gone past when they are promising to deliver then they will pay you back for the emergency drop. I got 200 litres at £190.00. This way I helped the small supplier who treated me like a real person!! and i got the £190 and the engineer call out to restart the boiler £51.75 back. If you do this they are just happy you are off their back and not complaining. While i appreciate that it is not the Sales person’s fault that i speak to surely something can be done to sort the situation out. Its not like winter is not expected EVERY YEAR! Low and behold it took them another week to get fuel to me after i had the emergency drop – thank god for the little, local company. They are making a bit of money for a well needed service! If every company worked in the poorly managed way that TB does then we would be in a very poor state as a country!
Needless to say i’ve changed company to a smaller family firm who know who i am as soon as i call – real customer service! TB could learn a thing or 2 if they LISTENED!!
Good shout “Full Tank”
Another managers bonus for Customer Sat just got tanked.
Lets see if I get a call
My mother too has been a long-term customer of Total Butler. She is nearly 80, lives on her own in a remote area. She has always used Total top-up option, but clearly this does not work. Total advertise ‘never worry about running out of oil’. Well, guess what – she did and they had £800 of her money. I phoned hourly for a couple of days and only got an answer machine. Was able to find the local depot number and again got an answering machine. Each time left a message for someone to contact either myself or my mother, but no response. Went down to the depot to be told they could not understand why she had not had a deliver for over six months [two deliveries had been missed] but checking the system she was down for a delivery on Tuesday – five days later]. Said this was not good enough and I was told they would put her at the top of this list for a delivery over the weekend, as they were working to catch up because of the recent bad weather. Went down to the depot again on the Saturday morning and it was all shut. Went back again on the Monday morning and was told depot was not working over the weekend, another depot was. I was told she would definitely get a deliver on the Tuesday…..which she did. My mother stopped her direct debit so they did not continue to take her money until she has had her money’s worth of fuel from them. She then gets a letter to say Total are sorry to be losing her as a customer. No customer services call to see if there was anything they could do to keep her nor any promise of repaying the money they still have. No she will not be buying her oil from Butler anymore, but I wonder how long it will take for her to get her money back. Can’t blame anyone except management!
I actually stumbled across this site whilst looking for an address to write to Total Butler, however contrary to many of the comments here it was to commend them for having really been exceptional when I needed them most. My husband and I have been on the top up service for over 6 years and we have two other family members using them locally. We moved to them for our oil due to being ripped off by another supposedly family business that cared, so having been stung before we always check the price against our bill to make sure it doesn’t happen again…Total Butler have been consistently on par if not lower without exception. On their last delivery having recommended them to a neighbour who had been let down, their price to him as a new custoer was more expensive (although still in-line with the company that let him down)which proved reassuring to me that my loyalty wasn’t being exploited. However this leads me off my point of taking the time to write on this site. Due to a new baby, me off work and mum staying we obviously used more fuel and therefore I called them to say that because of this could we bring our order forward, we were’nt able to get through (perhaps understandably because of the weather) but we did get a call back and the delivery arrived as promised. The driver was polite and extremely helpful, even helping us clear some of our track to be able to get through. My mother in law had a similar experience, so I don’t believe it was a coincidence. This kind of service seems pretty unusual in this day and age and I have to say they have a loyal customer in me and my family!
Having found this site by accident, and read all the comments, I would like to praise Total Butler for their concern and super efficiency. Having taken a half a tank delivery of GLOMAX in October (this was the first and only delivery of this product) we had terrible problems with our AGA. Our wonderful AGA engineer came to sort us out on New Years Eve, and whilst he was here, I called TB to explain the problems this product had caused (I understand it is causing problems with AGAs all over the country). There were two alternatives, either we had the tank drained, or they topped us up with normal Kerosene to dilute the, thankfully, small amount of GLOMAX in the tank. We opted for option 2, and ordered more oil. To our complete amazement, a Total Butler tanker turned up at 8.00 AM on New Years Day to top up our tank. They understood the concern and urgency, and wanted to get us sorted out as quickly as possible. Our AGA is now running better than before, and after another top up this morning, will hopefully be even better from now on. The only thing they do not supply is Topinol, but as I have found somewhere that supplies it, I shall make sure that there is some here before our next top up, then hopefully, all our AGA oil problems will be solved.
THANK YOU TOTAL BUTLER FOR YOUR CONCERN AND FANTASTIC SERVICE
WATCHDOG !!!!
I am writing to watchdog
watchdog@bbc.co.uk.
and i urge you all to do the same. Perhaps the pubilc humiliation of Total Butler will shake things up a bit. Clearly they don’t foresee winter arriving each year and have cut staff and regionalised so much that they are incapable of providing the adverised service. People suffer in the cold without heating purely because of their incompetence.
Why dont you GET A LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i bet you are one of the people that only order from Total Butler when they are in the shit and cant get it anywhere else because you have left it to late like normal….. All the staff at Total Butler have been doing everything we possably can this year in the bad weather to get the oil out to custormers. however let me tell you. if you think that when your car slids on ice its scary try driving a 26tonne fuel tanker that holds 20,000 ltrs of fuel to hit the brake pedal and the fuel pushes you on the ice and you slid and slid… also when you are deliving in the back garden of a house and you walk round the front only to see the truck slidding down the road. THAT IS SCARY !!!!!! so when we say we cant get to you WE MEAN WE CANT GET TO YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!! LISTEN… go to watchdog thats a great bit of free advertising for the company so please do and also why dont you change your oil supplier as custormers like you we dont need…. we have not got rid of any drivers at all and this year we took on another 40 drivers for the winter rush and working saturdays and sundays so get your facts right before you go to watchdog….
anyway GOOD LUCK WITH THE WATCHDOG TEAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone posted above about writing to the Prince about the Royal Warrant.
You don’t need to – its been taken away from them!
Coincidence I wonder? Or does the palace no longer wish to be associated with a company that does this to their customers? One can only imagine how red faced they are about this. Didnt the old family business achieve thie prestigious title a very long tie ago, TB put it on all their paper, trucks, adverts. Oh my…..
This winter yet again has been a farce.
Once – forgiveable for most I would say
Twice in two winters – They deserve everything they get.
Will the winter 2010 be any different? I doubt it with the same management, they clearly do not get it.
Drivers – keep up the good work, maybe you guys should take the seats of the manager’s who seem so incapable of running the business.
As I write this comment I am waiting again for a return call from TB’s Mr Sanjeev Tegala to let me know when my delivery which failed to arrive last Friday on the very last day of their promised delivery window and also failed to arrive over the weekend or yesterday as most recently promised/scheduled. We have had the heat turned off for the past week for fear of completely running out and having to call plumbers in yet again to bleed the boiler. Yes this has happened before with TB but I fell for their apologies last time and have continued to use them.
I have had my complaints about the way TB charge for their product but always haggle now so that problem went away. My complaint in addition to the late delivery on this occasion is that the staff however hard pressed need to learn to show some concern rather than disdain towards customers who are calling. It is their job after all not some sort of punishment. Over the last week of broken promises I have been shunted by their new telephone system from office to office necessitating the constant repetition of my problem to all and sundry and on only occasion did I reach an empathetic ear (thank you Claire in Southampton) on most occassions I was treated like a nuisance (Sian at the South East hub).
Lastly I feel sorry for the front line of TB like the guy above and in particular Mick my own delivery driver for years now. They are a hard working bunch who are suffering bad press due to the lack of organisation above them.
Anyway it has been good to get this off my chest for a few minutes and guess what? The phone has not rung.
The issue I have with TB is the inability of the office staff to tell the truth, or comunicate at all. If ‘Another TB Driver’ could have his and other drivers difficulties made clear to customers on the ‘top-up’ service when wondering why they have run out of oil, again, it would take a lot of heat out of the exchanges one has with the useless automated telephone system TB now use.
I’m off to BoilerJuice or one of the other web co-ops now. Thanks for the MDs address above too.
Clearly a frustrated ( and somewhat illiterate ?) employee / driver unaware of the facts. My local depot was closed for the entire week including of course Saturday and Sunday.
I Do agree with many comments on this site However i have always found Total Butler to be 9 times out of ten the cheapest supplyer by a long shot. It does take longer then many other smaller supplyers but i put this down to being there price and as such have greater demand. I always make sure i order my fuel with plenty still in my tank and have never had a problem. The drivers are always happy and helpfull and better still i have more money in my pocket. So personally i have always had good service from this company and am a happy customer.
over here in the east I have had a good relationship with TB over 15 years and a personal relationship with office staff and drivers. But suddenly customer service has collapsed. Phones have not been answered, my order has been taken wrongly and the delivery made to the wrong tanks.
No quarrel with the drivers, but I am hearing from various sources of poor management and HR practices in the local office which inevitably leads to poor customer service.
These need to be addressed or I shall join the others of ou who have moved to pastures new.
total butler have lost all their customer care and loyalty over the last few years .having been a loyal customer for more than 30 years using no one else we find not only are the prices poor but so is the service.
after repeated requests to speak to our local rep (without success) i can only assume we dont have one i.am pleased to say there are others out there who really do want our trade but sad to feel after all these years loyalty counts for none with some .
mr strodes arrogance just about sums up total butlers dont care attitude
Total Butler no longer has a Royal Warrant. Warrants are granted for 5 years for supply and service. They are reviewed a year before they are due to expire and if the company is no longer being used by the Royal Household the Royal Warrant is cancelled.
Taken from Royal Warrant Website:
“What happens to a company or individual when a Royal Warrant is cancelled?
They have 12 months to alter their packaging and stationery and remove the Royal Arms from their vehicles and buildings.”
It is so frustrating to see all these comments. Having worked for years to maintain a good reputation it has taken just a short while to destroy it. After making some internal changes and shifting admin and routing to a central location it has taken away the experience of staff at your local depot to be replaced by staff who have no geographical knowledge of their area. Routing is done by an all singing all dancing computer that will send a driver to the same village each day of the week to do just one delivery. Sales and routing cannot communicate effectively.
I can assure you all that drivers are working 12 hour days, sometimes more, 7 days a week and still it is not enough. What has happened to this once great company that we were proud to represent?
This is a comment from blog author:
Thank you Goldenballs, I feel for you. it must be demorolising for the drivers and the old staff to see all these comments.
I personaly was a very happy TB customer up until 18 months ago, could ring my local depot, speak to the same person everytime, and not only get a delivery day, but more often than not, would know whether it was coming AM or PM on that day.
Last time I ordered I didn’t have a clue what week it was being delivered, let alone what day.
As people from Total often read this blog, it would be nice hear a comment from them.
Question I would like to know is, do the sales staff make more commission if they sell at a higher rate?
Are there different rates for different customers, and are customers who don’t ask about the price automatically paying the highest rate?
Hi,
Agree Total staff are only looking for the most commision they can get, people who order regularly pay a higher and higher price over time as they think they can rip them off, which they can. They should be shut down, but the thing is they even sell at a loss on some bigger orders just to stop other suppliers getting the order. I used Universal Fuels a couple of times who were good, but always comparing every time now as i have no trust in any supplier anymore. Have found a new site comparefueloil.co.uk that compares for me so i might use that next time to find the best deal.
First I’d like to point out that the 2nd ‘Another TB driver’ wasn’t me but I do agree with everything he’s said.
Richard Strode.
You are somewhat misinformed. If your local depot was closed for a week it isn’t to personally spite you. It may have something to do with that fluffy white stuff which you may or may not have noticed coming down from above making it an unacceptable risk to the driver’s life and the environment. Driving a tanker on snow and thick ice is somewhat more difficult and dangerous than driving a car. When 26 tonnes starts to slide it carries on going for a very long way.
Clearly you know it all though so none of this will be news to you.
‘James’.
Would you mind sharing the original document you got that information from as it’s utter tosh. We really don’t need misinformed people rumourmongering.
Today I received a registered letter from Simon Palmer (General Manager of TB) with a very clear explanation of what he feels his issues are, what he is going to do about them and also what he is going to do about my own particular situation.
I have to say that at least the very senior management in TB are obviously concerned and are listening to their long time customers.
Given that the “top man” is listening to my particular issue I am prepared to give him the chance to put things right. I work in the customer service world and always feel that doing the “right thing” by the customer wins out in the end.
I hope that everyone on this blog does manage to get their issues solved. It does take some time of that there is no doubt, but it seems to me that they (TB) are very aware of the concerns of their customers.
So I will give them a second shot (or should it be 3rd?) and hope that this situation helps them to improve their service to me (and others) in the future.
I am a long standing Total Butler user who in the past never checked the prices that I was paying, I did this time and found that Total Butler quoted the cheapest which seems to go against the majority of comments made so far. I was given a delivery date but was not surprised when it did not come as the roads were still covered in ice around our way and I would not want the driver to put his life or other drivers at risk to get the oil here. I was given another delivery day, ice and snow has long gone but did they turn up – NO!, I have telephoned and have had no real explaination why the delivery was made, a manager was going to ring me before 9.30 to make another delivery time but at 10.15 still no call and if I was a betting man I would give good odds that they won’t call. COME ON TB GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND START PROVIDING A BETTER SERVICE. I forgot to mention that the delivery lorry drove past my house twice on the delivery day – is that not taking the pee!
Its been the coldest winter for 30 years and just like the customers that have been caught out and run out of oil it would seem that the top-up service has had some major problems with the prolonged very cold weather.
Although your local depot may appear closed at weekends, drivers are out delivering Saturdays & Sundays, we even have some working on afternoon shifts delivering till 9pm week days.
TB has pulled out all the stops to turn things around (at least on the delivery side of things) and there does seem to be a real effort from the top down to sort out problems with ordering and routing.
During this busy period customers could help us to deliver to more customers per day by giving clear location details of hard to find houses and making sure the route to the tank is unobstructed.
Oh and rusty tanks are OK but if they are leaking or even just oily at the bottom, they could fail when oil is delivered, the clear-up cost on average is tens of thousands and entirely down to the householder. Most home insurance does not cover oil spill clear up costs. It makes sense to ask your heating engineer to inspect your tank when you have your boiler serviced if you are in any doubt. Tb and drivers have a legal responsibility not to deliver to faulty tanks.
Sight-tubes should be turned off unless you need to read the fuel level, if they leak or get knocked off, the tank will empty, new ones are spring loaded. If your sight-tube is yellowy or full of bugs or slow to level get it changed its a 5 minute job and an easy to read fuel level helps us and you.
Got my delivery today, they did not ring me back as promised so I had to chase them again and after talking to the driver about the internal problems that the company seemed to be having I doubt very much that I will order from them again.
This blog really needs some balance – it’s very easy to criticise, especially on an emotive subject such as heating and hotwater, and having read through this some of you have every right to complain. On the other hand I have been a TB customer for many years on Top Up and have had no issues. I probably pay slightly above the market price for my fuel but I accept this as it saves me precious time ringing around everytime I need a delivery.
I would say to those here who run out of oil on Top Up, it’s more than likely you have consumed more fuel than you would normally and it is wise to keep an eye on the level of fuel in your tank and be proactive with it if you feel you may run out. I find it almost uncanny that TB deliver to me when my tank is exactly a quarter full. If it were to fall much below this level I’d make sure I’d be contacting TB to make sure I was scheduled for delivery within the next couple of weeks. It’s part of living in a rural community, you just have to be a bit more prepared.
We had a tank of fuel stolen a while back, and I have to say TB were excellent and amazingly got a delivery to us the next day – no drama, no repeated calls, no holding on the phone – one 5 minute call and it was sorted. I wish I could recall the name of the guy that dealt with us and put his name here in a positive light – all the negativity here is adding to my S.A.D.
I would say to those that have a legitimate complaint to contact TB to try and resolve – and if that fails then change supplier. Blogs like this have their place, hence why I am writing on one, but tend to be full of angry people and it’s hard to get a balanced point of view
Ok, i worked for TB for a few years in a local depot, (now work for an independent) before they went to centralised call centre. I’ve heard everything when people ring up, ‘we’ve run out of oil, my grandmother is staying, my pregnant grandmother is staying etc etc etc…..’ The trouble is, unless your on top up service the customer is responsible for the level of their tank!! not total butler. It’s easy order fuel in advance not when your low or run out, TB and all other fuel distributors are not the emergency services, they are businesses there to make money. Order fuel at the end of november, not 2 days before xmas expecting next day delivery service. Your probably get a better price too.
When there’s a foot of snow on the road dont ring saying ‘I’m snowed in, bring me oil NOW’ Umm like the tanker driver says driving a tanker with a moving load on ice is suicidal!! I’ve had a customer ring me say ‘the driver can’t do any damage to anything coming to my house!! ‘just the driver and the 150k lorry’ was my reply!!!
Total Butler downfall is the centralisation of its sales/transport staff. It does not work!!! BP did it years ago, and in failed in a large way!!!! I’m so glad i don’t work in that sales office, they must received complain after complaint!!!!
RANT OVER
A BIG THANK YOU! I too ordered oil at the beginning of December and thought I had given myself plenty of time. My watchman was on 2. I was told there was a 12 day wait but that still gave plenty of time before the Christmas week. Then the snow came…After many assurances from the Westcott depo that the oil would arrive I decided I needed a Plan B before my tank drained dry. I managed to contact another depo (Sudbury) where an amazing sales executive, Kelly pulled out all the stops, and along with Matt from Total customer care and Sue at head office, managed to authorise an emergency delivery of oil to see me through the Christmas period. At the end of the day, the people we are speaking to on the other end of the phone are human! I know Kelly thought about me on her day off as she called me first thing the next day. The drivers were under huge pressure to drive in dangerous circumstances and let’s be honest here, most household oil is delivered to remote addresses (why else do we need oil?) which makes delivery treacherous in icy conditions. Sue at head office has been truly amazing! I cannot thank her enough. She even called me on her day off to make sure my oil had arrived. She ensured I received the rest of my oil in January (through more snow) and has been keen to listen to my point of view as a customer. I have explained that the stress one feels when you cannot get through to a depo is simply awful and I hope somehow Total Butler get that system changed. As a customer, I will make sure that my oil is now ordered well in advance, especially over the winter months. Again, biggest thanks to three sympathetic sets of ears – Sue, Kelly and Matt at Customer Care.
Phew – was I lucky. I read these just before I was going to make my first order with them! Thanks guys. Hey I use(or used!) Southern Counties with all of the problems you have identified an I am a budget account customer. Pity that coz they have absolutely no idea how to run a budget account. On my last order(order to delivery time 6 weeks which was the same last year) the guy tried to increase my monthly payment. I refused and he just backed down. Three years ago, Souther Counties had £1,000 of my money at the reconciliation date and my last account showed me more or less completely paid up! You tell me!!
This industry needs a real shake up. These companies should go to the wall but I suspect what happens is that we all move from company to company to company until we have to go back to the idiots that have “served” us in the past
Don’t ever use this company! I had horrendous problems trying to get an oil delivery from them, even though I was paying by direct debit. It took me a week to get to speak to someone who was prepared to sort my problem and get me a delivery, during which time I had no heating, and it was nearly two weeks before I finally got some oil.
Recently, I had a problem with the sight gauge on my oil tank, and I thought I had about half a tank, when in fact it was nearly empty. I phoned Total Butler, who said it would be the middle of the following week before they could deliver. I phoned a local company, who delivered the next day. At that point I closed my account with Total Butler, speaking to a customer service operative, who could not have cared less. Yesterday, I received an automatic top up from them, even though I closed my account at the end of January and stopped my direct debit. I have asked them to come and remove the oil, and never darken my doorstep again. Be warned!
I only wish that I’d have seen this site before ordering 800 l oil.
It having been a bad Winter, I thought I’d give as much notice as possible.
I ordered on the 26th January and paid by debit card, in advance. I was told the oil would be delivered between The 8th and 12th February. It is now the the 12th and despite my checking on the 3rd, 9th, 11th and today, I could get no assurance as to the actual delivery day – “certainly,” I was told, “It won’t be today.” 18 days I’ve waited.!!! 18 DAYS THEY’VE HAD MY MONEY and at 49.15p a litre.
The day before I ordered, TB issued a statement saying that “(TB)is once again, fully operational.”
HA, HA.
I am a pensioner and my oil tank is empty.
Any pro comments above must have been written by TB’s Pr people.
I left a perfectly reasonable message on here on Friday which was subject to “moderation.” It has not been printed.
Are you only taking pro Total Butler blogs?
I have previously used Total Butler for some years, but 15 months ago left messages over a period of 2 weeks for an urgent delivery. No one bothered to return my calls so I went elsewhere. Last year I ordered fuel again from TB but did not receive an account, only the reminder which I sent off a cheque by return. I rang the company to check its safe receipt to be told ‘no but it takes about 10 days to get through the system, ring again in a week’. By this time I had been threatened with a debt collection company to whom I made immediate representations repeating above. After some serious deliberation they agreed to accept my explanation since I had recorded names, times of conversations etc. and wrote off the debt charges. I did receive a letter of apology but I was very angry. Today I decided to ring round for quotes and again rang TB but after waiting for some time a message said we will ring you back if you leave your number and then IMMEDIATELY cut off – what good business!! I’ve ordered elsewhere.
I have worked in the oil industry – at the sharp end of the operations team.
Whilst I agree there are certainly issues with the management / set up side of things, like some people are starting to realise, a lot of the responsinbility must be taken by the customer.
Do you wait for your petrol tank in you car to get down to the last litre before deciding to fill up?
Check your fuel level & order well in advance – it’s not rocket science.
Even if you’re on top up, wouldn’t it be prudent to still keep an eye on it. Help your fuel supplier to help youself.
And it’s amazing how many old / pregnant / back home after surgery / new born baby customers just happen to have run out of oil!!
Delivery drivers are regulated by stict legal rules regardaing the hours they can work / drive. And like people say, when there’s snow on the roads and your council have failed to clear it, do you expect the oil company to scramble their helicopter for you?
The business is very seasonal – if we had enough resources for the busy winter period, what would they do during the quiet summer; would you be prepared to pay even more to subsidise for this?
And by the way, so – worst case scenario, you’ve run out of oil. Here’s a tip; plug in an electric heater or two. Let’s face it, you’re not going to freeze to death are you…..
I really wish I had read this webpage BEFORE we placed an order with Total Butler!!
Total Butler should be called Total Apathy, certainly not Butler as butlers serve others, Total Butler only serve themselves. They take your hard earned cash and make promises of deliveries that they know they will not attempt to keep.
I’m surprised the staff supporting Sussex deliveries can organise their own journey to their own office.
We have just had the awful experience of paying for the fuel (at a very high price), having to be very economical with our fuel in cold weather to get through the 3 weeks waiting time given by Total Apathy, only to run out completely and have NO HEATING at all for the last 4 days! Needless to say the fuel was not delivered on time & we had to go through a very cold weekend praying there was a delivery on the Monday.
I do believe that the price has gone down by 7.17 pence a litre in between paying & the delivery. I wonder who pockets this difference in cost?
This is the first time we have used Total Apathy, guess what? Never again! There should be a professional organisation that these companies should be answerable to!
do not confuse total butler with the original butler fuels. The butler ethicks and excellence in service has long since been diluted. This has been replaced by a french major oil company who have aquired sales by buy outs. Profit is their god. Always stby your local independent.
I can’t believe how much time I’ve had to waste because of the TOTAL incompetence of TOTAL BUTTLARD.
Not only did I have to wait three weeks for delivery of the oil I ordered but now I find that they’ve debited my account twice for the same amount! Fortunately, I had funds in my account to cover but on checking with them, I learn that they will not be able to reimburse me for a further four days as they only make payments on a Wednesday.
THUS THEY HAVE STOLEN £412.86 from me and I will not have it cleared and in my account for about seven days.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
DO NOT EVER USE THIS COMPANY. THEY SHOULD BE CLOSED DOWN.
I wrote about the TB driver arbitrarily deciding that my tank was ‘unsafe’ a few days before Christmas.This tank had been passed by another TB driver only 3 months earlier. The tank was then passed .. and filled .. by a driver from another company who came within two days. I had in fact overheard the TB driver say to his companion that he didn’t want to bother coming down our narrow access way .. although this had been used by them for the previous 12 tears. When I told him I had heard, he denied it and used the excuse of my using a swear word to drive off.
The driver from the new company said that he had been told similar stories from several people in our area (Somerset) who had rung them in desperation.
TB Customer Service were cold and rude and have answered one out of six emails .. to say that they were ‘being passed on’.
I wonder how a company that is so incompetent at deliveries can be so clever at taking my money.
To be overcharged once is bad enough, but for TB to take it again from our bank account I would have thought was criminal.
What happened to Data Protection? I was under the impresssion that companies should not retain bank details without our permission, after the trasaction was complete.
They already had the £419.86 nearly 3 weeks before they bothered to deliver the oil, but to take it a second time, what can I say? I know waht I can say: DO NOT EVER USE THIS COMPANY THEY ARE ABSOLUTLEY USELESS!!!!!!
I have just put the phone down on the manager of this company and now refuse to have anything further to do with them. Im am furious about the conversation we have just had and absolutely shocked in relation to his whole attitude towards a long standing customer.
I have now been left with almost no oil in a house where we have three children.
For three weeks i have been trying to get a phone call back in relation to the last driver refusing to deliever our oil….because we had dog poo in our garden ! We have had our dog for 3 years and never had this problem and they have basically accused me of living in a pig sty which is extremely far from the truth. The same driver has arrived today and basically driven off without delivering leaving us with barely no oil. The manager Bob was argumentative rude and spoke over me the whole time telling me to tidy up my garden! i am disgusted with his attitude and remarks. There is nothing wrong with out garden by any means. I wonder if watch dog will be interested…..
I have been a Total Butler customer, on automatic top up for over 20 years, probably a wrong move, but then I am busy, and lazy!.
After new year I noticed my tank was low, as a result of greater usage with the cold weather. I phoned TB to ascertain when my next delivery was scheduled, I phoned 4 or 5 times a day just to hear the same answerphone message. After 5 days I sent a letter to the sales Director stating that their customer service was rubbish, cancelling my contract and requesting they credit my account with the positive ballance. I stopped my direct debit. They credited my account and I ordered elsewhere (7% cheaper)I did not fill my tank as it is an old steel one, I planned to run it down and replace this summer with an ABS one. Last Saturday a TB truck arrived, filled the tank with 800 litres (I now have 1500litres – 12-15 months supply)and have no chance to replace the tank.
I have now phoned the HQ 4 times to speak to a manager with no return response. I will write to the company MD and relate all, with no real expectance of communication, as I think this company is on a suicide trail. I am the MD of a company myself and If I had a customer response like Total Butler I would feel like topping myself, after I had exterminated the useless management first.!
Mrs Bennett.
If you’ve got dogs mess in your garden and it’s in the path of where the hose has to be pulled, of course we won’t drag the hose through it. The hose comes in contact with our clothing while being pulled out and while being wound in.
You obviously feel that wiping dog mess over ourselves then transferring it to the cab of the lorry we spend up to 12 hours a day in from our clothes is acceptable. We don’t. Clean up after your dog.
Jmarsden.
If you feel that your tank is safe, why not post links to some pictures of it,then you can get the opinion of more than one driver as there’s more than just me that’s posting on here.
I have had very bad experience with Boiler Jice – less than a penny saved per litre and 15 days after ordering I am still waiting fdor my delivery.
New Total Website – used this on 18 March 2010 to place an order. Was quoted the most competitive price around (I checked) and given a delivery window of between 19 – 23 March 2010. Delivery arrived before noon on 23 March 2010. Delivered by really nice & courteous driver who was a ray of sunshine to me, as I am home ‘poorly’ at the moment. I pay on invoice, too; none of this pay upfront or by direct debit – but I always pay promptly after I do get the invoice (not fair on the company otherwise).
Well impressed with service – could it be that Total have been listening?
jeannie from near York
I am a regular customer of Total Butler paying my monthly direct debit. On 15/4/10 I contacted total butler for 1000ltr of oil and was quoted 47.53 per ltr. My neighbour who stood with me at the time had just 5 minutes previous been quoted 43.54 per ltr by total butler. She is not a direct debit customer. When I queried the difference with the lady, she then gave me another price of 46.42, this being her ‘best offer’. I cancelled my request and contacted customer service to complain about the price difference quoted to my neighbour and me a regular customer. I was told that someone would call me back, no-one did. I telephoned again on Monday 19/4/2010 complained once again, and was told someone would call me back either Monday or Tuesday. Today is Wednesday, I am STILL waiting for Total Butler to have the courtesy to respond to my complaint. I am disgusted with the service provided by this supplier and will be cancelling my direct debit today. This is a real shame because the takner drivers delivering the oil do a fantastic job and are extremely helpful and courteous. My advice to them would be drive for another company!
Never deal with company!Why?Because they are so unbelievably awful as to almost be fraudulent.I took my 3rd delivery from them as a last resort last December.Had ceased d/debit 5 months before as in credit but they refused to reduce amount.Promised 1 week delivery,took 17 days,10 phone calls and empty promises.Never restarted standing order again,as arranged.I rang 3 times to point this out.Then threatening letter for non payment and court letter from 3 counties away received in same week!!!!Result?I paid £290.00 for £196.00 delivery,never never again.
on top us service supposedly! second time we’ve run out of oil resulting in problems with boiler. called and was told that we would not be getting any oil until direct debits have increased. Currently £90 per month and arrears of £500 which would in effect even out over summer.(the reason I presumed for having not been approached) Have not had any letter from them asking me to increase DD or any warning that oil would be refused. Now cold, no hot water and very annoyed! Looking elsewhere….I do not recommend Total Butler to anyone.
I ordered on 6th December. I have a disabled husband and have been a Total Butler Customer for 10 years. I had to wait 8 weeks for my oil. The house froze up, we had no oil from 4th Jan. I logged 60 phone calls was promiced deliveries so many times. Drove down to the Horsham depot in the snow no one working. When they did deliver, they had an oil leak in my drive and I am still waiting for answers to my phone calls and emails for compensation. Have written to the Managing director twice. No reply. I will not be paying my bill till it is sorted and I have an apology and someone comes out to sort it out.
I will never use TB again and I have many similar stories from customers round here. Please note I gave 4 weeks notice before I knew we would run out. What really infuriated me was that I was called by someone in the village to say the TB delivery lorry was delivering to them and they had only ordered the week before.
EVERYONE PLEASE READ AND LISTEN…….
As a driver for an oil company, i think its about time custormers took notice of the terms and conditions on the delivery tickets.. If you have a dog clean the POO UP !! we will NOT walk though it or drag the hose in it… and if its runny and on the path wash the path… oil tanks are NOT a dumping ground for crap. if we can not get CLEAR access tot the tank we will not deliver.. if the dogs out we will not deliver.. if the tank is looking rotten we wont deliver either.. you will moan you dont have oil but you will moan more when its all over the garden costing you thousands… we do not climb gates or walls and fence panels. and we cant take the hose though houses or anywhere where there is white goods ( I;e Washing machine,etc )
if you want oil then its simple. keep the tank area clean the path way to the tank clear and also if we have to come on the drive in the tanker make sure is not over grown, i have lost count how many drops i take back as the trees are to low and they will scratch the paint on the new trucks, would you scratch you brand new car ??? NO I DONT THINK SO DO YOU a new tanker costs 150k so its not fair… in winter clean the ice and snow from your tank and path and the access to you house on the day of you delivery that will at least help to try and get your oil to you in the bad weather we lose about 2 hours aday in the winter looking for house and struggling to get up paths pulling the hose…
if you can help us we cant help you anymore as heath and safty gone made
TAKE NOTICE PLEASE OR BE COLD
As a new customer to Total Butler earlier this year, I am surprised at the comments made by some of your customers. I was spoken to on the phone by a very pleasant young lady. She explained the litrs and prices and after trying two other companies came beck to Total Butler and ordered my oil. A date was given and the driver arrived at mid day. I have had a lot of hassle from other companies over the past years and will certinly be repeating my order again. I do not let my tank go too low as I know this would make matters worse if we had a spell of very bad weather. The driver was courteous. I find some people enjoy moaning but if you are elderly like us life if too short to keep complaining. If you are polite to others on the phone or face to face you will find a ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ will go a long way.
My husband and myself moved to a small village just outside newbury last year. It was the first time we have not been on the main supply and had a tank in are garden. We have had two deliverys since we moved here of which both we have got from total butler mainly because they were the cheapest. I have to say as i stumbled apon this site looking for the phone number i am shocked by so many negative comments and i have to say that the service i have recieved has been superb. The sales staff were helpfull and ive had both deliverys within a couple of days. The drivers are always very polite and helpfull and are more then happy to answer any questions you have regarding heating oil or your tank as i had. Personally ill be using them again and i agree with the last couple of comments. Treat people as you would like to be treated yourself.
I have just received my bill for the last delivery of oil on the “top up” system. This,at 54.39ppl, seemed high.
In comparison with last February, the cost was 4.31ppl higher.
A check with three other local suppliers showed that Butler was charging at a price 29.5% higher than that of the next highest quote ie 42.00ppl.
Unless I receive an amended invoice from Butler, I wuill not order from them again.
i just want to say a massive thank you to total butler. i was stupid and forget to check my oil though the nice weather, and i RAN OUT !!! i rang total butler and got though to a young girl at sudbury depot who did everything in her powers to get me some oil that same day, now please bear in mind i noticed i had run out of oil at 10am and i had a phone call from the driver i think his name was adam at 11am to say he was on his way and would be with me within thirty minutes, the tanker pulled up outside my house at 11.30am, and the drive knocked on the door before bringing his large tanker on the drive and asked if he was allowed to bring the trck up the drive, (first driver to ask in five years) which was very nice, after having a small chat with the driver and saying im very sorry you had to make a special trip for me, he was so lovely he filled my tank right up for me which was great and when he knocked ont he door to give me the ticket he was so nice he said thankyou and look after yourself, goodbye, he even shut the gates to the drive. i find it hard to belive all the reports on this website, maybe they are true and maybe total butler have changed for the best, if this is the NEW total butler i will order fuel again and again and again from you, thanks again adam ( sorry if thats not your name ) wish all custormer service was this good everywhere…
This is a tale of absolutely appalling behaviour by Total Butler, who are threatening me for payment for a fuel delivery they never made.
I am not normally one for complaining about companies, although I subscribe to Which and passively enjoy dodgy dealers getting their comeuppance. However Total Butlers absolutely appaling behaviour has inspired me to write. During the cold snap earlier in the year our electric fuel gauge indicated we were running low on fuel (we have a red light that flashes to warn us), and I contacted Total Butler for a delivery. They did not bill me for at the time. Five days passed and as I was getting increasingly worried about the fuel running out, to the point where we were keeping the thermostat as low as we could bear.
When I rang them they were friendly and informed me that the fuel had, according to their records, been delivered. I said a mistake had been made. They said the operations manager would ring back to sort out the problem. This never happened despite several more calls over a period of a week. My wife and I checked the tank visually and it was nearly empty. We ended up having to buy electric heaters to keep our cottage warm as we switched off the heating and used the remaining oil just to keep our water hot – this was when it -6C outside!. Eventually we rang up another company, Barton fuels, who delivered an emergency fuel delivery very quickly.
I thought this would be the end of the matter , but I continued to get invoices for the fuel that Total Butler said had said had been delivered. I sent them a note in March asking them to rectify their records and remove the money they claim I owed them from my account, but got no reply until May when I was contacted by a customer service rep who said he looked into the matter. He wrote back and said that a delivery note had been issued at the time and this was therefore proof of delivery. They also included a quote from the driver, who miraculously remembered the details of our cottage, which was actually incorrect. Currently, despite a number of letters from myself, I am being threatened with ‘further action’ and ‘debt collection’, which is extremely stressful for myself and my wife We have done nothing wrong and actually had to suffer as a result of what is clearly a delivery error on the part of Total Butler. Now I think it is right that they should look into the matter to check that individuals are not trying to pull a fast one on them, but it is very clear in our case that we are not trying to ‘steal’ fuel from them and that the mistake was theirs, something they could have verified when I was first contacting them. Personally I have always found the call centre staff very friendly, but I suspect their are organisational problems further up the line that means that errors such as the one they made with me are blamed on the customer, who then has to suffer threats. My advice is to avoid this company at all costs.
chris i had the same problem with another oil company years ago and i asked the company to prove to me that the drive had delivered, the driver could not take the manager to my house to prove he had delivered it to the right house so there for i was refunded all the money and was then given 500 ltrs free as a sorry note, i still think to this day the fuel was either delivered to another house or the driver sold it somewhere else for cash. i have never used the oil company again and now i to use barton petrolium from oakley bedfordshire hope you sort the problem out mate but make sure you ask them to get the driver to show where he delivered it, its a big help for sorting the problem out all the best Bob
I have been with Total Butler for the past 12 months (because the previous house owners were with them). I initiated the first three refills over the phone, always receiving prices at market rates (within 1-2 p/l compared to boilerjoice.com). I then switched to their automatic ‘Top Up’ service (which I was assured is for free, ie would be the same price per litre as ordering over the phone) and had two more deliveries (both relatively small). I noticed that on these two, the price per litre was considerably higher (10-12 p/l higher than average on boilerjuice.com) and we live in a densely populated area.
Today I called TB and cancelled the automatic top up. I was asked why, and explained I had the feeling the price per litre is considerably higher than average. The sales rep replied ‘While I can’t answer directly to that, you can draw your own conclusion from my silence’.
I need to say how essential it is for people to put clear house names or numbers up that are visible from where a driver is sitting when they arrive, and keep them visible (ie not overgrown with vegetation or facing away from the road). If your house has a number as well as a name,and is on a named road please include this too as it makes it far easier to find you.
For example, if you give us an address like
‘The Cottage,Newbiggin’ rather than ‘The Cottage, 34 Helston Road,Newbiggin it’s obvious which one is going to be easier to find on a cold wet windy winters evening as it’s getting dark.
Giving your mobile number to the sales team also helps as the driver can telephone you to ask for directions.
Also, if your house is hard to find, give clear directions using recognisable landmarks when you order.
Not only will this help you to get the delivery in your tank, it will mean that your delivery is more likely to arrive sooner as we can make more deliveries if we’re not spending half the day hunting for houses with no signs.