Home Counties Fuels Reviews 42

I phoned the Hadlow office and spoke to the same person as on my last order. I used to deal with a very nice man at a farm in Essex, presumably in Thurrock, but I noticed that they had moved to Hadlow. Last time I ordered, I did an online quote, then the man in Hadlow offered me a more expensive price on the phone. I replied that as a regular customer, I always received a better price when I rang. He offered to do it for the online price, but I managed to get him to drop a few pounds from the final order.

This time, I did an online quote first and then rang, asking for the best price. The same man offered me the oil at 8 pence more per litre than the online price, and I felt I was being ripped off. I told him what the quote had been online and he said he would do it for that, but I refused to order. I asked him what had changed and whether they had been taken over, but he said it was North West Fuels, who I knew was their parent company. I asked again what had changed and he said that they had changed their way of doing business.

If that is the case, they will no longer be doing business with me!

Delivered on the day expected by a super friendly chap. Much better service than at least 2 other oil companies that I've had the misfortune of dealing with in recent months.
Will certainly be using Home Counties Fuels/NWF in future.

Text updates kept me in touch with planned delivery. Tanker driver reversed carefully into property access (not all delivery companies do!). Having checked levels, the driver was able to offer an extra 500 litres on top whilst holding the original quoted p/litre. That is top service.

promised delivery on Friday,called Friday afternoon as no show and was told it would be Monday, arranged for staff to be present to receive delivery and was told at about noon by yourselves that it would be Tuesday, and it arrived about 10:30,cost us wasted money to have agency staff on site, Think will be the last time we deal with you

Following on from my comment 2 days ago, the failed promises have continued. Yesterday I received an email and a phone call confirming that a delivery will be made today Saturday the 10 of January. I called for an estimated ETA of the driver, the lady on the telephone told me that nothing is down on the delivery sheet and they cannot get there today, and she doesn’t know what day or date is will be delivered.
Before using Home Counties Fuels, please be aware of the unprofessionalism. They are so dysfunctional!!!!!!!

Oil delivery was delayed by 3 days when it was really needed. My daughter had run out (admittedly her bad) but I was assured the delivery would be on Saturday 09th Feb when I explained 3 of my grandchildren were at the property without any heating during sub zero weather conditions. Was eventually delivered on the Wednesday after daily telephone calls chasing the delivery.

The driver we used was courteous and got the job done very quickly. But he wouldn't stop talking about his favourite pub (The Nags Head) and love of fruity drinks.

The drivers were very efficient and polite. The price was also fair and competitive.

After two failed deliveries (I waited in all day) and no communication about either one I called the work number (admittedly, out of hours) and got little assistance from the Manager when I asked to leave my details - he said he didn't have a pen and hung up on me. The next day I was told that sometimes they fail at deliveries and it happens, and delivery dates don't necessarily mean that deliveries take place on those dates. It's just one of those things and can't be helped and he'd try to re-deliver in 2 days, but no guarantees. No apology offered whatsoever.  He then tried to book a large tanker despite us paying extra for a smaller vehicle.

On the third delivery the driver completely ignored the instructions we had given multiple times and blocked the entire road. He told us he would be 30 seconds and 12mins later was still shuffling back and forth with no sense of urgency. I raised this with the Manager who offered no apology and told me that his driver assessed that the gravel road I live on which handles oil tanks, bin trucks, sewage trucks and delivery trucks was not level and the concrete on my drive was made of wood and the gravel road was actually just dirt and it was all very unsafe.  My house camera shows there was no assessment other than the driver lazily reversing and not bothering to turn his wheel to 'reverse park' off the main road. How he can spend 12 minutes walking back and forth on 60 tonne of gravel and say it is wood and dirt is a mystery to me.

The Regional Manager echoed the Manager's views and commented that 12 minutes is actually quite quick for them and he had no issues inconveniencing an entire road, again citing some fake safety despite me showing them the photographic proof that the driver was talking rubbish.

My experience of this company is that they have little interest in delivering to a schedule and no interest in addressing customer issues. I do live on a gravel road and there is a slight incline (3% or so) but this is far from unusual or extreme for semi-rural properties. I'd suggest that if this company believes that is an unsafe situation, they should  not be driving tankers at all, as they lack the skill required. What I think is more likely is the Managers have terrible customer service skills and don't actually care and this in turn filters to their drivers who are doing the bare minimum with little care or consideration.

Easy to order & cheaper than the boiler juice quote.
It was delivered later than it stated. The staff are friendly.

Four stars goes to the driver who was polite and professional and respected my property.
The company whilst polite did not keep us informed when the date they gave us for delivery didn’t happen and when I called and emailed to advise we had not had a delivery they just said they were having vehicle issues and suggested another day. Amazingly it did turn up on the next day they advised, we were not that confident given lack of communication that would.

It would have been 5 stars if you had delivered the order in one go, rather than two lots to make up the full amount. This is the second time this has happened. Otherwise, great.

Percect timing, service

Very efficient from start to finish.
Driver very nice and polite

The whole transaction went smoothly, just like I expected it. The fuel was delivered about a week before my original date of delivery. The person who delivered the kerosene was very polite and efficient.

Home Counties Fuels were a life saver when a previous supplier cancelled our delivery a week after it had been due and we were very low on oil. I spoke to Ross Ballantyne who made sure we had the soonest possible delivery, in the middle of a crisis and didn't charge the obscene prices other companies were indulging in. We really appreciate it and will be using HCF from now on. Thank you!

Excellent service - Competitive price, easy to use website and clear follow-up communications. Perfect delivery. Very professional oil company.

Delivery fine when all my regular suppliers didn't want my business. Will use again.

Surprisingly quick delivery Skilled driver backed full sized tanker up our narrow driveway -impressed

Straightforward ordering, good honest prices, rapid delivery. Service at its best!