home heating oil

[aprilgail2]

What is the price of home heating oil where you are?? When it went sky high a bunch of people I know locked in to crazy prices like 2.65 a gallon thinking that it was going to go over 3.00 a gallon.....well now I just got oil for 1.89 a gallon and the people that locked in at 2.65 are freaking out they are paying so much more and its going to cost them hundreds to break their contracts. I am so glad I did not lock in at a crazy price like that!!

 

[Chuck S]

Given the "emergency" price situation when they locked-in, which we now know was panic and artificially created by the oil companies, I wonder if your Attorney General or court system could declare those contracts void under price gouging laws?

Fortunately, here in Texas, we don't use heating oil.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

When I had heating oil, the lock in price was to protect us from a price increase. I was told that if the price decreased, we would get that price. It never decreased but I did discover my dad was getting oil for $.99/gallon when I had locked in at $1.39/gallon. Sure he got it from a COD truck, which is always less, but in the end she decreased my lock-in to $1.14/gallon. This was 3 years ago, mind you.

You have to be vigilant, call, call and call.

 

[chasbos]

Not sure of the laws in the U.S. but here in Canada - at least with the businesses we deal with - if you lock in a price that is the price you pay. That is why it is such a gamble to lock in anything.

When a company offers a locked in price for something then they usually go out that day and pre-purchase that much stock - so they purchase at the locked in price to protect themselves from prices going up.

Why should someone that locked in to ensure a better rate if the prices rose get the benefits if the price drops? They decided that $2.65 was an acceptable price to pay when they locked in - they obviously made the wrong decision.

We have won and lost a few times when it comes to locking in at a certain price - it is always a huge gamble.

 

[Melrosgirl]

We're paying $200 per month right now. We have the "budget" plan. We were locked in for the last year, but it just expired, so we are paying whatever the going rate is.

 

[Crazoo]

Once again the oil and gas companies win

I'm thinking of investing in oil now, not sure if it's on its way up or still going to drop a bit though.

 

[Chuck S]

Not sure of the laws in the U.S. but here in Canada - at least with the businesses we deal with - if you lock in a price that is the price you pay. That is why it is such a gamble to lock in anything.

When a company offers a locked in price for something then they usually go out that day and pre-purchase that much stock - so they purchase at the locked in price to protect themselves from prices going up.

Why should someone that locked in to ensure a better rate if the prices rose get the benefits if the price drops? They decided that $2.65 was an acceptable price to pay when they locked in - they obviously made the wrong decision.

We have won and lost a few times when it comes to locking in at a certain price - it is always a huge gamble.

If the people that locked-in had made a truly informed decision to lock-in at that price, I would agree. But, the contracts were written by the oil companies (or their distributors), and the consumer made decisions based on what what the oil companies were telling them at the time, which we know to be false.