Can anyone explain the fu*king home heating oil industry?!?!?!

[HamdenRice]

Sorry, but I'm about to boil over with rage (no pun intended given this rant is about boilers). It seems to me this system is entirely illegal because of its anti-competitive structure.

Here's what I mean: it is almost impossible to get oil without entering a boiler service contract, and more bizarrely it is almost impossible to get anyone to service your boiler unless you enter a long term oil purchase contract.

After being ripped off by one oil company I was in a service/oil contract (they were claiming to automatically deliver and bill for oil that they were not actually delivering) I went with a so-called COD oil company. They just sell oil when called with no long term contract of any kind and they don't do service. They are very nice and efficient and their prices are a little lower than the big oil/service companies.

When I needed service, I used to call the one small oil company in southeast Queens that does freelance boiler service. They heating guy/plumber guy is an extremely grouchy guy, but his work was OK. But last winter Grouchy didn't show up for a couple of scheduled appointments and decided not to use him.

Now I need my burner serviced (it won't stay on). I have called like a dozen heating/plumbing and/or oil companies and it is so incredibly anti-competitive. No one will give service without an oil delivery contract, and no one will deliver oil without a service contract.

Also, earlier this week I found a service guy from Long Island who promised to come today, but because of all the flooding in LI, he can't make it. There are apparently only two guys who do this in all of Nassau and Queens counties and they have divided the entire two counties along the Long Island Expressway, so even though he knows the "other guy" that guy won't come here because it is not in "his" territory (yes I called and checked and he confirmed this).

This entire thing is ridiculously fixed!

I have had to call grouchy, who may or may not be coming today.

Anyone else have experiences like this?