Shattuck Oil, Inc.

We have a service contract with Shattuck Oil. They are refusing to honor that contract and are assessing unjustified charges.We have been Shattuck Malone Oil customers for over a decade now, and recently we had an incident at our house that caused a failure with our heating system. Due to high winds, a tree fell on our electrical service, causing it to short out. The power surge that this caused damaged several pieces of electronics in our home, including the transformer on our oil burner. When the technician arrived, we were still without power. [redacted] did not restore power until the next day, so we were running on a generator. The [redacted] looked at the system and told me that he could not fix it that night, as he did not have the replacement parts. I told him that it was OK, and to come back the next day when he had the parts he needed, and when power would be restored. He then proceeded to spend the next hour manually rewiring the system so that it would run. I assured him that this was not necessary, as we have a wood stove and heat our house primarily with wood, and that we could live without the oil burner until the next day. Despite my protests, he insisted on bypassing [redacted] system control panel. He [redacted] have wanted to do the work despite our saying it was totally unnecessary to make some overtime pay for himself. At no point did the [redacted] tell us that the work would not be covered under the service contract.We have now received two bills from Shattuck [redacted] One for [redacted] for the first day and [redacted] for the next day. We feel that neither of these charges is justified for the following reasons:We have a service contract. Shattuck told us that the service contract does not cover this type of repair, when in reality the service contract does not state that these types of incidents are not covered. Let me quote from the company's current service contract:"This policy covers normal usage of your oil heating equipment. Buyer and owner agree to hold this company free and harmless from all claims resulting in loss or damage to real estate or personal property, caused by oil leakage, fire, smoke, flood, freezing, power surges, power failures, premises left unattended, or any other cause whatsoever."We have consulted with an attorney who specializes in contract law, and he has told us that this language "agree to hold this company free and harmless from all claims" simply means that we will not attempt to sue Shattuck [redacted] Oil for any loss that results from "oil leakage, fire, flood, smoke, freezing, power surges, or power failures". It does NOT mean that our equipment is not covered by the service contract. What then is the purpose of a service contract?Nowhere in the service contract does it say that the equipment is not covered for specific types of events. For example, if the system failed and our pipes froze, burst, and caused water damage or the house burned down because of a burner malfunction we could not sue them. The contract clearly states that we cannot file a lawsuit attempting to recover loss or damage to real estate or personal property. Furthermore, the language "any other cause whatsoever" could mean anything, and could be used to nullify the service contract for any reason at all, even normal wear and tear failures, and that is certainly not the intent of the service contract. A claim is a lawsuit, not the enforcement of an existing contract. Furthermore, on the second bill we received when the burner was actually repaired, the failure was attributed to "generator use". This is absolutely false! The system was down long before the generator was put into service. We should not have to pay for services that should have been covered by our service contract which we have dutifully paid over the last ten to twelve years.Desired SettlementWe simply want Shattuck Oil to acknowledge their obligation under our contract so that we are not charged for anything.Business Response Mrs. [redacted] has in fact been a great customer since September of 2003 when we made our first oil delivery. The [redacted] have had a service contract with our company since that time as well. In that time the [redacted] have used our service dept for 29 visits to the house for regular maintenance and service repairs. On 3 occasions in the past we have had to bill the [redacted]s for parts not covered by the service contract totaling approx [redacted] On Sunday November 24th 2013 we responded to a no heat call at their house and found no power to the house but they were running on a generator. Our service [redacted] troubleshot the system and found two problems. Mr. [redacted] asked the [redacted] to repair the system and our tech told him he could only get the system back up for domestic hot water and that the heat would have to be fixed on Monday the 25th. Mr [redacted] gave our [redacted] the okay for us to do this. While replacing the transformer on the oil burner the [redacted] generator ran out of fuel causing a delay in the repair being made. The next day we went back to the house and finsihed the repair. Our service policy does not cover damage to systems caused by power failures/generators. We have had many discussions with the [redacted] in regard to this matter. We understand their disappointment that the call was not covered by their service policy and even offered to discount the bill by [redacted] to help offset their unexpected expense. They have since chosen not to accept those terms and still have the charges on their account. Our offer still stands to take [redacted] of of their bill. Thank you [redacted]XXX-XXX-XXXXConsumer Response Mr. [redacted] reply is so full of lies, distortions, and misrepresentations that I do not know where to begin. First, the power outage that caused the damage to the transformer was caused by a tree falling on our electrical service, an event that was completely beyond our control. The damage was not caused in any way by our using a generator. The generator never ran out of fuel while the [redacted] was at our house, but that point is moot: The use of the generator did not cause the problem, nor did it delay the repair. The repair was delayed because they did not have the part they needed. Second, I never authorized the [redacted] to perform a partial repair. When he told me that he could not fix the system that night, I told him we would get by until the next day (it was already late at night) as we have a wood stove for heat, and do not depend on the oil burner for heat. The [redacted] ignored me and bypassed [redacted] system control panel so that it could be controlled manually. I repeatedly told him that it was not necessary, but he would not listen. Mr. [redacted] service contract only indemnifies his company from lawsuits filed to collect for damages from power failures, fires, flood, and other acts of nature. It does not absolve him from paying for repairs that the contract covers. His implication that our generator caused the problem is a flat our lie. I do not know why Mr. [redacted] thought it was necessary to add the fact that Shattuck Oil has been to our house 29 times for repairs. This figure [redacted] be accurate, but the reason behind it is this: Shattuck Oil's service [redacted] suggested we put our oil supply line over head to the burner. We agreed and paid for this work to be done. The problem was that the overhead line never worked. The burner kept stalling, and Shattuck had to come back dozens of times to try to fix it. The could never fix the problem, so the line had to be relocated to its original location on the ground. Shattuck Oil made a very sloppy in ground installation, with cement everywhere to cover the line. We feel that we should not be responsible for any charge.