I ordered oil and service from Olson and they sold me on their $160 annual service contract with attractive discounts on oil. The contract specifies that they will give you various discounts on parts and service throughout the year (basically an warranty instrument), but the important thing that you get is an annual service where a technician comes out and “inspects, adjusts and completely services” your furnace. Their tactic, however, is to send you reminder postcards about the annual service during the hot summer months when you aren’t thinking about heating. They then go quiet until your contract expires/renews and then they keep your money without ever servicing your furnace.
I called to schedule my annual service visit in January – still within my coverage period, and I was told that they had no schedule opening for three weeks… until I was beyond the fully paid contract period. They said I would have to pay for another service contract or they would not come out. I spoke to the service manager, Jim, and pointed out that the contract is black-and-white on the topic of being entitled to a service visit, but he refused to honor the terms of the contract ("We sent you a postcard in May") and then began ducking my calls. I recommend avoiding this company on the basis of how they choose to handle billing issues that are not in their favor.
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