GB Oils Fined for Overcharging Costumers
 |
October 11, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
GB Oils was fined for overcharging its customers after a trading standards investigation in Wales, it was reported on Monday.
The international oil company was fined £50,000 after breaking trading standards regulations, including overcharging customers in Carmarthenshire for fuel.
GB Oils pleaded guilty in August to 17 consumer protection law offences. The firm has now apologised and the prosecution accepted that the case did not involve levels of fraud or dishonesty.
The story was covered by Welsh-speaking channel S4C’s current affairs programme Taro 9 last night. There are two GB Oils depots in St Clears, Carmarthenshire, and Llandysul, Ceredigion, and the company trades under 40 different names including OJ Williams.
The very cold winter of 2009-2010 led to an unprecedentedly high demand for fuel in the UK. During the winter hundreds of customers complained that OJ Williams had charged too much for fuel. The company has blamed the bad weather for the errors in the depot during the freezing winter weather and has apologised to customers.
Chris and Roy Spragg were part of the initial investigation and say they wrote to GB Oils many times for an explanation as to why they were charged more than expected for oil, but received no reply.
Mrs Spragg told Taro 9 that her husband was quoted a price of 45p per litre when he inquired about for oil prices in January 2010, but was invoiced two weeks later that charged 60p a litre.
She claims that she had been receiving bills for the disputed amount of £156 up to August this year. However, GB Oils said these matters were dealt with 18 months ago.
The company accepted that Mr and Mrs Spragg should not have received monthly statements, and said that they had now “altered procedures”.
Trading standards officials said they hoped the case ensures GB Oils customers in the future pay a “fair and reasonable price for their fuel”.
To compare heating oil prices in the UK visit www.whichoilsupplier.co.uk
By Ben Perks
[Image courtesy of 日陰猫Joga]
