A HEATING oil company left a Barton Stacey family ‘running on vapour’ after it mistakenly delivered their home heating oil into the tank of a post office in a completely different village.

Kevin and Lisa May, who own and live above Barton Stacey Post Office, placed an order with Certas Energy on March 9 when their oil supply began to run low.

On March 20, they got a text from Certas saying they should expect a delivery the next day, but after the appointment time came and went, Lisa got a call from the postmistress at Chilbolton Post Office, five miles away, to say that while she was out Certas had pumped Barton Stacey's oil into her tank.

“I called Certas as soon as I found out,” said Kevin.

“At first, they said we would probably get our delivery later that day, even if they had to go back to Chilbolton and take the oil back out from their tank. But an hour or so later I got a standard text saying the next delivery would be after another six days.”

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The 58-year-old continued: “I called the firm again but this time they were very officious. They said I could log a complaint and they would respond in up to five days. They wouldn’t even give me the name of a manager to talk to.

“The funny thing is, Chilbolton Post Office isn’t even a Certas customer. We have no idea how their driver could just turn up in a completely different village and deposit oil into the tank of someone they’d never even spoken to.

“We've had no explanation and no apology, and now no oil for another week.

“We have had some very cold nights this week but we haven’t had the central heating on because the tank was so low and they had warned us the situation in Ukraine meant we might not get a delivery for many weeks. Now we are running on vapour.

“We're a family of six here. We need heat and hot water!”

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He added: “ I understand mistakes happen but when a company you give thousands of pounds to can’t be bothered to either put things right or even explain why they can’t put things right, that’s when you feel it’s time to give your business to someone else.”

Following an enquiry submitted by this newspaper on Wednesday (March 23), Kevin received a message from Certas, advising him that delivery of the oil would take place the next day.

A Certas Energy spokesperson said: “We apologise for the logistical error that resulted in a delay to the delivery of heating oil to the Post Office in Barton Stacey. We worked hard to resolve this situation and the delivery was rearranged.”

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