Heating oil customers duped over online prices

Customers buying heating oil online were duped into thinking they were using price comparison websites, the Office of Fair Trading said.

According to Consumer Focus, more than a million households in the UK use heating oil and face higher bills than those connected to mains gas.

The OFT took action against three companies that it said were using business practices that could be misleading. It has told three firms to change their websites to make it clear exactly what consumers are getting.

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WCF Fuels claimed to make comparisons via its site fuelfighter.co.uk, but in fact only gave prices for its own products. There were also fake customer testimonials.

Boiler Juice did offer price comparisons at boilerjuice.co.uk, but failed to make clear that it is run by DCC plc, which owns GB Oils, the largest heating oil distributor in the UK.

OFT investigators also told Johnston Oils to modify cheapheatingoil.co.uk because they felt the overall style could mislead customers.