Browns of Burwell Reviews 137

You left us without any oil for 3 weeks, with 2 small children in the house. Your drivers stood us up on 3 separate occasions without explanation. On the last occasion, the driver lied about not having access to the properly, Completely unacceptable - we will not be using Browns again.

Overpriced oil 10p a litre more than anywhere else! Profiting from rhe middle east situation

A simple booking procedure and the oil delivered on the day promised at the price agreed at the time of the booking.

Placed an order 10 days ago, received a text for delivery on 18th March - no show. Chased only to be told another 2 days. Ridiculous prices - terrible comms. Just cancelled my order.

I have now received an additional bill for delivery. I do not recall this being mentioned when getting the quotation and paying in full for the oil. This has never happened before, and I am considering changing supplier.

Amended: The company has been in contact indicating this is not their normal company process, so I am raising it by another star. Hopefully it will be resolved.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but my experience with Browns of Burwell has been nothing short of appalling.
As a first-time customer at a new property, I deliberately chose a local supplier expecting reliable, customer-focused service. Unfortunately, what followed was a catalogue of poor communication, failed delivery attempts, contradictory information, and a complete lack of accountability.
Despite clearly stating delivery instructions when placing my order, including the need for notice to unlock access, the driver attended without contacting me and marked the delivery as failed. From that point onward, I was forced into a cycle of chasing the company for answers. Calls to the domestic line repeatedly went unanswered, while the commercial line picked up immediately, only to tell me they couldn’t assist.
I was given inconsistent explanations and lies throughout, including being told that delivery could not take place due to temporary traffic lights outside my property. I was informed that redelivery would only be possible once the lights were removed, supposedly not until March. As a result, I spent an entire day of annual leave coordinating with the council and civil engineering teams to arrange access as instructed by Browns.
Ironically, when the delivery was eventually made, the tanker pulled up and completed the delivery safely without any traffic light adjustments whatsoever. No prior coordination was needed. No restrictions were in place. This directly contradicted the justification I had repeatedly been given.
The entire situation resulted in:
A wasted day of annual leave
Numerous phone calls
Time spent liaising with the council and civil engineers
Significant inconvenience and stress
A complete loss of confidence in the accuracy of the information provided

At no stage did the company proactively communicate, take ownership, or provide a satisfactory explanation. Instead, I was left to manage the consequences of what appears to be internal mismanagement and poor planning.
I was told I would receive compensation and have reached out multiple times and have since been unanswered.
To then receive an automated email asking me to leave a review while my formal complaint remains unresolved only adds to the frustration.
This experience has been deeply disappointing and entirely avoidable. I would strongly caution others to consider carefully before using this supplier.

Addressing their reply below:

I did contact them, multiple times without hearing back.
Finally on 02/04 they finally got in contact confirming resolution within 20 working days. Since then have heard absolutely nothing and still no resolution.

Ordered the oil for before 11/2, arrived on the 11th with too bigger lorry couldn’t reach tank. A smaller tanker will arrive tomorrow, it didn’t, was told it will be the next day Friday 13th, it didn’t. By which time we had run out of oil so no heating, finally arrived on the 18/11, then had to get engineer out on 19th to clear air lock. NOT HAPPY

Terrible service. They missed 2 delivery slots due to the driver apparently running out of time. When I phoned, the people I spoke to were of no help and did not even care. I asked to speak to a manager but apparently there were no managers available. The oil eventually arrived one week after the original scheduled due date. Not impressed at all

Delivery on time. Competitively priced

I ordered on behalf of my elderly neighbour. Order date was a Friday so she changed her days around so she could be home when the delivery turned up but it didn't turn up! When I called to find out what had happened I was told that it was rescheduled for the Monday with no explanation at all. Staff didn't seem to care that an elderly woman was left with no heating either over a very cold weekend.

After many years of using this company without a problem, sadly this is now not the case. Telephone not answered, no response to emails, unaware of when oil will be delivered. They are now under NWF Fuel. Deliveries are no longer supplied locally, they are coming from Crewe! Also much more expensive than other companies. Would not recommend if you want an efficient service.

Helpful after order hadn’t gone through, very considerate and good service

All aspects of your service were good except for the delivery date which was one day outside your 14!day delivery period. Shame really.

You need to sort out your scheduling system and update it to include estimated times for each delivery. Amazon can do it so why not you?

Unfortunately our delivery didn’t turn up on the scheduled day. Phoned only to be told that the driver had been, checked the tank and noted it was full. Sadly I wasn’t believed. Having spoken to someone else the day after, who was very good and believed me, the delivery was rescheduled for 3 days later and lo and behold the 500 litres went into the tank. Sad that the first lady who I spoke to didn’t believe what I was saying.

The bags of coal arrived as promised and was neatly stacked in an intelligent way. In other words, unproblematic, as it should be.

Two days late paid for faster shipping too

Brilliant service and delivery drivers very obliging. Thank you.

Great service!

I called Browns of Burwell at 8am on a Saturday morning and Donna went out of her way to organise an emergency delivery of oil. I cannot recommend Brons of B more highly. Thank you Donna!

Fast and efficient