Sir, – F Peart, oil distributors, of Hartlepool are also owned by GB Oils and therefore need to be added to the list of heating oil companies, mentioned in last week’s paper, which are under investigation.

I ordered oil from Pearts on December 20, having heard warnings about oil shortages. I finally received a delivery from them on Friday, January 21. This was only after I had phoned twice a day for a week, and finally broke down as I had had no central heating or hot water for a fortnight. Even though, from the outset, I had been assured by the company that they would deliver to me between January 15-21, as the deadline approached, I was told that, as they were still experiencing a backlog from the extreme conditions in December, they wouldn’t guarantee delivery for any date.

I quoted the code of conduct from the Federation of Oil Suppliers to Pearts, which stated that I was a vulnerable customer as I had no heating or hot water. I was told that, as the categories of vulnerable customers cited there were so broad, the code “wasn’t worth the paper it was written on”.

I have yet to receive an invoice from Pearts (I pay them by direct debit and have been a customer with them for years), so I have no idea how much I have been charged for the delivery; unusually, there was no price printed on the delivery note.

ANNE TUNLEY Low Row, Richmond.