Dead River Company

Dustin at Dead River Company was determined to find the propane leak. I commend his effort because even though we tried to find the leak we and others were not able to. I appreciate his concern for safety and resolving what could have been a detrimental situation. We really appreciate his personal dedication and efficient problem solving.

Alex did a great job. He was very polite and professional, not to mention helpful!! A definite asset as an employee.

Called Dead River this a.m., when landlord went down cellar and discovered hot water heater was leaking. Alex Western, was sent to check on hot water leak. He assessed problem quickly, gasket was leaking, got a new one again leaked. Decided to order a new tank with a unlimited replacement warranty.
Alex informed us all the time he was here, explaining, things so we could understand. I bet he got his steps in for more than 2 weeks, upstairs out to truck, talk with us and downstairs. My landlord and I appreciated this young man very much. Thank you, for getting someone here so fast!!!

Not the best place to get oil from… have been with dead River for only a few months now and I’ve not had one single pleasant experience with them from technicians coming out and charging us money that we were never told we would’ve been charged to scheduling oil deliveries and them telling us they can’t come out for over three weeks!! Three weeks in the middle of winter that’s ridiculous but then they say they can come out quicker if we pay them more money for an emergency delivery. Utterly unacceptable.

Once again Dead River shines, installed a new water tank for my oil burner system. The techs were amazing, polite and knowledgeable. This is my second review for them and I would recommend them over anyone else.

Whatever you do, do NOT go with this company you WILL regret it. They will squeeze every last penny out of you. If you need a tech to come out, it is 165 DOLLARS. Doesn’t matter if they’re there for 5 minutes. 165 dollars. Lady on the phone will tell you it’s $100 but when you get the bill, it’s more.

my many yrs of experience with the technicians at dead river have been great, but now in their recent several yrs ,dead river has allowed many of their "office folks" ,who have become the" DECIDERS "OF JUST WHO CAN BE SEEN THAT DAY, BASED ON WHAT THEY FEEL IS JUSTIFIED..SADLY they should never be allowed to make this decision about whether my "smelling fumes from my oil furnace" "that it may take {DEAD RIVER} 1-10 days to do your service call," as i was told this morning!!..based on my 79 yrs of living ,and having dead river for my services 38 yrs,i feel that any waiting for the "fumes from my furnace " can NOT be put "on hold for sev days " and is very dangerous and inappropriate!!!but this is exactly what i was told today..im very aware how carbon monoxide can silently kill people{4 adults in the same house} as we recently heard about,from the news folks a few days ago.. my common sense as a long time homeowner and registered nurse 43 yrs,tells me to keep insisting that this smelling of fumes NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF TODAY.!!!.these office people need to be educated on what is considered dangerous ,and also LISTEN to their customers pleas for help..i also have their YEARLY contract for reg cleaning yearly {due jan 31st 2025} and pay nearly 500.00 dollars for this every year for over 25 yrs ..im telling the powers of DEAD RIVER to please do not make us feel guilty for reporting something that needs attention asap,or make us feel that it may have to wait 10 days!! ..i do know the difference of what can wait ..thank you,i hope this can be fixed before a tragedy happens to those of us who live alone..sandra umble ,holden ....

Had an annual service preformed today. Service Tech John Ridenour arrived on time and was very pleasant throughout the service call. John removed his boots before walking through the house and answered all my questions. He also quickly diagnosed an issue I was having with a thermostat from when it had been installed 2 years ago and corrected the wiring problem. As a retired employee of Dead River Co myself. Im happy to see that the same customer service, caring and quality of work are still a valued part of the organization. Thank You John for you part and making me feel like a valued customer today.

Today Cameron came out and serviced our furnace. When he worked he was very clean and left my place like nobody was there. He was also extremely thorough and very informative explaining to me everything that was going on throughout the whole process. He was a pleasure to deal with and we look forward to seeing him again next year for our annual cleaning

Getting Fleeced. I've been with Dead River for a number of years. In 3/23 they replaced my furnace, oil to propane. I recently found a propane supplier in which I can save $1.40 per gallon. So this change in suppliers is strictly a financial decision. I call Dead River for them to pick up their tanks. I am informed that I will be charged $150 for them to pickup THEIR property. Talk about getting fleeced.

Update:
I was contacted by Dead River. I was NOT charged the $150.00. They have picked up their tank and I have received a refund.

Absolutely terrible customer service every time! They have the wrong information listed about how many tanks are at my location, and I requested to have them removed, and they want $150 to remove tanks. Amanda basically said it was my fault that the information wasn't correct in their system. DEADRIVER was very difficult to deal with and overpriced! Went with competition for $2.70 less per gallon of propane.

Recently had two of Dead River's technicians do work in my home. Both Cameron and Austin were very impressive; both were kind, efficient, and knowledgeable. I would welcome them back into my home to do work anytime. The company should be very proud of these two young men.

Jeanette Tardif

We had Josh B come out for a propane safety check. He was extremely knowledgeable and informative. He answered all questions we had an went above and beyond what the office had explained He would do

I had my furnace cleaned by Alex from Dead River. He was very knowledgeable regarding filters, and how best to prolong the life of my furnace. He supplied me with a box of filters with my yearly cleaning, advised me how and when to replace them and replaced a broken part. A pleasure to have Alex work on my furnace today! Thanks!

Josh B from the Brewer office came out to check for a leak and he was so thorough and overall excellent. He didn’t hesitate to go above and beyond.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE WORLD! DO NOT BUY YOUR PROPANE OR FUEL OIL HERE! I ordered propane for my stove after realizing I was down to 10%. The woman took my money and then explained that they could not deliver for a week!!! They were training new people, she explained. I then explained that I cook 4 to 5 times a day, am a professional, private chef, among other things, and could not wait that long for my delivery. MY GOD, THIS IS WHAT THEY DO - THIS IS ALL THEY DO!!!! I said I was fine ordering with someone else and she then informed me that she will put the ticket in and we should get our delivery before the following Monday. LIARS! IT IS NOW FRIDAY - WE HAVE 1% LEFT IN THE TANK AND AFTER CALLING THEIR EMERGENCY SERVICE NUMBER WAS CALLED BY A COLD, UNCARING WOMAN WHO SAID THERE IS NOTHING THEY COULD DO UNLESS I WANTED TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $250!!!!!!!! ARE THEY CRAZY? IS THIS COMPANY SO IGNORANT THAT THEY CANNOT DO THEIR JOBS OR MERELY ENJOY LYING TO THEIR CUSTOMERS??? I TOLD HER WE WERE GOING TO SUE AND THEY WOULD PAY FOR ALL THE FOOD WE WERE FORCED TO ORDER OVER THE WEEKEND. WE NEVER EAT FAST FOOD OR GARBAGE BUT WERE GOING TO BE FORCED TO THANKS TO THEIR INCOMPETENCE. HOW DARE THEY? SHE THEN HUNG UP ON ME AND WHEN I CALLED BACK TO GET A REFUND SO AS TO ORDER FROM ANOTHER COMPANY WOULD NOT LET ME TALK AND KEPT REPEATING "I WILL NOT BE ABUSED BY YOU! I WILL NOT BE ABUSED BY YOU!" I DID NOT ABUSE HER BY SAYING WE WERE PLANNING TO SUE THE COMPANY! WHO WOULDN'T? WHY IS EVERYBODY SO OVERLY SENSITIVE THESE DAYS? WHAT A RUDE WOMAN! HAD I KNOWN I WOULD BE LIED TO WE WOULD HAVE CLOSED OUR ACCOUNT AND ORDERED PROPANE FROM ANOTHER COMPANY THAT WOULD HAVE ARRIVED ALREADY! THESE PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE! STAY AWAY! WHAT A JOKE THIS TOWN IS - WHAT A JOKE THE PEOPLE AT DEAD RIVER ARE. I AM APPALLED AND THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED! HEED OUR WARNING! THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER COMPANIES HERE THAT MUST HAVE MORE INTEGRITY THAN THIS! THEY SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN! THIS NEW YORKER DESPISES INCOMPETENCE! YOU SHOULD TOO! Let's see what a New York lawyer (who just happens to be my cousin) thinks about this. I am sure this won't be the first time for Dead River.

EXTREMELY unprofessional and rude. There is absolutely no customer service whatsoever here. I will NEVER give them my business ever again! These people STOLE my propane tanks that were NOT owned by Dead River (they were old Webber Energy tanks), but were owned by ME, the homeowner, and they also stole the 125 gallons of propane in these tanks that I JUST had delivered yesterday by my new company! I will be taking legal action!!!

Very professional and responsive. They had a technician on-site in less than an hour after our call and Dustin, our tech, had us back on line soon after. Strongly recommend!

I made a call for service with Dead River using my boiler service plan. There was a wiring problem with one of my zones. Alex Western Was dispatched to my house. He was professional and efficient and had my wiring problem solved in 15 minutes. He then noticed a few other problems with the expansion tank and placed an order for a return visit to have that replaced. Very grateful for the thorough approach and commitment to customer service.

We have the Dead River protection plan. We waited less than 30 minutes for Alex to come replace multiple parts to our furnace, after the snow storm. Good customer service started the moment they answered their phone. Alex was pleasant, informative, efficient and extremely polite. In a world where you feel like you need to be leery of strangers, Alex was a breath of professional air. Thank you young man!

Thank you for sending a stellar service technician, Chris Nielsen, to replace parts in my boiler. He was friendly, hardworking and so helpful. He answered all my questions and made me feel confident that my boiler is now in great shape. Thanks!

When i called to have propane delivered i had a wounderful experience the staff was laughing and in a very good mood and she was training someone. Got my request figured out fast and had my delivery all set up within 5 mins of calling and it wasnt to long of a wait for the delivery. Helpful staff.. Very good experience. Would recommend to anyone needing their heating needs filled. Thank you again.

Had service Technician Brad come out to fix a no hest issue! He had the problem resolved in a very short amount of time and made sure to explain exactly what was going on! Very friendly and efficient service

Corey did an excellent job he was very thorough and took his time to make sure the furnace was cleaned and running correctly I would highly recommend him and Dead River

Randy Webber is Very personable, even at night on an emergency service call. Very knowledgeable thank god. Thank you for sending him to us

Had a fire back in December had somebody come out and clean my furnace and wanted to have dead River come out and do a once over before winter.

I have bought from them before, but I have a full tank of fuel. Dead river won’t even entertain the idea to come do anything because they can’t deliver fuel at the same time.

And here I thought the military was the most eaten up company I’ve ever seen, nope, we have a new winner.

This was after explaining to the receptionist that the company I have been using has gone out of business, and I would be using them as my only fuel provider from here on in.

Dead river 0/5 stars do not recommend.

Both technicians were extremely friendly and helpful- they asked about my aesthetic preferences, came up with an excellent plan for placement, and made sure I was happy with the plan before starting. They also got my heater’s stubborn pilot lit, ensured the heater and its blower were working properly, and made sure any questions I had were answered before they left. I would definitely say they were well-trained professionals, and they went above and beyond through the entire appointment. Thank you!!!

Dead River Company is very responsive to our requests and emergency repair when needed. Their customer service is very friendly and helpful. Top-notch service overall.

They are so nice to talk with on the phone. The driver was fast as delivering. It was a 10 for service with a smile!

EDIT EDIT: I trusted Dead River with a furnace install and I was honestly treated like royalty. They more than made up for the original issue. They made sure we did not get cold while waiting and promptly installed before things got too cold, at a time when they are likely their busiest. I truly appreciated the care taken and the fact that I wasn’t just treated like a complaining customer. They certainly deserve a 5 star rating and I will always do business with them from now on.

EDIT:
I was contacted fairly quickly after this review. As can happen anywhere, this was an unintentional mistake that I have been assured will be used as a teaching moment. I was offered apologies, a credit, and also personal care of my needs. As frustrating as this originally was, I appreciate the care that was taken to make it right. I’m not one to even write reviews typically, but I feel that this one was taken seriously and addressed. I have changed my review from one to four stars to reflect that.

A month of waiting to hear back and little to no contact, I finally called another company that got me in right away. And yes, I contacted them repeatedly with no answers. Would never try to have an install done based on this experience.

I have been a Dead River customer for over 20 years. They are very courteous and customer focused. I have never had issues with deliveries or service requests.

Have used DeadRiver twice over the last 3 years had awful customer service experiences both times. Today spoke with Kendra and she kept cutting me off not allowing me to explain what was needed when I brought this up to her she continued to speak over me and be difficult. Ending service with them today. Customer service is very important in todays world.

Update: Ben, my latest service technician, was friendly and hard working. He efficiently installed a newer pump to replace the last one installed and did a great job. He suggested that I sign up for a maintenance contract, and I did. His apprentice, Zach was pleasant as well. Ben was very professional and did a great job. In the past, I had called Dead River twice after my furnace went out previously and they respond quickly. My neighbor Sandy helped let them in while I was traveling. Before that, Josh had come out the same day that my furnace went out. He did a great job and diagnosed it very quickly. I am happy with Dead River's quick response to my no heat predicaments, the scheduled refills and the work that they do!

I consistently pay for the service plan that includes a cleaning every year. Have been doing it for years. I expect that service. I am paying for it. I also buy it’s fuel oil which is not the cheapest rate out there. So I bought a new house and had the inspection and was ok so playing the plan on the new house and didn’t receive that cleaning service in the first year and now paying for a second year. I would have no problem if I were getting a discount on oil price of 25% due to being in program but that isn’t the case. Really upset and just voicing my unpleasantness of this program and this company

Do not depend on them to honor contracts.
I signed a sales agreement with them for a furnace installation. I paid the deposit with the written understanding that the remainder of the installation cost is due upon completion. It was also signed by their sales rep.
I then stupidly tried to setup automatic delivery. Then ran my credit and determined my account will be a cash on delivery deal. Ok I can handle that.
They then proceed to tell me, that because my delivery account is going to be COD, I need to pay for the installation in full prior to install.
I informed them that we have a contract with the balance being paid upon completion (like it says on the signed agreement). Their credit department informed me that it is their policy to modify signed sales agreements when an account is COD to be payable up front.
According to the Maine Attorney General's pamphlet for home construction/improvements, company's cannot require more than 1/3 down unless agreed to by both parties in writing.
I initially refused to pay in advance telling them to modify the contract is against the law.
They threatened to not install so I relented and agreed to pay in full in advance.
They then refunded the deposit, and canceled the instal claiming we have no contract.
According to EVERY source I have looked at, a signed sales agreement is a contract, especially when both sides sign it, and the deposit changes hands.

Be very wary of them. Apparently it got bought a year ago by private equity, so they think that commercial laws do not apply to them, and have instructed their employees to not follow the law.
Update: They had an employee who was poorly trained. A senior member of management corrected this issue.
I will raise my rating 2 stars. It should not have required Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General getting involved to get them to acknowledge their contract.
New update:
In May, this business called to schedule a furnace cleaning. I had specifically asked at this time if it would be covered by the service plan that was provided with the furnace we had purchased and had installed last June (2022).
The person I spoke with indicated that it was going to be covered under this service plan as provided on furnace installation. I specifically asked that if I cancel the service plan renewal for this service would be covered by existing plan. Answer was yes.
Fast forward to today. I get a notice to renew my service plan. Considering the furnace is less than 1 year old at this time I ask to cancel this plan.
They send me over to the service department, as the customer care person is not sure if the upcoming cleaning was covered or not.
Talked with the service department and the prior person (Scheduler) had made no notes about it being covered by the service plan sold with the furnace. So they had to ask a manager.
Called back and no, the scheduled service would not be covered by plan sold with Furnace, only be renewing plan.
Which is the exact opposite of what I was told by the scheduler.
This company has taken major steps backwards in customer service.
Combine this with issues of them seemingly random changing delivery days to my town, causing an order I placed to be delayed for a week during cold (sub freezing temps) makes me wonder if they want customers at all.
Called to have a delivery of propane, told it will be 4 weeks before they can deliver. Went somewhere else.

Updating rating to 1 star. I am moving my business as soon as practical. They do not care about customers only money.
I moved to Valley Home services and saved over $1.50 per gallon of propane and got put on auto delivery.
I wish I could rate Dead River zero stars for lack of customer care. After new servicer dropped their tanks, I asked Dead River to pick up their tanks, they were done. The person answering told me they charge a fee to collect their tanks. Umm.. where did I agree to a fee to have them pick up their tanks from my property. I told them fine, leave them there until they rot. Surprise, they waved the fee.

The office staff, drivers and service technicians are all very pleasant and knowledgeable. I have automatic delivery and have never run low or out. Being that we live in Maine, sometimes they even have to make 2 deliveries a month to ensure that I always have an adequate supply. I never have any worries.

My children enjoy visiting the ladies when we drop off our easy cap payments. The delivery drivers are friendly too.