Heating oil customers are getting closer to justice after the appeal of Nicholas Curro was denied this past Tuesday. The case dates back to the winter of 2007-08, when several local homeowners and businesses contracted with Curro’s oil companies in Biddeford ”“ Price-Rite Fuel, Inc., Veilleux Oil & Service, Inc., and Perron Fuel, Inc. ”“ for their heating oil needs.
Curro, of Biddeford, had more than 300 customers signed into prepaid oil contracts at prices apparently too low for him to honor and the oil companies ended up defaulting on their end of the contracts. When the oil and the refunds were nowhere in sight, many of those customers found themselves in a bind, without the money to pay for a season’s worth of oil twice.
Luckily, the community stepped up to help, and with the formation of Keeping Neighbors Warm and other assistance programs, those who found themselves in a faulty deal were taken care of just the same.
But now, three years later, Curro’s former customers have yet to see a dime of their money back, even though Curro was ordered to pay up to a total of $390,000 in restitution. The case has been held up in appeal, but now justice can truly begin since the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has affirmed the 2010 judgment that Curro had sold prepaid oil contracts in violation of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act.
With the appeal settled, the attorney general’s office is now clear to fully pursue refunds for Curro’s former customers. First, they will have to wait to see if Curro willingly comes forward with a plan to pay back all the people with whom he broke contracts. If not, the AG’s office will have to go through his finances and figure out for themselves how he should go about paying back the money.
Unfortunately, those 300+ customers who found themselves in a bind in the winter of 2007-08 are far from being out of the cold. Nearly $400,000 is a lot of money to pay back, and only Curro knows right now if that’s an amount he can dole out in a timely manner. It’s unlikely that folks will get their money back anytime soon, but we hope that justice is eventually served and they do get some, if not all, of the restitution they are due.
Consumer protection laws have been put in place for a reason, and this episode is a perfect opportunity for the justice system to show us that they work. Whenever we enter into a contract for goods and services, it is in good faith, with the expectation that the contract will be honored.
Curro had contested, in his appeal, that he did not intentionally sell contracts that he could not uphold, but it’s a tough story to swallow ”“ and apparently the courts couldn’t choke it down ”“ that he didn’t know he was setting himself up for failure.
It’s a scary thought to have budgeted for oil and think you’re all set with a good deal on a locked-in price and then find out you have to pay for another full season at the same time. For those who couldn’t afford such a hefty expenditure, that realization must have been downright terrifying. But it’s heartening to know that when people needed help, their neighbors were there to give it.
Biddeford Mayor Joanne Twomey took the lead when this crisis arose, by making an appeal to Citizens Energy, a Massachusetts-based organization that provides heating assistance. The organization responded with an offer to pay for 100 gallons of oil for 100 low-income households, with preference to Curro customers. As well, Keeping Neighbors Warm was founded locally to provide heating assistance to those in need who do not qualify for government assistance programs.
As the numerous customers of that unfortunate winter continue to wait for their well-deserved refund for services never rendered, we hope that what will stick out in people’s minds about this case is how the community rallied around those customers when they needed the support the most.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
