My Propane Supplier Rant

[Looking4new]

We own our 1000 gallon tank and bought it in 1964.

In 2010 the propane supplier said they were required to make "Snow" changes to the plumbing under a new ordinance which also included replacing the valve with a new one made in China.

November 2013 neighbor smelled gas and called the gas company which found the "New" valve leaking... tank was pulled and taken to the shop for repair and reset.

I drove to the cabin on a Sunday to light the pilots and winterize the place. Found the valve padlocked which didn't keep me from opening it.

About a week later Propane company said they need access because no current safety check on file... told them I will see them in May.

Called them today and said I can get away to open the cabin for summer and learned they couldn't find a key for the lock and in trying to open it, broke the valve and pulled the tank...

Mind you... this is my tank and has been so for 50 years!

45 years of excellent local service all change when the local company was bought out.

I have Natural Gas everywhere else and have Never had to do a safety check inside my home ever except with new construction...

When did Propane companies become so incompetent... and expensive!

I'm starting my 4.5 hour drive up to the mountains to get to the bottom of this...

Called them today and said I can get away to open the cabin for summer and learned they couldn't find a key for the lock and in trying to open it, broke the valve and pulled the tank...

Mind you... this is my tank and has been so for 50 years!
I'm starting my 4.5 hour drive up to the mountains to get to the bottom of this

I think that the propane company not only owes you a new tank with a new valve, they also owe you travel time for the wasted 8 hour round trip because they were too lazy to phone you and cancel the appointment.

Seems strange that they can't do anything without you being there, but they sure could steal your tank and bust it up without you being there.

 

[doxford jim]

Might be an idea to take them to small claims court and advise them that the local news media would be interested in this type of questionable operation.
You have got nothing to loose - they took your propane tank with out your permission and in my book, that is theft !

 

[therealmjfox]

Been there and experienced your pain. I used Amerigas for over 20 years. The local manger he solved my problems at both commercial, rental, and home location. I in turn paid on time and in full, worked for a long time.
New manager comes in and new computer system, phones not answered, prices through the roof. I dumped them for local family owned propane company ( if you can find one ).
I still have a 500 gallon Amerigas tank sitting in the woods after 3 years of phone calls trying to get them to pick it up.
Good Luck
Scott

I live in your area and I had Amerigas with a rented underground tank for about 10 years. Then Amerigas got super expensive, unresponsive, and generally crappy, as you say, and I looked at my contract. It included a clause allowing me to buy out the tank for a fixed price that declined over time. Since my tank was 10 years old the buyout price had gotten pretty low. As a bonus I had been on an equal payment plan and had a balance built up that covered the tank buyout. So I called them, told them I was buying the tank and they could take it out of my balance. Which they did, then I promptly switched companies.

Unfortunately their incompetence struck again and even though I had fired them and was using a different company, they came a few months later and filled my tank anyway, then tried to bill me for their highest price. It took some back and forth and certified letters but they finally agreed to take what I would have paid my new company for the gas. About 1/3 what they wanted for it. They now have written instructions not to fill my tank unless specifically requested to (which will be never).

So now I play the market every summer. And I have discovered Amerigas's solution for their crap reputation: the bastards are buying up all the mom and pop competitors that give better service. But since their name is mud they are allowing their acquisition targets to keep their names and staff and basically staying hands off in the background. I hope that continues but am not confident it will. I'm afraid that within a couple of years there will only be Amerigas and Ferrellgas around here, and we'll be stuck.

 

[therealmjfox]

All electric? Not so fast my friend. At that point you have no choice but to pay what they charge you as most people only have 1 choice for electricity. Propane gives you the option of using different suppliers and if you have a big enough tank you can purchase when prices are lower during the summer. Last summer I filled my 1,000 gallon tank at $1.35 a gallon . I use it for backup heat when I'm not burring wood and to heat my water. Checked it this week and still have about 300 gallons left. It also has the advantage when the power goes out the propane still runs. Also great if you have a standby generator as gas does not store as well as propane. Plus I can use my tank to fill small bottles for my grill or camping gear instead of getting arse raped exchanging small bottles at lowes/grocery store/wal mart/etc. I guess I like it because it gives me more options and I am in control, not to mention it's still cheap if you buy during the summer.

Economically all-electric is a no-brainer compared to propane. Even electric resistance heat is cheaper than propane now. I crunched the numbers here and found that a reasonably efficient electric heat pump is cheaper than propane down to about $1/gal for propane, and those prices are long gone. Even resistance heat is cheaper when propane gets above about $2.25/gal. (the gory details are here: Unjustified Precision: Propane heat is for suckers... and yes that includes me)

But the reason I stick with propane (dual-fuel heat pump, actually) is because when the power goes out, I can heat my house on a consumer-grade 5500W generator and still have juice left over for comforts like lights, fridge, etc. With an electric heat pump or resistance heat, that isn't possible.

 

[coobie]

I live in your area and I had Amerigas with a rented underground tank for about 10 years. Then Amerigas got super expensive, unresponsive, and generally crappy, as you say, and I looked at my contract. It included a clause allowing me to buy out the tank for a fixed price that declined over time. Since my tank was 10 years old the buyout price had gotten pretty low. As a bonus I had been on an equal payment plan and had a balance built up that covered the tank buyout. So I called them, told them I was buying the tank and they could take it out of my balance. Which they did, then I promptly switched companies.

Unfortunately their incompetence struck again and even though I had fired them and was using a different company, they came a few months later and filled my tank anyway, then tried to bill me for their highest price. It took some back and forth and certified letters but they finally agreed to take what I would have paid my new company for the gas. About 1/3 what they wanted for it. They now have written instructions not to fill my tank unless specifically requested to (which will be never).

So now I play the market every summer. And I have discovered Amerigas's solution for their crap reputation: the bastards are buying up all the mom and pop competitors that give better service. But since their name is mud they are allowing their acquisition targets to keep their names and staff and basically staying hands off in the background. I hope that continues but am not confident it will. I'm afraid that within a couple of years there will only be Amerigas and Ferrellgas around here, and we'll be stuck.

In my neck of the woods the Michigan attorney generals office has a current investigation againest amerigas for price gouging with regards to past winter priceing

 

[nc redneck]

I live in your area and I had Amerigas with a rented underground tank for about 10 years. Then Amerigas got super expensive, unresponsive, and generally crappy, as you say, and I looked at my contract. It included a clause allowing me to buy out the tank for a fixed price that declined over time. Since my tank was 10 years old the buyout price had gotten pretty low. As a bonus I had been on an equal payment plan and had a balance built up that covered the tank buyout. So I called them, told them I was buying the tank and they could take it out of my balance. Which they did, then I promptly switched companies.

Unfortunately their incompetence struck again and even though I had fired them and was using a different company, they came a few months later and filled my tank anyway, then tried to bill me for their highest price. It took some back and forth and certified letters but they finally agreed to take what I would have paid my new company for the gas. About 1/3 what they wanted for it. They now have written instructions not to fill my tank unless specifically requested to (which will be never).

So now I play the market every summer. And I have discovered Amerigas's solution for their crap reputation: the bastards are buying up all the mom and pop competitors that give better service. But since their name is mud they are allowing their acquisition targets to keep their names and staff and basically staying hands off in the background. I hope that continues but am not confident it will. I'm afraid that within a couple of years there will only be Amerigas and Ferrellgas around here, and we'll be stuck.

This one is worth reading twice. IMO