propane gas tank

[charleyfarmall]

Quote: "So far it don't look like he is commiting theft of services but they may be stealing his property "

Nah, they just put a lien on the gas until he settled with them...

I think he didn't get a solution here and left. It's rare that the company is in the absolute wrong in these cases and there are legal ways to handle it...

 

[rjwerth]

Oh, let me tell ya....Amerigas is about the worst company to deal with around here. The price on the phone was not the price billed and when I tried to get the matter resolved, it took over 6 phone calls to them (over the course of 4 months!!) and finally a call to my credit card company to dispute some of the charges. They never fought the CC company nor even responded to them (just like they never responded to me!). I'll never forget how every phone call ended with them..."Don't worry, well get this all taken care of." Yeah...right.

So now I have a brand new geothermal system and half a tank of propane that is powering my kitchen stove (and hot water if the power goes out). That will last a very long time....

 

[North Country]

I still don't know were the "aboot" comes from though. I've honestly never heard that. Maybe because I live close to the U.S. border? But I do have a bad habbit of saying "eh". Sure gets you some glaring looks when I'm in the places that hate Canadians.

To me, "aboot" indicates western Canada. Winnipeg or farther west, but not as far as Vancouver. Sorta like how in the US you go father and farther south until you hit Orlando, then it's not "the south" any more.


Who the *&%#! hates Canadians? That's like hating ice cream.

 

[mrrob1908]

to settle all your fears I did order 100 gal of gas and they delivered 200 gal of gas. I did NOT want that much since money was tight and I did have the amount for 100 gal so I did pay for that and they never came to take out the 100 extra gallons. I still have over 150 gal of gas in the tank and I did not recieve notice about the tank rental (which is in aug of every year) and when I came home I had a notice that the gas was shut off. Amerigas is one of the most difficult companies to work with. I give up and just want to use the gas I paid for then they can have there 100 gal of gas and tank there tank too!

 

[Short Game]

Years ago I had the same issue with Petrolane. I was 22 and barely scraping along, odd jobbing and nearly broke. I was in a 20X7 foot trailer, using gas for cooking and a tiny space heater, and came home to find they brought a huge tank and dropped it where I didn't want it, to show their company name to the street. I wanted it in back and they put it right beside the trailer. It was full when they brought it and I called and told the owner of the local franchise that I couldn't afford that much gas. He said, "no sweat, don't worry about it," and left at that. When I complained about the location not being where we'd agreed, he told me it was too heavy to move until I used off the gas. Liar. When my bill came, it was for the full amount. They began charging me, and compounding, interest on the balance. I got rid of them by non-payment, and after months of using their fuel, I went back to getting 5 gallon tanks filled around the corner on the highway. Was never sorry for it.

 

[WilliamBos]

to settle all your fears I did order 100 gal of gas and they delivered 200 gal of gas. I did NOT want that much since money was tight and I did have the amount for 100 gal so I did pay for that and they never came to take out the 100 extra gallons. I still have over 150 gal of gas in the tank and I did not recieve notice about the tank rental (which is in aug of every year) and when I came home I had a notice that the gas was shut off. Amerigas is one of the most difficult companies to work with. I give up and just want to use the gas I paid for then they can have there 100 gal of gas and tank there tank too!

WOW..,They delivered more than you ordered, and they are making out to be your fault??

 

[Short Game]

In my case, getting me to lease the tank, and to thereby be hooked, was all salesmanship by the Petrolane dealer. All that, "don't worry about it" stuff was just to get me locked in. If I'd have lived in that trailer for ten years, I probably would never have used all the gas. There's always a chance it would all leak out, and that would have been a plus for the company.

To this day, I cook with propane. These days, I am paying about the same for my 5 gallon fills at the gas station as my neighbors pay for delivered into their two owed tanks, and quite a bit less than another who leases his tank.

 

[North Country]

to settle all your fears I did order 100 gal of gas and they delivered 200 gal of gas. I did NOT want that much since money was tight and I did have the amount for 100 gal so I did pay for that and they never came to take out the 100 extra gallons. I still have over 150 gal of gas in the tank and I did not recieve notice about the tank rental (which is in aug of every year) and when I came home I had a notice that the gas was shut off. Amerigas is one of the most difficult companies to work with. I give up and just want to use the gas I paid for then they can have there 100 gal of gas and tank there tank too!

My closest 5 gallon fill station is run by Amerigas. They recently had to settle a class action suit that their 5 gallon exchanges weren't 5 gallons. I drive past them. They also run the automated exchange station at the local Home Depot that often jams and won't release new cylinders after you've paid.

http://propanesettlement.com/notice.pdf

I have yet to run into anyone who says anything nice about them.

 

[Paystar]

Should have explained the situation before we all jumped on you. Hope it works out for you. It just looked funny, you asking that question, with no background info.
It really disturbs me the number of big businesses that seem to have free reign to screw you over, yet, "you" (the small guy) can't seem to have any way to fight them back. Even when they are clearly in the wrong. Sure you can go to court, but they have more money to spend on lawyers than us.
Wonder if it does any good reporting these kinds of businesses to the Better Business Bureaus?

 

[me0418840987]

I must say, I have one of the best dealers to work with, then, Strobel out of Kewaskum. They may not like me, but never let on. I have my 500 gal tank filled every 3-4 years. All it runs is the dryer, and the back up propane boiler. Heating with *free* wood is great. (If you don't count all of the hours of labor, chainsaw and tractor gas and maintainence, etc).

 

[Deere9986]

i have a tank with a meter on the house and only pay for what i use. if i use over 50 gals a yr tank rent is free. best thing about it all is my tank is always full because i just run a 5 bar heater in dire emergencies.

 

[kensnelling]

Sounds like if you pay your tank lease then that should solve the problem. Since you owe them, if you unlock/unplug/whatever they have done to disable your service it WILL cost you more in the long run.

Legally they have over a barrel on this one. Just because you didn't recieve a statement from them doesn't mean you didn't owe them by the due date. For example, if I don't get a renewal notice on my truck tag, if I don't renew it in time I pay late fees, and if I get an expired tag ticket I pay a fine. In my case it was a $154 fine, $38 late fee, for a $62 tag. It's my responsibility to keep up with my monthly, yearly, whatever obligations.

Your best course of action would be to renew your lease, then after you use your 50 gallons of propane follow the lease termination procedure in your contract if you want to be rid of your current supplier.

Ken

 

[DanD78]

I may have missed it but do they require a 200 gallon minimum order? That might be why you got 200 gallons. My dealer has a 200 gal minimum and also charges extra delivery for short notice, night and week end delivery. I don't blame them either.

Dan

 

[Haywire]

My dealer charges an extra fee for deliveries less than 200 gallons.

Ian

 

[North Country]

Should have explained the situation before we all jumped on you.

One could argue that sentence should be inverted.

It really disturbs me the number of big businesses that seem to have free reign to screw you over, yet, "you" (the small guy) can't seem to have any way to fight them back. Even when they are clearly in the wrong. Sure you can go to court, but they have more money to spend on lawyers than us.

I got the impression that he's legally in the wrong - he missed a lease payment and they've prevented use of their equipment until he pays for it. Legal? Perhaps. Good business? Of course not - they just lost a customer if he has any other options at all. They were stupid, rude and shortsighted IMHO. The lease fees are piddly compared to the cost of the gas.

Vermont has "maximum minimums" - they aren't allowed to set minimums higher than a certain size. It depends on the tank:
250 gallon tank- 125 gallon minimum
325 gallon tank- 175 gallon minimum
500 gallon tank- 225 gallon minimum
1000 gallon tank- 300 gallon minimum

They also aren't allowed to disconnect without advanced written notice, and they have to present and give you a chance to comply with a payment plan before disconnection. Basically, to get shut off you have to really ignore them completely.

 

[mrrob1908]

First of all the payment was not even due yet and second of all there is a 100 gal min to fill. the tank rental is 65.00 year give me a break its not that. I did not get anything in writing.

 

[North Country]

Didn't mean to imply that you did get anything in writing, just saying my state has different rules. The laws here tend to protect the lowly consumer from the big bad corporations more than most states.

As a matter, of fact, propane's unique here in that disconnect *is* allowed. Utilities cannot disconnect electric or natural gas primary heat during the winter. It doesn't matter if you're late, it doesn't matter if you got a notice, it doesn't matter if you brought the owner's daughter home past curfew - no shutting off electric heat in the winter is allowed.

My personal opinion, which is worth exactly what you paid for it, is that you got screwed and they lost a customer. Business works better when both sides agree to agree.

 

[wedge40]

Around here, everyone I've every talked to charges extra or refuses to deliver less then 200 gal. I heat and cook with propane so what I usually do is in the July-August time frame I purchase 750 gal or so at the "summer" price when propane is cheapest.

Wedge

 

[mrrob1908]

That my be so in your area but in this city where I live propane is not used alot just for pools and emergency generators in case of huricanes. Most people have electric. I choose to have gas hot water and gas cook top and dryer. If I can get the use of my 50 gal then I will switch to electric. It not worth this much trouble. I looked again yesterday and still cant figure out how they did it and I dont see that a plug was used? confused

 

[Haywire]

Just go pay the lease. They'll unplug it for you.