Joe,
Isn't that special, A penalty for conserving energy. We could no longer afford to heat our home with propane, and decided to use wood as our main source, and have propane for backup. This was done out of necessity, and now they want to penalize us for it. But the funny thing is, I was planning to order propane for the tank soon, and now I am so pissed off, I am going to dig the tank up, and send it back. F**K You United Propane!
I don't know what other people think, but propane is an expensive form of heating. Neighbors of mine have had problems with United Propane as well. They tried to overcharge an elderly neighbor of mine, with a rather high invoice from an auto fill. Upon checking prices against other companies, at that time, they were overcharging by $0.40 a gallon! Has anyone had similar dealings??
13 comments:
When I used to be in the restaurant business, I would get the volume commercial rate for my home account. I still never installed propane appliances or heating. Even at commercial rates, propane and oil is just too damn expensive.
Switch to another propane company. I'm sure they would be glad to come swap out the tanks for you. Even at lower annual consumption, new business is valued.
Also, remember that propane is commodity driven. Ask them how they arrive at their per gallon price. It's usually a certain price over public commodity trading price. The more you sound like you know their business, the better the price.
Suburban Propane is about the highest in town , lots of overhead.
The rest call each other and decide what they wnat to charge.
It is about 100% over Delaware City prices who set the market.
If Del. city is charging $2.00 gal.
The retailers are about $4.00 gal.
(example)
Mr. numbermonkey,
Are you saying that different customers get different pricing from propane companies? If my grandmother uses x gallons or lbs. or however it's measured, and another, more savvy customer who uses the same amount questions the pricing, that other person might be paying less?
Who knew?
We had the same problem. Only we only use propane for our gas dryer. We had a large stand up tank and last year they kept sending us a bill to "rent" the tank because we were not having it filled enough. We refused and eventually told them to come pick up their tank and we were going to switch to another company. They said we could go to a smaller tank at no charge. So we did. And have run out twice in the middle of drying clothes. After much complaining they are better now at filling our smaller tank.
Now here is what I dont understand. Wouldt it be cheaper for them to come out less often to fill our tank? Makes no sense to me. I will say this, if we run out again I will be switching.
JIM
GO CAPS!!
Try Aero. Definitely stay away from Suburban, they're the worst!
Stick with the local guys in the community. The same ones that give back to the community in many ways but don't always make a public display of it...they do it because they want to...not for the publicity. Cato and Taylor are local. I am a Cato customer and have always been treated fairly. A family member of mine is a Taylor customer and they feel the same way.
Bartering is still an art, never except a first offer. The retail predators will eat you alive old or young. They will charge you what you are willing to pay, it's called business, end of story.
I had a simular incident with them when I lived in Salisbury. (I don't live there anymore) I responded to them with a letter of my own.
Dear United Propane.
Due to the decision by your company to charge a minimum use fee, I've decided that I no longer want United Propane service effective immediatly. Starting on the first day of next month I will access a propane tank storage fee of $1000 per month due on the first day of every month that your tank remains on my property. I will also assess a minimum ground repair fee of $600 when the tank is removed.
I would suggest that you remove the tank from my property post haste!
Joe......Update......
I called United Propane, and asked what my fillup charge would be, and they told me that since I had no activity on my account in 12 months or more, they would charge us....."she said don't be alarmed, it's because you have had no activity, and you are at the bottom bracket of customers who "abuse" their use.............."
$7.15 a gallon!!!!! This letter was not sent to us intentionally, only because they recently had an audit, and the "big guy" picked the people that were to get these letters. (the ones who had no activity on their account in 12 months or more) We did not need them to come out and fill us up. I said abused?!?!?! Are you kidding me..i use it when I need to, and I conserve the rest. She goes on to explain to me she did not mean to say abuse..that's for people who have vacation homes and so on and so forth. So if you have a vacation home you only use a few months of the year, you are a abuser of their policy!!
We used wood over the winter, and what ws used was from our stove. I then asked her....So I don't have to pay $600usage fee? She informed me that it had not been applied to my account yet. I told her if it gets applied to my account, the tank would be sitting by the curb for them to pick up immediately, and she could eat it, propane and all. She said mam, calm down. I actually was calm.....But just wait, If I see that billed to my account, they will see a pissed off country woman!!! I'll keep you updated. A representative is going to call me in the morning......yeah right.
Thanks for letting me vent Joe!
Sharp Energy is no better. This winter I had (3) 100 lb. propane tanks that I use to provide temporary heat until I can get the Geothermals up and running. I went to Sharp next to Arby's like I always have done to fill up.
The said they couldn't sell it to me anymore at that location. They informed me that I would have to order a 500lb tank and they would retrofit it at the jobsite. I asked how much to deliver and set-up for temporary heat and they said $700.00 and that the gas would be an extra $375.00.
I left and went to Midway RV and paid $3.75/gallon and filled each tank. I went through $300 worth in less than (2) weeks when the owner begged me to work overtime to get the Geothermals online.
Sharp's personnel won't even return my calls anymore because they know I'm a competitor.
If you have gas or oil fired furnaces you are now screwed. Even Reneigh tankless water heaters are disaster now to.
Hell, just to bury the propane tank they want $1100.
How do I know. . . because I'm in the HVAC business.
Better look for alternatives . . the sooner the better.
Wow-not long ago plain old electric baseboard heat was looked down upon because all other methods were cheaper-now people envy me!I can heat ONLY the rooms I choose and even with increased electric rates my highest winter power bill is never past 250.An added plus is no Carbon monoxide worries and no regular maintenance(translation:being screwed and paying out the nose)
I have them and was on a budget plan were they were to service and check my tanks. I paid them for months on this plan and on christmas night ran out of gas. Come to find out they had me on will call when i wasn't supposed to be. Paid them lots of money into my plan and got nothing for it. Not even a apology. had the nerve to try and charge me $100 for emergency tank fill when it was their fault i didn't have any in the first place. Needless to say I'm looking to switch soon. haven't been using my propane anyway.
They bought out MidEastern propane division and called me wanting to know why I had not been filled in a while. I politly told the lady that they filled the tank without my knowledge and billed me ( which I paid) I was not on automatic fill up and was using up the remaining gas so they could come get their tank but because they filled the tank I now had a full tank of gas they would need to buy back at today's rate. She stated that they could not do that. I told her in no uncertain terms they were not to come in my yard anymore unless they have cash or certified check for gas in the tank at todays rate otherwise tank will stay locked up for ever. This has been a little over a year ago & have never heard back from them. Looks to me they don't need the tank that bad after all.
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