Amerigas - so unreliable

[Mskelt]

Help. My outside propane tank is nearly empty again and Amerigas can not promise a delivery. Why is this company so unreliable? Their local offce is closed and all calls go to the midwest.

Time to change. What company can I rely on? I need an immediate delivery and hope another company can deliver.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Mskelt

Help. My outside propane tank is nearly empty again and Amerigas can not promise a delivery. Why is this company so unreliable? Their local offce is closed and all calls go to the midwest.

Time to change. What company can I rely on? I need an immediate delivery and hope another company can deliver.

Rymes....

Dan

[MeredithMan]

...Have been a Rymes propane customer for 8 years at both houses. On "Auto-Delivery" and they show up every few weeks during winter to fill the tank.

Regardless of who you go with, you have to request "auto-delivery" and make sure that you are current on your payments. I know that Rymes' policy is to withhold deliveries if you are past due...I'm guessing other companies are similar...??

[BillJohn]

We have called them several times and cannot get any info from them.

[tis]

Originally Posted by BillJohn

We have called them several times and cannot get any info from them.

Rimes? I called today to see when I was due for a delivery and was on hold for 15 minutes. That never used to happen.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Dealing with Amerigas is just plain terrible now that the local office is closed. Before this year, everything ran smoothly, and auto delivery meant that you actually got delivery without gnawing your nails down to the quick! We are considering changing, despite their $1.30/gal. price. We can’t afford to run out of propane in this frigid weather, and it took 4 phone calls to them in December before they made a delivery, and our gauge was perilously close to E. The agita just isn’t worth it!

[upthesaukee]

I'm amazed by the problems with automatic delivery.

We have had Eastern at our house for propane for 25 yrs and my mother had it for several years before we moved in. We had Fred Fuller for oil. Both auto delivery. We switched the oil over to Eastern after the Fuller debacle.

I'm treasurer of an association and we have Eastern for both propane and oil. Also auto delivery.

Both locations we have OTEA for pricing.

One thing about having auto delivery is that you have to be your own advocate and check your fuel levels from time to time. The companies, all of them, have various formulas to figure out "degree days". It works out under normal circumstances, but have something out of the ordinary occur that increases the usage for a period of time, and their system goes out of whack. Think company staying with you for a period of time increasing usage.

I check our oil tanks and propane tanks on a regular basis and deliveries track along with our usage very nicely, for the most part.

On Eastern's website, you can log into your account and if your tanks are at 20% propane or 25% fuel oil, you can email them. You get a return email usually next day and you are scheduled for the next delivery in your town.

In the last 10 or 15 years, I have used this service 3 or 4 times between the two locations. Delivery had been within the next 3 or 4 days.

Maybe I'm that lucky or perhaps Eastern is that good on Customer Service.

For those who had south for the winter, have a friend check your tanks.

Dave

[tis]

I think as long as you go along happily and don't change your usage or it doesn't get particularly cold or something out of the ordinary you are fine. But if you use more and need a special delivery, that's when the problem begins. I don't get it, your would think they would be happy to sell more. In the old days we NEVER had these problems. I guess it's the world today.

[Lakegeezer]

Eastern put an electronic device on my propane tank that notifies them when the tank is getting low. I don't have to worry about it any more and they aren't making unnecessary deliveries. Cost this year is $1.70 via OTEA.

[JEEPONLY]

Originally Posted by tis

I think as long as you go along happily and don't change your usage or it doesn't get particularly cold or something out of the ordinary you are fine. But if you use more and need a special delivery, that's when the problem begins. I don't get it, your would think they would be happy to sell more. In the old days we NEVER had these problems. I guess it's the world today.

Even though I've been fortunate with auto-delivery, and periodic "changes" to these schedules, what you say here makes total sense. Once a blip occurs in a scheduled event (even computer regulated- which is controlled by a human!) it's time for follow-up (personal responsibility).

As I've mentioned earlier, somewhere on this forum- my working at home will increase my need for a change in auto-delivery timing. I've notified the company and will watch the oil gauge. If I feel the need to call, I will not hesitate!

This type of personal care to computer regulated stuff reminds me of the days when it was presumed that computers would minimize the amount of paper we use.

NO!- Make a hard copy/make a phone call/pay on time!
I would add "text" to this list, but my flip phone kind of negates that convenience!

[livinthedream]

Just a heads up. Rymes sold out to Superior Plus out of Toronto back in September. I use Eastern on auto delivery and have not had a problem.

[tis]

Originally Posted by JEEPONLY

Even though I've been fortunate with auto-delivery, and periodic "changes" to these schedules, what you say here makes total sense. Once a blip occurs in a scheduled event (even computer regulated- which is controlled by a human!) it's time for follow-up (personal responsibility).

As I've mentioned earlier, somewhere on this forum- my working at home will increase my need for a change in auto-delivery timing. I've notified the company and will watch the oil gauge. If I feel the need to call, I will not hesitate!

This type of personal care to computer regulated stuff reminds me of the days when it was presumed that computers would minimize the amount of paper we use.

NO!- Make a hard copy/make a phone call/pay on time!
I would add "text" to this list, but my flip phone kind of negates that convenience!

Exactly right!!

[Mskelt]

Thanks for all you replies and advice. Amerigas did finally deliver after 4 days of phone calls (30 min on hold each time)

The phone calls were NOT the reason for delivery. The kind Amerigas repairman who was parked in the Subway parking lot in Moultonboro got it done!
I spotted his truck and pulled in to ask for help. Such a nice man he took my information and reported it to someone local who called a few delivery truck drivers and they figured out who was closest. Thank you sir.

Less than an hour later a truck appeared. We spoke to our delivery guy, thanked him for coming and listened to his explainations for all the problems and the reasons why Amerigas is failing it's customers miserably. Their computer algorithims are way off. They can not effectively schedule deliveries in an order that makes sense.

One thing the delivery person stated. They have been dealing with so many angry customers. Let's not take it out on our local workers. They are stuck in the same anonymous, corporate black hole as Amerigas customers.

[Mskelt]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

My tank is now down to 25% and that's when the formerly open Laconia-Amerigas suggested I contact them to get it refilled. In the past I could have swung by that Laconia office to get a refill delivery happening ..... easy-peasy .....now, with the Laconia office closed .... forever ..... getting through by the internet to the Pennsylvania, King of Prussia, Amerigas communication center is basically an impossible situation.

Amerigas should rename themselves ..... the Ameri-NO-gas Company ..... America's propane .... lack of communication .... nightmare.

So, what is an impossible situation ...... just try to communicate with Amerigas! ...

I found the best number to call is NOT the one on our bill. Call 800-805-0659. Seems to get you connected to a human faster.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by Mskelt

I found the best number to call is NOT the one on our bill. Call 800-805-0659. Seems to get you connected to a human faster.

GM, mskelt. We have been wondering how you managed with Amerigas. Did they fill you up, or leave you stranded? Hope you were successful. Oops. I missed your earlier post! Sorry. ��

[garysanfran]

Before I owned the place, my parents used Suburban Propane for many years. I continued with them and have no complaints. But, I never see them mentioned on The Forum. Por que?

[TheProfessor]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

GM, mskelt. We have been wondering how you managed with Amerigas. Did they fill you up, or leave you stranded? Hope you were successful.

My neighbor has Amerigas. Laconia office closed.

No one answers the Laconia phone nor answers the national phone number.

Here is Amerigas CEO headquarters.

Hugh J. Gallagher, CEO
Amerigas
460 North Gulph Road
Suite 100
King Of Prussia, PA 19406-2815

Of course, no one answers the phone there either.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

I have right in front of me a form letter from Amerigas’ CEO, admitting that there have been problems (really?) and that they are being very diligent in solving these issues so that they can not only meet our expectations, but will exceed them! Ha! Stay tuned...

[RUGMAN]

We have always had eastern propane with no issues, maybe they are a little higher in price, but in the dead of winter I feel nice and warm, looks like other vendors are not as reliable. "If it ain't broke why try to fix it"

[frank m.]

Originally Posted by Mskelt

Help. My outside propane tank is nearly empty again and Amerigas can not promise a delivery. Why is this company so unreliable? Their local offce is closed and all calls go to the midwest.

Time to change. What company can I rely on? I need an immediate delivery and hope another company can deliver.

Where do you live? We organized on Meredith Neck to get a group price and while we try to give all the suppliers a shot to bid each year, Rymes has gotten the contract the past five or so years and their reliability has been great. If you live on Meredith Neck and want to get in next year, send me your email address by PM.

[dpg]

My family has used Amerigas for many years in Moultonborough without a glitch that I know of anyways but then again it's a "weekend place." Amerigas has sent a few letters in the last month or so from their CEO saying they understand customers frustrations and they are working to correct them, hiring more people, etc.

[fatlazyless]

Amerigas is not really some type of big bad boogeymen, largest liquid propane distributor in the country, or somet'n like that?

They just have a wee bit of a communication problem, going on now as they eliminate all their local go-to employees and move upward to their King of Prussia, Pennsylvania command center. Too much account communication s-e-c-u-r-i-t-y is what its all about. It's so secure I can't communicate with my own account which is actually my own danged fault. I need to upgrade my technology skill! This is January, 2021, at least until it become the month of February and so on, and so forth ...... ahem!

The only thing that matters here is that the tank has propane and doesn't go empty(period!).

Things went a whole lot smoother when the local office clerk was also the wife of the guy you play a poker game with, on Tuesday nights ..... but that's the way progress happens.

[whalebackpoint'r]

Dead River, been with them for years, very reliable.

[dpg]

I went online and requested a delivery this was on 1/11 I received a confirmation number and everything. As of yesterday (1/17) still no delivery. I called the 800-805-0659 number as recommended in an earlier post. 10 minute wait time... The woman who finally answered "expedited" my request (nothing apparently was happening before this call). I said "shouldn't my confirmation number ensure I had a delivery scheduled?" her response "well not necessarily." Huh??? Well whatever it's now the 18th and she claimed she expedited a delivery request. Good thing I requested a delivery when I was at 40% in the tank!! This spring/summer I'm going to ask around and see who other folks like/use for deliveries. The "cheaper" association price does you no good when you run out and have pipes burst!! Hmmm guess you really do get what you pay for!

[fatlazyless]

Anyone here use one of those oil filled radiator heaters, about $45, 1500-watt, 110-volt, for a back-up to your heating system in case the tank of propane runs empty?

They do not have a fan or a visible heat element and work by heating the oil inside and then by convection which means it gives off heat that goes straight up into the room.

With its thermostat it can be set at something like 45-degrees, to go on?

About $45 or so at Walmart, or about five dollars at Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store, Laconia, when they have one like back in the month of July!

Seems like a decent back-up, lo-cost electric heat appliance, plus they work surprising very good. Does a great job drying out wet socks, hats and mittens, too.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

As dissatisfied Amerigas customers, I am trying to estimate how much more it would cost to rely on the new electric baseboard units that were installed after the flood last year. We had lots of new wiring done, assuring that we were up to code. We use approximately 7 gallons of propane daily or $300+/- per month. I clearly don’t have enough to do or I wouldn’t bother with this, but it would be nice not to depend on erratic propane deliveries. We have a Generac . Electric heat = no muss, no fuss. Some of you math geniuses might be doing eye rolls.

[fatlazyless]

You ever think about letting the house go cold, turn everything off, drain all the water out, and strategically funnel pink rv-antifreeze into drain traps, pump, and the kitchen sink hose sprayer so there's nothing left there to freeze up?

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

You ever think about letting the house go cold, turn everything off, drain all the water out, and strategically funnel pink rv-antifreeze into drain traps, pump, and the kitchen sink hose sprayer so there's nothing left there to freeze up?

That’s another issue. I am wondering what the cost differential might be if heating the house using propane vs electric heat, assuming that the heating units are safe...these are new....and that there are adequate thermostats, etc. To further clarify: substituting electric while we are living in the house.

[BroadHopper]

Plenty of propane suppliers to choose from. Google and you should find the local number which is usually not advertised.
Every year I call them to find the current price. In the past, they were pretty wide differences. Lately, they are close. Trying to find the best service varies every year. You can try calling the following to determine the best supplier for you.

Amerigas
Dead River
Eastern
Huckleberry
Rymes
Suburban

If I miss one, let me know, Like to include it on my list to call.

[JEEPONLY]

Earlier in this thread (post #10) I stated, reporting to Rymes, my work-at-home status- expecting a change in my automatic oil delivery timing (I called them on 12/15/20). My last, previous delivery was 11/20/20.

So...on 1/11/21, 8:30am, (a long time between winter deliveries) I called- the Laconia phone #- to report I was below 1/4. The person I spoke to said the record showed I had received a delivery on 12/18/20- not so! This person admitted there had been a glitch, but would resolve it quickly.

I was assured I would get delivery THAT day- truck arrived at 4:45pm. 2.729/gal.

Happy ending!

[dpg]

JEEPONLY: Yes your delivery was a happy ending but the fact they thought you got a delivery that you didn't is scary! If your place was a weekend camp or used even less than that there's a recipe for disaster! Your price in my opinion is quite high but again maybe you get what you pay for? I'll see if Amerigas comes out after a call and a "expedited request" was put through. Their CEO should be fired how can something like this happen? If you know your way behind meeting deliveries pay the drivers who want to work whatever O.T. it takes. They'll really be ahead of the game and all caught up after they lose a huge customer base.

[JEEPONLY]

Originally Posted by dpg

JEEPONLY: Yes your delivery was a happy ending but the fact they thought you got a delivery that you didn't is scary! If your place was a weekend camp or used even less than that there's a recipe for disaster! Your price in my opinion is quite high but again maybe you get what you pay for? I'll see if Amerigas comes out after a call and a "expedited request" was put through. Their CEO should be fired how can something like this happen? If you know your way behind meeting deliveries pay the drivers who want to work whatever O.T. it takes. They'll really be ahead of the game and all caught up after they lose a huge customer base.

My situation could very easily have been a disaster- that's why I titled my post with "sort of".
Part of my point was that I called the local phone #, spoke with a calm, knowledgeable person and got the service and product I needed.

Yeah, the price seems a bit high- I asked about the price reserve program too late to get it.

Anyway- already tired of the cold!

Good luck with your situation!

[Sue Doe-Nym]

We just received today another form letter from the CEO at Amerigas, in which he again acknowledges the problems they have had nationwide, and promises that they are adding personnel, hours, plus a sixth working day. He also thanks us, their valuable customers, for our patience! 😂 What patience? I checked our propane level today...30%...and their estimate for what we have is 58%. I corrected their error online. We shall see what happens...

[WillyK]

I shudder to admit the amount of time I've spent battling with Amerigas to keep our home heated over the last 2 months. Here's our story...so far.

We are brand new lakers in Moultonborough. We cut over our service before closing on the home, end of November. After finding that our account didn't have any information in the Amerigas online portal, and watching the tank drop to 30%, I called to schedule a delivery. That's when I discovered the 80-100 minute wait times. I'll skip a lot of the details of that week of phone calls, but I spent a total of about 15 hours on hold, cut off multiple times, you know the drill. (BTW, super nice phone reps, every one of them. Totally useless, but nice people doing their best with basically no authority to help customers.)

Skip ahead to Dec 21, we still have not received any delivery, are officially out of propane. I was promised the 21st, nothing. Then the 22nd, nothing. Finally, the 23rd, and nothing. I've escalated on every official channel I can think of. My family is literally in tears, we had vacated the home to save gas, but are now looking at the prospect of spending Christmas morning in a cold house running water through the pipes to keep them from freezing. Needless to say, not the way we envisioned our first Xmas in a new home.

At my rope's end, I started doing backchannel messaging through my professional network, and reached out personally to multiple national VPs and the COO at Amerigas. Seriously, this is last resort territory for me bothering senior executives on Christmas eve, but I just couldn't bear this futile treadmill any longer.

Well, it worked! I spoke to the VP of Operations by phone, and within 1 hour our security cam revealed an Amerigas truck pulling up and making the delivery.

I have zero reason to believe that I ever would have received a delivery if I hadn't escalated on back channels. Which is so totally unacceptable and frankly just sad.

Postscript: It's now one month later. And you guessed it, we are down to 10% propane, and no delivery scheduled. This week I'm at 1 hour on hold across multiple phone calls (their wait time is down, thank God for small miracles at least!), and no one can seem to get me a delivery. If I haven't heard anything else by tomorrow, I'm probably going to have to start chasing national executives again.

This whole story is a symptom of a deeply dysfunctional operation at Amerigas. It's a sick company right now, and unclear if they can get their act together. I'm still trying to figure out what it will cost for me to get them to remove their tank and switch providers. But I empathize with everyone here who is hostage to Amerigas right now. It's a horrible helpless feeling.

Good luck, and if anyone is friends with a delivery driver on the ground in the lakes region, drop me a note. The folks in the local office are awesome people and working hard for us. Sounds like everything was good last year when dispatch was done locally. It's the new consolidated national machinery that's irreparably broken.

[WillyK]

To echo what others have said too, the current prediction algorithms for consumption rates are completely wrong. I've been updating our tank percentage down a few percent almost daily from what their online estimate shows.

Not that it helps to update it, given that they don't seem to actually route deliveries based on that information. But just one more symptom of a broken operation.

[fatlazyless]

Originally Posted by WillyK

I'm still trying to figure out what it will cost for me to get them to remove their tank and switch providers.

Switching suppliers almost never ever means removing the old tank and replacing it with a different tank. The tanks, regulators, and lp lines all remain the same and the account simply gets switched over to some other supplier. The only thing that gets changed is maybe the vinyl, stick-on name that's on the tank, if it has one. They just peel off the old name and slap on a new name ........ good-bye Amerigas ...... and hellooooo Eastern, or something like that.

Is Charlie Moore an Eastern customer himself in real life, or does he just leave town and go south to fishing-Florida in the win-tah? ......

Best way to shop it around is to take your paper work, in person, down to a local lp supplier and talk to them about it.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by WillyK

I shudder to admit the amount of time I've spent battling with Amerigas to keep our home heated over the last 2 months. Here's our story...so far.

We are brand new lakers in Moultonborough. We cut over our service before closing on the home, end of November. After finding that our account didn't have any information in the Amerigas online portal, and watching the tank drop to 30%, I called to schedule a delivery. That's when I discovered the 80-100 minute wait times. I'll skip a lot of the details of that week of phone calls, but I spent a total of about 15 hours on hold, cut off multiple times, you know the drill. (BTW, super nice phone reps, every one of them. Totally useless, but nice people doing their best with basically no authority to help customers.)

Skip ahead to Dec 21, we still have not received any delivery, are officially out of propane. I was promised the 21st, nothing. Then the 22nd, nothing. Finally, the 23rd, and nothing. I've escalated on every official channel I can think of. My family is literally in tears, we had vacated the home to save gas, but are now looking at the prospect of spending Christmas morning in a cold house running water through the pipes to keep them from freezing. Needless to say, not the way we envisioned our first Xmas in a new home.

At my rope's end, I started doing backchannel messaging through my professional network, and reached out personally to multiple national VPs and the COO at Amerigas. Seriously, this is last resort territory for me bothering senior executives on Christmas eve, but I just couldn't bear this futile treadmill any longer.

Well, it worked! I spoke to the VP of Operations by phone, and within 1 hour our security cam revealed an Amerigas truck pulling up and making the delivery.

I have zero reason to believe that I ever would have received a delivery if I hadn't escalated on back channels. Which is so totally unacceptable and frankly just sad.

Postscript: It's now one month later. And you guessed it, we are down to 10% propane, and no delivery scheduled. This week I'm at 1 hour on hold across multiple phone calls (their wait time is down, thank God for small miracles at least!), and no one can seem to get me a delivery. If I haven't heard anything else by tomorrow, I'm probably going to have to start chasing national executives again.

This whole story is a symptom of a deeply dysfunctional operation at Amerigas. It's a sick company right now, and unclear if they can get their act together. I'm still trying to figure out what it will cost for me to get them to remove their tank and switch providers. But I empathize with everyone here who is hostage to Amerigas right now. It's a horrible helpless feeling.

Good luck, and if anyone is friends with a delivery driver on the ground in the lakes region, drop me a note. The folks in the local office are awesome people and working hard for us. Sounds like everything was good last year when dispatch was done locally. It's the new consolidated national machinery that's irreparably broken.

What a terrible ordeal, and one we will have to undertake again tomorrow. Maybe this will help you: if you decide to change providers, you can probably keep the tank that’s there. The companies seem to have some sort of swap arrangement with each other . We might be right behind you!

[tis]

I would absolutely switch. I was concerned about this too so I asked. The new company buys the tank from the old company if it is underground. Above ground ones can be changed. However, the question is what gas company is better? As I said in an earlier post, I had trouble with Rymes delivering. Maybe with the new ownership they are better? I had trouble with Eastern, they couldn't seem to figure out that how to post a payment that had been made when they switched from Wolfeboro Oil. I spend too much of my time on hold. Yesterday it was registrations, today it was insurance and appointments. Why do things have to be so complicated? I liked the old days before voice mail and answering machines!!!!!!

[winni83]

For what it is worth, we got a propane delivery from Rymes today. 241 gallons (a 500 gallon underground tank). So the tank was at something like 40%. Maybe Rymes is looking at the Amerigas complaints and taking notice.

[Jdarby]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Switching suppliers almost never ever means removing the old tank and replacing it with a different tank. The tanks, regulators, and lp lines all remain the same and the account simply gets switched over to some other supplier. The only thing that gets changed is maybe the vinyl, stick-on name that's on the tank, if it has one. They just peel off the old name and slap on a new name ........ good-bye Amerigas ...... and hellooooo Eastern, or something like that.

Is Charlie Moore an Eastern customer himself in real life, or does he just leave town and go south to fishing-Florida in the win-tah? ......

Best way to shop it around is to take your paper work, in person, down to a local lp supplier and talk to them about it.

I’ve heard differing accounts wherein a new provider would not service tanks supplied by another provider. This is why we elected to purchase our own tanks for our standby generator. When we then set up service with Rymes we had to show proof of ownership of those tanks before they would service them.


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

[fatlazyless]

Totally forgot to mention this ....... there's some type of a test which the new company will throw at the old company's tank ...... to get it certified or something ....... maybe a pressure test while a pressure gauge is attached to test the tank and lines, or something ..... which makes some good sense.

Eastern Propane has that mad fisherman guy, along with a former Bruins hockey player, show up to your waterfront home on his boat and very quickly catch a small mouthed bass, all while doing a tank pressure test, at the same time ....... so much great talent at www.Eastern.com! .....

[tbonies]

Is Irving a reliable option for Meredith/Laconia?

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

Plenty of propane suppliers to choose from. Google and you should find the local number which is usually not advertised.
Every year I call them to find the current price. In the past, they were pretty wide differences. Lately, they are close. Trying to find the best service varies every year. You can try calling the following to determine the best supplier for you.

Amerigas
Dead River
Eastern
Huckleberry
Rymes
Suburban

If I miss one, let me know, Like to include it on my list to call.

[garysanfran]

I appear to be the only Forum member that uses Suburban... as I have mentioned them before with no response.

My parents used them for years and when I took over I continued with absolutely no complaints. They are so good, they are a non-entity in my life. I never think about them. I don't even see my bills as they are auto-paid.

[WillyK]

Originally Posted by tis

I would absolutely switch. I was concerned about this too so I asked. The new company buys the tank from the old company if it is underground. Above ground ones can be changed. However, the question is what gas company is better? As I said in an earlier post, I had trouble with Rymes delivering. Maybe with the new ownership they are better? I had trouble with Eastern, they couldn't seem to figure out that how to post a payment that had been made when they switched from Wolfeboro Oil. I spend too much of my time on hold. Yesterday it was registrations, today it was insurance and appointments. Why do things have to be so complicated? I liked the old days before voice mail and answering machines!!!!!!

Thanks to those commenting on flexibility around tank ownership, that gives me some hope. Our tank is above ground, 330 gallons, old thing from mid-80s.

I had Rymes come out, and they indicated they would install their own tank and move the Amerigas one off to the side, but Amerigas would have to come retrieve it. And by regulation, they can't fill it in the meantime even as a one-off.

My issue with Rymes is that they quoted prices that were *double* what Amerigas is charging (my much fought for delivery in December was $1.739/gal). Now granted, expensive propane is better than a frozen house. But seems crazy that's the choice.

Appreciate this thread exploring new providers, with this second month of no service, I'm definitely prepared to make the switch, this has been horrible.

[bilproject]

Since you have the back channel to management use it again. I would suspect that your problem is the K factor in the degree day system. If your home is new or you are a new owner, a guess K factor or the old home owners K factor is being used. You as a new owner are using far more propane per degree day than anticipated by the guess or more than the prior owner of the home. In my 20 years at Suburban we would not assign a k factor to a new customer until after 18 months of service to the account. Instead we would assign a period interval say 4 weeks between delivery. This system is less efficient in terms of percent of capacity delivered but avoids a costly "out of gas" call on the weekend or night, not to mention a pissed off new customer. The K factor is determined by the number of degree days divided by the gallons used in that period of degree days. The number of degree days for each 24 hour period is entered into the computer. The computer then multiplies the days by the K factor to get gallons used. When your account reaches a percentage of your tanks capacity it is printed out (uploaded to a drivers computer) for delivery.
Based on your known interval of reaching 20% of your tank capacity ask that you be placed on interval delivery for the rest of the winter.

[TheTimeTraveler]

Reading all the delivery issues in this thread makes me wonder if going back to oil may be a better alternative.... At least oil delivery appears to have more locally owned distribution points in the area. Additionally, you never hear of issues with oil delivery.

Would hate to use oil but it appears to be far better than electricity in terms of ongoing expense of use. I like gas because I can run a fireplace, stove, hot water, clothes dryer and of course heat. Some folks (very few anymore) still run their old, old refrigerators using gas!

And, gas is much cleaner than oil.



.


.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

We are going to try riding it out with Amerigas this season, and hopefully they will have their systems under control by fall delivery. That will mean staying on top of propane levels and nagging, which is painful, but changing mid season has drawbacks as well.

[tis]

Nope. Had trouble with oil too. I think these companies get too big!!

[WillyK]

Originally Posted by bilproject

Since you have the back channel to management use it again. I would suspect that your problem is the K factor in the degree day system. If your home is new or you are a new owner, a guess K factor or the old home owners K factor is being used. You as a new owner are using far more propane per degree day than anticipated by the guess or more than the prior owner of the home. In my 20 years at Suburban we would not assign a k factor to a new customer until after 18 months of service to the account. Instead we would assign a period interval say 4 weeks between delivery. This system is less efficient in terms of percent of capacity delivered but avoids a costly "out of gas" call on the weekend or night, not to mention a pissed off new customer. The K factor is determined by the number of degree days divided by the gallons used in that period of degree days. The number of degree days for each 24 hour period is entered into the computer. The computer then multiplies the days by the K factor to get gallons used. When your account reaches a percentage of your tanks capacity it is printed out (uploaded to a drivers computer) for delivery.
Based on your known interval of reaching 20% of your tank capacity ask that you be placed on interval delivery for the rest of the winter.

Thanks, good insights, and makes sense. Unfortunately, even when I call and nag, and update all the tank level info diligently, they still are unable to deliver. I can ask about interval delivery, but it seems like there's a bigger problem downstream in their process, since they can't even expedite a delivery when I'm out of fuel. Amerigas central systems confirm that I'm low. e.g. It currently says my "reserve date" (the date by which they aim to have a delivery en-route) is yesterday. But still no delivery scheduled.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Okay....news flash...no wonder they are having difficulties. I reached someone at the 800# who couldn’t find our accounts despite my repeating the address, my name, etc countless times. He did, however, give me this # and it was answered so promptly that I almost fainted, and that is 704-527-6972. She promised to expedite this, and we’ll see. At least it didn’t require an eternity on HOLD. Stay tuned.....

[Sue Doe-Nym]

You won’t believe this, but the Amerigas truck just left our driveway, 306 gallons lighter! It must have been my pleas to the person at the last # I posted, the non 800 one. Try it...it worked for me....and lay it on thick about your desperation! 😂

[winni83]

Here is my experience with changing propane suppliers and the tank ownership issue.

With our old house we had two above ground tanks. Changing suppliers was relatively easy. New company came and installed their tanks and disconnected and moved away from the house the two tanks belonging to the prior supplier. Called the prior supplier to come and get the two tanks. Nothing happened for weeks. Called again and said that we had noticed some kids fooling around with them and raised the danger issues. Tanks were removed promptly after that.

With new house, we have a 500 gallon underground tank, owned by the propane supplier. After much dissatisfaction over the propane rates, decided to switch to Rymes, but only if Rymes would buy out, or do whatever the companies do, to transfer ownership of the tank. I did not want to have it dug up and replaced. Much foot dragging by the prior supplier in contacting Rymes. Many E Mails and phone calls later, including one to a corporate higher up threatening to complain to the State that the prior company was intentionally dragging its feet to hold us hostage, the prior company contacted Rymes and the two companies made their deal and Rymes had to do a cathodic test on the underground tank, which came back fine. Tank was only 4 years old at the time of transfer, so I do not know how the age of an underground tank impacts on the transfer issue. Obviously an underground tank complicates the transfer issue. We decided for various reasons that we did not want to own the tank and for aesthetics we did not want an above ground tank.

[WillyK]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

You won’t believe this, but the Amerigas truck just left our driveway, 306 gallons lighter! It must have been my pleas to the person at the last # I posted, the non 800 one. Try it...it worked for me....and lay it on thick about your desperation! 😂

Congrats Sue, I know the relief of that feeling all too well, hoping I can experience the same euphoria myself in the next 3 days before I run out.

I escalated to my executive contact just now to see if they can give me any advice, but if I don't hear back, I will try your phone number tip in the morning.

Makes me think we should create a whole underground lakes region Amerigas routing system. It'd work like this:

- Set up a Google sheet for everyone who needs propane.
- When the truck shows up at Sue's house, she slips the driver $20 and a note with my address on it.
- When the driver shows up at my house, I slip him another $20 with the next address.
- rinse, repeat

Seems like a better solution than whatever "state of the art" routing and scheduling system they have today, and as a bonus, the drivers would make a small fortune in tips. Win-win!

[Sue Doe-Nym]

The thought crossed my mind, when he handed me the delivery slip.....that if I had your address, seeing if he could divert his route to make a delivery. However, they probably aren’t permitted to do that, although it would make life simpler.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

The thought crossed my mind, when he handed me the delivery slip.....that if I had your address, seeing if he could divert his route to make a delivery. However, they probably aren’t permitted to do that, although it would make life simpler.

Could "serial-bribing" the driver be the reason for delayed deliveries?

Here in Florida, my New York neighbor tips/bribes everybody. The rest of us make a monthly appointment for the County to pick up a discarded computer monitor--while he slips the garbage truck driver a $20 to toss his old sofa in with the neighbors' potato peelings.

[tis]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

The thought crossed my mind, when he handed me the delivery slip.....that if I had your address, seeing if he could divert his route to make a delivery. However, they probably aren’t permitted to do that, although it would make life simpler.

Well, I know years ago when Irving told me I couldn't possible be out of oil, I knew a driver and he brought me some. I truly think it's all about local vs. "huge" companies. I do all the business I can with locally owned businesses.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

The thought crossed my mind, when he handed me the delivery slip.....that if I had your address, seeing if he could divert his route to make a delivery. However, they probably aren’t permitted to do that, although it would make life simpler.

I leave a 20 under the lid of the tanks. It never is left behind

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Hmmmm....it might be time to hit the ATM.....although I doubt that the drivers control where they go.

[fatlazyless]

Doesn't Amerigas supposedly have a camera mounted within their trucks so management can watch their delivery as it happens? is not unusual for big trucks to have camera coverage by management, from back at the command center. Some trucks have a split screen camera that looks directly at the driver as he/she is driving as well as looking down the road.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Doesn't Amerigas supposedly have a camera mounted within their trucks so management can watch their delivery as it happens? is not unusual for big trucks to have camera coverage by management, from back at the command center. Some trucks have a split screen camera that looks directly at the driver as he/she is driving as well as looking down the road.

Worse than that! Waste Management sent me a bill for excess in a dumpster. The driver said he has no control, they have a front facing camera and they review each pickup he goes to. If they see an overflowing dumpster they send out an additional bill.

Big Brother is watching!

[dpg]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

I appear to be the only Forum member that uses Suburban... as I have mentioned them before with no response.

My parents used them for years and when I took over I continued with absolutely no complaints. They are so good, they are a non-entity in my life. I never think about them. I don't even see my bills as they are auto-paid.

Your not going to be the only person for long I'll look into them this spring.

[WillyK]

So I'm feeling relieved today, blood pressure is back at normal levels. My backdoor contact successfully got me a delivery again this month. He also mentioned that the systems and support processes have a lot more upgrades coming in the next few months. We'll see how much more reliable that makes this whole mess...

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by WillyK

So I'm feeling relieved today, blood pressure is back at normal levels. My backdoor contact successfully got me a delivery again this month. He also mentioned that the systems and support processes have a lot more upgrades coming in the next few months. We'll see how much more reliable that makes this whole mess...

👍👍👍👍👍 That’s a hopeful sign!

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Amerigas should make their billing department in charge of deliveries. Our bill for yesterday’s delivery has already posted! Not complaining, just an observation....they can get moving when they must. 😀

[Patofnaud]

Ain't that a fact Sue...

That was what made me drop Amerigas.. Called for delivery with an almost empty tank, 10 days later I get a tank rental bill for not using enough gas, on day 13 after still having no delivery, I called and canceled. That was last Oct 13th.

I disconnected the tank and moved it to toward the road and told them to come and get it. To date, it is still sitting there.

I then went to Tractor Supply and bought 2x 40LB tanks. I'll start filling my own. I only use about 100lbs a year.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

A good friend called us today, beside himself that he was down to 10%, and knowing we had had Amerigas “issues”, wondered how we handled it. He called that 704# we gave him from above posting, and he has been promised a Monday delivery. We’ll see...

[tis]

I still don't understand why these companies won't deliver? Covid now? But what was their excuse in the past?

[dpg]

Called Amerigas again Friday and again didn't get a warm feeling. I called a few other "local" places around Moultonborough and secured a delivery for a few hundred gallons probably today (Monday) so I was told. Figured I wouldn't fill the tank "in case" Amerigas ever decides to show up after all my calls I wanted to leave some room for them to deliver something. If this new company comes through and delivers as promised I'm most likely switching. Paying more than our Amerigas association price but a cheaper price isn't worth all the nail biting and phone calls you have to make. I don't want to be to quick to drop Amerigas in case they ever get their crap together they have been a reasonable price in the past...Time will tell I guess..

[Sue Doe-Nym]

This is just a heads up for Amerigas customers who have been at wits end with their lousy service since closing local offices: I checked our account today to get the due date on payment, and also saw that their estimated propane level in our tank is 57%. Our gauge shows 61%, so they are fairly close in their calculation. I am cautiously optimistic that we might get a delivery before we run out, but my hope is that they are on the right track as far as fixing their flawed system. Fingers crossed. 🤞

[Sue Doe-Nym]

We think Amerigas is definitely on the right track. We got a delivery today without a single distress call from us. We are on automatic delivery/ 500 gal. tank, and their estimate showed we were at 13% this morning, when actually we were probably closer to 24%. They put in 305 gallons. No muss, no fuss. I hope this helps those of you who have had a frustrating winter with them. 🤞

[loonguy]

Amerigas showed up and filled our tanks (500 gallon main house and two 120 gallon tanks for the generator) today as well, based on their estimates for the main tank, as adjusted by me to show a more urgent need for the other newly installed tanks.

[WillyK]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

We think Amerigas is definitely on the right track. We got a delivery today without a single distress call from us. We are on automatic delivery/ 500 gal. tank, and their estimate showed we were at 13% this morning, when actually we were probably closer to 24%. They put in 305 gallons. No muss, no fuss. I hope this helps those of you who have had a frustrating winter with them. 🤞

Similar update on my end. I was away from the house for a week this cycle, so used less than the estimate. Given that I had some buffer, I waited on any distress calls to see what would happen. Amerigas did indeed come and do a refill on their own. Tank estimate was 3% on their site when they showed. Too thin a margin for my taste (and the actual was more like 12%), but at least they showed up, which is a promising change.

One data point does not a line make, but fingers crossed.

[Mskelt]

Isn't is just ridiculous? Such a poorly run company. We have been stressed about deliveries all winter! Can't wait to switch

[dpg]

Originally Posted by Mskelt

Isn't is just ridiculous? Such a poorly run company. We have been stressed about deliveries all winter! Can't wait to switch

Well they are one of the most reasonable prices around in my opinion through our association anyway. I'm holding off switching just in case they do get it together. This spring I'm going to go online and order a fill-up just to see if they come through.

[loonguy]

What is the Amerigas price for homeowner associations? My supplier is Amerigas, but not through an association. How many homes are needed to qualify as an association? Might there already be enough other Amerigas customers in the Fox Hollow Homeowners Association to qualify?

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Suissevale pays $1.30, but it’s a large association.

[dpg]

That's correct 1.30

LoonGuy would you mind saying what you're paying them? Just wondering what kind of price we're getting.

[loonguy]

Originally Posted by dpg

That's correct 1.30

LoonGuy would you mind saying what you're paying them? Just wondering what kind of price we're getting.

You are getting a great price. I pay more than double that, $3.20 if I recall correctly. I wonder if the $1.30 price would still apply for a new homeowner association deal arranged in 2021. There appears to be a huge incentive for a group arrangement if you meet the qualifications. How many Suissevale residents are part of the Amerigas deal?

[winni83]

We are not part of an association, but for us in the past, Rymes has always met the price put out by Our Town Energy Alliance (which has usually been an Eastern Propane price. $1.70 for 1200 to 1400 gallons this year. Not as great as $1.30 however.

[loonguy]

Originally Posted by winni83

We are not part of an association, but for us in the past, Rymes has always met the price put out by Our Town Energy Alliance (which has usually been an Eastern Propane price. $1.70 for 1200 to 1400 gallons this year. Not as great as $1.30 however.

So who can qualify to be part of Our Town Energy Alliance?

[winni83]

Well, it is a very exclusive organization😎. Sign up and pay the annual fee which this year was around $30.00. The propane prices are released in May or so. We use the OTEA price to negotiate with our supplier, or you could switch to the OTEA supplier, which is Eastern this year and has been for a while. We have an underground tank which we do not own so switching is not an easy task.

See

https://ourtownenergyalliance.com/

[loonguy]

Amerigas owns the tanks for my gas. I wonder how difficult it would be to swap them out or buy them. The large tank is about 30 years old so arguably the price to buy it should be low. The two smaller tanks were just installed in last Fall. All were just filled which complicates the swap and pricing issues. I also wonder if there is a way to piggyback onto the Suissevalle deal.

[winni83]

Whether or not to own the tanks is an individual decision. Above ground tanks are relatively easy to switch out or buy. Owning makes it very easy to change suppliers. But owning means it is your problem if something goes wrong with the tank. If your 30 year old tank is above ground I for one would not want to own it. Be careful about tank rental fees. For us because of our usage there is no tank rental fee.

[tis]

Originally Posted by loonguy

Amerigas owns the tanks for my gas. I wonder how difficult it would be to swap them out or buy them. The large tank is about 30 years old so arguably the price to buy it should be low. The two smaller tanks were just installed in last Fall. All were just filled which complicates the swap and pricing issues. I also wonder if there is a way to piggyback onto the Suissevalle deal.

I believe when I called and asked about this they told me the new company would buy the tank. Call and ask them.

[Sue Doe-Nym]

Originally Posted by loonguy

Amerigas owns the tanks for my gas. I wonder how difficult it would be to swap them out or buy them. The large tank is about 30 years old so arguably the price to buy it should be low. The two smaller tanks were just installed in last Fall. All were just filled which complicates the swap and pricing issues. I also wonder if there is a way to piggyback onto the Suissevalle deal.

Not positive, but I am 99% sure that you need to live in Suissevale, or your land needs to abut Suissevale. If you are near the Loon Center, probably not.

[dpg]

Originally Posted by loonguy

Amerigas owns the tanks for my gas. I wonder how difficult it would be to swap them out or buy them. The large tank is about 30 years old so arguably the price to buy it should be low. The two smaller tanks were just installed in last Fall. All were just filled which complicates the swap and pricing issues. I also wonder if there is a way to piggyback onto the Suissevalle deal.

Hi loonguy I'm not sure how many are in the Amerigas setup with Suissevale but there's probably a few hundred homes in the entire association so I'm guessing it's a pretty good amount. I know it's not uncommon when I'm up there this time of the year to see one of their trucks driving down a street. Far as a company owned tank getting someone else to deliver will be an issue. When I was concerned about getting to low this winter I got an account going with Rymes and the first thing they asked was if the tank was owned by me. The woman stated it's "illegal" for them to deliver to it if it's owned by another company. Personally I'd look into taking ownership myself but that's just my opinion. Don't have the amount right in front of me but I (think) Rymes was something like 2.50 - 2.60 when I got the delivery. Over a dollar more a gallon still beats running out!!
I know I didn't pay over 3.00 that I would remember.

[tis]

As i said before I was out of state a few years ago and we had that bad wind storm and our power was out for a few days. I called Rymes to fill my generator tanks and they would not deliver for two week-my normal delivery. I explained about the storm in our area but it made no difference. I got Wolfeboro Oil to deliver to me. (I owned the tanks.) So I guess my point is, I prefer to own the tanks and then you can have whoever you want. We have tanks for three different things and only own the generator ones. We don't use a lot of gas soI guess we weren't too important.

[dpg]

Originally Posted by tis

As i said before I was out of state a few years ago and we had that bad wind storm and our power was out for a few days. I called Rymes to fill my generator tanks and they would not deliver for two week-my normal delivery. I explained about the storm in our area but it made no difference. I got Wolfeboro Oil to deliver to me. (I owned the tanks.) So I guess my point is, I prefer to own the tanks and then you can have whoever you want. We have tanks for three different things and only own the generator ones. We don't use a lot of gas soI guess we weren't too important.

Wow sorry to hear that when I called totally out of the blue they came out within three days something there has apparently changed I'm guessing anyway. Never a customer I had to get online and open an account first.

[tis]

They have been sold since so maybe they are better now. The last time I called they did come in a few days. I am on call now, before I was automatic and apparently if I wasn't scheduled they weren't about to deliver. So hopefully the new company is more responsive????