I WOULD GATHER UP ALL THE BILLS FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND FILE A SMALL CLAIMS COURT CASE.

The first thing you do is buy the tank, not lease it. By leasing it they bind you to an agreement that usually includes a minimum amount you have to use or you get charged whether they fill only a gallon or the entire tank. Also you have to use them to supply the gas.

Yes, something sounds fishy about your situation.

Yes Craig - you are 100% right about that....

Sounds like a legal claim to me and have you noticed that your car holds more gas than usual. Is it bad enough that we pay the higher prices, but my car never held more than 16 gallons of gas until the prices went up. Are we all this gullible and suggest to fight your case hard.

www.bobsellssumter.com

Lewis....  I have plenty of gas... oh, wait, what kind of gas?    Or was that hot air?   Seriously, small claims or get a lawyer...  something is obviously wrong.....  hell, I'll sell you gas at $600 a year if you only use it 12 weeks out of the year.

Perhaps you have gas leak.  Have they serviced the tank for you and made sure it is working properly?

My suggestion, get legal pre-paid plan.  Then call up the attorney and explain the situation.  First, they will start by writing a letter on your behalf.  If you need to proceed to the next level, they will help you with every step of the way!

Broker - Southwest Real Estate, Inc.  ----

They said I need it serviced and I probably have a gas leak. They serviced it, found no leak, charged me $250 and told me I did not have a gas leak.

Ronald - legal prepaid? Are you kidding me??

For less than $1 day.  Check out my blog, on 08/30, or feel free to call me I'll gladly explain anything you might need to know.

i would take it to small claims court.  Get all of the docs together.  Also talk to your neighbors on what their bill runs and if a lot lower, ask if you can make copies of it and use it as part of your exhibits.

Hi Lewis, is there a public utilities commission in your area with whom you could lodge a complaint, and request for an investigation?  I have encountered getting high gas bills from the local utility company, and it turned out they were billing me for a neighbor's usage as well.  What we do over here is to send a check to the CA Public Utilties Commission as a deposit while they investigate.  When the findings are complete, hopefully, in your favor, you get your money back.  The whole thing sounds fishy to me.

Ronald -  what quality of attorney is available for $1 a day? I know my attorney is a few hundred bucks every time we chat... but even at that cost has been invaluable to me.....

Stella -  I hear you... I guess i am just wanting to understand the process with these guys more than anything else at the moment...

Hi Lewis, it just occurred to me that your local propane company is probably not monitored by the local or subject to state overview. Never mind about my earlier question.  If the local propane company is registered with your local Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau, that's another venue that you should lodge a complaint too.

It is like legal 'insurance' and their quality is excellent!  Check out my 08/30 blog entry about using their attorneys, as well as http://prepaidlegal.com/. I've been a customer for about 18 months now, and have used them for several things,and I have been thrilled.  I'm only learning a lot more recently as I started selling it as well, and have learned so many more uses, that is why when I saw your blog, that immediately came to mind, I think you would find it very helpful, and I would have the attorney address the over-billing as well as the 'other' charges you mentioned.  As I said, I would be more than happy to talk to you tomorrow if you would like more info.

I wish real estate paid as well right now... They sound like crooks to me. Good advise to gather your receipts and go to small claims court. I hope you win. Definately something fishy.

Lewis: Sounds like a price gouge to me... Oh my.. this is silly... are they showing you how much they are pumping into the tank.. They must have records of this.  Something is NOT right in this case.

Dump Them now...I am going through this with web page providers also.

$300 is an awful lot for a fireplace.  I run my fireplace pretty much every night from October through February, and my bill doesn't break $150, and I have a gas water heater, and gas BBQ on the sam line.  That tank has to have a leak.

My goodness... poor thing you!  Hope you get this resolved Quickly!!

Thanks,
Tom Davis

World Class Delaware Realtor

WOW!  Sounds like this is a real problem.  I fight utility companies all the time.  I once had a water company charge me for over one million gallons of water in a single month and tell me with a straight face that I must have a water leak!!!!  HELLLLOOO????  Well, it turned out to be their meter reader!  I went back over a two year period and found other errors.  We settled!  Another time I had issue with a natural gas bill (billed in therms not gallons), same deal over a period of time and got a refund.  I say FIGHT 'em with all you got, but don't pay a penny to a lawyer.  Contact other customers and speak to them about their bills, check out complaints with BBB in your area.  Call the local town manager's office and ask about complaints.  There's lots you can do on your own.  Sounds like a mission to me.  Or, you could just forget it, chalk it up to experience and move on....  Good Luck in any case!

I am not familiar with propane tanks, but even running our fireplace almost every night in winter, it doesn't come close to that.  Bills go up to about $80 /month for all gas including hot water, stove and oven.

Our area uses propane but those bills seem extremely outrageous.  First I would call the competing propane company and get a bid for a new tank.  And if allowed, transfer the contents of the old tank into your newly installed (owned) propane tank.  Then call the high priced propane company and have them take their tank off my property.  

There are companies that give you an "introductory rate" or new customer rate, but those go rates fade away quickly and your propane gas price per gallon immediately raises.  In our area that raise is over one dollar per gallon more for the same propane gas that is delivered to others from the propane competition.   So why are you paying more...It's your propane company!   Good Luck...

This company really is price gouging you!  I would immediately get off automatic deliveries and get a gauge on the tank.  If there are no leaks as they said then you should be able to keep track of usage.  It's a bit more of a bother but you have control.  BTW I heated my entire house on gas in NY and we only used $1200-$1400 per year!  The first company we used was skeevie so we changed..They immediately removed the tank in the middle of winter and left us with no heat!

Lewis, how about try not to use gas for one month and see what happens. How? vacation, use electric, etc. Just to reduce gas usage significantly. Then you will find out the truth. I think there is definitely something shady going on.

Don't fro get to tell your story to every friend and customer you run across!  And if you find an honest company do your best to promote them.  People appreciate the heads up!

Go talk to neighbors and compare your usage levels and costs compared to others.  The provider may have an ombudsman to assist you with your concerns.  Your town or county may be interested in reviewing the billing and service practices of this firm !

Be there next time they fill it......

Sounds like you had best compare your usage over the last year or so and then call another company if possible. Don't forget propane has gone up in price as did gasoline.

Sounds like you had best compare your usage over the last year or so and then call another company if possible. Don't forget propane has gone up in price as did gasoline.

Out here in Seattle, the news channels have their own "investigators" to investigate problems such as these. You might want to try that route. If that doesn't work, file a small claims report.

Sounds like crap to me.  Unless there is a minimum charge, they are doing something wrong.  A gauge would be a good start. 

take beano before and there will beano gas. sorry but I couldn't help myself.

Ouch.  I have no idea how to resolve this one.

Michael  now that is funny.....  thanks for the chuckle....

That is really high.  I think you might have some legal recourse, but check with an attorney.  I would stop the service immediately (in writing) plus tell them you are taking your clain to an attorney.  That might calm them down some.  Also, if you can explain this to the manager of the company, he might be able to change some of the rules for you, especially if he thinks he will get a lawsuit.  The clerks are just clerks not cannot make a decision; they just read you the company rules.  Go to an attorney anyway to protect yourself from further huge bills.  I think you have been bilked.

Hi Lewis,

I agree with a few of your commentators ~ you need to contact the cosumer advocate from your local news channel and let them help you battle this idiot gas company.  Here in Jacksonville, it's "I'm Telling Ken", a 5-minute spot on the local news with consumer advocate Ken Amaro. 

You'd be amazed at the great response a news channel can command, even if the gas company jerks have put you off numerous times.  Better to talk to Ken than risk 5 minutes of horrible press.

Good luck to you ~ let us know how it turns out...

Lewis, first issue, while living in Atlanta GA, I had gas that ran my fireplcaces, heat, hot water heater, and my stove. My highest gas bill was $300 in a given month for a house 7000 square feet. The place was huge. Point being is this. In the regular months, it was only $100. That is the same as your $300 a quarter and yours only works a firplace?

Hire an attorney and file a claim. They are ripping you off.

It looks to be well worth chasing this down through whatever backchannels you can starting with asking the Gas co. how to resolve billing disputes. There has to be several oversight channels available to consumers.

Homes in Wichita KS for Sale | Wichita Real Estate for Sale | Wichita Homes for Sale | Andover Homes for Sale | Homes in Andover KS for Sale

When I saw the title of your Post I was going to stop by quickly and say something stupid like "I have two words for you ... Bean-O"

Obviously that would no longer be appropriate.

;0)

I agree with everyone above, and just keep us posted on how things pan out. 

We bought a house last year and there was no insulation from the basement to the first floor.  We lost a lot of our heat from our fireplace (wood) and a gas furnace due to that but also huge gaps between floorboards that were taking the heat out of the house.  Our highest bill in February when we had the most snow (I know, snow in california!) was about $250.  The rest of the year is just baseline since the furnace is turned off, then what we use for hot water and oven.  Never gets above $50. I think that you are being taken advantage of...

Try going to a trade show in Vegas. It costs hundreds to get the power turned on in the booth. To rent a 42 inch plasma TV cost $800. How much is a new one?$1200. It was $121 to rent a chair for 3 days. We needed several.We bought the garbage canand vacuum cleaner  since they charge $121 per day to empty the trash and vacuum the floor once. The point is: sometimes you just feel helpless when it comes to services.