Propane rip-off: big sellers of exchange tanks are not filling them all the way

snipped-for-privacy@State.DE.US

Easy to find. Just plug in your state and attorney general.

I told Delaware to aggressively pursue these crooks. I have enough sense to know that a single message is worthless but who knows if they get hundreds.

Frank

Reply to
Frank
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Capitalism and government certainly are not mutually exclusive. Capitalism needs government protection to function properly, but it suffers under onerous government overkill.

Government can and should ensure the consumer or buyer has all available information about something to make an informed decision, whether it relates to a security's performance or the accurate quantity of a commodity.

Reply to
Karla

It's not natural to be in Ice Cream, but it's not "man made" - it's "natural"

Reply to
clare

Try to find one that charges you by the unit instead of a flat rate. No reason they can't top up a 20 lb tank that has 5 lb in it and charge you for 15 lb.

THAT is a ripoff.

Reply to
clare

I remember when I would buy it for that exact reason. Haven't had any in awhile; sorry to hear they started adding crap to it.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

You are paying for the labor, mainly, not the propane. Gotta pay for the machine, the clerk, the inspections, the insurance, etc. Like the price of beer in kegs vs. cans- the cost of the content is close to trivial. If refill stations charged by the pound, you'd get people coming n every week to top off, 'just so we don't run out during the barbecue'. Lot of clerk time and machine wear for very little money. A flat fee plus weight would maybe make sense.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

By that reasoning, every full serve gas station should charge you for a fixed amount full tank, not the actual number of gallons they pump into your car. Yet somehow they stay in business by charging you just for the amount you actually receive...

Reply to
Karla

A lot more people have cars than propane tanks, and there are a lot more gas stations that propane fill stations. You do notice that other than in NJ and Oregon?, full-serve gas stations have basically vanished, and the few that remain charge a price premium? They charge you for the labor, all right- 'X' cents per gallon.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

Yanik. Young. Maybe we're related?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I work in MA. Each town fire Marshall decides if self serve is allowed and some do not have it. The full service stations are the same price as the self serve in the next town. Damned if I'm going to pump it when I can get it done for free.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

The U-Haul place I take my tank to definitely charges by the gallon, with no minimum charge -- and according to their website, this is true of all of their propane-selling locations nationwide.

That's a big downside to tank exchanges -- you have to run completely empty to get the full value; I don't have a place to store an extra

20lb tank, so I'd rather top off at 1/4 tank than run out in the middle of a barbeque.

Josh

Reply to
Josh

Where does one find full service gas stations any more?

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

With propane filling, all service is "full service" so the premium difference vs. self serve is not a valid analogy, since we aren't comparing full service with self service propane. The full service pumps at a gas station (and there are plenty of them near me) charge the same per unit amount regardless of the amount of fuel purchased. In other words a customer purchasing 5 gallons of fuel isn't charged for a full tank. Likewise the number of stations is not relevant, we are discussing the practices at the stations themselves, not how many others there are.

There is no reason why propane sales should need to charge a full tank for a 1/4 tank fill, if propane dealers weren't out to gouge and cheat their customers. We aren't talking bulk sales here, and charging by the unit sold certainly adequately includes labor costs for other fuel sales.

The article cited already establishes the propane industry's (lack of) integrity and business ethics by providing less product without informing their customers. It's not surprising they freely engage in less than above-board practices.

Reply to
Jessica

There are plenty in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, for starters. Seen some in South Dakota and Wisconsin too. NJ and OR exclusively have full serve, with the exception of military bases, whose patrons are trusted with handling gas pumps themselves.

Reply to
Jessica

They do it because they can. It has been an accepted policy for many years.

Propane dealers are some of the worst on the planet. They have widely varying rates depending on use, they won't fill the tanks of another company, they rent tanks for years, they make if difficult to let you buy a tank, and on and on.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Why would anyone want to take them in and exchange them in the first place? Take them to a refiller yourself and pocket the money.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

On Fri 22 May 2009 09:15:14p, Ed Pawlowski told us...

I really don't understand why people bother to buy exchange tanks in the first place. To me, the rip-off is paying for the use of their tank. There is no advantage that I can see, since you still have to carry an empty tank back and a full tank home. We have two tanks that we bought at Lowe's. We use one on the grill and one as a backup. It's amazingly cheaper to just have the tank filled at a local gas station and their prices are fair and competitive. I think my last fill up cost around $9.00 and was filled to the legal limit.

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

On Sat 23 May 2009 09:32:48p, Ed Pawlowski told us...

If you're talking about the standard tank use for gas grills, there's a glut of them for sale at any big box store in this area, and any filling facility will fill them with no problem.

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

On Sat 23 May 2009 09:58:42p, SteveB told us...

Exactly!

Reply to
Wayne Boatwright

In Dallas the refill places went from 2.29 gal on 2/22 to

4.09 gal on 4/25. From $20 to $35 for two tanks, our BBQ might begin tasting a tad of yellow pine ;-)

Our tank opds shut off 4.3 - 4.6 gal.

Reply to
larry

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