Part 2: The third time we ran out was just yesterday. Again, we are still on their "keep full" service, remember. Or at least we thought we were. Apparently we had an overdue balance on our account, and their policy is to remove accounts from "keep full" and place them on "will call" when there is an overdue balance for 30 days or more. You might say "well sure, you gotta pay your bills to keep the service!" And I agree! Problem is, they NEVER TOLD ME THERE WAS A BALANCE!!! No phone call, no text, no email, no letter, no courier pigeon, no kid on a horse; Lassie didn't come tell me there was trouble at the ol' propane tank, nada. I only found out about the balance yesterday evening after being away from the house for 5 days and coming home to a cold house with no hot water and two very annoyed cats. I have no idea how long it had been empty. When I called to complain about the situation and get it rectified, I was told we had an overdue balance and that they couldn't authorize an emergency fill until that was taken care of. Fine. I took care of it. When asked why we weren't notified, they said they "didn't have our contact information." They didn't have our address. Of our house. Where their propane tank has been sitting for years and they have delivered who knows how many times between us and the previous owners. I also know for a fact that my email address is on file there, because I have received emails from them -- though not about an overdue balance. Anyway, that stupidity fixed, I was told by their emergency dispatcher that she would forward my info to the local driver so he could call me and come deliver some propane. I waited around an hour and eventually got a phone call from the local driver. Here's what he told me: since we were placed on to the "will call" service for having an overdue balance "the boss" told him ABSOLUTELY NOT TO DELIVER yesterday! He told me that he wanted to, that he knows how cold it is and how inconvenient it is to run out, and that he is really sorry, but he WAS NOT ALLOWED to give us propane after hours on a Sunday. Even though the aforementioned balance had been paid. At one point in my pleading with this guy -- also, seemed like a nice person and tried to be helpful as much as he could -- he actually told me we should switch to a different company. Their own driver said that the whole situation was "no good, man." Agreed!!
So that brings me to today. After my wife and I left several negative reviews on several different platform and complained to the Better Business Bureau, low and behold I get a phone call from the General Manager of the Santa Fe (our local) branch. Here's where you'd be thinking "oh, good, at least they got an apology from the guy in charge!" And here's where you'd be wrong. After asking to speak with my wife -- she is the primary name on the account and probably because she was the one to make the BBB complaint -- the General Manager; a one Mr. Alphonso (didn't get his last name), proceeded to explain to me everything that I already knew about the balance etc. He then told me that they didn't do an emergency fill yesterday because they "haven't done emergency fills" in our area "for quite a while" because of "high demand." Ok, this is not what I was told yesterday. I told him this is not what I was told yesterday. No explanation for the two stories. He then informed me that my wife had left several negative reviews on various sites, which I already know of course, and that she had referred to whoever "the boss" that the driver mentioned as a "dipshit," which he "certainly didn't appreciate." REALLY?!?!?! I informed him that this is her opinion and that it is an opinion I absolutely share, and that it being an opinion posted on a public forum it most definitely falls under Protected Speech. He proceeded to generally talk down to me, complain about the negative reviews and BBB complaint and offer absolutely zero apology. He eventually asked to PUT ME ON HOLD, at which point I told him that he had taken enough of my time during my work day, I confirmed that we would, in fact, be getting our tank filled today, and ended the call. read more