In the past, we had used Suburban Propane to deliver propane, back when we were using propane to heat our pool, but then we got rid of our pool. We thought of them again when we installed a new furnace in the Fall of 2019 and needed propane tanks to be installed again. The short version of this story is that Suburban Propane installed these tanks specifically where we told them not to - directly on top of our septic tank, which cause the septic tank to collapse weeks later. We are stunned by their lack of assistance in resolving their mistake and ignorance of ASME standards that prohibit locating these propane tanks near or on septic tanks and want to warn others to not using this company for that reason.
To explain what happened, we called Suburban Propane to install propane tanks to heat our house with our new furnace. They sent out a field worker and my mom made sure to stay home to meet with him about where to place these two large tanks. My mom explained that we have a mulched area that no one should stand or walk because there has been a septic tank below there since she and her parents moved into the house about 55 years ago. There are ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) standards (and common sense) that say you should not install propane tanks on top of or within 10 feet of a septic tank. My mom showed him where the propane tanks had previously been during the ~20 years we had propane tanks with their company when we used them to heat our pool and the field worker told my mom that in order to have the propane tanks there again she would have to cement one of our basement windows. My mom calls her boyfriend to cement the window that the field worker told her to and she left for work, thinking everything was agreed on.
Lo and behold my mom arrives home from work to find the propane tanks in a completely different area than they agreed on, right on top of the septic tank! She calls the company three times over the next few weeks to ask them to move them because she's worried about the septic tank. Louise, the receptionist, tells her multiple times that there is nothing they will do, she will not let my mom speak to the manager, and dismisses my mom's concerns. Eventually my mom gives up in frustration, only to receive a voicemail from Louise about a month later telling her that they can no longer deliver propane because of the unsafe situation at the propane tanks. Louise explains in the voicemail that a 'sink hole' was discovered when her staff tried to deliver propane. My mom is completely confused because she is not aware of any issue by the tanks and now has to wonder how she will heat her house in the winter. My mom goes outside and sees a deep footprint near the propane tanks - the weight of the propane tanks and their staff has collapsed the septic tank, just as she had warned them! My mom calls the septic tank company and they arrive and confirm the septic tank below the propane tanks has collapsed and will cost ~$4,000-$6,000 to repair and that the propane tanks need to be move immediately. My mom calls Suburban Propane and they claim the issue to be a sink hole that their staff didn't create and that for a fee they will move the tanks to a new area. This company caused thousands of dollars in damage and wanted to charge an extra fee on top of that!
I called their help line numerous times and they told me to speak to their manager, Jim. Louise refused to let us speak to the manager and multiple times denied their manager to be Jim. We eventually were able to get a hold of their branch manager Jim and their operations manager Javier, who were both much kinder than Louise, but they both refused to take responsibility for the collapsed septic tank and insisted that it must have collapsed for another reason than their tanks being directly on top of it. We are now having to file a court case against this company because we don't have thousands of dollars lying around to fix their mistake.
I obviously cannot recommend any company that ignores their customer's requests and placed these tanks in a new area compared to where they were before and placing them instead in an unsafe area while ignoring regulations as well. It's unfortunate that their receptionist acts like an enforcer for their staff and would not allow us to speak to anyone to solve this issue before the septic tank collapsed. It's also unfortunate that they have not been able to work with us during the numerous phone calls and site visits to resolve their mistake after working with them in the past for decades without any issues. read more