I have been a customer of Suburban Propane for over 20 years at the same address. I have never been late on my budget payments.
My current budget payment amount is $29.00/month. Yep, just $29. Since the budget plan was reconciled in April 2020, I have regularly paid $40.00 even though I only owed $29 because I didn't want to get to the end of the budget plan and have a balance due.
On October 26th I had some service performed on my on-demand propane water heater (which sits downstream of my solar hot water heater). I did NOT receive a bill at the time of service.
I received my November bill, statement date 11/20, on 11/24 (the week of Thanksgiving). This bill is the FIRST notification of what I owed for the service in Oct. The bill showed a balance due of $136.95. I sat down at the computer and arranged for the National Bank of Middlebury to make my payment on 12/11 (the day after my paycheck on 12/10).
Today I received a call from SP telling me my account is in arrears and threatening to turn me off. Now the very same bill I have in hand, the very FIRST notification of my repair costs, very clearly shows that I still have a CREDIT with SP of $241.87. This is AFTER subtracting the cost of the service.
I understand that the budget payment plan and service are essentially separate items. Fine. But how can I be told that I am nearing 60 days in arrears for service on 10/26 when the FIRST bill telling me what I owe arrived on 11/24?
I spoke to 3 different people on the phone. I realize that none of those individuals are personally responsible for any of this, and I apologized to them for raising my voice in frustration. The supervisor with whom I spoke affirms that all of my data and the dates in question are all correct. I have, in fact, a CREDIT of $241.87 even before my check for $136.95 arrives on 12/11.
20+ years of doing business, never paying late, always carrying a credit, and they threaten to turn me off even though I have done absolutely everything by the book. I will be changing propane companies. read more