Kevin R. Cashen
Super Moderator
So today I severed my relationship with my propane supplier of over 15 years, they didn’t like it, but I got some satisfaction. After many years of dealing with the same local, mom and pop, LP gas supplier, about two years ago trouble started when they were bought out by a large gas supply corporation. Suddenly the friendly, non-formal, days of the guys delivering gas and stopping to watch me forge and shoot the breeze was replaced with added fees for not buying enough in a certain time period.
Then last fall I got a letter in the mail stating that I could get no more propane delivered to my 330 gallon tank until I allowed them access to the interior of my shop to do a proper line inspection. Naturally I was quite dubious about this request and so I proceeded quite cautiously. When they came and looked at my setup I was informed that since my gas forge and salt bath system was not UL listed (umm yeah, I built them myself) that I could no longer receive propane as long as they were hooked up to the gas lines and that the only regulator that was allowed was the one they had provided for my furnace. Since my tank was set by the original good guys it was now the property of the new non-caring corporation, and I was officially shutoff for LP deliveries.
All this winter I carted 100 lb. bottles back to my shop to get by and last week I notified the LP company that I wanted their tank, that they would no longer fill, off my property. Cautiously I asked and, sure enough, there were ready to charge me quite a hefty fee to remove their empty tank from my property. So let me sum this up, these jerks shut me off from any more refills of their tank from them, regardless of whether I had to make a living or not, and then were going to charge me for them coming onto my property to remove the tank they would no longer fill.
Today I pulled into their local office with their lousy tank on a trailer and told them to take it. I made the guy who unloaded it sign a receipt listing all of their property, from the tank and regulators down to the stinking copper line that fed my shop, as proof that I had delivered it to them (no charge).
Has anybody else experienced this sort of hassle from a LP supplier? I hope this is not a sign of things to come, but in the nanny state I fear it is.
Then last fall I got a letter in the mail stating that I could get no more propane delivered to my 330 gallon tank until I allowed them access to the interior of my shop to do a proper line inspection. Naturally I was quite dubious about this request and so I proceeded quite cautiously. When they came and looked at my setup I was informed that since my gas forge and salt bath system was not UL listed (umm yeah, I built them myself) that I could no longer receive propane as long as they were hooked up to the gas lines and that the only regulator that was allowed was the one they had provided for my furnace. Since my tank was set by the original good guys it was now the property of the new non-caring corporation, and I was officially shutoff for LP deliveries.
All this winter I carted 100 lb. bottles back to my shop to get by and last week I notified the LP company that I wanted their tank, that they would no longer fill, off my property. Cautiously I asked and, sure enough, there were ready to charge me quite a hefty fee to remove their empty tank from my property. So let me sum this up, these jerks shut me off from any more refills of their tank from them, regardless of whether I had to make a living or not, and then were going to charge me for them coming onto my property to remove the tank they would no longer fill.
Today I pulled into their local office with their lousy tank on a trailer and told them to take it. I made the guy who unloaded it sign a receipt listing all of their property, from the tank and regulators down to the stinking copper line that fed my shop, as proof that I had delivered it to them (no charge).
Has anybody else experienced this sort of hassle from a LP supplier? I hope this is not a sign of things to come, but in the nanny state I fear it is.