Beshear Reaches $150,000 Settlement with Paducah-based Propane Business

The nationwide propane shortage which occurred during the winter of 2013-affected Gasper River's delivery times Because of that, waivers were granted to customers requesting one so that other providers could put propane in Gasper's tanks Customer had an order pending but cancelled
that order on February 4, and switched propane providers The customer was advised in December when he requested tank be picked up that due to weather it may be a while before the tank would be picked up The wet spring further delayed the pick up of the tank Due to the delays in making deliveries caused by the shortage, Gasper River is willing to waive the minimum usage fee That fee has been removed and the account now has a zero balance Gasper River regrets the delivery delays during that winter but the delays were due to circumstances beyond Gasper River's control

Original refund request was submitted on September 15, but did not contain all required information Complete information was submitted in November Refunds take approximately 6-weeks to process and, as customer acknowledges in complaint, the refund check is being mailed out
today

Customer placed order on July 2, We switched to a new software system recently which caused some invoices to double post so it appeared that customer still owed a balance The software error has been corrected and a delivery was made on July 21, We regret any
inconvenience the customer experienced

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved
Regards,
*** ***

The document attached is a hand written note claiming to own the tank and, as Mr*** admits, is not even from him or his wife Our evidence of ownership is a contract which is signed and initialed by his wife By signing that contract, Mrs*** acknowledged that we owned the tank

This complaint is being investigated and a response will be provided once that investigation is complete. Additional information has been provided by the customer which is being considered as part of the investigation

If customer will do the math, she will see that if $(LIHEAP Payment) is deducted from the total due of $384.56, the remaining balance is $ Had the customer paid the remaining balance within days of the delivery, an additional discount of $would have been given That may be why the customer believes that only $is due However, payment was not made within ten days so the $discount does not apply and the full balance of $remains due

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before
sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved
Regards,
*** ***

Delivery was made on January 12, 2018. Prepayment for propane only allows the customer to lock in a price, it does not provide delivery priority to customers

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the
offer I reviewed appear below
The person that purchased the property did pay the account. I still think that this company didn't do us right. As it took them years to send a statement of any king. The tank had 80% showing on the gauge and they paid less than any purchase price of gas around for less gallons than calculated in the tank. I still think that they didn't treat us fairly. Called home office several times and only received telephone call in return. I would like for them to pay back at least part of what was paid or all it to satisfy us
Regards,
*** ***

Customer claims to have had no success in contacting company but acknowledges she spoke with someone on January 15, and 17. Order was placed on January 15, and customer indicates that she had run out of propane prior to placing that order. We encourage our customers to place
orders when their tank reaches 30-40% percent so as to allow for sufficient delivery times especially in times of high order volume. Our drivers are working extended hours to fill orders as quickly and safely as possible

Customer had two accounts One tank was picked up in and a delivery was made to other tank in October Golden's records show no request from customer for pick up of second tank Tank was picked up due to non-usage The charges on account are pursuant to tank rental
agreement which customer entered in

We advise our customers to place orders when their tank reaches 35-percent. If a former employee told the customer otherwise, then the former employee was not providing accurate information. The order placed by the customer was filled on January 8,

Customer currently has a credit on the account in the amount of $which can be applied to her next delivery. We regret that it took longer than to make the delivery

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Regards,
*** ***
We did not sign a contract promising to purchase gallons of propane per yearThe account under our name had a ZERO balance in April of This company has chosen to charge our account for unused propane AFTER we stopped being a customerIt is CHARGEThey stated in the first response to Revdex.com, AFTER billing us for unpaid tank rent, that we in fact, did not owe any unpaid tank rentThey wrongly billed usThey were WRONG thenThey are WRONG NOWWe absolutely DO NOT owe *** Propane one single pennyWe should be receiving a $balance billing statement and an apology from themHow dare a "reputable" business conduct themselves in this manner??? We will make sure every person we have access to through social media will see every single Revdex.com complaint, including ours, from now until next spring, especially while propane sales are at their peakWe don't want anyone that we are acquainted with, nor their family or friends, to get sucked into a situation like thisIt is wrong for a company to maintain misinformation as truthAnd then adding late fees and interest fees to that misinformation is even more disturbing

We advise all our customers to place orders when their tanks reach 30-40% so as to allow for sufficient delivery times, especially during times of high demand like we experienced this past winter. Customer acknowledges that she waited until tank was on 15% to place an order and we could not
make delivery before they ran out of propane. Customer terminated the tank rental agreement and the applicable charges were applied once tank was picked up

Thank you for your patience while I have been reviewing...

this matter.  Based upon my review, please be advised that Midwest Propane Gas of Princeton, Inc. is not and will not be responsible for any claimed loss of propane. As you acknowledge in your complaint, every time that Midwest was notified of a claimed issue with your propane system, Midwest personnel responded and fixed the issues.  Midwest does not own your propane system and is not responsible for maintaining the system.  I have been advised that Midwest's drivers wanted to perform a leak check on the entire system to determine if any non-visible leaks existed but that you refused to allow the system to be shut down so that check could be performed.  This fact is also acknowledged in your complaint.   When the temporary lines were installed, they were tested and found to be leak free.  As such, any leak, either visible or non-visible, which may have developed in the system would have occurred after Midwest's employees left the property.  You also acknowledge that when Richard Dirks and Dennis left your property on the evening when they responded at 8:30 pm, you knew there were no leaks in the system.  You also acknowledge in your complaint that your area endured extremely cold weather during the time in question.  Midwest's drivers have advised me that the barn heaters were running at the times they were present on the property.  As such, there is no way to accurately determine how much propane was used versus how much may have been lost due to the claimed leaks.  Thanks, [redacted]

Mrs. [redacted] signed a tank rental agreement in October 2004.  That agreement indicated that certain charges would be assessed in the event the customer did not comply with the agreement.  While the agreements typically contain a yearly rental amount for use of the tank, the agreement...

Mrs. [redacted] signed indicated no rent would be charged.  As such, that fee has been removed from the account.  As the tank was transferred to the new homeowner and not actually removed from the property, the tank pickup fee has also been removed.  However, the minimum usage remains due because the [redacted]s did not purchase the agreed upon amount of propane.  The new balance due is $261.68 and needs to be paid by July 31, 2015 to avoid additional finance charges.

We went back and reviewed the audio recording of the telephone call in question.  While customer does initially ask what the price would be, customer goes on in phone call to indicate that approximately 125 gallons would be needed to fill their tank.  Based upon that, an order was entered...

and delivery made.  We are agreeable to accepting $.899 per gallon for a total due of $113.09 so long as payment is received by March 8, 2016.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have...

determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[I do not agree with this response because upon visiting the business in person we found out that office personnel had quit, orders were not placed, drivers did recieve orders. We decided to go with another conpany upon hearing this. Thank you. 
Regards,
[redacted]