H. John Davis

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because it is not accurate I was quoted the $ish price and would not have permitted delivery were the price in the $range Competitors of [redacted] are still in the $range as we speakIn fact, I have gotten a new supplier who has billed me at $per gallon This is for the first tank of propane, and will go up to the $range next time, which they are indicating is the current market price I have checked other suppliers and they are quoting me at $ As you can see, HJohn Davis is clearly not even in the ball park and are not competitive with their pricing They are approx$overpriced per gallon based on the same projected usage Even the additional "admin fee" is only another price increase that elevates the consumer's price No one else that I have encountered does thisAs for their claim that they could not have misquoted, I completely reject that When I called, the $ish price was quoted to me, without having asked me any further questions Based on that quote, I ok'd a deliveryAgain, were it in the $range, I would have completely rejected it I closely monitor my costs (of necessity, as I am retired with a fixed income barely able to make ends meet) I understand that well meaning people do make mistakes It's easy to make the wrong assumptions when providing a price As a $price did exist at the time of the quote, perhaps some wrong assumptions were made on their behalf It happensI have no problem paying the outstanding bill.......but not at a different price I recommend that *John D [redacted] adjust the price and move on Regards, [redacted] ***

When [redacted] called [redacted] for his delivery, he was told the price would be $5.349. Suburban Propane establishes each Customer’s pricing based on their annual usage. This is what is referred to as a “Step Price”, based on [redacted] ***'s usage, approximately 200 gallons a year; his “Step Price” was... $5.349. Quoting [redacted] a price in the $3 range could not have been possible. Customers, whose usage was 1300 gallons or more, would have been in the $3 range. All of our Staff here have the same price sheets available. In regards to the $11.99 service charge, we charge this fee to all Customers, for every delivery and have for some time.Starting back in December, pricing for propane has been on a continual daily increase due the propane shortage in the U.S. We at Suburban Propane are striving to accommodate our Customers & e propane readily available to our existing Customer and in order to achieve this; Suburban Propane has had to purchase propane at a premium price, hence needing to increase propane prices to our Customers.We value all of our Customers needs & try diligently to work with them; however, considering the above, at this time Suburban Propane is not able to lower prices.Per [redacted] ***’s request, we have picked-p our propane tanks and credited back the propane that was left in the tank.Again, Customersatisfaction is our ultimate goal here at Suburban Propane and it is very unfortunate for all parties involved to lose [redacted] as a Customer.

Hi [redacted] - I am faxing you the information I still have from Suburban. As I mentioned, they were going to fax me the original invoice, but they have not done so (surprise) as they remain uncooperative. As you can see from the 36 gallons they credited back when they shut off my supply, the price per gallon was $5.35 and does not include their admin fee (another way of bringing the price up further). This price is over $2 more than the price quoted me and $2.20 over everyone else's rate. Why would I have approved such an exhorbitant amount? Hope this helps- [redacted] ***

Hi [redacted]-
I am faxing you the information I still have from Suburban.  As I mentioned, they were going to fax me the original invoice, but they have not done so (surprise) as they remain uncooperative.
As you can see from the 36 gallons they credited back when they shut off my supply, the price per gallon was $5.35 and does not include their admin fee (another way of bringing the price up further).  This price is over $2 more than the price quoted me and $2.20 over everyone else's rate.   Why would I have approved such an exhorbitant amount?
Hope this helps-
[redacted]

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because it is not accurate.  I was quoted the $3 ish price and would not have permitted delivery were the price in the $5 range.  Competitors of [redacted] are still in the $3 range as we speak.
In fact, I have gotten a new supplier who has billed me at $2.78 per gallon.  This is for the first tank of propane, and will go up to the $3 range next time, which they are indicating is the current market price.  I have checked other suppliers and they are quoting me at $3.19.  As you can see, H. John Davis is clearly not even in the ball park and are not competitive with their pricing.  They are approx. $2.60 overpriced per gallon based on the same projected usage.  Even the additional "admin fee" is only another price increase that elevates the consumer's price.  No  one else that I have encountered does this.
As for their claim that they could not  have misquoted, I completely reject that.  When I called, the $3 ish price was quoted to me, without having asked me any further questions.  Based on that quote, I ok'd a  delivery.
Again, were it in the $5 range, I would have completely rejected it.  I closely monitor my costs (of necessity, as I am retired with a fixed income barely able to make ends meet).  I understand that well meaning people do make mistakes.  It's easy to make  the wrong assumptions when providing a price.  As a $3 price did exist at the time of the quote, perhaps some wrong assumptions were made on their behalf.  It happens.
I have no problem paying the outstanding bill.......but not at a different price.  I recommend that *. John D[redacted] adjust the price and move on.
Regards,
[redacted]

When [redacted] called [redacted] for his delivery, he was told the price would be $5.349. Suburban Propane establishes each Customer’s pricing based on their annual usage. This is what is referred to as a “Step Price”, based on [redacted]'s usage, approximately 200 gallons a year; his “Step Price” was...

$5.349. Quoting [redacted] a price in the $3 range could not have been possible. Customers, whose usage was 1300 gallons or more, would have been in the $3 range. All of our Staff here have the same price sheets available. In regards to the $11.99 service charge, we charge this fee to all Customers, for every delivery and have for some time.Starting back in December, pricing for propane has been on a continual daily increase due the propane shortage in the U.S. We at Suburban Propane are striving to accommodate our Customers & e propane readily available to our existing Customer and in order to achieve this; Suburban Propane has had to purchase propane at a premium price, hence needing to increase propane prices to our Customers.We value all of our Customers needs & try diligently to work with them; however, considering the above, at this time Suburban Propane is not able to lower prices.Per [redacted]’s request, we have picked-p our propane tanks and credited back the propane that was left in the tank.Again, Customersatisfaction is our ultimate goal here at Suburban Propane and it is very unfortunate for all parties involved to lose [redacted] as a Customer.

Review: Company has been my propane provider since 2012. Since I am on an "will call" basis, I contacted them in December to order propane. I asked for the current price and was told it would b $3 something a gallon (don't remember the exact price). I then approved the delivery based on that price. When I received my bill, it was $5.349 per gallon, with an additional $11.99 service charge.

I entered a complain t on their web site via email and never received a reply. Today I was contacted by them regarding a delivery. I told them I would only authorize a delivery if the price was corrected. They indicated the price could not be changed, even though I was quoted incorrectly. If I did not pay the amount in question, they would lock up the tank so that I could not use the remaining propane. Given the minus 0 temperatures this month, not exactly a humane resolution.

I have since checked other suppliers (about 2 weeks ago) and am receiving price quoted in the low $3 range. Can you help?Desired Settlement: Business should honor price quoted

Business

Response:

When [redacted] called [redacted] for his delivery, he was told the price would be $5.349. Suburban Propane establishes each Customer’s pricing based on their annual usage. This is what is referred to as a “Step Price”, based on [redacted]'s usage, approximately 200 gallons a year; his “Step Price” was $5.349. Quoting [redacted] a price in the $3 range could not have been possible. Customers, whose usage was 1300 gallons or more, would have been in the $3 range. All of our Staff here have the same price sheets available. In regards to the $11.99 service charge, we charge this fee to all Customers, for every delivery and have for some time.Starting back in December, pricing for propane has been on a continual daily increase due the propane shortage in the U.S. We at Suburban Propane are striving to accommodate our Customers & e propane readily available to our existing Customer and in order to achieve this; Suburban Propane has had to purchase propane at a premium price, hence needing to increase propane prices to our Customers.We value all of our Customers needs & try diligently to work with them; however, considering the above, at this time Suburban Propane is not able to lower prices.Per [redacted]’s request, we have picked-p our propane tanks and credited back the propane that was left in the tank.Again, Customersatisfaction is our ultimate goal here at Suburban Propane and it is very unfortunate for all parties involved to lose [redacted] as a Customer.

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because it is not accurate. I was quoted the $3 ish price and would not have permitted delivery were the price in the $5 range. Competitors of [redacted] are still in the $3 range as we speak.In fact, I have gotten a new supplier who has billed me at $2.78 per gallon. This is for the first tank of propane, and will go up to the $3 range next time, which they are indicating is the current market price. I have checked other suppliers and they are quoting me at $3.19. As you can see, H. John Davis is clearly not even in the ball park and are not competitive with their pricing. They are approx. $2.60 overpriced per gallon based on the same projected usage. Even the additional "admin fee" is only another price increase that elevates the consumer's price. No one else that I have encountered does this.

Review: Price gouging of propane during the northeast PA cold snap.

I called my propane service provider which is H. John Davis (now part of [redacted] propane) on Monday January 27th 2013. Since I don't use a lot of propane during the year I am on a call to deliver status. When I called for delivery I was told the price for the 70 gallons I was requesting would be $430. I asked what the price per gallon was and I was told $6.14. I thought this price was outrageous so I said I would not like to have the delivery at this time. The woman I spoke to said ok but if I did run out and needed an emergency delivery there would be a $150 charge on top of the propane price. When I did a [redacted] search of propane prices in PA I found the U.S. Energy Information Administration has it listed for the week of 20 January at $3.41 per gallon. The average national price per gallon for the same time period is $2.96. The following info was found on www.propane-prices.com and www.eia.gov

United States Residential Propane Prices

Propane Prices by Heating Season

(Source:EIA Data)

2013-2014

Jan 20, 2014 - $2.964

Late Jan 2014 Propane Prices Summary

Weekly Summary of Residential Propane Prices (01/23/14 EIA update):

The average residential propane price increased by 10 cents per gallon last week to over $2.96 per gallon, 68 cents per gallon higher than the same period last year. This is the largest single week increase since the start of the heating season in October. Wholesale propane prices rose almost 41 cents per gallon to $2.11 per gallon as of January 20, 2014.Desired Settlement: Explain why they are charging more than double the national average and almost double the PA average for the price per gallon of propane.

Review: [redacted] Propane/H. John Davis is my provider for Propane to heat my home in [redacted], PA. In [redacted] I was paying 3.69 per gallon for propane and this year on January 10, 2014 they filled the propane tanks with 198 gallons at 5.599 a gallon cost $1,108.60 with an administration fee of $11.99 total cost $1,120.59. On February 28, 2014 they filled the tanks with 173 gallons at 6.099 a gallon cost $1,105.13 with an administration fee of $11.99 total cost $1067.12. I was never notified of the increase which is double the price and never received the fill bills that I would get in the mail from [redacted] Propane/H. John Davis. I was away for the winter with my mail on forward to my other address and when I got back to my home in [redacted], the second bill for the February 28 fill was hanging on my door. [redacted] doubled the price for the propane with I feel is totally out of order. For two months the cost to heat my home was $2,181.71. The house thermostat is kept at 50 degrees for the winter months and the house is about 1,100 sq. feet. I feel this is very unfair and it is price gouging. They took advantage of the fact it was a cold winter and doubled the price. Governor Tom Corbett declared a state of emergency on February 5, 2014. I phoned [redacted]/H. John Davis on June 10, 2014 to come and take their tanks away, as I will be doing business elsewhere. When I called [redacted] about the bill, the woman that answered the phone said that there was a shortage of propane that is why they doubled the price. My neighbor uses another dealer for his propane and he never got a raise on his propane price from the year before and his propane company did not tell him of any shortage of propane.Desired Settlement: I would like [redacted]/H. John Davis to return my money that I was raised per gallon for the January 10, 2014 fill and the February 28th fill.