Hometown Energy Co

I have read the above noted complaint letter received from your office to mine April 21, Let me first say that I am sorry that we have a customer that is this upsetIt is never our intent to allow anyone to become this unhappy with any circumstanceIn response, I would like to explain that this particular customer is very different then the majority of our Propane customersThe vast majority of our Propane customers work with Propane tanks that we loan themThe process of loaning the tank and associated regulators and feed lines to the appliances allows us to properly install and maintain this equipment and upgrade and replace worn or leaking parts as they occurWe have a few customers that have invested in their own tanks and equipmentThis allows them to call various Companies and chose the best price for their deliveryWhat we try to explain to any customer is the purchase of a large Propane tank gives them the benefit of shopping for a better price but also gives them the responsibility of owning the tank and the maintenance that goes with itWhen I talked to this customer my intent was to try and help guide her to understand the potential risk that she had owning this tankI advised her to talk to her home owner's insurance Company and advise them she owned the tank so that she would have insurance coverage in the event she needed itI think that my trying to educate her was misunderstood that we were trying to dodge any and all responsibility for the leakIn regards to the delivery and the leak, I have talked to our driver, the dispatcher and our service managerThe driver made his delivery and had no warning or any inclination of a leakIf in fact the tank was leaking when he made the delivery he would have stopped, called our office and we would have made an attempt to repair or pumped the product out and back into the truck for safety reasonsI can't explain why a tank site gauge would start to leak after a delivery and I could only speculate that temperature changes or the vibration caused by pumping the liquid into the tank may have caused one or two of the small screws in the site gauge to loosen and allow vapor and product to escapeAs soon as we were notified by the customer the first available service technician was sent to make a repairAs the customer stated, her husband had already tightened the screws on the gauge and stopped the leakIn review of this tank and location we had made a delivery to this tank once before with this customer and several deliveries to the former owner and customer without any problemsI did say to the customer that we would now have to do a complete system leak test to update our current flies before another delivery would be madeI am not exactly sure what else we can do for this customer? I am very sorry that her tank leaked and we did process a twenty five gallon credit for themHad we owned the tank we would have reimbursed them for all the gallons and the repairIn response to her claims that we did not call her back in a timely manner I called and left messages each time she calledIn regards to comments she has made about our managers and our discussion I will only say that we do our best to listen and respond as needed and treat each customer with respectSincerely yours, John CPresident

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Regards,
*** ***

I have read the above noted complaint letter received from your office to mine April 21, 2017. Let me first say that I am sorry that we have a customer that is this upset. It is never our intent to allow anyone to become this unhappy with any circumstance. In response, I would like to explain that...

this particular customer is very different then the majority of our Propane customers. The vast majority of our Propane customers work with Propane tanks that we loan them. The process of loaning the tank and associated regulators and feed lines to the appliances allows us to properly install and maintain this equipment and upgrade and replace worn or leaking parts as they occur. We have a few customers that have invested in their own tanks and equipment. This allows them to call various Companies and chose the best price for their delivery. What we try to explain to any customer is the purchase of a large Propane tank gives them the benefit of shopping for
a better price but also gives them the responsibility of owning the tank and
the maintenance that goes with it. When I talked to this customer my intent was to try and help guide her to understand the potential risk that she had owning this tank. I advised her to talk to her home owner's insurance Company and advise them she owned the tank so that she would have insurance coverage in the event she needed it. I think that my trying to educate her was misunderstood that we were trying to dodge any and all responsibility for the leak. In regards to the delivery and the leak, I have talked to our driver, the dispatcher and our service manager. The driver made his delivery and had no warning or any inclination of a leak. If in fact the tank was leaking when he made the delivery he would have stopped, called our office and we would have made an attempt to repair or pumped the product out and back into the truck for safety reasons. I can't explain why a tank site gauge would start to leak after a delivery and I could only speculate that temperature changes or the vibration caused by pumping the liquid into the tank may have caused one or two of the small screws in the site gauge to loosen and allow vapor and product to escape. As soon as we were notified by the customer the first available service technician was sent to make a repair. As the customer stated, her husband had already tightened the screws on the gauge and stopped the leak. In review of this tank and location we had made a delivery to this tank once before with this customer and several deliveries to the former owner and customer without any problems. I did say to the customer that we would now have to do a complete system leak test to update our current flies before another delivery would be made. I am not exactly sure what else we can do for this customer? I am very sorry that her tank leaked and we did process a twenty five gallon credit for them. Had we owned the tank we would have reimbursed them for all the gallons and the repair. In response to her claims that we did not call her back in a timely manner I called and left messages each time she called. In regards to comments she has made about our managers and our discussion I will only say that we do our best to listen and respond as needed and treat each customer with respect. Sincerely yours, John C. President