Suburban Propane

After using 12 years Suburban Propane for our business, Heating oil and Propane, a Bed & Breakfast at Belleayre mountain, New York, where temperatures in the winter can fall to -40Fahrenheit, I have given up on this company. They have in those 12 years given us 7 winters sporadically no heating oil, right around Martin Luther King Holiday for various reasons, but mostly because of incompetence of their customer service staff. And this last year's winter, having my father without heat, at the age of 86, for over 2 weeks was the ultimatum. They couldn't be bothered sending out a truck until it was convenient for them. In the mean time they had every day a person come around with jerrycans of diesel, which burned up the night off, because it was -20 degrees outside, while they jeopardized my business. Never use them, because after I cancelled the account it took them 6 weeks to remove my propane tank, which just got filled before I changed over to another company, and in the mean time they are sending me bills for it with a late charge....this is exactly why I got rid of them, because the customer service doesn't care, they where not at all compassionate to my father while he was freezing in the Lodge either...they just don't care!!!

I have a camp in the Adirondack mountains with a 500 gallon tank. I found myself needing fuel, so I contacted Suburban in Malone. A technician was sent to our camp, Friday the 20th of September, to inspect the system for leaks. We were told there were no leaks and our delivery was scheduled. The truck came the following Tuesday the 24th to fill our tank. This is where our problems began.
The person doing the delivery went to fill our tank and somehow leaked 35.8 gallons of propane into the air, before noticing something was wrong. He claimed it was a faulty meter on the tank leaking the propane out, and we received a call informing us our tank was leaking. Instantly we were alarmed, we had never had an issue with our tank before and had just been using it the previous week. However, we took their word for it and asked for a quote to get the tank fixed, we waited for a call back and it never came. We then received a bill for the 35.8 gallons of propane their technician had leaked into the air on October 1st. We called, our account was to be credited the money for the gas, and we were quoted $269.95 to get our tank back in working order or offered to have one of their tanks delivered for no charge. We opted to have our tank fixed. The manager was then supposed to call to set up getting our tank fixed as soon as possible. We waited a day and called again on the 3rd of October. We were told the manager was out of the office for the remainder of the day but would call back tomorrow. We waited until 2 o’clock the 4th of October with no call, so we called back again. Finally we reached the manager and he told us that the price we had received from the office was wrong, and “she has no idea what she is talking about.” We were told it would cost much more with labor to get our tank fixed, and were again pressured into getting one of their tanks delivered and filled. We still wanted to use our tank, so we asked for a quote. This request was received with annoyance, however we were told it would be emailed. We never received an email.
On November 1st we received the bill for the 35.8 gallons of propane again. We immediately called at which time we were told their computers were down and our name and number was taken so we would be called back. We were never called back. On the 13th of November we received a call from the Syracuse office about our outstanding bill. We proceeded in telling this office the situation and were transferred back to the Malone office. After several minutes on hold we were finally connected to someone and began to tell the situation again. In the end we came into the Malone office to resolve the issue face to face with the workers. We were told the bill was credited and we were all set again. Time will tell if they actually completed the task this time.
Throughout the course of dealing with this 2 month debacle, we went and pressure tested the tank ourselves. The tank held pressure without any leaks for hours. Therefore, we believe the delivery driver made a mistake, leaking the propane and using our tank leaking as a cover-up. Suburban pressured us into using one of their tanks when we had our own perfectly good tank. This was a perfect scam into getting us to only buy our propane through them, at higher prices than the competitors in the area.
This situation not only caused aggravation, but physical damage to our camp. The lack of being able to use our large propane tank, led us to having to use a portable 30 gallon tank, which ran out before we could return to our camp. Therefore, all of our pipes froze in a cold snap. We then had to spend an entire day defrosting the pipes, repairing the broken pipes, and preventing any further water damage.
The only good news is we did get our “broken” tank filled without any problems by a competing company last week. Their customer service was great and they had a truck out to our camp the day after we called doing a leak test and filling our tank the same day. The best part was they were over a dollar per gallon cheaper than the Malone Suburban. Although the situation has been mostly resolved, it never should have happened. If we had not had the ability to pressure check our own tank, we would have spent hundreds of dollars replacing a part that was perfectly fine or would have had a Suburban tank delivered and overpaid for fuel. This was a scam, constructed by Malone Suburban. Lying and scamming customers into business is not an ethical business practice.

Suburban has been great and willing to work with me around some scheduling issues. Lisa has done a great job coordinating the install and Greg followed through with the install/test/inspection etc. They showed up on time and were professional. I do wish they had a better way to explain all the costs a little better. I was surprised to see that the initial fill-up would be for an additional $2/gal but I have spoken with other people in my family who have other providers and they seem to settle my mind over how this all works out.
I have two tanks with over 200 gals. These are connected to my range/oven and going to be hooked up soon to a small home generator that should easily get up through those long outages we see occasionally. Paying extra to have this amount of fuel is not the issue up front, but we will see how it affects the costs on a monthly basis. Since this gas will be used to cook and not to heat the home, they are not getting as much use out of the tank as someone who heats their WHOLE HOME with propane. THIS is where the cost comes in. I am paying for the peace of mind to have this amount of fuel stored in these tanks I do not own nor maintain. I might buy some of my own down the road, who knows.
I am satisfied with Suburban as my choice and I'm sure so many other folks are too. If issues arise I will amend my review.

As a new Suburban Propane customer, I am concerned that even with fairly light use I am being charged $5.99/gallon when the average costs from other vendors in the RI area are between $2.10-$2.89, which is not the cost for a "first time fill". Even with an 800 gallon fill-up, I was still quoted $4.89/gallon. If there are discounts for "first-time fills," and this is my first fill, I certainly was not offered a discount.
Is this standard practice, or would this be considered price gouging with the temperatures falling? I'm going to leave 3 stars, and depending on the response, will determine a final rating.
Thank you for your help!

I decided to look this company up and leave a review which I rarely do. Not only do they price gouge long term customers in good standing (paying at least 1 dollar more per gallon with the same usage as with the new propane company) but mainly because they strangely won't come and pick up the tanks! The tanks have been sitting by our large dumpster that gets dumped into a dump truck every week! Looks dangerous to me. I called them and politely requested they come because of the location of the tanks. My polite request was met with hostility on the customer representative side. She explained to me they had up to two weeks to remove the tanks from site. Strange again but I let it go. They are even going to charge us a fee to return the gas in THEIR tanks that they will be removing when they see fit. I believe in overcoming bad with good so I kept my calm and did not retaliate in any way. Just told the representative I was concerned it could be a hazard. My husband did get frustrated and he also called a week later. The customer service representative engaged in a heated discussion in which she made no attempt to keep us as possible future customers should their prices ever become competitive. She had no regard for the many years we used their services. She informed my husband they can take up to 6 weeks to remove the tanks. Paying more per gallon is the customers fault for not paying enough attention. You just pay the bill. If you decide to switch, perhaps their should be the penalty of having to pay a percentage back to the propane company for their trouble. (Not 100% in agreement with that) However, not removing the tanks for up to six weeks is absurd. Refunds never take 6 weeks. The ultimate worst and why all the stars flew from this review is the lack of respect the company had for long time customers and the lack of respect the customer service representative had for me and my husband. Why do they need 6 weeks to pick up the tanks? Did they slighty turn the knob so gas would leak slowly out and they would not have to pay us back? You have these thoughts when people are nasty. So we wait. At least it is by the dumpster and not in the front yard. I cringe every time I hear the dumpster being dumped! Good job of Waste Management at least!

I had an on-site proposal on October 2, 2019 by Jose R. I waited a week and still had not received a proposal via email. My name was spelled incorrectly so I never received it. Called to have it resent with corrected spelling of my name. I finally received it after 2 more calls. The proposal had my name spelled incorrectly and had me renting tanks when I bought them at the price listed. I called a number of timed to speak with Jose to get the information corrected on a new proposal so I could get service. Jose was either out in the field, out of the country or had not come in yet. I left countless messages for him to call me so we could get all the information corrected on this legal binding agreement document. Jose never returned my calls. I called the office to speak with a manager about getting the proposal corrected and I was told only Jose could help me with that. Well, now I was getting discouraged, Jose was not ever available, he was not returning my calls or messages and I am not signing a bogus incorrect document. I decided to get my tanks and service from another company. If Suburban wants to discourage new customers they have succeeded. Thank You.

I think this company stinks. I signed an agreement with Agway who was then bought by Suburban. No new contract. After years of paying at least $2 more per gallon than the cost from independent companies and trying to get a copy of our agreement and asking if we could buy the tank, we decided to buy our own tank and stop buying from Suburban. Of course we were told that we were responsible for having the tank dug up. Well they could let the tank stay there for all we cared. Then without any notice, we were told that a technician had to come out and put a lock on the old tank so that we couldn't use it and a $200+ charge would be applied, Then out of the blue we are being charged $1000+ to purchase the tank. Wouldn't sell us the tank, but now that we took the issue into our own hands they expect us to pay for the tank which we don't need. Someone please explain how that can happen!

They charged me over a dollar a gallon more than I could purchase propane anywhere else. My tank is a rental and they gouge you because no other company can fill it. I will now buy myself a tank so I am not contractually obligated to purchase from them ever again. A good refurbished one only costs 700.00. Their overcharge would have paid for over a third of that cost.

This is the worst company ever. Run as far away as possible from this company. Lying greedy price gouging I hope someone shuts them down. I will never do business with them again!

Sorry, that I have to leave 1 star, but there was no option for 0 stars.
I used to be on an automatic refill program, with a leased tank. It always worked out pretty good, with fair prices and friendly service. Well the company I set it up with, got bought by Suburban Propane.
When I looked at the statement of our last refill, two month ago, I thought there must be a mistake with their billing. They charged me more than 5 times than the average price per gallon in Colorado.
The answer what I got from their Customer Service Dept. was ridicules. That’s the price what they charge now for low volume customers. Even trying to negotiate the price a little bit was no option for them.
Finally I bought my own tank from another company and they transferred the gas over for free. The set up and safety inspection was also with no charge.
Now Suburban Propane is charging me another huge amount for the “Pick Up Fee” of their old tank.
This Company is one of the biggest Rip-Off Company I have ever dealt with.

prior to moving to the home we purchased in *** we noted significant propane usage, depsite the fact the home was unoccupied until 3/17/19.

Upon moving to *** home mid-March of 2019 we were still noticing what seemed to be inordinate levels of propane usage. With this in mind I proceeded to “bubble test” propane connections starting at the tank owned by Suburban Propane ( I’ll note at this point that I was employed as the Gas Apparatus department manager for the former *** which later became ***) for 8 years, subsequently I’m intimately familiar with such equipment. In bubble testing the POL tank valve – to -pigtail fitting I noted a leak in that connection that I would consider moderate ( I would estimate the leak to be approximately .7 to .8 cubic feet per hour)(video available). At this time I halted my inspection and contacted Suburban Propane emergency Services. Upon further inspection by the suburban Technician dispatched to incident, he noted a much larger leak around the diaphragm dome of the service regulator attached to the leaking POL Pigtail.
In round numbers, this leak was responsible for approximately 1 gallon of Propane loss every 36 to 40 hours.
With such equipment failures on a recently “safety checked” system in mind and our ensuing financial losses due to significant propane leakage (never mind the possibility for further degradation and total failure of the components in question with resultant HAZMAT emergency or fire) we asked Suburban Propane for one (1) free compensatory fill-up of our 250 gallon tank. After 5 phone conversations and a “promise” from Mike who I believe works out of the Clearwater office, we still have no answer to our request.

What we do have however is a vast quantity of lip service and hollow promises: we were guaranteed an answer on this issue by Mark at the Clearwater office 7/17/19 by the end of the day, were still waiting as expected.

They will price gouge you to death. I was charged 5.99 per gallon when nearby competitors for around 2.50

First class. Easy to contact, set-up an appointment and came out early than anticipated. Also helped me work through some unexpected issues. They even worked around obstacles others made a big deal about and did all of this without compromising safety. Thank you Jim and office staff for a great job.

I am disgusted with this company. I live in upstate New York and when the temp was below zero and I ran out of fuel I was told it would be at least a week. I was also told at one time they would ot deliver until I paid in advance. They were rude and did not care one way or another about the welfare of their customers. I discontinued dealing with them and they billed me $60 a month for the last 3 months that I was not dealing with them. What a joke. I wouldn't give them a red cent. After being treated the way I was there is no way I would give them a dime. They are also more expensive than any other propane company in the area.

I am in Lakeland, Florida. I have been a customer (paying customer) for 14 years. 7 years ago my husband (now X) moved out. I did not realize the account was in his name as the truck would show up and I would pay the bills.
Somehow in September the billing address was changed to his new home. I did not get the bills nor did I get phone calls, emails or any notification I was behind in payment.
Fast forward....I'm selling my house and I need the tank filled for the new owners. I paid the unpaid balance as soon as I was aware and called today to schedule a delivery. I was told by the indignant customer service rep (Joseph) that because the man of the house was no longer living here I needed a new inspection (that I would have to pay for) and a new account before I could get my tank filled. He explained it was policy.
I tried to get him to realize that common sense overrides policy. I have been the paying customer for 14 years regardless of who's name was on the account. I live in the dwelling where the tank resides. And had I just said "Yes...I am the person whose name is on the account" my tank would be full now.
Is this how your company operates? It discriminatory. I asked to speak to a manager and was told they were ALL at lunch and someone would call me. No one has called me. Really?

I sold my home and needed propane tank picked up. There were 2 at the house and one belonged to me. I explained this explicitly 3 times and the business picked up both tanks. I called and finally (after 2 calls) was able to get my tank re-delivered. I then had to call back the end of February asking about my refund as the one tank they picked up was 100% full. I left message in the Myrtle office for someone in the Wilmington office. Long story short, I had to make 3 phone calls and finally was told the check would be cut and mailed that day. To date, I still DO NOT have my check!

This company is terrible. We went with them because our builders already had their tank delivered and we had never had propane plumbed in before.
The first few months the price per gallon was $1.60 ish , fast forward 2.5 years they price per gallon went up every bill , now it is $4.30. The other companies in the area (I called 4) are around $2.15 . While I know it fluctuates when I called to question it, the customer service rep said they “gently” raise the price each bill to get you ready for the final price per gallon which she assured me would be higher than 4.60 +. When I refused to pay the nearly 900$ bill for what they filled up- they said to cancel there would be additional fees such as, early termination fee, moving fee(2 men due to a full tank so double normal moving fee) $.10 per gallon re stock fee. Bottom line is to cancel would be over $900. Rude on the phone- what a terrible business.

I have had the worst experience with Suburban Propane. My dad passed away and my brother is getting my dad's house. I, being the PR, called to switch the acct to him. I was told that service cannot be transferred at no charge except to a surviving spouse. I was told there would be a $75.00 fee for my brother to check the lines for leaks. No other charges..... Then for a two week period, we were charged $553.00 for a vacant home. Then we got another bill for $202.00, which was to replace the erroneous bill. Then another bill for $100.00 to disconnect the service. Oh, yeah, then they wanted $1075.00 for my brother to hook up the tank. Then they came and placed a lock on the tank, without even the decency of letting us know that there would be no propane. The temps dropped below freezing several nights during that period. We were blessed that no pipes were frozen. Also, after checking with other propane companies, we discovered that their prices were twice what the others were. I would NEVER recommend them to ANYONE.

After speaking to their customer representative, I was told my bill was $1000 and it seemed as if the outstanding bill remained at $1000 evertime I paid $200. Then called and paid $500 dollars and was told I owed over $800 dollars. Was told a delivery was made on January 29. Never got a receipt on my door like I normally do when a delivery is made so dont know if we actually got the propane or was it delivered elsewhere because now have no propane. Now my account is frozen until paid.

I was charged $4.87/gallon on most recent tank refill. My neighbors are reporting prices from $2.34 to $2.73 per gallon from other propane vendors here in the Santa Cruz, CA area.