Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On December 21st 2023 I called Locks Mill Propane to question a "low usage fee" I asked them to remove their tank and was emailed that they would as well as a copy of our agreement that states tanks smaller than 250 gallons would have an annual rental charge. The tank at my house is 500 gallons well over the 250 so I should not be charged. However, they never contacted me after the email and now 6 months later they are charging another tank rental fee. I should not have to pay either fee especially the second one which is only there due to their negligence to remove their tank.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/25/2024

  ******* was contacted on 12/20/2022 and was questioned why she wasnt using propane and asked if she may be needing a delivery since she hadnt had one since 04/2022. She then informed us that they were using space heaters and were not using the furnace. Many customers do this to avoid ******************** costs, but per the tank rental agreement, since no propane was purchased for over a year a low usage fee was assessed to her account on 06/30/2023.  This fee allows them to continue using the tank even though they are not purchasing propane annually.
  On December 21st, 2023, we received a call from *************************, who was not our customer, but supposedly living in the home with *******. On this date we added his name to the account-prior to this we did not know him. We are not sure if he is the owner of the home or if ******* is still the owner, or if they are co-owners. We cannot get a response from ******* who is our actual customer and the person who we were doing business with. ******* called and suggested that we had no right to charge a low usage fee and questioned whether the tank was Brekkyns or ours.
  A copy of the tank rental agreement was emailed to him with Brekkyn ***** signature and dated 12/20/2020. Since the tank was in Brekkyn Feeses name, she should be the one to call in to discuss issues with the tank,phone calls were made to her but no answer. We never had a conversation with ******* about picking up the tank. To our understanding ******* did not ask us that day to pick the tank up, either. Our understanding was that he wanted to discuss the matter of the propane left in the tank before he requested a tank pick up. No clarity was made on the effect that the tank should be picked up, only that he wanted to speak to **** concerning the propane in the tank first. That question was not addressed, as we needed to speak with Brekkyn ***** and since that did not happen the issue was laid to rest.
  The tank rental agreement does state that any tank under 250 gallons is issued an annual tank rental fee, he is correct in that, and correct that the tank there is a 500 gallon tank, but the sentence before that clearly states that for tanks over 250 gallons there is a minimum gallons delivered policy and certain fees will apply according to amount of gallons delivered each delivery and gallons used annually.(*see attached tank rental agreement)
  Our company does not require tank rent on tanks over 250 gallons, however low usage fees do apply when tanks over that size are not purchasing propane within a years time frame. The tanks are very expensive,and we offer the tanks rent free if propane is being purchased annually. We recoup money on our asset by selling propane through those tanks and if no sale of propane has been sold within a year, then we are losing money on our asset.It is a benefit we offer to our customers who purchase ******************** from our company, to allow them use of our tanks for their propane needs, but that benefit is being abused if no propane is purchased annually.
  Another low usage fee was assessed on 05/31/2024 for no usage for the second year. On 06/17/2024 ******* called in and said to pick up the tank. The tank was picked up 06/24/2024 per his request and still no conversation with *******. When directly asked to pick up a tank we are more than happy to go get it. The tank was not picked up the first time because it was not directly communicated to us to do so. We want our unused tanks back so we can set them up for good usage customers. When we pick them up, we do not have to spend $2000.00 on a new one. Our company can spend thousands of dollars per year purchasing tanks for our customers to use, we cannot set a tank and not have propane used through it, however, we allow the customer to still use our asset and not purchase propane every year if they are willing to pay an annual low usage fee for the years when they do not purchase propane.  
  To settle this issue, even before he made it public to the BBB,the tank was gladly picked up and on our lot. The low usage fees have been written off and removed as you can see in the running balance report. The account is now inactive. We hope that was ******** wish as there has not been a conversation with her since 12/20/2022.
  Supporting documents attached:
  A running balance of the account since December 2020, which shows that she was purchasing propane, and no additional fees were invoiced until no propane purchases were made for over a year, and that all fees have been waived leaving a zero balance for Brekkyn *****.
  Copy of the tank rental agreement signed by ******************,not by *************************, which she signed and understood that fees could apply if number of gallons used annually were not met.  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2024

  ISSUE HAS BEEN RESOLVED - RECEIVED ANOTHER LETTER DATED JUNE 24, 2024 -