Business Profile

Propane

Suburban Propane, L.P.

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Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Suburban Propane, L.P.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

Customer Complaints Summary

406 total complaints in the last 3 years.
135 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

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The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

Initial Complaint
Date:11/15/2024
Type:Order Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore 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.
We purchased a house on 7-8-2024....on 8-5-24 a employee from suburban did a gas leak check on our house with no mention of us paying for the gas already, paid for, in the tank... On 8-8-2024 we received a bill from Suburban Propane for $1,638.24 for the gas left in the tank by the seller....We called Suburban propane and told them we did not have a agreement, contract, nothing in the closing paper work or anything stating we would pay for the remaining propane in the tank with the seller of the house...The sellers had called Suburban from ************ and told them they wanted payed for the remaining gas in the tank....Suburban told us they paid the sellers now they are billing us for the money....Suburban Propane did not contact us to see if there was a agreement by us to pay for the gas in the tank that had been already payed for by the sellers of the house....I have contacted Suburban but nothing has been settled...Still getting bills and late charges....If we had a agreement to pay for the propane left in the tank , we would have paid but there was not a thing agreed to ....Suburban Propane may think they can scare us, because of our age, into paying a bill we are not responsible for by saying they will lock the tank if we don't pay....
Business Response
Date: 11/18/2024
Our local manager spoke with Mr. ******* and he is highly satisfied now. We will be writing off bill for gas that was charged on the account.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/19/2024
[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.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
ID# ******** The complaint was settled in a timely manner and I was very happy with the outcome...The man, which I can't remember his name, I talked with could not have been nicer....I will continue to do business with Suburban Propane...Thank You....71397255BA025

Regards,

***** *******
Initial Complaint
Date:11/14/2024
Type:Product 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.
In the beginning of June 2024 we switched fuel companies and contacted Suburban Propane to cancel our account, request a refund for the money we prepaid ($485.51), and to come and pick up the propane tank. The propane tank is not empty, so we are due a refund for the money we paid for all propane currently in the tank. Suburban Propane stated that they would not refund the $485.51 until they picked up the tank. We estimate that the propane tank is about half full. They stated that they would process both refunds together in one check. I have called both the ********* , ************** ** offices a total of about 12 times to ask when they were going to pick up the tank and process our refunds. We have been told that work orders were placed to pick up the tank, but they never came. We never received any communication from them as to why they didn't come. We have been long time customers of them and we feel that they are holding our money hostage. We are senior citizens and we feel that they are taking advantage of that.
Business Response
Date: 11/15/2024
We will reach out to customer and have the tank removed on Monday.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/12/2024
Type:Order Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore 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.
I signed up for lo gas for cooking. I have not received any product as if yet, however it is supposed to come on Monday the 11th if Nov 2024. I changed my mind and decided to go with an electric range. They said they would cancel but they will charge me a $300.00 early cancelation fee. I don't want the gas and I did try and cancel a week before delivery. I would like the contract canceled without having to pay that fee, since at the time of cancel they had not yet delievered
Business Response
Date: 11/13/2024
As a courtesy we will waive the early termination fee even though customer signed an agreement acknowledging this fee.
Thanks

Customer Answer
Date: 11/13/2024

Complaint: 22532569

I am rejecting this response because:

I also believe I should get the money I prepaid back as I did not get the service and product I paid for. If I can get that back than I accept the offer

Regards,

****** ******
Business Response
Date: 11/14/2024
By way of clarification, we are clearing the entire balance for this customer.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/16/2024
[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.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

****** ******
Initial Complaint
Date:11/05/2024
Type:Service or Repair Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore 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.
Suburban Propane called me in early September. I was asked if I would like for them to stop by and check my tank for a fill since they would be in the neighborhood and the cost of propane was its lowest for the season. I said "sure". I was told a bill would be placed under the lid. No bill was placed under the lid because the driver did not add any propane. I don't know what the percentage is that is held but it's at 75-80% right now. I just received a bill for my yearly tank rental plus a trip charge. I called and spoke on two different occasions with representatives. I was told that I had not placed and order since 2023 (last year) and they have to come out to check if I'm still in the home and the tank is being used AND if no gas is added that a minimum bill is applied to acquire trip fee costs. I was told this has always been in an agreement and they can ask for it at any time. Had I known that on the front end I would have not gone with this company due to my reason for propane. I responded with the fact that the phone call answered the question as to whether I am still here or not and I was not told if they didn't add any gas there would be a trip fee or minimum bill applied. There was also not a bill under the lid stating that fee. NEVER had that happen before and I've been here since *******. So my tank actually costs $117 if I don't use enough (for emergencies only) and $59 plus gas cost if I do get propane.
Business Response
Date: 11/08/2024
Reached out to the customer,explained to her what the charges are truly for, and explained that this was a billing error. When she placed her delivery for a fill up and the tank didnt take any fuel, the delivery system auto charged the fee in question. We removed the charge and explained that we recommend she go on an annual summer top off. Customer is satisfied with the results and thankful that we reached out to take care of her needs.
Customer Answer
Date: 11/08/2024
[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.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

******* ****
I received a call from ***** at Suburban Propane yesterday. They are acknowledging the erroneous charge on my bill and I now have a zero balance with them after paying my tank rental. They removed the "trip fee" and she said they will not be charging it to me in the future, only my yearly tank rental.

She was very courteous and customer oriented. I am very pleased with their decision and you can notate the complaint as resolved.

Thank you for your assistance,
******* ****
Complaint #22517946
Initial Complaint
Date:11/05/2024
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 6/13/24, Suburban Propane delivered 41.8 gallons for a tank in a property I rent and live in with my family. I have never had a propane tank of this size before. I do not know much about the pool heater that is attached to this tank. I was told the 41 gallons filled the tank and have learned from them since then it is more than 100 ********** took me a few months through the property manager and pool company to have them look at the pool heater. When they did, they noticed a gas smell in the area of the tank, and we quickly shut off the tank. Unfortunately, most of the propane leaked out already.Suburban Propane came out and diagnosed the issue as a problem with a valve on the tank that is their responsibility. I called today asking them to come and fill the tank back to 80% and not charge me. This is when the call went downhill. The *** I spoke with hung up (she said we got disconnected or she couldn't hear me) several ******** the end, they wanted to begin charging me for an insurance plan that I had never heard of before. They did not want to fill the tank to 80% like they did the last time, they wanted to charge me the difference in the 50 gallons they credited the owners account, and what would fill the tank. To this day, I still have not been able to use the tank at all, the pool is cold, we can't use the jacuzzi.
Business Response
Date: 11/12/2024
Our local manager spoke with the customer and we are delivering gas on Thursday to replace the gas lost, and we are also filling tanks as a good will credit.
Initial Complaint
Date:11/04/2024
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.
I have had a contract with suburban for 2yrs for our propane tank. In June, we called to have them stop coming to the house to fill the tank.They however, kept ********* fianc called again to ask them to stop. He is not on the contract, but he was just calling to ask them to stop coming. The employee said he couldnt talk to my fianc because he wasnt on the contract. Once my fianc said I was upstairs, the man found his name somewhere on my account (which I was told later that his name is nowhere on the account). My fianc asked them to stop coming to the house. Suburban took stop coming to the house as cancel the contract(my fianc never said this, and shouldnt have be able to cancel it, since hes not on the contract). So maybe a week later, suburban came and took the tank from the yard; the only warning was an email 30 min prior saying we are coming. When I called to say that I never canceled the contract, they said that my fianc did; which he didnt. They then tried to charge me an early cancellation fee but I got that waived. I have to pay all of the closeout fees, which I partially understand, but again, I never canceled my contract. The fee that I care about is the restocking fee for $94. I was going to use the gas, so it wouldnt have been restocked. They were supposed to call me back in July, and didnt.I called in September asking about the fee, and they again tried to make it sound like they were being kind in not giving me the early cancellation fee. I restated that I never canceled the contract, so I shouldnt have to pay it. They told me they would speak to a manager and call me back. It took 3 weeks for them to call me back and they said a manager said I cant get the restocking fee back.I called them back (which was now 4wks ago) and was told this is a case for a manager, and that they would call me back; they never did. My **** says I am owed $28.29, but Im hoping to get the additional $94 back, since I didnt cancel the contract.
Business Response
Date: 11/12/2024
After speaking with our customer we confirmed that the customer did not want to pay the *** annually. As a courtesy, we are crediting the restocking fee and she is very satisfied.
Initial Complaint
Date:10/18/2024
Type:Order 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.
DETAILS I am the 3rd owner of a home that has an underground propane tank. The tank has been getting filled by Suburban Propane since we moved in 4 years ago. Since then, we have converted to natural gas. I requested to cancel my service and was informed that I would need to pay a $1000 tank excavation and removal fee so they can take a 13 year old tank that has been in the ground. I asked them to provide documentation that 1/ the tank is theirs, 2/ that when I purchased the home I was made aware that they had an asset on my property. They could not present me with any of those items and instead they submitted a request to their corporate **************** to request a tank abandonment. That had been outstanding for over three months. According to the local o?ce the company has one person in all of ***************** at their corporate o?ce who reviews the requests. Each week I call Im told its still pending with various excuses about that person being out sick, on vacation, etc. This is a publicly traded corporation that is stalling and using filibuster tactics. They have since sent me a tank rental fee for the upcoming year which I am not paying until this is settled. I am seeking Suburban Propane to either abandon the tank, or preferably remove excavate and remove it at their cost.
Business Response
Date: 10/24/2024
We have scheduled a site visit to see if we can excavate the tank. Mr. ********* will pay $500 towards the excavation if we can safely remove it and also get credit on the gallons remaining in the tank. Mr. ********* is aware that this is a fairly long process and he is fine with it.
Customer Answer
Date: 10/28/2024

Complaint: 22442411

This issue is not yet resolved. While I do believe **** from the *******/Durham office is working in good faith toto correct the errors from the local ***************** that led to this, I have not received any communication from him since he called me mid last week. During that call he 1/ conceded we had not signed a contract acknowledging Surburban Propane owns the tank; 2/ could not locate a document with the Wake County Register of Deeds associated with us and Suburban Propane (only previous owners); 3/ agreed to abandon the tank or if I prefer to have it excavated, 4/ negotiated a rate for pump out of remaining fuel; 5/ negotiated a rate to excavate the tank (if technically feasible). However, since that discussion I have not received any further communication despite sending an email for follow-up on Oct 25th. Contrary to the discussions I had with ****, Suburban Propane sent me a invoice for me to purchase the tank underground (which makes absolutely no sense and is entirely contrary to my discussion).
Until I receive follow-up from Suburban Propane and the agreement is made in writing (paper or electronic), I cannot consider this matter closed based on the prior history with this company.

Regards,

***** *********
Business Response
Date: 10/30/2024
We emailed this customer yesterday and discussed that the reason for the invoice was for the tank as well as the total cost for the removal of the tank or the abandonment. We let him know that the price we quoted him was inclusive of the re-stock fee, that the pump out was not a separate charge. We emailed him again yesterday to address the amount of time in between our conversation and the site survey. We let him know that we would be placing a Delivery Stop on his account to ensure he does not get a delivery. He is converting his Water Heater from propane to Gas and he will let us know when we can move forward.
Initial Complaint
Date:10/16/2024
Type:Order 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.
in march of 2024 they gas co. came out to inspect gas tank,2 months later i get a bill for $75, $60 for gas and $15 late fee,I DID not order gas i donot need gas.they are trying to make me pay for something I DO NOT WANT!!Now the bill is up to $81.09.I am under no contract with them.
Business Response
Date: 10/19/2024
This complaint has been
resolved. No further action is required. We spoke to the customer and we
have mutually agreed to make adjustments on the current
balance. Moving forward customer will receive
and pay annual tank rent as well as 1 delivery of propane per year or will be
billed a MMR.
Customer Answer
Date: 12/20/2024

Complaint: 22429649

I am rejecting this response because:

In march of 2024 suburban propane came my house saying he was going to inspect the gas tank and then in may i get a bill for $75,60 for gas a 10 delivery fee and a $5 late {which is going up monthly}and he DID NOT put any gas in.I called the ***** number and ask them how much gas did he put in and they could not answer the question,they are charging me for gas but no one can say how much was put in thats BECAUSE NONE was put in.Back in October i filed a complaint with the BBB and when it was all said and done i thought we had a deal work out but it looks like **** at suburban here in ******** just LIED to me and the BBB,He did not honor our agreement!!!!

Regards,

***** ********
Business Response
Date: 12/23/2024
Our local manager called the customer who informed him that as far as he is concerned this is resolved.He stated that he received a bill from Suburban in December. We informed him that it was his annual tank rent and that it had already been paid and we reassured him that everything that we had discussed had been done and Mr. ******** agreed.
Initial Complaint
Date:10/15/2024
Type:Billing 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.
I have been calling this horrific company for over 6 months, they make excuses for everything, it is basically to h*** with people, let them suffer, all i want is fuel delivery, the system that they have is so backwards, you are unable to open an account online, yet the office in ***** is closed for weeks saying to h*** with people, i would rather the company close down and get a reputable company, this company causes people distress and do not care about consumers.
Business Response
Date: 10/17/2024
We have resolved this matter and made the delivery. Customer was informed prior to our arrival and is satisfied.
Initial Complaint
Date:10/10/2024
Type:Product Issues
Status:
ResolvedMore 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.
I ordered propane refill on the 29th of Sept, I was told it would be 7-10 days and they would refil but customers with special accounts (they pay a service fee every year) would come first, well it has been 12 days and I still don't have a refill, if they cannot fill my tanks then give me my money back so I can find another reputable company
Business Response
Date: 10/17/2024
We spoke with Ms. Hazen and we
discussed the delivery issues. She explained that she didn’t run out of
gas, but it was low. We apologized for the delay and discounted her
propane price as a courtesy. We also sent a truck out immediately to fill the
tanks. The customer was not out of gas at any time during, or after the
storm.
Customer Answer
Date: 10/18/2024
[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.]

Better Business Bureau:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 22406699, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Zabelle Hazen

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Suburban Propane, L.P. is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.