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Business Profile

Consumer Cooperative Organization

United Cooperative

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Consumer Cooperative Organization.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for United Cooperative's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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United Cooperative has 27 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 3 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 1 complaint closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    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.

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    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/12/2024

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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 12/8/2023 my wife closed on the property above. The previous owners had a yearly contract with united cooperative to lease the propane tank and purchase propane. We did not enter into any lease agreement with united cooperative as we were not sure we wanted to maintain service with them. We decided to do a one time delivery since the tank was low to allow time to decide what direction to go since it was the middle of winter. We decided to convert to natural gas instead. We contacted the company to advise we converted to natural gas and wanted them to pick up their tank. We received a bill in the amount of $75.00 to remove their tank from our property. We did not enter into any rental agreement for their tank and are not responsible for this fee. Their agreement was with the previous owner and not with us. The company refuses to remove this fee telling us we can either rent the tank or pay for it to be removed. We do not want their service or their tank on our property. We have no contract or lease agreement with them. We respectfully request this charge be reversed and a credit be issued.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/20/2024

      Hello:  The ********* did sign a lease with United Cooperative, copy attached.  Item #4 indicates that if a customer discontinues service, the tank will be picked up and the Lessee will pay fess according to the then current policy.  We do understand their frustration and as good will we will agree to waive the $75.00 pick up fee.  This will result in the customer getting a refund of $25.73 which was the credit for LP in the tank at the time of pick up.  The check will be issued within the next 2 business days.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/21/2024

      [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,

      ****** And *********************

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/14/2023

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      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.
      My wife and I purchased a house in ****** which we closed on May 22, 2023. We knew there was a propane tank on the premises but had never used LP since we always had natural gas in **********. On May 18, 2023, I called UC Co-op [UC] for information on LP and they called back on the 19th at 9:27am. We discussed a minimal one time charge to add gas to our tank since we were not sure what it was that ran on LP in the house or outbuilding. We were told there was a minimal amount for delivery and what the cost would be since the tank was low and the month of May sometimes calls for heating at night. On May 23, 2023, at 7:56am we received a call from UC and agreed upon an amount of LP to be delivered and what the charge would be. They informed me that they would be sending a lease agreement over to sign for leasing the tank and repeat service. Once we received the invoice and agreement, we paid the invoice and didn't sign the lease agreement and informed UC they had our permission to remove their tank from our property since we did not own or lease it at that point. We were not told there would be a cost associated with removal of their property. Since we had no contract or lease agreement, and after letting UC know that their tank could be removed at any time, once they removed the tank, we received an invoice for $79. Their tank was on our property and we did not want it there so why do we have to pay for them to remove their property from our property? Are we supposed to roll it down the hill for someone to haul away as junk? We have now received another invoice with finance charges that we are not willing to pay. After discussing with ****, the ** of Energy, his theory is that the $79 is "this charge is the cost of savings for moving to another company". Maybe he needs to bill the previous owner who actually leased the tank. Its like me parking a car in his yard for three weeks and then charging him for me to remove it.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/24/2023

      I am writing in response to DATCP complaint ******** dated August 14, 2023, received in our office August 28, 2023. Let me begin by saying United Cooperative takes customer service very seriously, and as a **********************, takes our responsibility of serving our member owners very seriously.

       

      I would like to apologize for the way you were treated, this complaint was the first I heard about this. I immediately took this before our President ***** CEO, *********************** and discussed this issue. I have also immediately credited the tank pick up fee as well as the resulting finance charge, I have attached a copy for your records. *************** will also be meeting with *********************, VP of energy department to discuss this.

       

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention, without knowledge and input we cannot correct errors. Thank you for your understanding.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 08/25/2023

      [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:05/19/2023

      Type:Billing Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      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.
      Today May 19, 2023 I went to the United Cooperative to make a payment of $30 and to fill out paperwork to simply add my name to request fills only! I left the office and the original tank lease owner was informed of a credit pull. I immediately called United Cooperative to find out why this happened. They told that the lady in the office marked a box to request a $1,000 credit which I never wanted. All they could say was sorry. This is illegal to do a credit pull without authorization. I am very upset and frustrated. I need something done about this immediately!

      Business Response

      Date: 05/26/2023

      Please see response letter attached which was mailed to *************************** today.

      I am writing in response to DATCP complaint ******** dated May 19, 2023, received in our office May 24, 2023. Let me begin by saying United Cooperative takes customer service very seriously, and as a **********************, takes our responsibility of serving our member owners very seriously.

      The result of the credit report being run was human error on the part of an employee at our ******* location. We do apologize for this occurrence and your frustration. I

      have been in contact with Trans Union to get this resolved but as of today have not heard back from anyone yet.

      I will continue to work through to a resolution and have also counseled staff in our procedures.

      Thank you for being a United Cooperative customer. We do appreciate your business. Sincerely:

      **************************

      VP Credit & ************** Services United Cooperative

      ************

      ************ **********************************

    United Cooperative is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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