Ferrellgas

Fast forward to early 2016, someone we know who also uses them recommended we to auto fill with budget billing. We look into it, and we're told based off our current usage we would only pay 40.00 a month, and they come out when it gets down to between 20 and 21% left in the tank. It went great! For a year. We increased our usage by a little bit, and knew when it was time to be reevaluated for our new payment it wasn't going to be 40.00 we anticipated somewhere in the 100s, because even though we increased a little bit of our usage, we didn't increase it THAT much. Near the end of 2016 my husband was laid off of work, and it took two weeks of saving unemployment just to pay rent.

The other two weeks went to paying the car. Somehow though, we still made sure to pay Ferrellgas. As it began to get closer to the time of us being reevaluated, I noticed they were coming out to fill our tank A LOT more. There was no way we were at 20% yet, since they had just came not very long before that. They still come a few more times, and when we get our new notice of how much our monthly payment was going to cost us, it said over $300.00! We called and asked them if that was right, and when she said yes we told her we didn't understand how it jumped that much. She tells us they undercharged us for the previous year. How is that our fault? We told her if we had 300 a month to set aside for just propane, we wouldn't be on budget billing, and we're not paying that outrageous amount each month, is there some way they could work with us.

They tell us to figure it out, and we have to pay our monthly payment in full. I tell her there's no way we can do that. Fast forward to now, we had to file bankruptcy because as much as we're trying to get everything that built up over the time my husband was laid off, even with him making better money now, it's just impossible to do all that, pay our things on time, and still find a way to eat as well. We included our debt to Ferrellgas in that (over $3,000). Fast forward to a few days ago, a man shows up at my door saying he's here to take the tank. I tell him the company said I own that tank. He leaves it here and tells me to call them to get it figured out. Now, I don't plan on using the tank, and my husband and I are purchasing a new hot water tank that won't run off of propane that way we won't need propane in the house for anything.

However, I'm curious as to how they could come take it when they told me 6 years ago I owned it (and if it wasn't for the fact of them telling me I owned it, I wouldn't care if they took it or not). I called and told her someone just tried to remove my tank, even though I own it, according to them. She informs me that I don't own it, and it's being taken since our account is written off as a bad balance (or however she worded it, either way I figured that's why they were at my door just a half hour beforehand). I told her about how we were paying everything on time, until they came and started filling us non stop right before it was time to figure out our new payment, even though we weren't at 20-21% at each of those last fills. She then informs me in the winter they come out when it's at 30% (and they only fill it to 50%, but she didn't think I knew that).

I told her that no one informed us of that when we signed up (which was in the winter by the way. And the first year we were on the auto fill they only came when the tank was in the 20's, and didn't start coming when it was in the 30's until our anniversary date was coming up). She continued to tell me that we could've turned off auto fill in the summer months. As far as we knew, once we said no more auto fill it was completely done with, and that would've messed with our budget billing each month. I tell her all of this info would've been nice when we first signed up.

She then tells me they'll leave my tank if I pay my balance, or do something to show I'm trying to correct everything, and she'll get back to me later with that balance. I tell her we tried to get something figured out, but they never tried to work with us and told us to "just figure it out, and we need to pay what owe each month is full" and I told her not to bother looking for the balance, we included this debt with the bankruptcy. She immediately tells me if I don't pay the over 3,000 I owe (which just seconds before she didn't know what I owed), they were taking the tank and even if we tried to set up a new account with them, we'd still have to pay it before they did anything for us.

I proceed to tell her I didn't include over $3,000 of debt into a bankruptcy just to still pay it, and to think I would try to have another account with them was hilarious because I'd never bother with them again to even try to give them another opportunity to screw me over the way they have. She tells me it was all on my papers, and her advice to me was to keep an eye on everything with the next company I go to, or I'll be in the same situation. The only papers I ever got from them were the receipt left by the driver saying he filled it, and my letter saying I was going to owe them 300 a month at the next billing date. Had they just been upfront and honest with us beforehand, we would've been able to avoid this whole ridiculous mess.

They lie and hide company practices so they can charge you to the moon and back out of nowhere, then say it's your fault for not knowing. They take no responsibility for anything they say or do to their customers, and working with them is next to impossible. Avoid using them. I'm now sitting here waiting for two things. My new hot water tank that doesn't need propane, and for them to show back up to take the tank, whenever that will be. All I know is, once that tank is gone I can finally wash my hands of this God awful company.

I just filled the tank of my truck last week at Valero, using the Valero gas card, which is paid monthly, based on the prices at the time of filling. If this were Ferrellgas, they’d tell me that even though I filled my gas tank at the pump LAST WEEK, they are now going to double my monthly minimum because gas prices went up THIS WEEK. This is exactly what Ferrellgas is doing. The propane tank was filled weeks, if not months ago, and has not been refilled since the gas prices have gone up. We contracted for the gas at the price it was listed when the tank was filled. They cannot legally charge us DOUBLE for gas that has been sitting in our tank on our property, without having been refilled since the prices went up. My congressman, the BBB, AARP, Consumer Advocates, and every other consumer watchdog company, (including our local news) WILL BE MADE AWARE OF THESE THIEVES.

However, I work from my home and the delivery guy never came to my door (the main door is 10' behind me) nor did he, or Ferrellgas, inform me, in any way, that my tank was receiving a red tag. As I've worked with gas lines and tanks in the past, I simply reconnected everything and unlocked the tank. I did a quick CO check, found everything safe, checked to see if I had properly fixed my dryer (which I had) and turned on the furnace.

Fast forward several months. My tank is low and I call Ferrellgas to come on out for another fill. However, they tell me that because my tank was red flagged, they want to charge me $75 for a leak test and $90 for service. Nevermind that no one told me they were red tagging my tank nor did Ferrellgas ever reach out to me regarding this issue, they simply waited for me to call in another fill to tell me they are charging me an additional $160. In essence, they wait until I need a fill, in the middle of winter, to tell me of this charge. As I stated before, I work out of the home and it's been a cold year. I have kids and I can't afford to not have heat.

Had the delivery guy announced he was there or that he was about to tag my tank, I could have quickly reconnected my dryer and none of this would have happened. I think it is absolutely ridiculous for a company to exercise this kind of practice in where they can hold your tank hostage until you pay them fees they subjectively place on you. This is extortion and a predatory practice. I've never had this experience with a gas company in the past and I plan on changing companies as soon as I can.

Every gas station here was charging about $2+/gallon at the time. I called to complain and get a credit for over a year of overcharging and got the "we'll get on this right away and have a supervisor call you" more than 5 times and never got a single call back. I then called to stop delivery and we started taking our forklift tanks to gas station for months. Ferrellgas called to update our credit card info and I explained why I wasn't going to update it. It was about 2 years from the time the overcharging started to the time they finally called to fix everything and they ended up only crediting us for about 10 months of overcharging but promised to lock our price at a fixed rate, so we started service again at $1.71/gal. The second invoice 2 weeks later already showed $1.86/gal. After that we didn't get an invoice for 11 months, only statements and they stopped service without notice.

When I called they said our account was frozen because it was over the credit limit of $2500 which was insanely high. Come to find out they were charging us $5.98/gal for months. The same day the driver shows up and I explain all this to him. He says sure it's that high because it costs more to fill forklift tanks instead of our big tank. I say that doesn't make sense because the first time they overcharged us for a year we filled our own forklift tanks from the big tank. Then I asked where he left the invoice because I haven't got one in a year and he says he stopped leaving invoices because whenever he came the last invoice was still sitting there by the tank rack. I asked why he doesn't bring them to the office like every other company and he says he doesn't do that. Bad company, bad service, bad drivers, bad phone support. No one can even be bothered to call you back.

I then moved to Tri-Cities and bought a 100# tank to use with a small heater. I forgot how very ugly these people were last time and took a chance letting them fill the bottle in the back of my truck. We then went in to pay the 71.00 bill for 23gal of propane. I gave him like at a gas station my credit MasterCard and he went back into a room to process the card and print a receipt. I signed the receipt for 71.00 and left. After my doctor's appointment 2 hours later I looked at my MasterCard account on my iPhone and was blown away. They authorized 71.00 as they were entitled and 1 minute later 284.00?!? When confronted of the in my opinion fraudulent charge for what reason they placed me on hold. I called back and they said, "Well what do you want now?" So I called my credit card company who also tried to contact them from their fraud department and they got no answer either. STAY AWAY from these people or you will be sorry.

Number one: if you want to take or switch a tank, there is access to it through the city fairway behind the house. You dont just drag the tank through the back and front yards by with a chain and leave trenches all along the way! Would've totally destroyed my yard. And I had the "Best Yard" award the previous year on my block.

Number two: I always pay my bills and Ferrellgas was completely paid off as it was every year. I have no idea where all this was coming from. I contacted the number the man gave to me and the customer service lady totally agreed with me. And said she would contact the man and set his information straight. Boom, problem solved, right? Wrong!

Again, the same dude comes over with a pickup truck and a chain and claims he has to pick up my tank and that I now owed "a couple thousand dollars and my account was in collection"! Can you believe this?? Finally, I convinced him to call customer service right there with me standing there with him still in the truck. I don't know what was said, but he again gave a number to call, customer service, and he left.

I, once again, called and they said they closed my account and are opening a new account. I asked why and she said it was the only way they could fix the errors in my account. I said I want it to show I have always paid on time and in full. She said that's would be correct. Fast forward to present. I moved to a new residence and own my own tank and called Ferrellgas and they now want a credit check and advanced payment for a completely filled 500 gal tank before they will bring me propane. I give up! I'll once again search for a good honest gas company to bring me gas and bill me normally like I have done all my life. If anyone wants a good honest on time customer, please get ahold of me. Thank you.

The first incident arose 2 years ago in December 2015 when I went to turn my heater on in my house on a very cold December morning and... nothing happened. I went out and checked my gas cylinders and they both showed EMPTY! I had set up my account with Ferrellgas to be on a "Keep Filled" basis which means Ferrellgas was to check my tanks each time they were servicing other accounts my area and keep them filled at all times. It just happened that this empty tank day was on a Saturday.

I called the company and was told that my account was set up as "Will Call", meaning that I will call them to come and fill my propane tanks, and that I had not called them. I explained that the account had been active for some time and it had initially been set up as keep filled and that they had never failed to fill my tanks when they were servicing my area. I had never set up my account as "Will Call" and had never had to call them to fill my tanks.

I was told that I had to have called and changed the status of my account as they would never do that. "Why would I do that" I asked. They had no response. I was told they would change my account in the computer to "Keep Filled". I thanked them and asked when they could be out to fill my tanks as I was freezing. I was told it would take several days and they would add my request to their list. I was told someone would come to service my gas tanks sometime late in the day on the following Monday. This meant that I would be without heat in my house for 3 days and these days were predicted to be some of the coldest of the season.

I inquired as to why someone could not get out to my house that day and was told they were booked. I was then told that I could pay an extra exorbitant price to have some one come out on Sunday to fill my tanks. I asked why I should have to pay since I had not changed the settings on my account and they should honor their commitment to their customers. I was told that it was their policy and they would be happy to service my gas needs if I wanted to pay the ridiculously exorbitant Sunday price or I would have to wait until the coming Monday - 2 more days away.

I decided to not pay the ridiculously exorbitant price for their screw up. I confined my dog and myself to my bedroom where I pulled a small electric heater from camping gear and sat as close as I could and tried to get warm using my blankets wrapped around both my dog and myself. It was a long 3 days and bitter cold nights. They did show up late Monday after 3:00 pm and filled my tanks.

My second incident was about a month later. The weather was still very cold and again my tanks went empty. When I called, Ferrellgas informed me that I had not called them to come and fill the tanks. I asked why I would have to do that as my account had been set up as "Keep Filled". I was informed that my account was set up for "Will Call". I told them of my conversation a month earlier and finding that the same setting had been on my account and that I had asked for it to be changed. I was told that obviously I had not requested the account change or it would have been in the computer. So I shared a few choice words with the Ferrellgas representative and asked again for my account to be changed to "Keep Filled" instead of "Will Call". The person said they made the change.

I thanked them and asked when they could be out to fill my tanks. I was informed that one of their trucks was in the general area and they would have the truck at my house before dark. They did show up and found me in my bedroom with my little heater and blankets wrapped around my dog and myself trying to keep warm. I did not have any more or new issues for some time. My tanks were filed often. Almost too often but thought it was better to have gas than not... So did not complain!!!

January - February 2017, I am currently moving into a new house and called Ferrellgas as I started to pack and informed them of my planned move and asked them to change the status on my account to "not fill" my tanks as I am packing to move and do not want them to fill my tanks and charge me for gas that I will not be using. I had not seen a bill on my front gate, which was their normal way of letting me know they had filled my tanks, but was told they had filled my tanks two days ago. I told them I did not have a bill and gave them my new address to send the bill too. I am still waiting for the bill. I had to go back to the old house to pack some more items and turned on the heater in the old house... nothing happened. I went outside to check my tanks and they were both full however the valves had been disconnected from the house and the tank valve had a locked cover and the pipes had been twisted to not connect to the cylinders.

I called Ferrellgas Inquiring as to why my tanks had been disconnected and locked. I was told that when I gave them my new address that was the signal in their system to lock the tanks so they can not be used. I told them I still own the house and am working there periodically packing and moving boxes and I need the gas to heat the house while I work there. I asked them to get someone out today (the day of this contact), to hook up my gas again so that I do not freeze while I am moving. I was told they would see what they could do.

I then received a call about an hour later asking me to call them about the balance due on the account. I called and was told that I had to pay the balance due before they would come out and reconnect the gas. I told them this was blackmail as I had not officially stopped the service just the filling of the tanks until after the house is sold and the new owners could set up their account.

I was told I had to pay the amount due prior to them coming out to correct their screwy policy. I asked why they did not tell me this would happen when I called to stop the filling of my tanks. And all they would say it is their policy once they receive a new mailing address to lock the tanks so they can not be used. I told them ok. I would be filing a dispute and hung up. I have heard many really bad stories about Ferrellgas from neighbors and friends and now I have my own to add. If I ever decide to live on propane again... Ferrellgas will be my last choice!!! Buyer beware of Ferrellgas!

They I feel would just take anyone's money and local which would tell you to "biz off. You can't make us give it back". Who on earth takes your money and tells you at their convenience they will produce what you paid for? Arrogant low life workers! Bet they wouldn't be happy if we took 100's of dollars of their money interest free and dictated when we would return it.

Then when the man comes they said we couldn't do that because we cancelled more than three time which I wasn't aware of and had to pay at the offices. We had only canceled once and they called us liars that the driver showed up on Wednesday and knocked and honked but no one was there at 11:45. I was outside since 11:00. Then wanted to charge us extra for going again. My husband told them they never showed so we are not going to pay extra cause they messed up. The "manager" said "I believe my driver and I don't believe you so it's not my problem if you don't have gas for the holidays."

We decided to go all electric and change the gas stove top to an electric stove top. This is when I called Ferrellgas to have them pick up the 200 gallon propane tank. The tank was 70% full, and they only fill them to 80% full when they fill them up. I was told by Ferrellgas that I would receive a check for the remaining propane in the tank: $232.36. However, they would have to charge a pick up fee of $85.99. They sent me an updated billing summary. I was surprised to see a pump out fee of $79.99 which left a credit of $66.38.

I called them and asked them about this pump out fee, and the lady at Ferrellgas started making excuses, and told me that the guys spent time digging out the propane tank. I told her I was standing there and it did not take longer than 10 - 15 minutes to remove the tank and put it in there truck. Isn't that included in the original pick up fee of $85.99? Of course, it should be. After this, I asked her when I could expect the check for $66.38 from the original $232.36. She was not sure, but she did mention that she wanted to check to see if there was going to be anymore deductions from the $66.38 before they sent my refund.

She said she would call me back and let me know. I gave her my telephone number, but she never called back at all. Now, I will have to call back to see if I receive any refund of $66.38 for my $232.36 worth of propane. Sad. Whether, or not this is policy for the company, it is a bad policy for the consumer. I can understand the pick up fee, but not the pump out fee, and not the obvious runaround they are giving me for $66.38. I cannot recommend this company to anyone, and my suggestion to anyone is to buy there own tank, and find a different company to buy their propane from. Ferrellgas is a company you cannot trust.

I told them next month I'd be buying it to avoid the 1.25 per gallon charge for renting it. In a week, they filled the tank to the max from an 1/2 empty state which was almost 900.00 after tax and fees. Since I had taken the account off of the level pay to get rid of the auto-fill, they sent me a bill of the balance owed on the auto-fill and the new charges that were around 1500.00. Mad about it I called and complained and they told me tough luck that I shouldn't of changed the account and it was my fault. And I asked them why they filled the tank when I was off of auto-fill and they said it was an error on their end.

I asked them to remove the gas they had put in and credit my bill and they said they would for $350.00, and they would have to empty the whole tank and I'd lose my balance of gas of 250 gallons. So I just paid the bill and told them to cancel the account altogether. I called again to get the price on the tank and the new price was around 650 with tax. So I paid it and they sent me a bill of sale in my father's name, not mine. 2 years later, they called my father by Collections for a 46.00 bill balance for something we don't know for because the bill was paid in full and the tank was paid in full. Many requests to return to them, but no bill, no past due notice, no call. This to me is dirty business and I will never go back to them.

So I call Ferrellgas corporate and they say the propane is now 1.25 a gallon and she had her own set of stories about who ordered this tank fill. I reminded her this is the 21 century and these new things called computers that give us the ability to write customer notes and then she went through the same story about my girlfriend as the other troll we spoke with. Needless to say, Suburban Propane is cheaper, offers the same discounts, and will be out tomorrow to change the tanks and hopefully offer us a much higher standard of professionalism and honesty.

I chose to switch companies, did not renew my account with Ferrellgas, and had the new company replace the Ferrellgas tank with theirs. They moved the old tank to the front of my property and I called Ferrellgas to inform them of my cancellation. That was over a month ago, and the tank is still sitting in my front yard, ruining my grass and the appearance of my property. I have made numerous calls, first requesting and finally demanding they come and pick the tank up, and have been told repeatedly that they don't schedule pick-ups.

According to them, pick-ups occur only when they have some worker in the area doing other work. I am at my wit's end and furious over this abuse. Not only do they over-charge for the LP gas they sell, they fail to properly service well-paying customers, and then totally disregard their own responsibilities in doing business. I strongly urge any person who needs to rely on an LP company... DO NOT go with Ferrellgas.