ComplaintsforGlobal Propane

• Initial Complaint

  02/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Global was called Jan 10 by our house and the neighbor. The 500+gal rate was $1.89/gal. We both have accounts. They did not show or call. Both homes proceeded to call several times at the end of January. No show and no call. Feb 7 I called and spoke with *** who quoted 2.09/gal 500+gal rate, which I did not feel was right since we were nearly out of gas and waited over 4 weeks.****** called the neighbor that afternoon and stated he would be on our road the next morning around 9:30. The guys are always nice and never complain. That was until **** showed up. He was impatient and rude. And at both homes he couldnt find the tanks. He may have started global but he is zero in the customer service department.He handed me a folded bill, never looked at me or said a word, and quickly left. When I realized he charged .20/gal more than quoted rate, I began checking to see if it increased. No. **** didnt say anything, just raised the price/gal. It was intentional, underhanded and unethical. Global has an advertised price. They knew our address.Late on the 9th **** called my husband back and said **** claimed difficulty getting here and wear and tear on the truck. False advertisement!They had the whole month of Jan to come but delivered no customer service and didnt state they were not putting us on the schedule. The road was clear and he drove a smaller truck and there were no problems with him coming up. Any slip is obvious on gravel. We have never had any complaints previously from drivers and no one charged us differently than quoted. While we were agreeing to the $2.09, we never agreed to $2.29 and **** said nothing about raising the rate. There was no fee, ever, for delivery. There was never a random raising of quoted rates. **** folded that paper and turned around walking fast because he is a scheming weasel. He knows propane is competitive and that put him above the price of local places with no bulk order. We want the additional .20/gal taken off bill.

  Business response

  03/10/2024

  Customer omits pertinent information from their complaint.  Global responds as follows:
  
  waited over 4 weeks Customer ordered ******************** for home heat in the middle of the heating season. Customer knows full well that ******************** deliveries can take a while in the heating season. 
  
  at both homes he (****) couldnt find the tanks - Customer omits the ***** that both tanks are UNDERGROUND and by design, not visible.  Customer omitted material facts in order to make **** look incompetent. The nicest, polite way of saying this is that Customer is engaging in gaslighting Customers statement is manipulative and deceptive.
  
  The guys are always nice and never complain.  That was until **** showed up.  Again, Customer omits information.  Why was **** upset?  **** had never been to Customers home before and had no knowledge of the condition of their road.  Customer lives in a rural, mountainous area.  The road to their home is approximately 2 miles long, unpaved, rough, steep, single lane, resembling more of a 4x4 trail than a road.  Despite living in a mountainous area, no effort had been made to clear snow from the road, which would have been very difficult, anyways with the number of large, exposed rocks in the road.  The entire length is very rough, taking a huge toll on vehicles and with the poor quality of the roadand complete lack of care of the road, it is unsafe for any propane vehicle to traverse.  This is why **** was upset.  Previous drivers should have refused service or said something to **** on their return. 
  
  Sliding off the side of Customers road would on the lightest end result in a couple thousand dollar tow bill and could result in loss of the truck and injury or death to the driver.  The condition of the road is completely unsafe and unacceptable.  We will not ever service the address again in any season.
  
  Customer needs to understand that if a road is difficult for our trucks to traverse, it may be impossible for an ambulance or fire truck to traverse, meaning an emergency in their homes could result in catastrophic results.
  
  The construction and care of the road are in a deep state of negligence.  If we ever hear of a truck for any company in or out of the propane industry being lost on this road,we will forward this letter to the company, showcasing that Customer knew the dangers of their road.
  
  In 30 years, we have only refused service to a handful of customers,almost all of which were because of their past poor payment histories.  We have refused service to some locations in the winter because of failure to remove snow. But this is the only road in our entire ****** square mile trade territory that is so bad, we are refusing to service it at anytime of year.
  
  Global has been and is the low-cost leader across 14 counties in the Front Range.  Even at the price of $2.29, that is still $0.10/gallon cheaper than the average price of $2.38 for all propane companies in the area (EIA), with many of our competitors over $3/gallon (meaning customer would have paid anywhere from $75 to $750 more for the delivery Global made).  The bill stands as **** wrote.  There will be no adjustment.  Customers prompt payment is expected.

  Customer response

  03/21/2024

  ****'s ego obviously kept him from stating the company's policy on advertised pricing and specific quotes directly to the customer from his office. 

  **** has lied throughout his whole response. First, there are yellow flags on both sides of the driveway as well as marking the gas line all the way to the garage. They were clearly visible. Both tanks have lids, one is over a foot above the ground and the other three feet. They are hard to miss next to the driveway. I came out immediately to guide him and he just hopped in the truck as if he would rather run me over. Then he proceeded to drive off the driveway without permission where he was heading over the tank. No one else ever did that before. 

  Calls to the office repeatedly show they had no record of complaints about the property or the road to either home. Calls after this incident also reveal that the office staff still had no knowledge of issues and it took a day for them to get an answer to state **** claimed difficulty and if there were any more questions to call him. NO ONE stated **** was taking us off a delivery list permanently. 

  Based on ****'s now proven reputation for being a mean person with no integrity, we would never allow him on our road or property again. There are a series of irrelevant comments from a man who was afraid to drive up a well maintained private road, much of which crosses county parkland. He himself stated in his response that no other driver has previously complained. Nor has anyone from ***************** furniture delivery trucks, *********** Building supply deliveries, and full size commercial moving trucks. This road has two homes and is two lanes for most of the drive. There are narrower places, but they are easily navigated by everyone BUT ****. So we do not want the liability of a nervous person with a smaller truck that the usual propane delivery and no experience in the mountains or on gravel to be on this road. We all agree. 

  Shame on Global for stating anything about emergencies or someone losing a vehicle. Insane and completely off topic to just to deflect from their poor business practices. The complaint was telling the customers a price at locations that Global had come to for years, then underhandedly not telling them it would be more. No record with the office after the visit. **** was outside with both home owners and had plenty of time to discuss it face to face. **** NEVER said anything about the road or wear and tear or difficulty with any road conditions. I did message both my spouse and the neighbor that he tore out of here fast and I never saw anyone drive like that down the road. So apparently **** expected to go **************************************************** maintained is a complete lie. Both homeowners have professional plows as well as a tractor and grader. We are all complimented on the state of the road, including by the county.

  The price quotes from the other local supplies were facts. Whatever **** made up here was not the price we were quoted for no minimum delivery at the time he delivered to this home. We will happily never use Global. I knew something was up when **** did not ask for a check. The other drivers have always handed me a bill and asked if I would like to pay now.

  All other local suppliers are extremely organized for set up, delivery schedules and payment. There is never a wait. I told every single one I called and no one was surprised. They get a lot of global customers up here. First, there is no minimum and you can be on a schedule that keeps you filled all year. For three weeks after our first call, there was no snow. We had a minor snow but nothing big when we repeatedly called at the end of January. Other suppliers stated clients are assigned a day of the week and they can always come out on that day all year long. They do not make a decision you are not low enough and can wait a month, like **** did to us. We should never have given him a chance. If he would have waited another day, we would have had a delivery from someone else. But the fact he brought ****** to the neighbors home and everyone came up the road and NO ONE from Global at any single point of contact ever said anything about the road, makes me convinced **** was mad about something else. I asked him specific questions about the tank and safety that he couldn't answer. I was out there or available the whole time he was here. It takes a long time to fill up the tanks. He said he started Global and bragged so I asked some specifics I was curious about and was sure to get a detailed response. He answered nothing because he didn't know. I don't want some person opening a tank full of gas that can't answer or won't answer general questions about it. 

  This will not be resolved because **** does not care about clients. If he did, he would have discussed this with the home owners or put terms in place for ever coming back, or at the very least, notified the office. He just makes everything up as he goes, like the schedule and the price. Advertisement and direct quotes to the customer mean nothing. He answers to no one. We will happily never be a customer again. It is not worth running out of gas while the office lies that you are on the schedule.

• Initial Complaint

  06/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In 2021, I informed Global of the intention to convert to natural gas. After the conversion, with a dead empty tank in Late 2021 a $900 load of gas was droped into a tank that was turned off, with a new natural gas meter in sight( 30 feet) from the tank, The owner was less than concerned, more annoyed when I explained this, I paid all monies owed during the call after he threatened a legal action for some reason.. after all debts were paid I expected the 400 gallons to be refunded and the tank to be removed at some point, 2 years later, no communication, no warning, somehow they got onto the property with no notice, possibly opened my gate with no warning jeopardizing the safety of the animals on the property, took the 80% full tank off the property, no refund, no explanation.... I started out pretty happy as we didn't always have 500 or 900 dollars on hand when fills happened, but this last incident amounts to theft, is not sanctioned in their tank lease to just take nearly **** dollars of gas that has previously been paid for and after contacting their office with no *********** only have to complain... also contacting several members of the media to help shine a light on this behavior and a consumer advocate.. I can't really afford to just have the 400 gallons I paid for stolen but hope this may avoid a repeat situation for someone else.. I have recent pics of tge 80% full gauge for any argument that it wasn't full... no pending litigation yet. Can verify when natural gas was connected at a date earlier than the last fill....

  Business response

  06/19/2023

  Allow me to address your complaint from Globals perspective:
  
  Leased tank Global installed a leased 500 gallon LP tank at your property at an expense to Global of approximately $3,500.00
  
  Lease payments Customer did not pay the lease as agreed from 2017 through 2022, finally paying the balance of $564.00.  During this time, despite Customer not paying the lease, ********************** continued to provide service to heat Customers home.
  
  Propane payments From 2018 forward, Customer was routinely **** months in paying for propane, despite terms of Net 10.  Despite Customers poor payment history, Global continued to provide service to heat Customers home.
  
  Lease terms usage Item 13 Customer agrees to a minimum of two tank capacities per year . . ..  Customer agreed to a minimum usage of 800 gallons per year.  Our average customer uses 1400-1600 gallons per year.  Customers usage was as follows: 2018 765 gallons, 2019 713 gallons, 2020 740 gallons, 2021 0 gallons, 2022 0 gallons.  Per the Lease, Customer agreed to a minimum usage of ***** gallons.  Customer actually used ***** gallons.  Global has lost approximately ***** gallons of propane, or approximately $***** due to Customers low usage.
  
  Natural gas conversion At the last fill, 10/6/2021 (***** gallons @ $2.199 = $904.01), Customer stated that he would be moving *********************** leased tank to his shop that he was going to heat and thus continue as a Customer.  Customers intention of using the tank and the propane is made clear by his payment of the bill 4 months later.  Further, Customer did not catch up his outstanding lease payments until 2/15/22, 4 months after the last fill.  Customer in late 2021/early 2022 had clear intention of continuing as a customer (as evidence by ******************** and lease payments) and using the tank and the propane yet tank was not moved, nor propane used or purchased from 10/6/21 forward.  It is unclear as to why Customer did not pursue his plans but whatever the reason, it is entirely the concern of Customer and did not have anything to do with Globals performance or lack thereof.
  
  Lease tank pick-up/Cancellation, Spring, 2023 when Customer had not purchased ******************** in 18 months at a substantial loss to Global nor made any progress in moving the tank to his shop, Customer was notified that ********************** would be picking up our tank that Customer was not using, . . . with Customer forfeiting any ******************** in the tank and any prepaid lease fees. (Item 12 of the Lease). 
  
  
  Global has lost over $*****.00 due to Customers low use/no use, in clear violation of the terms of the Lease on a historically slow pay account.  Yet, ********************** continued to provide propane to heat Customers home.  Customer is advised that his printed statements amount to libel under ******** law and are subject to civil penalties.  Global considers the matter settled.  Our tank has been picked up, with Customer forfeiting ******************** in the tank per the lease terms.  No refund will be issued. 
  
  Should Customer pursue civil litigation, ********************** will counter and pursue the full amount due under the lease terms or approximately $***** + lost sales in 2023 + civil penalties for Customers clear libel.

  Customer response

  06/19/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********.

  In hind sight, I would very much like to see a lease we signed, as there is no recollection of agreeing to 4K gallons, it was either the prior homeowner creating this lease prior to our purchase assuming the lease at date of purchase or was signed during closing with 185 other documents. If ************** would have 1 time brought this up to me I would have fulfilled the lease by leaving the thermostat on 80 and opening the windows or installing an outdoor fireplace, as the management at global stated we used less than 800 gallons a year, maybe the previous occupants used substantially more, we didnt, though stating in 2021 we used 0?? And they filled 411....  either way will take the statement this matter is "considered Closed" as binding that this is resolved and would just caution again, if I was aware of a lease purchase amount in a document I don't have in my possession in closing docs or directly from global with my signature on it I'd have fulfilled the lease, at the rate of use would have been 6 years along to use 4k gallons. Thank you.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

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