ComplaintsforArundel Gas & Water Conditioning Co

• Initial Complaint

  01/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  in my experience AG&WC Customer Service is inconsistent & often extremely rude.! In particular, a lady in the front office was so nasty, snickering & inappropriate. The supervisor had to tell her to be quiet. I have endured years of mistakes and erroneous deliveries. The notes written on my file card and or account were not being read, transferred effectively or communicated to the drivers effectively. Due to several challenging issues, and the aggravation of being treated so horribly by the staff. I chose to take my business to another company. Where I found lower gas rates, no delivery fees & better service. AG&WC owned the propane tank, it was their responsibility to remove it at their cost from my property. I declined all of their offers of tank ownership. The tank was old, with a history of leaking and had corrosion in several spots. I was due full reimbursement for the 84.8 gallons of propane I had paid for that was removed from the tank. I was billed 3.95 and 3.94 respectively for March & April 2023. At those billed rates x 84.8 gallons removed. I should have received approximately 335.00. however my credited reimbursement total amount was only 87.55 Based on this experience and those in prior complaints listed here with BBB. This apparent fraudulent & deceptive practice of erroneous reimbursement credit seems common with AG&WC. The director I spoke with in an email response is matter stated. "based on the current rate of propane and the amount of labor it takes to remove the equipment". in contradiction, she acknowledged in the same email "at our expense we removed the tank". Currently *************, Maryland Residential Propane price is 3.40 per gallon, value from 1 year ago 3.40 per gallon. I asked for the median price per gallon as the minimum. The director now refuses to return my calls or emails. I have filed a complaint with the office of the Maryland Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division. I'm seeking full reimbursement.

• Initial Complaint

  03/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have used AG&WC since I purchased my home in Sep. 2017. On January 13, 2023, we sold our home and cancelled our lease with Arundel Gas. I contacted the office at ###-###-#### the week of Jan. 2nd to ensure I understood the process of how to cancel, how to get a refund for unused fuel and how to cancel my lease. I was advised to call the day before we would vacated the property to provide the final reading on both 420 gallon propane tanks, at which time the account would be closed out. The reading was as follows: 61% of one tank and 63% of the other tank. That information was given to Arundel Gas, along with my address change. I was furthermore advised, that I would be receiving a credit based on current market value of propane, which I was told was $1.89/gal. Everything seemed to go smooth, and we vacated the home January 12, 2023. A few weeks after, on February 03, 2023 I contacted Arundel Gas via phone to inquire about the refund. At this point, I completed some math and figured on a refund totaling approx. $480.00. In any event, the lady assisting me did not have much knowledge and kept asking another lady in the office for the information I inquired about. This process was repeated for every question I asked. In the end, I was told refunds would take about two month and she has no information available at the time. When I asked to speak to the other lady she got her information from, I was transferred and quickly ignored, since no one answered the transferred call. I called again approx. two weeks thereafter with similar results. On March 13, 2023, I called yet again to get any information possible on the closure of my account and the status of my refund, which has now been "processed" for two month. Yet again, the lady I spoke with had slim to no knowledge and needed to consult a co-worker in the background for all questions I asked. I demanded to speak to the co-worker in the background, as she seemed to know the information I was needing. I could feel how their eyeballs rolled. It was evident that I bothered them with my line of questioning. So, I was transferred and was finally able to speak with someone who had knowledge about my account. I was told the refund was issued 03-13 and a check was mailed out. She confirmed the address to be my old address, the home I vacated Jan.12, 2023. That's when the issues started. I was informed that a refund in the amount of $48.58 was issued for the 62.4 gallons remaining on the tank, at $1.74 per gallon, after a processing fee of $60.00 was charged to the account. Very confused regarding the refund (being much, much less than anticipated), I tried to explain my meter reading, my previous conversations with associates at the office, etc., but was constantly interrupted and spoken over. I was treated like a child. It has been a long time since I was addressed in such a condescending tone so I raised my voice out of frustration and sheer surprise on how anyone could speak to another person in such a fashion, none the less, a customer. By my calculations, a volume of approx. 520 gallons was left in the tanks 01-12-23 and yet a refund for only 62.4 gallons was to be issued. The lady advised that the reading was completed last week (i.e. week of 03-06-23), which made me wonder, who had access to my gas and who used approx. 460 gallons on the almost two-month time period??? Did they secure the tanks after I vacated the home? Were the leased tanks picked up? Were they at least read shortly after my move? None of these questions were answered. I asked to be transferred to manager. I was hold a transfer would only take place once I calmed down (again, being spoken to like a child) and was placed on hold. When she answered the phone again, the first this she asked was "are you calm now?"... So disrespectful. After the exchange of a few more meaningless words, I was transferred to Sarah, the manager, who did not answer the phone. I did leave a voice message, but I am not very confident that my concerns will be heard, addressed or resolved in any form or way.

  Business response

  04/13/2023

  We did receive the notice to cancel and sealed and removed the 2 – 100 gallon tanks. The gauges on the tanks read 52% and 50%, which can be used to estimate the volume on the tanks. By calculated against the total capacity in pounds (420#) or in water weight (120 gal), we concluded a refund of 62.4 gallons for the first tank and 60.0 gallons for the second tank. We mailed the refund for the gallons on the first tank on 3/13/23 and the second tank gallons on 3/17/23. 

  Customer response

  04/13/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The information provided is not correct. The meters clearly read over 60% (i.e. 61% and 63%). The associate on the phone informed me that the reading/locking didn't happen for a while after I made the call, therefore anyone could have used the gas remaining in the tanks and now the story is changing... That issue aside, the way I was treated by the employee is far worse than the financial loss I have suffered. I have now been in the service/customer service industry for 29 years of which I have managed for the last 18 years and have never come across, nor would I have ever tolerated such willful disrespect. There great varieties to providing valuable customer service but this was certainly not the experience I had with Arundel Gas.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  Peter *********

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Predatory practices! They caused a leak then charged me for the LPG that leaked out (over $580) then shut off my gas when I complained. I knew there was a leak when they charged me over $500 to fill my tank and then charged me another $580 just a few months later. My tank is purely for generator backup and there is NO WAY that I went through over 500 gallons of LPG. I didn't even want their service to begin with I inherited it when I bought the house, but they won't let you switch service providers. They tell you that if you do not pay them to remove the tank (over $2,000!) then they will get the Sheriff to come to your house while they trench out the gas pipes from your house, destroy your lawn and tell you that you will have to pay the entire cost!!! This place needs an investigation. Tank is so old it is entirely rusted and looks like a WW2 relic, but they won't paint it or service it. The gas meter on the tank is unusable so you can never read the amount so you have no idea if they filled it or not. I use my LPG entirely for a backup generator and there is no possible way my generator has gone through over 700 gallons in six months. They provide no proof of service either, just a bill. They also drove across my grass and flowers every time they come to the property. They NEVER call before they service they just show up, one time in the middle of a birthday party and they told me over the phone if I do not allow them to come and go as they please they will just lock the tank and charge me for "non-service" whatever that is. Customer service is routinely rude and immediately tries to threaten to cut service or add additional charges to your bill if you call for ANY reason. Why is there not an investigation into this company!???

  Business response

  03/16/2023

  On September 29th, 2021, Mr. ******** signed an automatic delivery contract with a previously installed company leased tank at his new address. The account calendar put a delivery order for July 6th, 2022, and we delivered 438.8 gallons. The following year on January 27th, 2023, another delivery order was generated and while the delivery driver was at this location, the homeowner notified him of a possible leak. The driver used leak detection fluid to locate a very small leak on one fitting after spraying down all visible lines. The driver turned in a service ticket to repair the leak and filled the tank with 143.8 gallons. The Company notified the property manager of the needed repair and scheduled the repair for February 2nd, 2023, they agreed and provided a contact number if we had any questions. On February 2nd, 2023, we repaired the leak and left a copy of the repair order at the front door since no one answered the door. In reference to the condition of the tank, it was manufactured in 2003 with a service life of 40 – 50 years. The image chosen by the customer is showing the tank under the lid, which does show bird droppings and dirt, not uncommon for a tank under a large bush. Most likely the tank needs to be power washed with normal touchups. Our policy to remove tanks is simple and we never remove lines unless the customer requests. In summary, we did not cause a leak and only responded to the customer’s request after we initiated an automatic delivery. We repaired the customer owned lines at no charge and the customer only used 143.8 gallons in 7 months. 

*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. ↩