My propane company decided to cancel all contracts....( Vent )

[Mskanga]

I was supposed to be locked in at .85 a gallon until August of this year according to my contract ( which BTW I still have ) and I have been paying that price all along until today, the delivery man comes to my house and doesn't tell me anything until he filled up...1.85 a gallon!!! I said this is a mistake , he says no, we were instructed to charge that price to everyone. I called the office and they said all the contracts were cancelled because gas prices have gone up so much! I'm livid!! I specifically asked the person who came to my house asking for business what if it goes to $3.00 a gallon in the winter, he said I would still be locked at .85 .
I don't know how they can do this but it would have been nice if they let the customers know. add the flames to that face!!!

 

[December99]

Ok...call me dumb but....if it went up to $3.00 a gallon they would still charge you $.85 a gallon but if it goes up to ONLY $1.85 a gallon, forget that you are locked into the $.85 a gallon???? Something just doesn't mesh here......but....

I'm sorry to hear this.....you just have had a run for your money all over the place this winter....{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}

 

[Mskanga]

Chris , they just wanted the business in the beginning and they plain lied, so contract or not , this company raised their price no matter what. Why didn't they just say that to begin with??

 

[December99]

Yeah....can you file some sort of suit on this or anything? This is like breach of contract without notification isn't it???? I would think so anyway....YIKES. But, when it hits $3.00, remember - you don't have to pay it cause the guy said you'd only be charged $.85!!!!! (please know i'm just running with the joke here even though this is NOT funny! just can't resist)

 

[Mskanga]

I know Chris...and believe me that I'm NOT paying more than .85 a gallon as per my contract!!

 

[we3luvdisney]

I would take the company to smal claims court. You have a contract, which would be valid in any court. Call the court house and ask them what paperwork you need to fill out to bring them to court.

 

[Mskanga]

I was so mad that I allowed them only to fill up one tank, the other one is still at 20% . I'm sure I won't be the only one complaining.

 

[Sal]

My husband sells and delivers LP. They offer contracts each Fall. I have never heard of cancelling contracts!! What would be the purpose of the contract if it could just be cancelled when the price went up?

I would get out your contract and read all the small print. Based on what I know (and I admit that is not saying alot!) you should not have to pay anymore than the price you contracted for.

My husband just got home and he asked if the company was by any chance Level Propane? He says they are notorious for this. They are also being sued.

He says no reputable company would try this.

 

[C.Ann]

Read over your contract carefully.. If there is no provision stating that they can cancel the contract at will (or if prices soar), then they haven't got a leg to stand on.. I would call them to come back and fill the other tank and then hand them a check for the $.85 per gallon that your contract states..

If there is NO provision for them to change the contract at will then they would have a heck of a time trying to make you pay the difference..

 

[Mskanga]

No there's nothing in the contract that states anything about cancelling the contract if the price goes up, DH looked at it and so did I. DH also said to call them and ask them to come and fill the other tank and then pay the .85 a gallon , there's nothing they can do to force me to pay the difference , my contract clearly says "locked at .85 a gallon until August 2003".
Sal , it's not Level Propane, it's Heller's Gas.

 

[bobcat]

I would contact your Attorney Generals office. This sounds like something they could help you with.

 

[aahmom1]

Did you pay what he told you that you had to pay today? I would have stood my ground and paid the contract price, no doubt about it. They cannot just CHANGE the contract, if they could, it wouldn't be a contract!

 

[aahmom1]

Also Bobcat is very right, call your Attorney Genera's office, this is price gouging and that is illegal. I would also put a call into the propane company and make sure they know you're calling the AG's office.

 

[Mskanga]

No I haven't paid them yet, the drivers do not want to get payments because they don't want to get involved with that, we usually mail it in. I'm going to adjust that bill to the .85 a gallon and I'm also going to call the attorney general's office and the office of consumer protection , I called the propane office already yesterday and they insisted that all the contracts were annulled, yet there's no disclaimer on the contract that they can do that.
I know they won't win even if they decide to sue , but I will give them a headache , and they will be lucky if I don't call the local TV stations , that would be real good advertisement for them, don't you think?

 

[aahmom1]

Make sure you don't send them a check for the 1.85, somebody might think that you agreed to that price, and hold you to it.

 

[Mskanga]

oh heck no, they are getting a check for the .85 price, the difference they can eat it up! LOL

 

[Krisu]

If they can do that, what's the purpose of a contract?

 

[RitaZ.]

That's ridiculous! What's the point of having a contract then? Another thing that you can do is contact your local tv station and speak to their Consumer Investigator and let them know about this problem.

Good luck!

 

[Mskanga]

OK here is their reason....( just got off the phone with them ).
According to them CNN announced that in two weeks time , propane will be going up to almost 2.60 a gallon , so they decided to "suspend" all of their contracts and implement the "Force Masseur Law" ( which I can't find anything about ) but it basically allows the fuel companies to suspend their contracts and make people pay the on going prices so they don't go out of business. I don't expect them to make up if they are paying so much for propane but I do expect that everything to be spelled out and included in the contract before people sign it.
I'm angry that this has taken place and nobody has bothered to let us know , not even when they come to my house and deliver, they never mentioned anything , I asked and that's how I found out.
I'm filing a complaint with the attorney general's office, this is very deceiving.

 

[Jackie H.]

I am not at all a propane expert, but my hubby is a poultry farmer and we use A LOT of propane gas (have used $11,000 since this year began and our price is around $.78).

We belong to a farmers co-op that gets propane contracts every year (ours is in July). Those contracts are legal and binding and there is no way the companies can op out.

Furthermore, the companies "book" the gas in July also. In other words, their supplier agrees to sell them the x amounts of gas for x dollar amount for the whole year also. Now, I have no idea if that arrangement has an 'out' or not.

A few years back, when gas prices soared the company that had won the contract (several bid on this one as it is a very large amount) tried to back out with this exact same reasoning. It did not happen. I can't remember exactly what happened, but my husband is on the board of this co-op. I don't think it went so far as legal action, although a lawyer may have sent them a letter threatening it. The driver told us that the company didn't book the gas hoping to get it even cheaper later, when it went up they were stuck. That is poor management, not our fault. That company has never bid again on the contract.

But, the risk must be worth it because we always have several companies bid. Currently, the contract is with AmeriGas (I believe they are nationwide)