Osterman Propane

"Ms. [Member Name Removed], we have an annual minimum usage charge where we ask each customer to use one tank full of fuel per year. That helps us defray the costs of providing the tank, maintaining your account and other costs of doing business. This charge is clearly stated in our customer application and every delivery ticket and invoice. Nearly all of our competitors do similar in the form of tank rental, delivery charges or other fees. Our tank removal charge is also indicated in the customer application. There was an option to downsize your tank to 50 gallons at not charge to avoid the minimum usage fee for the upcoming year. I cannot see in our notes where that option was presented to you. If not, we apologize as that may have helped avoid the frustration you are experiencing."

"Unfortunately, we have no record of an account under your name or this address."

"Your account is on will-call status. Which means you are responsible to keep an eye on your tank gauge and contact us when the tank reaches 20% to schedule a delivery. You called us on Monday to request a delivery. We responded that a delivery would be made within 3-5 days when we were next in area. Your delivery was made Friday morning."

"Mr. [Member Name Removed], as you own your tank, we did a leak check upon our first delivery and the system passed. You took a delivery in August of 2014 and another delivery 20 months later, more than just a few months. You neglect to mention in your complaint that you installed a generator after our first delivery. We were not involved in this installation. The consumption of the generator would have increased your usage."

"Per the manufacturers specification, no low loss headers are offered or deemed necessary for your boiler. Another service company already performed work on the system which did not correct the issue and your new propane supplier was also unable to figure out the problem. Your system is leaking from a pipe and air is being introduced into the system and the air is causing the noise. Our service supervisor visited your home, took pictures and correctly diagnosed the problem, however you did not authorize us to make the repair. You wanted us to guide and instruct your new propane supplier on how to fix, but we don't feel that is our responsibility or duty."

"We have no record of an account under this name or address."

"Ms. [Member Name Removed], memos on your account show you have lodged the same complaint multiple times dating back to May of 2014. Though you propose that all these deliveries were never made, during the entire time we have served your account you have never run out of gas or been without heat. I don't know what else we can do or say to prove to you that we are serving you."

"Mr. [Member Name Removed], we don't feel this complaint is entirely fair. You are correct that you use propane for a partial heat appliance. You are on automatic delivery and we let you run out. For that, we apologize. When you called us to report that you were out of gas, we immediately sent out a driver who filled the tank and performed the leak check. The leak check failed and we needed to have a service technician check your system. Since you were on automatic delivery, we would have done this service call at no charge, but you never responded to our phone calls to schedule the service check. You never gave us an opportunity to fix our mistake. As for your other complaints, we show no record of ever having performed any service work for you except for changing out the tank when you started service with us in 2004 after switching from Energy USA."

"[member name removed], you raise a number of points and we understand your complaint. We will address each point below, but we are left wondering...why did you not respond to any of our previous communications? - We were made aware of the property sale by the previous owner in 2011. We in-turn sent several letters to the address asking you to setup a new account with us. We even went so far to visit your home multiple times leaving door tags asking you to contact us. - We continued to mail to your address without response. Though we did not have your name, you should have seen mail coming to the address from us indicating we needed to reach the new homeowner. We even tried calling the previous owner to get information on how to reach you. - After 4 years of attempts to reach you with no response and not knowing if the tank was still in use or in safe condition, we reclaimed our property. - We understand you said you paid for the value of the propane in the tank at time of closing. We realize it has been 5 years, but all we need is some reference to this from your closing documents so we can credit you back the value of the propane and close this matter to your satisfaction."

"We have no record of serving this customer at this address. However, we recently responded to an official complaint from another [member name removed], in Belchertown MA. The response is below. On Monday, February 24th 2014, [member name removed] contacted our Palmer customer service to inquire when he was due for his next delivery at the address above. He was told a delivery ticket had been printed and he was scheduled for a delivery that week. He told our customer service representative to cancel the delivery and that he wished to terminate his service as he had selected another propane company. On Tuesday, February 25th, 2014, an Osterman service technician was dispatched to remove the Osterman propane tanks. Later that day, we received a call from [member name removed] indicating she returned home to find that the Osterman propane tanks had been removed. We explained that we had been instructed by [member name removed] to terminate service. While speaking with Mrs. [member name removed] we offered to re-install our tanks, however she advised it that was not necessary as the other propane company was going there today to install their tanks. We later called the competitor to confirm that they had, in fact, set their own tanks. Mrs. [member name removed] is asking for $443.40 which represents full reimbursement of the last propane delivery. We are certainly willing to refund the value of propane in the tank that the customer did not use for the price it was sold. Our service technician noted the tanks both read ~20% upon pickup on his work order (confirmed with a photograph of the gauge). It is our policy to refund the value of the propane remaining in the tanks as noted by the technician (less any applicable termination or equipment return charges). We will not be charging the customer any equipment return or termination charges. Refund check #6393 for $183.79 was mailed to the customer Thursday March 13, 2014. In regards to our 95 BBB complaints, that number is correct and we work hard to maintain our A+ rating with the BBB to resolve customer issues. Please keep in mind that in serving 100,000 accounts we are bound to have some unhappy customers. We continue to strive to reduce this .00095% dissatisfaction rate to zero."

"[member name removed], We are sorry that you are dissatisfied with our service and the installation. We are surprised and disappointed with this review as the correspondence between our personnel, you and your husband through this process was quite cordial and appreciative of our efforts to rectify this situation. That said, we do not entirely agree with your statement of events and would like to present our side of this situation. This all stemmed from a failure in the manifold header on the boiler. A weld in the header failed and leaked water. We assert that this is a manufacturing defect with this part and was in no way a reflection of our workmanship. As soon as we were contacted regarding the leak, we had a technician at your home within 1 hour to complete a repair. Upon completion, we believed the repair was done successfully. A second leak then appeared two weeks later, which we again assert was caused by a defective part and not our workmanship. Two days later we replaced ALL the affected parts. We differ on our definitions of a flood. The leak caused dampness on the floor and wetted the outside of a few boxes you had stored near the unit. Regarding sales tax, our quotation was given to you in anticipation of the Massachusetts Sales Tax holiday. While this tax holiday does not directly apply to this sale, we were offering a 6.25% discount for any customers who made a purchase decision at that time. The quotation clearly stated “if estimate is signed before August 30 2013” the discount would apply. You returned the quote on August 30. Though we believed our language was clear, we still honored the discount for you. At this time we have not been contacted by your homeowners insurance regarding a claim."

"[member name removed], we are sorry that you were dissatisfied with our service. Firstly, we can find no record of ever having provided propane service to a [member name removed] or having ever served that address. That said, some of portions of your complaint do match our service policies which we can address. Delivery schedule - Fireplace usage is highly preferential and there is no good way to setup a regular delivery schedule for such use. Therefore we ask fireplace users to monitor their tank gauge and call us at 30%. We are usually able to perform a delivery within a week, but we do not have specific days we go to certain towns. Service charges - Should your tank run empty, we must have a delivery driver or service technician enter your home and perform a safety & leak check. This can take as little as 10 minutes or significantly longer based on the number of propane appliances in your home. For that service we charge a fee. $85 fee - In our customer agreement, we make customers aware of our minimum usage charge. In order to defray the costs of the propane tank, insurance and managing your account, we ask that customers use one tank full of propane per year. Based on your tank size, this fee was $85. We are sorry that you received this fee near the same time that you took a delivery, but our fee schedule is based on a consistent calendar time frame. In this case, the fee would not have been charged in coming year as you had taken a tank full of propane."

"(Member name removed), we are sorry that you are dissatisfied with our service. You brought up a number of issues that we would like to respond to, point by point. Town inspector - We performed the installation at your home according the state plumbing and gasfitting codes. However, final approval is subject to the town inspector. For this specific installation, your inspector required that it be sleeved in PVC. We have never encountered such a request from any town and had no reason to expect that this inspector would want it. However, we made the changes requested at no additional cost to you. Project schedule - We did our best to prioritize the work and inspections but unfortunately, we do not control the hours that your town performs inspections and in that respect our hands were tied. We have worked very hard to accommodate your schedule and the timeline for this project considering the circumstances. We do not feel this criticism is fair. Technician booties - Absolutely our fault. The technician should have worn booties and for that we apologize."

"We are sorry that you are dissatisfied with our service. Osterman Propane acquired the assets of Energy USA in Feb 2012. In order to provide more efficient service to Energy USA customers, we notified these customers via mail of our policies and procedures. Where EnergyUSA charged $6 delivery charge and $6 per month tank rental, Osterman has an $85 annual minimum usage charge. In order to defray the high costs of tanks, insurance and servicing low volume customer accounts, we ask that customers use one tankful of propane a year. If not, we ask them to pay a fee based on the tank size we have provided. If you had contacted us directly, based on your usage and tank size, we would have gladly downsized your tank allowing you to avoid this fee. Again, EnergyUSA had at least $78 in mandatory fees which you were paying. Osterman has an $85 fee which could have been avoided by either using more propane, or simply calling us to evaluate your options."