So, about the second week of November, I received a post card in the mail from Amerigas with a promotional offer for a first fill-up with them. I own my own 500 gallon propane tank, so I thought I could save a little $$$ and gave them a call on 11/15. They offered me the price of $1.60 per gal, which is normally $1.95 a gallon, plus a $100 Visa pre-paid card. However, since I had never purchased propane from them before, they told me that they'd have to inspect all of our appliances and our tank to be certain they were in good working order. That inspection would cost me $100. I told them to forget it, as I just had my furnace checked and I wasn't going to spend $100 when I know everything is in good order. They told me that they would waive the $100 fee, but they still had to do the inspection. Fine with me and we scheduled it for 11/21. I told them I was at 20% on my tank.
On 11/21 the inspector came. Nice guy, we chatted a lot and he gave everything a clean bill of health. I asked when I should expect the delivery of my propane and he told me that it might come later that day, but certainly by the next day.
On 11/25, I had not yet received a delivery of propane, so I called again. This time, I spoke with their service center in BFE. I could not determine what accent the customer service person had, but it was certainly in a 3rd world country. The person I spoke with told me that no order for propane had every been placed for me, so they placed an order. I told them that I was at 15% and needed the delivery soon. They told me that the delivery would be coming soon.
By 11/28 I had not received the delivery, I called again, getting a hold of the same call center as before. I was told that my propane would be delivered on Friday, 12/2. I told them it better damn well be delivered then, as I was down to 10%.
Yesterday, 12/2, I did not get a delivery by 12:00 noon, so I called again and raised hell with customer service and demanded to speak with a supervisor, as I was down to 8%. I was eventually connected to Amy somewhere in the US. Amy was the first person I spoke with who knew what the heck they were doing. She was very polite, very apologetic, and after some digging, she discovered the problem. The customer service person from BFE that I spoke with on 11/25 did not look in the new customer service files, but in regular customer files. When she didn't see my order, she assumed that one was never placed. When she entered the new order, it cancelled my old order and I was starting from ground zero and would not have gotten the special pricing nor the $100 Visa card. Amy fixed everything and told me that my delivery would be within 24-48 hours, as that was the best that she could do. I told her I was down to 7% and need the order ASAP.
I did not get the delivery today and they don't deliver on Sundays. So, I hope that my propane lasts until they get here on Monday...
Special price or not, I am not impressed with Amerigas!