County ProFlame - El Cajon

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On 4/15/2015 they charged $1.89 per gallon of propane delivered.  This was after I called and complained that their original bill was far above other local providers.  Again, on 12/19/2015 I was billed for an "automatic refill at $4.759 per gallon!  The first alternate provider I called quoted $2.50 , close to half.  Again I called and complained and was told that "many people are calling to complain".  It appears that automatic refilling may be considered a license to steal:  Bill huge amounts then agree to adjust if the homeowner complains.  They're going to rebill at the lower amount, but this time, when the tank runs low, I'm moving to another provider.  County Proflame is owned by Amerigas, a national company.  Propane, unlike natural gas or other fuels, appears to have no oversight of pricing.  As a result, unscrupulous vendors have the latitude to charge just about whatever they wish, if they can get away with it.   Heaven help us if one company ever gets control of most of the distribution, or if they collude in price setting.  Based upon my brief research, $4.759 per gallon may have been the highest price in the nation, by a long shot.

Their price per gallon was outrageous. We were with them for 10 years probably and terminated our service with them in July. The propane charges were fluctuating quite a bit. The last bill was almost $5 a gallon. We questioned and once we indicated we were going to change the service, then they started trying to negotiate the price they charged. Their customer service was very poor. They were pretty indifferent about what they were charging us until they knew we were going to change suppliers. Then, they wanted to negotiate.

I purchased my home in Jan 2012, I was informed that the tank on the property belonged to the home.
Shortly afterwards County ProFlame claimed that the tank was theirs only because it was painted with a yellow hood which was recognized by their driver as he was driving by which indicates that they had not record of this tank until thier driver drove by my home.
I requested that they provide a copy of the title to me so I can keep it with my records, I have been waiting over a year and my last communication with them, they were less than professional.
I have been monitoring my usage of propane and have noticed that my usage and their billing does not correlate.
I suspect that they are not filling my tank but charging me based upon a formula rather than my usage, especially since my tank lasted 8 months before I allowed them to fill it, now it lasts less than 3 months and my usage has gone down.
Since they do not feel they need to prove to me that the tank is theirs I will terminate my dealings with them and keep them away from MY tank as I do not like thieves or con artists.
I have lost faith in this company and certainly do not recommend them as they have demonstrated that they do not hold customers in any regard.
Buyer beware...

We are on ProFlame’s metered system and phone in our meter reading monthly. We then get billed monthly for what ever we used – very convenient. The person taking our information on the phone is very friendly when we call in. ProFlame only fills the tank when it is below a threshold.
We generally use very little gas (mobile home) – only filling the tank about once a year. On one of their last trips out to fill, the delivery man noticed that the regulator was very old (Proflame owns the equipment). They returned very quickly and replaced the old part.
Not sure if we are getting the best price (per gallon), but our usage is so low that I don't think it matters that much.

They are just a general propane company for my neighborhood and I didn't pick them out individually. I don't particularly like any of the propane companies because I think they don't give a break up on pricing, when the price of their product goes down; but as far as I think, they all are kind of on the same boat. They are punctual though. They have won good business as far as punctuality goes and giving good service. They gave me a leaky tank one time. I bought a propane ahead of time and they allowed me to do that. I paid for it during the summer, when the prices were lower. I have had an agreement with them to take the delivery once, regardless of what the prices were when they went up. When I wanted to take the delivery, they had to jump through a lot of hoops and they wanted to disregard the order, even though they had taken my credit card and charged me a few months earlier. It was a real fiasco to get them to honor what we had agreed to. It was an unusual thing for them and I just called them to ask if they would sell the propane like buying at its current price and delivering it later and they said they would do it. They took my card and charged me for it. When it was time asking for delivery, they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. I would use them again because they have contracts with our neighborhood and we have 232 homes in our neighborhood. I get all of a bit of a price break because they are tied in for the whole neighborhood.

They showed up on time, they had everything they needed to do the job. Electrical prices are very high here so unless I want to change my house over then propane is what you have to use. When they say they will be here they will be but I will switch to someone else. I have a contract but not much of one. They own the tank so if I switch then they take their tank and whoever I sign with brings their tank. This last 1/2 year they turned out to be the highest so I will be switching,