Suburban Propane Price Gouging Chapin South Carolina

The customer, by allowing a propane supplier to service their account on an auto-refill basis, trusts that the propane supplier will deliver gas at relatively competitive rates. This is not the case with Suburban Propane and perhaps all bulk propane suppliers. Suburban Propane charges 60 to 70 percent more for gas delivered to customers that do not negotiate prices ahead of time or contest the invoiced price for gas delivered.

As an example consider an October 21, 2014 delivery of 400 gallons of propane. The invoice price for the delivery was $4.219 per gallon or $1,685.49. Competitive suppliers were contacted and quoted prices of $2.34 per gallon and $2.69 per gallon for delivered gas. When contacted about the invoice the propane supplier initially offered to reduce the price to $3.36 per gallon, this was refused by the customer. The next offer of $2.99 per gallon was also refused by the customer. The final offer of $2.64 per gallon accepted by the customer reduced the total bill by $630.81.

It may be said that this was a one time occurrence, an anomaly, a mistake in pricing that rarely happens and was quickly remedied. The fact is that this is the third time that this has happened and appears to be a standard practice intentionally used to over-charge unsuspecting customers.

Unfortunately many customers blindly accept the prices charged without ever considering the regional going rate for propane gas. This is especially true of the elderly, many of whom depend on propane heat for their homes.

It would be prudent for anyone having bulk propane delivered to their residence to solicit competitive prices before blindly accepting the prices being charged by their normal supplier. The law makers elected to work in the best interest of the citizens should consider legislation that would severely penalize this type of price gouging.