United Propane United Propane charging amazingly high rates for propane Frederick, Maryland

 United Propane is charging more than twice the average rate!

 United Propane is my propane provider. I called to find out what the current rate would be for my next refill and was shocked to discover they were about to charge me $6.49 per gallon! I called another local dealer and discovered the standard rate is $2.59, and based on my usage rate, and with tank rental, my rate would be $3.09. I haven't even shopped around yet! I quickly called and asked them to remove their tank from my property.

 I was a United Propane customer for about 15 years. I clearly remember the sales person telling me there was no reason to buy my own propane tank because I would still pay the same rate per gallon, and if I decided later that I wanted to own the tank I could buy it from them for whatever it was worth. Some years later I tried to buy the tank and they wouldn't sell it to me. I was told they would have to remove that one, then sell me a new one and charge me to install it. Very expensive.

 So the excuse they give everyone is they need to charge you more because you use a low volume of gas. I understand the concept of a volume discount, but at these rates, the person who uses twice the ammount of fuel pays out less annually then the person who uses 1/2 that ammount. That is an interesting pricing structure. And I think it fits well with the idea of going green and conserving energy. The less you use the more you'll spend in energy bills. The government wants to give out tax credits to install a high efficiency furnace. If I do I'll wind up paying out more for propane!

I consider this to be a big rip off. I'm sure it's all very legal, as it should be in a free economy, but thanks to sites like ripoffreport.com we can at least give one another fair warning.