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I inherited Ostermans when me and my 2 children moved into my grandparents house. After a week of living there I ran out of propane on a Sunday. Monday I called to have them filled, only to be told I would have to wait until Wednesday. I then again called them on Monday and told them I had 2 small children and needed propane asap. They said they could do it for a extra $100 bucks then. Apprantly money talks with them. Service tech comes out fills the tanks, and tells me he can't turn the tanks on because he detects a leak, so now I will have to wait for the next service tech to come out. He shows up, says there is no leak and turns them on. Fast forward 2 1/2 months and I running out of propane. Keep in mind I use propane for hot water and my gas cooking stove only. So once again they come out and they find the leak, they fix it and then refill my tanks charging me another $180 dollars. After I called and complained I spoke with Steve who stated he would credit me $25. I do not mind paying some of the bill but almost all it does not seem fair considering if they fixed the leak detected in the first place, the bill would have no been this much. There customer service skills are minimal, and I found one lady to be rather rude when I first called and stated I needed propane. If I owned my tanks I would be shopping around for new a new propane company.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
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Osterman Propane is the worst business on the planet. They are price fixing and as mentioned in many of the other complaints, they are trying to rip the consumer off at every turn - whether it's calling in "accidentally" misstating prices or banging people over the head for delivery fees just because they are not on their monthly service plan. And as far as the monthly service plan goes...that is the biggest scam of all. They conveniently put propane in your tank when the prices are high. When I got off the plan - (I was on a plan for about five years), my yearly cost for propane dropped 35%. They were totally ripping me off. Stay away from Osterman - If you are buying a house - tell the sellers to buy the tank out or otherwise get Osterman off the property!
I received my bill from filling my tank today. The charge was 3.99/gal because my home does not use propane for heat. I called a competitor who said my first tank fill would 2.79/gal and then 2.99 going forward and that it mat be less depending on my situation - LESS! I called Ostermann and asked why I was being charged 1.00 more per gallon and they said they could lower it. They didn't answer my question though. They have always been rude to deal with and I they charge an MUC charge which I think is ridiculous! The oil companies do not do this and I think the propane companies have no right charging different rates or usage fees! Time to call the attorney general!
I just finally got rid of osterman propane, they gave the absolute worst pricing and service, extremely nasty, charged over 1.25 OVER everyone else's prices per gallon with no regard when I called to complain. They don't care when they lose customers and would not lower the prices. I have now a new supplier and they are great and professional!
Just moved into a new apartment that has this company for propane. The previous tenant left us with only 9%. We are about to run out and will have no heat or hot water. We call to have an emergency delivery. We were told we had to send in an application and wait for it to be approved. So we do that. However, we planned on paying for it right away, so why can't they deliver it while we wait to get our application approved ? Called back today and they haven't gotten to our application yet. Seriously ? It's not like this is our fault and we just ignored the tank and let it get low. We just moved in last weekend and have been trying to get something set up all week. We understand we have to pay the fee for the emergency delivery you would think they would jump to help us to get more money out of it, but nope. Not to mention they are going to get paid right away. Now I am reading all these reviews and I am having anxiety from them along with the anxiety I already had about running out of propane.
I agree I just spoke to someone in their credit department who was nasty. I can not understand charging for non-usage on top of that late charges on the non-usage. I only use it for cooking myself and this charge is outrageous. I plan to notify my local Rep to try to get these fees revisited.
On the ticket when they filled my propane tank said I took 7.9 gallons. On the ticket it said Grand total due.was $23.77. I sent a check for $23.77on 10/2/2012, Then they said they never got it, I looked in my account and the checked never showed up! They said they don't controll the mail! Then on 10/25/2012 they said I owed $83.77 I didn't pay that! Now I have a bill sent to me on 11/25/12 for $34.02. I only use Propane for my Stove for cooking and I only used 7.9 Gallons. Then they said I would have to use 40 gal. if I don't they will still charge over $ 80.00. I'm not happy with this Company at all! I'm Social security. They can't make up there mind on what to charge me and I can't see them charging me that much! The people next door only paid $ 7 and some change. Whats up with this!
Osterman has intentionally screwed me on several occasions over the years. They bump me up to some 'corporate rate' that is about $1 per gallon higher than the typical home rate. Whenever I discover this, they say it was an accident and put me back down to the normal rate. On one occasion, I hadn't checked my bill carefully enough and simply paid it. When I challenged it the following month, they claimed they couldn't refund previous months, even though it was their 'error'.
As mentioned, it's happened several times now. It's NOT an error, and one can only assume they are gouging thousands of customers in similar fashion. I wonder how many simply pay at the higher rate without checking current LP prices? It seems there are a lot of people that are forced to pay whatever these folks charge simply because Osterman owns the tanks. My advice... ditch these clowns at the first opportunity! This will be my last season with Osterman.