Dowdle Gas Company

[Tango]

I live off grid. After studying the alternatives I decided to cook and heat water with propane - there is also a stand-by generator run by propane that is on my "to get" list. When my mason told me he couldn't finish the fireplace until spring, heating with propane took priority. I went to Dowdle Gas Company on Nov 7th (actually before then but had to go to a different office further away). Their installation tech had "quit" I was told and it took three weeks to get the tank and the (lines to the above mentioned appliances, they didn't actually install the appliances). At one point I rescheduled because the water heater hadn't arrived and my rescheduling was not placed on the calender.- another 2 calls. The people who came to my cabin were a service tech and the office manager to the Savannah, TN office. The manager mentioned lighting with propane lights and I started a thread here asking for feedback. I purchased the lights on EBay and called for installation. They told me they had no one to install them. The call to this office is long distance for me- I had already called more than half dozen times the first time. Three more calls to them and they gave me the name of a person who could install the lights and an additional heater since the first one wasn't sufficient for the whole cabin. That person -long distance- was backed up beyond acceptable. Meanwhile the office manager who had recommended the lights to begin with either quit or was fired. I called the Dowdle office in Waynesboro and they suggested I call the regional manager to let him know of the troubles because they had gotten many complaints about it The regional manager Joe Wallace, was a complete @ss. He told me there was an installer in the Savannah office and that I was the person who had called complaining about her griddle. I don't own a griddle. He told me that my driveway wasn't sufficient for them to deliver and that he was "going to take [his] tank back!" I was frantic since it was Friday afternoon and without a tank we would have no heat. No one had mentioned the lack of a driveway to me before- the road is worn down meadow to my house. I paid $7K for a bridge to cross the creek, which the first team hadn't even used. Keep in mind a log cabin has been built here without a road or bridge- concrete trucks have come through, trucks loaded with lumber, septic, etc. No problems. Their truck got stuck coming to refill because he came in the wrong way and backed up. My neighbor pulled him out. Meanwhile I got a second company to install a tank- same worn down road, same creek) and they are installing the additional heater and lights. This company said that Dowdle was bought out and that some managers had been fired. Whatever the excuse Dowdle has very poor customer service and their regional manager is flat out nasty. I'm writing mylocal newspaper and wanted to warn any new propane customers looking for service. Dowdle is troubled.

[moopups]

Can you supply us with an e-mail address? This board will straighten it out if you can provide an address........

[DrippingSprings]

I bought a rental once and when I had dowdle come out to inspect the furnace I told him to bring out a tank and set it and connect the lines etc and send me a bill. Well they did all of that. I decided I was going to need to do some serious interior work over the winter before I wanted to rent it. I called dowdle and told them to come out and fill the tank and put it on my bill for my house I lived in.

So they filled it with gas. i worked out there five days total. I would turn the heat on and go get supplies and come back an hour or two later. By then it was warm enough to work in there. Well I show up on the 6th day and the pilot light is out. I tried and tried to light it. i noticed I smelled no gassy smell. Went out to the tank and it read below the 5 percent line and was pretty much empty.

I called that day. They came out and said I must have had a leaking line. They went over the entire gas line that they had installed themselves two weeks earlier. They tried to charge me for it. I got a little grumpy as if it were in fact leaking its because their guy didnt do his job. They dropped the charge.

Three weeks later and after 250 more gallons all of a sudden Im out of gas again. I call they say bad line again. I demand a refill for the gas they wasted this time. They filled the tank for.

I check it four work days later and its almost half gone. it should have lasted two months at normal rates of usage 24/7. I was going to call again and was quite livid when a neighboring house owner came over and explained he saw the Dowdle guy in his truck at my house about 8pm the night before.

Long story short he was taking gas out of the tank and selling it to other customers and putting it in his pocket. He was fired. I refused to pay for the gas as at this time they were into me for about 400 gals I never got to use.

Eventually they turned it over to a credit and collection agency. I went to court and got my money and blemish off my credit. i switched to another company and have never had a problem since.

[bearkiller]

Tango,

You are not alone in dealing with gas vermin. Here in California I have used up every propane dealing within 200 miles. Every one thinks they are God's Gift and miserable to deal with. I've had them outright lie to me, make appointments and not keep them, not be in their office during business hours, and refuse to service their own equipment. Simply put, every propane company is troubled!

I finally checked the state regulations and learned that here we can load and haul our own cylinders full or empty with no restrictions on cylinders sized below 125 gallons. I bought a 100 gallon cylinder and keep it on a small trailer. When it empties, I hook up and go. I buy gas from one of the two gas companies that has not been a major pain in the rear. The Calif. Highway Patrol told me there are NO restrictions on the number of cylinders I can haul at one time, though I only haul one.

Regarding installing gas piping, it is NOT difficult. It is simply screwing pipes together to get from here to there. Once it is all done, cap off all ends and install a pressure gauge. The line must hold 15 psi (air) for 15 minutes. If you can pass that, you're good to go. If you want more details pm me.

bearkiller

[texican]

Please educate me. Seriously.

Is it the propane company's responsibility to come out and install appliances? Around here, they sell propane. They'll deliver it wherever/whenever, as long as the road is passable.

I would 'buy' some propane, just to get someone else besides myself to fix or replace some of my plumbing adventures.

Same situation with natural gas companies...

If you have a problem, away from their line (meter run or tank), it's the homeowners responsibility to call a plumber to come do the work.

I have free natural gas, and if I have any problems, in the house, or outside, all the way to where it comes out of the ground, I get to fix it myself.

[BCR]

So texican--say you spend $500 a year on natural gas line issues---thats still under $60 a month ($2 a day). Not too bad really.

I have free gas and have made friends with the well tender who educates me and helps take care of our gas. Well worth it.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Yup, the propane companies sell and install propane appliances.

[mightybooboo]

Originally Posted by Rose

Yup, the propane companies sell and install propane appliances.

"I sell propane and propane accessories"

Hank Hill

[fordy]

..................I've been buying propane from the same company for the 11 years I've been living on my land . They even let make payments over a 3 or 4 month period which I appreciate greatly . I usually purchase about 350 gallons one ayear but since the price has doubled I can't afford to do that anymore. I had 150 gal's delivered back in October which put me at 40% but I anticipate having to purchase another 100 gals before the cold weather is over . fordy...

[bearkiller]

Texican,

Here in the People's Republic ALL of the propane companies deliver propane AND sell various appliances, service appliances owned by customers, repair any tank problems with customer owned tanks, etc, etc. etc. NOT just pump it and go.

bearkiller

[Tango]

Moopups I don't have an e-mail for them, wish I did.

Texican, for me they installed only the gas lines. It is a new cabin. The plumber installed the water heater and I installed the propane heater and stove. But without lines, which the gas company installs, I can't do anything. They do however sell, deliver, and install gas appliances and both companies I've dealt with have offered to install the appliance I buy independently.

Propane prices ar every high right now which is why I want to heat with wood. Even though technically I'm off grid I don't feel I'm completely off the grid when I rely on a company who can remove their tank from my property on a whim.

[MagnoliaSummers]

website is www.dowdlegas.com

We currently use Dowdle here (Northeast Mississippi) and believe me, it isn't by "choice" but merely a necessity! We live "too far" from any other gas company -- have tried to use others but always get the same response once given the address: "ya'll are not in the "area" we serve!" and so we are forced to use the only gas company that will bring us gas -- yep, Dowdle! Ughhh, they're troubled all right -- just seem to have surly, hard-to-get-along-with attitudes and not to mention they normally have higher than average (compared to other companies in the area) prices.

Thankfully, we have a nice man that services our route -- no hassles, almost always comes when he's supposed to, always leaves a bill on the door and doesn't try to drive through the front yard to get to the tank at the end of our house -- as a previous driver did several years ago -- what a MESS -- it was rainy and ground was very muddy and this genuis drives out into the yard -- almost got stuck, plowed up the yard and left huge ruts -- and then had the nerve to complain to the office that we were inaccessible?? He was "new" to our route of course, but oddly enouh every other driver had been able to reach it by pulling around into the back drive and stretching out the hose -- no biggie! This dude, however, acted like the only way to pump gas into the tank was to be sitting on top of it!! He must have thought all that hose was just to haul around for nothing! go figure! Needless to say, my dear mother was quite unhappy to say the least. She called Dowdle and complained -- long and loud LOL! Apparently they'd had a few other complaints about that guy too since they did not seem surprised and he was not sent back out onto the route again! Just wish that we had more of a "choice" and they had more "competition" -- would sure shake things here up!

DeAnna