As a customer/former client of Modern Gas, a subsidiary of Inergy Propane, I may never do business with them again. In my first year as a client, the unit price of liquid propane was about $1.00/gallon. In my fourth year as a client, the last price I paid was $4.00/gallon. During this time, I switched to the ""Budget Plan"", a plan in which the company estimates a customer's projected propane usage and charges the customer a flat monthly rate (as opposed to the alternative, in which the customer pays in full for each propane delivery). This (the ""budget"" plan) became a necessary choice for me as a customer with an annual income of approximately $10,000. Modern Gas, interestingly enough, offers lower per unit rates (bulk rates) for their higher-usage clients, which, to me, represents patronage to Higher Income Clients and Businesses; it also represents a brilliant way of raising continued funds for the operation of ""The Business"". \r
When I recently cancelled my propane account in frustration with the $4.00/per gallon price, I was told by a customer service rep from the Pleasantville, New Jersey office that it might take a ""few weeks"" for the excess monies ($374.33) in my Budget Account to be refunded to me via check and the United States Postal System. I was flabbergasted and enraged, as I have, with the exception of 1 month in a 4 1/2 year period, paid my bill promptly (during the month that I chose to delay my Budget payment, I had a Credit with the company, and I notified them of my wishes to delay payment and double up on my payment the following month, which I did). When I requested the phone number for the corporate office in Missouri, I was told that ""we don't give out that information"". (Yes, by then, I was doing a slow burn and turning into a She-Devil). As a person with a fax machine and computer in my home, I am still baffled and confused as to why business is handled via ""Snail Mail"" (the U. S. P. S). I now use electric heat. : )
Pros: Employees (particularly the females) are, for the most part, cordial.
Cons: Company displays little interest in keeping their Low-Money customers long-term.
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