Kathy Foley has had a nightmarish winter with Superior Plus Propane. When temperatures inside her Adams, Massachusetts, home plummeted and she smelled gas, Foley was shocked when she realized her tank was empty.
“We were completely out of propane, which is our primary source of heat and also the only source of our hot water," she told WAMC. "So, it took me quite a while to get through to them, including on the emergency line. When I finally did, they said, oh, your account has been placed on hold. I said, why? I don't owe you anything, we're on auto delivery, we're on auto pay, I've never owed you anything. Oh, well, that must be by mistake.”
Foley reports that navigating Superior Plus’s customer support was Kafkaesque. She pressed buttons indicating an urgent situation that led her either in circles or to pre-recorded ads.
“Finally, after days of trying, I got through to somebody. Oh, we don't know why you're on hold. You've already got a ticket, it's fine. We'll be out real soon, I'm sure you'll be fine till Friday," she sighed. "This was probably a Monday or Tuesday. I said we're not going to be fine. We went through 80% in 10 days, we have 17% left- You're going to be fine. You'll probably be fine through the weekend, but either way, somebody's coming in a couple of days. Make sure the path is shoveled, you're plowed, even the tanks are uncovered. I said, all that has been done the whole time.”
Since then, Foley says she’s heard nothing — and now she can’t wait to move on from Superior Plus after this season.
“We have a wood stove, and we were able, luckily, to finally find somebody who, at this date, could bring us a couple of cords of wood," said Foley. "So, I'm sitting and doing everything in front of the wood stove, and we are just using the last little bit, we've been saving the tank since the point in my story where I said that we were down below 20%. We're we're not doing laundry, we're not running the dishwasher very often, and not calling these other companies, because people are in a worse situation than us. They don't have another source of heat, and we're lucky enough that we do, but we're also still stuck now.”
Jim Dunn of Belchertown in Hampshire County said after pre-paying Superior Plus Propane for automatic refills this season, he found his tank nearly empty as temperatures plunged well below zero across the region. He said attempts to reach the company were deeply frustrating.
“Each of these calls was a minimum of 40 minutes on hold," he told WAMC. "One was at least an hour before I got through. And I said, listen, you guys have been promising me repeatedly that you're going to come by and you don't. And they were very snippy with me about it, and almost angry about the fact that they have been repeatedly telling me that truck is coming, in spite of the fact that I kept telling them the truck has not come by.”
Eventually, Dunn had to find a different propane supplier to pick up the slack and deliver the essential fuel. He told WAMC that he’s done with Superior Plus after the experience.
“I sent an email that indicated that they breached their contract, and then why I wanted all fees waived, because they charge you to pick up their tanks, which is hysterical- It's their equipment!" said Dunn. "And the other thing to realize is, because they own the tanks, no other propane company will touch them. So, in effect, they have you held hostage because you can't get your tanks filled.”
Scott Schneider of Colrain in rural Northern Franklin County said he found his tank had dropped to 4% this month – well below the level that should have triggered an autofill from Superior Plus.
“I mean, we pay X amount every month, and they should come out and fill the tanks, and I shouldn't be calling them for them to come out in worry of being out of propane and losing hot water and heat and everything for the house,” he told WAMC.
He says the disparity between what Superior Plus has promised customers and what has been delivered is unacceptable.
“They have the GPS monitoring units on the tanks- On their website, it says it should be stress free, once you get to a certain level, we'll be out to fill it," said Schneider. "That's fine and dandy, but when I was on the phone with them, the lady said, even though the GPS is on the propane tanks, you still could run out. So, what's the point of the GPS, then?”
Jennifer Thomson of Lee in Berkshire County told WAMC that when she came home from work to find a cold house, empty tank, a heavy smell of gas, and visible vapors, it took ages to get in touch with Superior Plus — this despite indicating it was an emergency. When she finally heard back from a company representative, the answer was lacking.
“She called me back to tell me that none of her on call technicians were answering, and the only thing her manager said was to call 911," Thomson told WAMC.
When the refill truck with propane finally got to Thomson’s colder and colder home, the driver made concerning allegations about his own company.
“The driver said to get rid of this company," Thomson told WAMC. "The driver said they are letting all of [their tanks], even monitored and automatic delivery, they are letting them go down to empty and then charging emergency fill up fees and then filling up so then they can charge more money to fill the tank up from like zero or 2%, that they have fired people, they're bringing drivers in from California that don't know the routes, and to get out of this company.”
When those claims were brought directly to Superior Plus, the company outright ignored them, instead offering a statement almost identical to the first one it issued to WAMC earlier this week.
In the statement, Superior Plus acknowledged delays for customers, citing extreme cold, heavy snowfall, and difficult road conditions, offered an apology and commitment to improve service, and said it’s brought in more staff from neighboring markets to address the situation. One addition to the most recent statement is the assertion that fuel is delivered “based on customers’ actual usage, weather conditions, and delivery timing.”
For Kathy Foley, still waiting for her propane refill in Adams in the winter cold, Superior Plus’s negligence is deeply troubling.
“This is despicable," she told WAMC. "I'm just completely disgusted, and I'm flabbergasted, absolutely flabbergasted. When I get a minute, I'm going to make a complaint to the attorney general, because this is just outrageous, especially this winter.”
