Some years back, I switched to propane for my stove/oven, hot water, and clothes dryer. I signed up with Suburban Propane, just several blocks from here. Things went well, after an initial glitch, but the price kept jumping up. It seemed that every time I would get a delivery, I would have to call the office, speak to the manager (Steve Watson), and get a readjustment. It was a certain amount of trouble. So I started scouting around for a possible change to another supplier, and I found Dolphin Gas. They're up in Miami Gardens, they're a small local company, and they made me just the offer I wanted. They weren't one of those big corporates, like Suburban, with middle managers to pay, they could easily undercut Suburban's price, and they could turn on a dime. I could call any time, and I'd be speaking with the owner. How satisfying is that! Done.
The trouble started almost immediately. The price to rent the tank was higher, but that was going to be OK, because I'd save on the price of gas. I'd come out ahead, they reassured. I agreed to rent the tank, as opposed to buying it, as I rented with Suburban, but what I didn't find out until after the tank was installed was that I had to buy the regulator. It cost $195. And I had no use in the world for this piece, except to connect to the gas tank. If I'm renting the tank, and I can only use the regulator as an attachment for the tank, why isn't it part of what I'm renting? It was part of the rented tank with Suburban. That's just the way we do it, they explained, as if the explanation was satisfactory. Or rational.
Then, the deliveries started. The price was as advertised at first, but it didn't stay that way. This led to the same quarterly argument I used to have with Suburban, except now I was resentful. And Dolphin would come by when they wanted, and threaten to charge me a "trip fee" if I wasn't there to take delivery. They always reversed the penalty, but it was a waste of my time, and it left me even more resentful. Finally, I got a bill that was higher than I expected, and I called to inquire. It seems I didn't use as much gas as I used to, and they didn't have to replace as much. So they applied the minimum charge, which was very high per gallon. I asked the owner, Linda, about this, and she asked me if there were less people living in the house since last November. Yes, in fact, there were. Apparently, this is the standard result of a kid going off to college, or a couple who are no longer a couple. But instead of calling to readjust the schedule of delivery, they just kept up the quarterly deliveries, and charged me more. So now, I'm going back to Suburban, who are much easier to deal with, and I have no further complaints.
About three years ago, I had gotten one too many mailings from ATT/Uverse, and decided it didn't make sense not to save the money. I agreed to switch. On three conditions. One, I must have a wired line. I depend on my phone system. Two, Uverse must save me money. And three, my wife likes to watch TV, and she has favorite shows. She must have her shows. One, no problem. We're fully wired. Two, no problem. You will save money. Three, we can't look it up right now, to check your wife's preferences, but we have loads of contracts with networks, and we keep getting more. So assume no problem. OK, I switched. How long will my phone be out of commission for the switch? Maybe 20 minutes. Done.
The first bill was artificially high, with the usual initial smoke and mirrors, but I knew to expect it. The second bill, the real charge, was only a few dollars more than my regular ATT bill was. Um, really? I know it's not much, but it's more. It was supposed to be less. And while we're discussing this, let me just be completely sure. The system is 100% wired, just like regular ATT, right? Right. Until the line gets to the outside of your house, where it ends in a box with a transmitter and a battery. Battery? How long does that last, when the power goes off? Four hours. Then you're done, with no phone. And by the way, my wife can't find one of her favorite shows. Can you look for it for me, so I can tell her what channel it is? Ah, we don't yet have a contract with that network.
OK, we're done. I want to go back to ATT. Switch it. No problem, but you'll be without internet for two weeks. What? It didn't take two hours to switch it from ATT. Why does it take two weeks to switch to ATT? It just does. Fine, we'll do it in August. My wife and I will be away for two weeks.
So the switch occurred. And for one week of the time, there was no voicemail, either, and ATT chose to replace my voicemail with a computer recording saying the number was no longer in service. This is what callers, including business schedulers, heard. I was, shall we say, not happy? Do you want to know if ATT offered me a year's free telephone, or a month's, or a week's? No, they did not. It's really too bad I'm so dependent on a wired landline. Otherwise, I'd be done with the whole scam.
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