Amerigas Vs Blue Rhino

On the TV show “King of the Hill”, Hank Hill works for a how to become a python developer full guide software development that sells “Propane and propane accessories”. Yes that is the real name of the propane company in Arnold, California . You pay only for what you get even if your tank is not empty . If you get a TS2 valve, you may be stuck exchanging with the same company. You pay for a full tank even if your return tank is not yet empty.

When filled the tank often gets cold due to some evaporation of the liquid. If the tank is then left out in the sun the liquid would expand. If all goes well, the safety pressure value would vent the excess liquid. This would be somewhat of a safety problem as you have escaping highly flammable gas.

Only reason I got an exchange in the first place is my valve was not woking very well. In the Matter of Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., et al., FTC Docket No. 9360, Complaint (Mar. 27, 2014), available at /​system/​files/​documents/​cases/​140401amerigascomplaint.pdf. That settlement, one of the parties, Blue Rhino, also agreed to provide additional antitrust compliance training to relevant company personnel. One can only assume that AmeriGas took comparable steps following the settlement. In light of these considerations and others, scarce Commission resources would have been better spent pursuing other, more worthwhile matters.

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You will seldom, if ever, receive 80% (of Water Content-WC) which is what is considered a full tank from any supplier who fills an OPD equipped tank. This is simply because the OPD will close and prevent the tank from being further filled. OPD’s are relatively crude mechanical devices and are not calibrated when installed in your tank. They are designed to ensure that the tanks are not over-filled. They will however often result in a tank being under-filled as this is not a safety concern.

You could buy a new tank, but you can just exchange the existing one. Check that you are getting a tank that is not close to its recertification date . The propane exchange company will simply recertify your old tank and reuse it. They have people that can do that and it is very cheap for them due to their volume. Refilling is generally the way to go, but always compare prices.

The retail store will allow you to pick the Blue Rhino tank you want. So there is a chance that you can find a tank from Blue Rhino that is OPD and is refillable at your local propane dealer. But you need to look for the telltale TS2 indention to be sure.

Buy my own propane tank or swap with Blue Rhino/Amerigas?

Some places charge by the tank, not by the gallon. There is a disadvantage here if you are refilling a tank that is not empty. You should also make sure that they will be filling the tank to the full capacity.

Walmart purchases tanks from both Blue Rhino and AmeriGas and initially refused to accept the planned fill reduction. Blue Rhino and AmeriGas understood they could not sustain the fill reduction unless it was accepted by Walmart. Blue Rhino’s customer Lowe’s accepted the fill reduction only on the condition that all of Blue Rhino’s other customers, including Walmart, also accept the fill reduction within a short period of time. Faced with resistance from Walmart, Blue Rhino and AmeriGas colluded by secretly agreeing that neither would deviate from their proposal to reduce the fill level to Walmart. You know what I’m talking about — almost every Wal-Mart, Big Box Hardware Store, and even many convenience stores have those cages where you can exchange your 5 gallon propane tank for a “full” tank.

There are several methods of recertification and it is too lengthy a subject to get into regarding the different methods of recertification and timelines for each type . Try and find someone locally who is licensed to rectify tanks — it usually isn’t easy — and there is a cost of course. It requires you to invert the 20lb cylinder to have liquid propane flow to the 1 lb cylinder. In any case, weighing will probably give you a better indication than your average car’s gas gauge will. I have one vehicle which sticks on Full for a long time then quickly drops. My new car has an 18.5 gallon tank, but the gas gauge and the electronic “range left” indicator thinks it will run out after using only 13 or 14 gallons.

There are several reports on the net that the https://coinbreakingnews.info/s filled by Blue Rhino only have 17.5 lbs of propane, not 20. Or whether this is an OPD phenomenon due to possible void space left in the tank by the float interlock. The Federal Trade Commisstion issued a complaint against Blue Rhino and AmeriGas in March over the agreement by the two companies to reduce the amount of propane in the tanks.

Our Consumer Protection lawyers believe in holding companies accountable for harm. If you’re injured by a lithium-ion battery explosion or fire, rely on a law firm with specialized experience for help. Our legal team is experienced, professional, and ready to help. Use our visualizations to explore scam and fraud trends in your state based on reports from consumers like you. While overblown and unlikely, I would just refill my tank. The mere existence of numerous phone calls between competitors in the midst of contractual negotiations with a major common customer may create an inference that the competitors are acting in coordination.

I noticed this because I was in the process of exchanging a non-OPD tank for an OPD tank through Blue Rhino at my local Sears Hardware. I also needed a different connection; mine was the sliding sleeve quick connect connection that Weber was selling. I had bought a new regulator from Weber with a twist-quick connect, and needed a tank with that valve. If you have purchased at least AmeriGas or Blue Rhino Propane Tank between December 1, 2009 and November 30, 2020!

• So the smart thing to do is to fill or exchange the tank before it is empty.
• The AmeriGas class action lawsuit was filed by Cefo Enterprise Corp., which operates an ACE Hardware in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, and purchases propane exchange tanks from AmeriGas and Blue Rhino that it sells to its customers.
• The majority of Blue Rhino tanks can be refilled by any qualified and trained propane supplier.
• Consumers typically purchase these prefilled tanks at home improvement stores, hardware stores, mass merchandisers, supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations.
• It used to be that you could not take a Blue Rhino tank to a bulk re-filler because Blue Rhino used a proprietary valve.

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In November 2020, Defendant AmeriGas agreed to settle the class-action claims. The Court gave its initial approval to the settlement, and the Claims Period opened on January 6, 2021. Se unlawful depends on an unfounded assertion that the parties agreed to keep their prices fixed. There was no allegation in the complaint that the parties agreed in any way on the pricing of the lesser-filled propane tanks. Walmart was free to negotiate prices or any other price element with the parties. Yet, there is no allegation that Walmart tried but was unable to re-negotiate the price of the tanks with each of the parties.

If you think you and others may have a class action claim, give us a call.

You can also weight when full then subtract 20 lbs . This is less accurate, as you are not sure there is exactly 20 lbs of propane in the tank. Would you buy a car that has a special gas cap “for your safety” that can only be filled by the car dealer’s gas stations? “Not everyone can properly fill a car with gas.

As for this new ‘magnetic valve’, I have only seen a few up in MA over the past 10 years. I empty the cylinder, and replace it with a fully functional OPD valve , this way it can be refilled wherever the rightful owner of the tank wants it to be refilled. 3- A tank designed and certified by the government as a 20 lb tank should accept a fill for the full 20 lbs. If you pay for 20 lbs don’t get 20 lbs, you are getting ripped off and that company is unscrupulously profiteering out of your wallet.

It’s nice not to run out of gas in the middle of bbq chicken. 4.In re Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., FTC Dkt. No. 9360, Statement of Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioner Julie Brill, at 2 (Oct. 31, 2014).

Propane Tank FAQs

Walmart rejected proposals from both AmeriGas and Blue Rhino to reduce the propane fill levels; Walmart’s buyer viewed each proposal as a price increase to which Walmart was not willing to agree. Although Blue Rhino’s largest customer, Lowe’s, accepted the fill reduction, it did so on the express condition that all of Blue Rhino’s customers also accept the fill reduction promptly. Blue Rhino and AmeriGas understood that they could not sustain the fill reduction across the industry unless it was accepted by Walmart. The Complaint alleges that this agreement violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by unreasonably restraining trade and constituting an unfair method of competition. The agreement alleged in the Complaint is per se unlawful. In case you read or heard that Blue Rhino tanks cannot be refilled by other propane dealers, that apparently is no longer true.

Companies are in business to make money, pure and simple. This is a technique to make more money that the customer rarely notices, but definitely pays for. So expect the amount to continue to go down. 15 pounds is within the limits of the amount allowed.