Catch 22

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goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I have a potential generator customer, an 80 year old woman, who spends the weekends at her summer home in my town. She lives on a dirt road and does not have NG to her street. As a result she has a Suburban Propane tank outside her house for her cook-top. The heat is run on oil. She wants a "complete" installation price for the automatic generator including the propane, tank and piping. Here is a sample of my conversation with Suburban Propane :

Me : Hi, I'm interested in getting a ball park price for an additional propane tank, piping and connections for one of your existing customers who wants a generator

Suburban : I can't give you that information

Me : Why not ?

Suburban : Your customer has to call us for that information

Me : She's 80 years old - she won't know what questions to ask

Suburban : I'm sorry, I can't give you any information

Me: I'm just looking to get a ball park price for your services so I can provide her with a total installed price. I'm not going to hold you to anything.

Suburban : I can't give you that information. Your customer has to call us.

Me : OK. Who is my customer ?

Suburban : I don't know. You'll have to tell me

Me: What if I'm the customer ?

Suburban : Ok, what;'s your account # ?

At that point I just wanted to jump through the phone and choke this woman. Does anyone have any suggestions or perhaps another propane company in the northern NJ area who would give me some guidelines ?
 
Call your customer and the LP company at the same time. Most all cellphones can add a caller to the call. Just call you customer and ask her to hold while you connect to the LP company.
 
goldstar said:
I have a potential generator customer, an 80 year old woman, who spends the weekends at her summer home in my town. She lives on a dirt road and does not have NG to her street. As a result she has a Suburban Propane tank outside her house for her cook-top. The heat is run on oil. She wants a "complete" installation price for the automatic generator including the propane, tank and piping. Here is a sample of my conversation with Suburban Propane :

Me : Hi, I'm interested in getting a ball park price for an additional propane tank, piping and connections for one of your existing customers who wants a generator

Suburban : I can't give you that information

Me : Why not ?

Suburban : Your customer has to call us for that information

Me : She's 80 years old - she won't know what questions to ask

Suburban : I'm sorry, I can't give you any information

Me: I'm just looking to get a ball park price for your services so I can provide her with a total installed price. I'm not going to hold you to anything.

Suburban : I can't give you that information. Your customer has to call us.

Me : OK. Who is my customer ?

Suburban : I don't know. You'll have to tell me

Me: What if I'm the customer ?

Suburban : Ok, what;'s your account # ?

At that point I just wanted to jump through the phone and choke this woman. Does anyone have any suggestions or perhaps another propane company in the northern NJ area who would give me some guidelines ?
Click to expand...
Know the feeling...........
She is what we'd call a "jobsworth.
Don't these people WANT business ???
 
Call her and give her the option:
1) she calls and gives ok for you to talk to them.
2) she calls and reads your questions to them and ? Write answers or have them email answers (not going to happen).
3) you get her account # and make the call.

How big is the tank,
How many days/hours per pound will your Genny consume.
 
Most likely the person answering the phone at the propane company is following orders, and those orders may be based upon state law.

The propane customer can likely call the company and, with her proper ID, tell them she will be putting you on the phone to ask some questions.
 
I'm sure if you had her bill in front of you with the account number they would talk to you. If not, tell them that you are a new customer. Likely, since she already uses propane for cooking they will want to install a larger tank to run both. You also have a choice to bury it so think about that if it will be better.

-Hal
 
If I ever install a generator at our cabin (no natural gas available), it will be w/ propane. Doesn't go bad like diesel.
 
grich said:
That might trigger air quality/environmental permit headaches that will make the propane dealer issues look insignificant.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, this wouldn't be an issue in NJ. I don't know if maintenance issues are more or less prevalent with diesel, but they might be a consideration.
 
Tier 4 emission performance/certification is available with Diesel-engine generators.
The OP's client uses fuel oil to heat the house, so there's no issue with the fuel going bad; a fresh batch will be delivered every year. She will need to use an additive package formulated for Diesel engines if it's not already included.
 
Every once in a while if I’m setting up a service upgrade and call the main central 800 number for the power company I get a rediculous response about them not sharing any account info. So I just hang up and call the number again and usually wind up talking to someone else who doesn’t have a problem with discussing account info.
 
They probably don't want to give you the information cuz they're probably bilking your customer. I feel Cox Cable does the same thing, five people could have five identical services and they will be paying five completely different rates.

I agree with the others who said to do a three way call, or have the customer's bill in front of you
 
I remember many years ago calling for something for my wife. I wish I could remember what it was. Anyway, person on the other end of the phone, after I answer all of the security questions, says, "so your name is Lisa?"

Yes, yes it is.
 
K8MHZ said:
Most likely the person answering the phone at the propane company is following orders, and those orders may be based upon state law.
Click to expand...

I had a recent run-in like that when I tried to deposit my tax return. Apparently I made a mistake on the direct deposit information, so I received a paper check in the mail instead. I had my wife sign it, and I signed it and put it in my wallet. A week or two later I was finally driving by the bank during banking hours, and decided I would postpone the last service call of the day long enough to pop it in the bank.

The teller asked me if it was a joint account. No, but we both signed the check. She was sorry, but it would have to be deposited in a joint account. Having a short fuse anyway, they noted my disgust at retrieving her and probably broke a speed record in adding her to my account. When I got home I put it into the savings account.

The entire time I marveled that somehow the IRS would be fine with direct depositing the money into my account (as they have for years) but would somehow research and know who the signers were on a private checking account and kick down the doors of the bank for allowing me to put my money into my account with a paper check instead. I decided it was too stupid to be made up.
 
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