Trouble comes in three - so NOW I'm done!

Went out one morning in Osoyoos to swap propane tanks . . . 

The second tank shut off valve was stuck . . . really, really stuck.  And then it broke off.  I knew I shouldn't have gotten one of those swappable tanks when my last backup tank failed - but I was in a hurry, blah, blah, blah.

But I thought - no problem; I'll just return it  when I return home.  It's a swappable tank after all.

My morning coffee was a little delayed by a side trip into town to fill my good tank - about twice as expensive as in the U.S. but, hey, these things happen.

What's wrong with this tank?

Swapping the swappable tank

I took my faulty AmeriGas propane tank back to the gas station where I purchased it (Parkrose Shell, 9920 NE Sandy, Portland, or) assuming that I could just swap it for a good tank.

Now, I suppose I was being naive.  After all, when I first got this tank home, I discovered that, although I had paid for a full tank, it was, in fact, only about half full!  Well, I was in a hurry to get started on my trip, so I just let that go.

When I presented my problem to the woman at the counter, she had two problems; 

1) apparently the only key to the 'tank cage' had walked off with an employee at home (hmmmm. . . no spare key??)

2) she couldn't exchange the tank without the original receipt!  Seriously?  OK, show of hands - how long do you keep receipts for propane fills????  What exactly do they mean by exchangeable?

But, she thought if I came back, the manager might be able to help me.

So, I came back (how could they NOT make this right? ) a few days later.

And I was told a second time, and not too politely, that they wouldn't exchange these supposedly exchangeable tanks without the receipt.

They never apologized for the inconvenience, they never suggested an alternative ( like maybe contacting the AmeriGas people directly) and they will never get any of my business again.  Ever.

If this an example of the customer service for distributors of AmeriGas, I'm surprised they're still in business!

New propane tank

So, I did what I should have done in the first place.  I bought a new propane tank (pre-purged - now that's a plus!) from Home Depot and had it filled at a Valero Gas Station - quickly and politely!

A teachable moment

This incident really ticked me off!  So, I figured it's a good opportunity to practice 'letting go'.  The problem has been resolved ( it's only money, it's only money . . . ), I registered a complaint with AmeriGas and the gas station.  Now, I'll practice letting go of the anger.  I'm going for a walk!