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New Britain Woman Says Gas Service Call Cost Her A New Stove

Wendy Brown says it was nearly impossible to get AmeriGas to remove their outdoor tank after she canceled the service. When she couldn’t resolve it on her own, NBC Connecticut Responds did and saved Brown some money.

“It was frustrating.”

Last November, Brown made a service call to disconnect her AmeriGas-owned tank. She said her mother-in-law smelled gas and called the fire department.

“Amerigas came out promptly and shut the gas tank off outside because there was no safety valve in the house,” Brown said.

After the inspection, the service tech determined it was not safe and that Brown needed to get a new gas stove.

Brown learned it would be more expensive than expected.

“He couldn’t put a safety valve in and gave us options that ran $500 and $1200 to replace the lines,” said Brown.

Brown decided to ditch the gas stove and install an electric one.

“I called AmeriGas and asked them to come pick their tank and once that was done I would settle up with them as far as what the payment was supposed to be,” said Brown.

According to Brown, months went by and no one came. But she was still getting a bill, and then a collection notice.

“I immediately went into…what do we do now? There’s no reason for this,” said Brown.

That’s when she contacted NBC Connecticut Responds. An AmeriGas spokesperson told us in part:

“Ultimately, the customer determined that the cost was too high and informed us that she was converting to an electric stove. “Where issues of customer safety and home convenience were concerned, our responses were timely and appropriate. Regretfully, during the busy heating season, there were delays in picking up the AmeriGas-owned tank, which admittedly could have been better communicated to the customer.”

After it was all said and done, AmeriGas picked up the tank and Brown had a zero balance on her account.

“It was nice to finally get a resolution to it because we are getting ready to leave town,” said Brown. “I was amazed, absolutely amazed.”

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