Blue Rhino Propane Tank Exchange

"Let the buyer beware"... Anyone else wonder why Blue Rhino Propane Tanks don't seem to last as long as when you would take the tank from your gas grill and have it filled elsewhere? I weighed 2 tanks empty at 18.5 lbs. I exchanged them and weighed the 2 full tanks at 32.0 and 32.5. That means I got 14 lbs in one, and 14.5 in the other. Whatever happend to 20 lbs of propane on a refill?

I called the manager at Lowes and asked him about the discrepancy in weight. The manager at Lowes stated propane tanks are no longer 20 lbs. I bet no one reading this knew that. I checked the tanks and he was right, they're 16.6 lbs. yet the amount of propane I received was 14 and 14.5 lbs. I know this isn't a big thing but you're not getting what you pay for. How about a disclaimer: "This tank may or may not contain a full amount of propane like you think you are purchasing."

Three things to be learned from this:

1. Propane tanks do not hold 20 lbs of propane according to Lowes. Tanks are 16.6 lbs now.

2. If you do the Blue Rhino exchange, you will receive 20-25% less propane than you thought you were getting when tanks were 20 lbs.

3. A Blue Rhino exchange costs $18.47 at my local Lowes. If I take the tank to a local refilling station it costs $5-$6 less for more propane.

"Caveat Emptor", my friends!

Bob (Note: no smiley faces on this one)

Companies Putting Less Propane in Grill Tanks Reporting
Paula Ebben BOSTON (WBZ)

BlueRhino is one of two companies that decided to fill tanks with less propane instead of raising the price.
CBS

Many consumers who love to barbeque are fuming this summer. It's over the amount of propane put in pre-filled tanks that can be exchanged when the fuel runs out.

"The fact of the matter, those tanks weren't full; they were partially full," says Eric Gibbs, an attorney who has filed a class action suit over the issue.

The problem started last summer when gas and propane prices sky-rocketed.

Two of the biggest tank exchange companies, BlueRino and AmeriGas decided that instead of raising prices, they would put less propane in the same-sized tank. They didn't inform the public.

"Consumers didn't realize that they were getting 15 pounds instead of 17 or 18 pounds," says Edgar Dworsky of ConsumerWorld.org.

Gibbs says consumers deserve some kind of relief, "The purpose of the case is to make our clients whole, so that means whatever they overpaid for this propane-- that money needs to be returned to them."

Downsizing is nothing new. Many companies, particularly food manufacturers, will keep the size of the container the same, but reduce the contents inside.

"You're bringing back a tank that previously held 17 pounds, you reasonably expect to be getting something equal in exchange," explains Dworsky, who thinks this case is different.

Both tank exchange companies changed their labels when they reduced the amount of propane last year, clearly indicating there are 15 pounds of propane. They are also offering one time rebates.

AmeriGas addresses the issue on its website, "Some consumers feel they were not sufficiently informed and that's a serious concern to us."

Attorney Gibbs says that's not enough.

"It's not going to address the notion from the propane companies' perspective that full no longer means full, full means 80 percent, next week full may mean 70 percent," says Gibbs.

Both Amerigas and FerrellGas which also sells BlueRhino, say they have done nothing illegal and plan to vigorously defend themselves against any legal actions.

Spoke with Blue Rhino yesterday. Mostly "lip service" from them and an offer of a $3 off coupon. I told them to keep the coupon.

They did point out that their propane tanks are clearly labeled 15 lb capacity on the label. They were right, but how come there was only 14 lbs in one and 13.5 lbs in the other. Hopefully I can figure out how to join the Class Action suit hoping to end the fleecing of conumers who are not getting what they are paying for.

Bob

Thanks for pointing this out Bob. I was thinking of starting to use Blue Rhino since my tanks are old and rusty.

Think I'll just buy a couple new tanks and refill at the local spot I usually use.

Loon - It's much cheaper to take your old rusty tanks and exchange them for NEWER Blue Rhino tanks and after you use up the propane then take them to your regular fill up area. In Florida you can buy a new empty tank at Sam's for about $40.00 and then you have to fill it up for about $14.00 giving you a total cost of about $54.00. You can exchange your old rusty beat up tank for a very nice looking Blue Rhino(pick out the best looking one in the cradle) for about $18.00 and it's at least 90% filled. That's a savings of about $36.00 in my book.

Thanks Rich, didn't know you can keep the Blue Rhino tanks. Thought they'd send a Propane Tank Shark after me if I didn't bring it back!

Been doing it regularly for 20 years about every 2-3 years as my tanks that I have get bad looking. All they care about is the fact you turn an old empty tank in when you get a new filled up tank. What you have to do is check out the best looking new filled tank out when you exchange your old tank. Remember, they clean and most of the time paint your old tank before they fill it and put it back on the market again. So check for rust and espcially discoration in the tank nozzel and handle to see if it is a newer tank. There's also a date of manufacture on the tank to see how new it is. Check for the location on your old tank and it should be somewhere in the same general area on the tank you are getting from them.

Went to the local U-Haul today to fill one of my now empty Blue Rhino tanks. I weighed the tank before I left at 16.5 lbs. I told the U-Haul guy that this tank only holds up to 15 lbs. He told me it will hold 20 lbs. I paid the man sixteen dollars and change for the fill-up. I then went home and weighed the tank at 36.5 lbs, exactly 20 lbs more than it was empty. Blue Rhino tanks are now almost $20 at Lowes in my area. They are probably still short-changing the public by putting around 14 lbs in the their tanks leading the public to believe they are full tanks. I got 6 lbs more of propane and saved $3. What does that tell you?

:) Bob

that you don't have to fill up as often??

Also tells me that you finally did what I'Ve been doing for almost 20 years. I go through about 5 tank fulls a year X $3.00 savings each time = $15.00 a year savings X 20 years = $300.00 savings for the past 20 years. I'm way ahead of you Bob.