McCracken Propane (Inergy, L.P.)

In my last post I noted that my home heating furnace is a dual-fuel heat pump, for which we use two 100 lb propane tanks as a secondary fuel source. This post is to explain why, currently, I take the time to fill up these tanks myself.

First, note that a dual-fuel heat pump operates most of the time without using fuel. It's a pretty efficient system, so we don't use much gas except during the coldest months. Two 100 lb tanks are enough to get us through most of the winter.

McCracken had supplied the fuel for our original furnace, an old, faulty oil burning unit. We sometimes found garbage on the ground after they came out to provide oil or gas, and the employees would remove the safety clasp put on the oil cap to keep my (then young) child from opening it. It was nothing too harmful, just a rather disrespectful attitude that was evident.

We originally had a moderately sized, 100 gallon (not lb) tank, which was provided by McCraken when the previous homeowner purchased a propane-fueled fireplace insert from them. The tank was installed next to the home, and the fireplace insert was smelly and did not appear to be operating correctly. So when the opportunity came to upgrade our oil furnace, we ripped out the gas fireplace insert too. But McCraken sent us a letter, informing us that we weren't using enough propane, and that they would start charging us a tank rental fee. The rental fee was about the cost of a new 100 lb tank, so I told them they could take the tank.

I found that other local companies could fill a tank at a cost much cheaper than what McCraken wanted. Still, they are located right in town, and I like to give local companies my business, so I tried three times on three separate occasions to get a tank refilled at McCraken. On each occasion, employees ignored me or left me waiting without service apparently not knowing how to close a simple sale. That, and the discourteous attitudes I had encountered previously, convinced me that the inconvenience of taking the tanks out of town was well worth not having to deal with McCraken again. Even with BJ's recent decision to refuse to fill 100 lb tanks, it still feels like the right decision.

BJ's SKUs

That's not a misspelling for "BJ's SUCKs". The wholesale club is actually a pretty nice store for certain things. But a recent change in their business practice has left me out in the cold - literally.

For several years now, since I replaced my antiquated oil furnace with a new dual-fuel heat pump in 2001, I've been taking two 100 lb propane tanks to the BJ's at Briar Creek shopping center for fill up. (Why I'm using 100 lb tanks, rather than having it delivered to a fixed tank, is another topic. Basically, with the heat pump, we just don't use enough propane.) Today, knowing that the tanks were nearly empty, to prepare for the cold weather I took them to a new BJ's on Capital Boulevard (Rt 1 in North Raleigh at Old Wake Forest Rd). "Sorry," I was told, "we can't fill up those tanks because we don't have an SKU for them." I started to argue, telling the worker that I had gotten propane from BJ's before, but he couldn't seem to give any better explanation other than "the computer won't print a receipt."

I decided to take it to the store that has always provided me with service, at Briar Creek. However, I got a similar story there. The clerk, however, was a bit clearer on why: the store manager observed the employee filling up 100 lb tanks, and had specifically instructed him not to fill up any more. The reason given was that no SKU had been assigned to that service. This BJ's has been filling up my 100 lb tanks for years. Based on the similar language between the stores, it is evident that BJ's management made a decision to stop selling propane to customers with big tanks. One might conjecture that it has something to do with the recent spate of "propane shortage" news stories.

In any case, BJ's refusal to provide service leaves me searching for a source of propane.