Buying Propane?

skegpro · Feb 11, 2018

So I ended up buying propane from a different place than unusually do, had 1/2 40lb bottle when I put it on their scale.

Got to the till and they charge me for filling an empty 40lber.

Is this common place?

Is there a way to tell who sells propane by the lb vs by the fill?

sledn · Feb 11, 2018

Costco is usually the cheapest... and charge by the liter... not tank size

TROLLCAT · Feb 11, 2018

there should be a litre meter on the system they fill with charge by the litre

skegpro · Feb 11, 2018

TROLLCAT said:
there should be a litre meter on the system they fill with charge by the litre

There was on this pump too.
I wonder if I can report these pricks to measurement Canada or who is the watchdog for this?

AreWeThereYet · Feb 11, 2018

skegpro said:
There was on this pump too.
I wonder if I can report these pricks to measurement Canada or who is the watchdog for this?

Anyone who took their propane inspectors licence when they took heavy duty mechanics, at least back in the 90's when I got my ticket. Unfortunately I didn't get mine because it didn't interest me.

Mike270412 · Feb 11, 2018

skegpro said:
So if ended up buying propane from a different place than unusually do, had 1/2 40lb bottle when I put it on their scale.

Got to the till and they charge me for filling an empty 40lber.

Is this common place?

Is there a way to tell who sells propane by the lb vs by the fill?

I've noticed that at a few places. They charge a flat rate even if your tank is half full. That's robbery. Co-op only charges for what they put in your tank.

Stg2Suby · Feb 11, 2018

I just brought both my 30lb bottles to refill at Costco, one was completely empty $17, the other had a bit left and was around $19. Bit more of a drive to Costco but sure beats $30+ flat rate per tank at local gas stations.

Trashy · Feb 11, 2018

Flyin J is a ripoff, but they charge by what they fill and not a fixed price.

fredw · Feb 11, 2018

Two empty 40 lbs cost me 40 dollars at Costco last fill

skegpro · Feb 11, 2018

fredw said:
Two empty 40 lbs cost me 40 dollars at Costco last fill

Holy Jasus.
Guess I am gonna have to stop and grab beer and propane on my way to the hill.

gunner3006 · Feb 11, 2018

I have mine. I’ve been getting our sled camp propane from Costco. They were the cheapest in town. Mine are usually empty though when I get them filled.

sirkdev · Feb 11, 2018

its been this way for years.....either charged by the bottle or litre. 20 years ago when I used to pump gas people understandably were pissed we were a last chance highway station before kananaskis. You need to ask before they fill. Its not the attendents decision, they are just following the bosses orders.

tiger666 · Feb 12, 2018

Even costco's price has doubled in the last year,but Its still cheaper than anywhere else.

armymags1 · Feb 12, 2018

Stg2Suby said:
I just brought both my 30lb bottles to refill at Costco, one was completely empty $17, the other had a bit left and was around $19. Bit more of a drive to Costco but sure beats $30+ flat rate per tank at local gas stations.

Was the empty one actually cheaper to fill?

rsaruk · Feb 12, 2018

Mutual propane in the west end is pretty cheap. I think my 20 pound tanks were $10 or $12.

LUCKY 7 · Feb 12, 2018

So I fill propane tanks in Fernie at where I work and we charge per tank. Is it cheaper at Costco? o ya but Costco is 2.5 long hours away from here and I have no problem telling people that. We sell lots of it every day and usually by May that's all I seem to do is fill tanks. I also will check the weight of the tank and see if it has propane it in and lots of the time will charge less. But if the customer is a di k about it I charge full bore. Be nice and pay less. BTW everyone says they just need a top up and there is lots of propane in the tank. I hear that tons. People should feel gratefull that there is these local propane filling stations to fill your tanks as there isn't a local costco in every town.

adamg · Feb 12, 2018

Obligatory mention in the propane thread that refineries literally consider propane waste and burn it off because they can't sell anywhere near as much as they end up with. So it is worthless to them. But we still pay big $$ for it.

sirkdev · Feb 12, 2018

The problem with NGL's (natural gas liquids).. as a producer we used to sell hydrocarbon rich gas to the US via the alliance pipeline. The east coast market then became oversupplied with NGL's due to new production from US wells coming on line. So as canadian producers we were asked to remove the NGL's from the gas stream and sell only lean gas to Chicago. That balanced their supply/demand ratio however at this end and we are massively overstocked and trying to find new markets for the product. Interpipeline has recently announced that they will be building a plastics plant in Fort Sask which will most hopefully consume some of the oversupply. I honestly have no idea why with the amount of excess product on the market the prices at the propane pumps are where they are. I would have to guess between the refiner/distributor is where the profits are right now because it most certainly is not great on the producer side.

iceman5689 · Feb 13, 2018

My stops are mutual propane or Costco as well.

canuck5 · Feb 13, 2018

fredw said:
Two empty 40 lbs cost me 40 dollars at Costco last fill

I knew it was cheap but that is awesome!

Buying Propane?

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