Let's go kick Hank Hill's ASS: "Big propane companies reduce fuel without telling customers"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Well, I'll tell ya WHAT:

Anger fuels suits over underfilled propane tanks
Multiple actions as distributors keep corners cut when their costs go down

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31415330/ns/business-us_business/

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The heat is being turned up on big propane companies who last summer quietly reduced the amount of fuel in canisters that are attached to backyard grills without telling their customers, according to a pair of federal lawsuits.

The propane companies named in the suits said they cut the amount of fuel in each tank to avoid raising prices last summer when energy prices soared. Propane prices have since plunged, however, yet the practice of putting 15 pounds of gas in a 20-pound tank continues.

Attorneys, who are seeking class-action status in both suits, say the companies failed to give fair warning to customers.

"When you're paying more for less it affects people in the long run and it affects their pocketbooks," said Eric Gibbs, an attorney representing a California man in a case filed against FerrellGas on June 4 in the U.S. District of Kansas.

[sakabatou]

1. I believe Hank would be appalled at the companies who practice that.

[Arkana]

2. Never liked that show.

I didn't like Hank, but dear God did I just want to beat the living hell out of Peggy Hill.

Dale was hilarious though.

[Cresent City Kid]

3. My stove runs on propane

I had one tankful run out very early. I thought it was a leak, but I checked, found no leak and subsequent tanks have lasted as usual. Leak my ass, them sumbitches shorted me, I tell ya what!

[tularetom]

4. The question isn't how much gas they were putting in the tanks

but how much they were charging for. These are prefilled tanks and if they advertised 20 pounds of gas and only put in 15 they did mislead customers.

On the other hand, if they didn't claim they put in 20 lbs, they really didn't commit any kind of fraud. You'd have to see the per lb or per gallon charge for the gas before you could tell whether there was fraud involved.

The best solution is to buy a tank and fill it up at a dealer where they sell the gas by the gallon. Then you know exactly what you paid for what you got.

Disclaimer: my dad was a propane distributor and I drove a delivery truck for him summers and weekends as a kid.

BTW, leave poor ol Hank Hill alone. I understand his show got canceled.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. I hated the fact that Fox stopped releasing KOTH on DVD...

...they stopped at season 6, saying it wasn't making enough money. I'm a big fan of the series. That's why I took a "loving" shot at him.

:toast:

[DJ13]

6. This is the exact same thing many food companies have done

The used to be 1/2 gallon ice cream that became 1.75qt then became 1.5qt last year is but one example.

Dairy prices have collapsed, but the price and size of ice cream hasnt budged.

Cereal, chips, and the "8pk" from Pepsi are also the same.

[cagesoulman]

7. The peanut butter and coffee shrank too.

It's just fucked up.

[MagickMuffin]

8. Did ya know that it was Margaret Thatcher who decided on putting air into Ice Cream?!?!?

She was part of a research term in the UK who worked for a British ice cream manufacturer and whose job it was to improve the manufacturing process and make it more profitable. This they did by adding more air into it.