Hilltop Energy Buyers Group for Propane and Oil

[nancyd]

Has anyone in our area used this buyer's group?  I looked at them on Facebook and there are some issues which concern me. They seem to get great prices for members who sign up for a $50.00 membership fee....but some people have had problems with not getting their receipt, which is turned over to gas provider, inability to connect to this buyers group, running out of fuel from the provider.
Billing problems from the provider, etc. I would like some feedback from people who signed up for this.
Thanks!
Nancyd

[khort]

I did sign up with them under the advice from this forum. This was a couple months ago & i have not received a receipt or any correspondence from them. I have left them messages with no return phone calls. Sooooo I'm not sure I would recommend at this point. I am hoping this is an oversight as others were very happy with the service they received.

[Mollyd79]

I also signed up with them and have heard nothing.

[nancyd]

Wow...this does not sound good, let alone very poor administrative handling...probably what is happening here, is they are still in negotiating phase with propane dealers...they can't give the name of the provider until  they know which one will be used this year. You have a record of your check, so that's something. BUT , if this is the case, they should explain themselves. And certainly they should communicate with their members to handle concerns....that's a no brainer. I would post your issue on their Facebook page and then say "WHY don't you call me back? If you get no satisfaction, it's time to make a complaint to ? VT AG, Labor Dept?
I hate when businesses do this stuff to people.

[nancyd]

As of 2010, Fairfax has a population of 4,285 citizens....Why can't we start our own co-op group for discounted fuel? W just need a good exec director to do the negotiating. Hilltop Energey buyers has about 200 members......we could do it....from our own town.

[sfc]

We have belonged to the Ruth Clark buyers club for 8 years now...no problems at all with them.

[nancyd]

Do you have their contact information? That sounds good! Eight years no problems....sounds terrific ! Thank you!

[sfc]

 We have had no problem at all with the buyers club... excellent program.  Our main problems are making sure we don't run out of fuel with the gas supplier, and this is not the fault of the buyers club.  when we run out of gas (Amerigass aka/liberty propane), they have to they have to give us a $25 credit, and we have collected on that a whole bunch of times.  we have not received our info for this fall yet, but expect to sometime in the next month or so.  The rates for the year goes by your usage was for the previous year..last year we paid $2.599 a gallon (no pre-buy)  If you call and ask them to send you the info when they send out this year's packets, they will.  There are also on-line forms you can download.     Contact info is Tammy Clark @ 802-476-0066.  web site is  www.ruthclarkfuelgroup.com   email:  RuthClarkFuelGroup@charter.net
We have found by experience that our contract runs out the end of July till we re-sign our contract in the fall...so we always call the fuel company in july and make them give us a delivery to hold us over.  I can't remember what we pay each year, but I think it's now about $40 to be a member for the year.  Worth every penny!
On the previous post, you mentioned problems with the wrong pricing.. I wanted to mention that this in no way is the fault of any buyers club... We too have had problems with getting the wrong pricing, but it's the fault of the propane company, NOT the buyers club.  We  always check our invoice before paying to make sure we have been charged the correct amount.  Several times, we had to call Liberty and say, hey, you charged the wrong amount, and they fixed it for us.

Good luck.  I have referred serveral friends, and they are very happy with the program.

[nancyd]

Thank you, Thank you! You have taken a lot of time to give us exceptional information here. It is very much appreciated.
Enjoy the summer, and happy heating in winter!

[Zarnov]

I've used the Hilltop buyers club for Propane for the last 2 years.  Last year's price was $2.07/gal, no prebuy, locked in price.  It can be a little tricky to get in touch with the guy that runs it, but once you are setup with whatever propane company gets the club's contract for the year, you're good to go, and you just deal with the company.  Last year it was Amerigas, which bought out Liberty, and probably others.  I'll be signing up again this year for sure.
I'm pretty sure the guy that runs this has a regular job, he just does this on the side.  No excuse for poor customer service.  His email is pedrokatz@yahoo.com but i've had issues getting a hold of him too.  In the end, the savings are worth it.

[khort]

Ok good news... Hilltop Energy posted on their facebook page today that they will be signing a contract with a propane dealer today or tomorrow. This years pricing will be posted on their website soon!

[Zarnov]

Prices are up about 50 cents per gallon from last year...

0-399 - $2.99
400-699 - $2.84
700-999 - $2.74
1000 + - $2.53