Bottle gas scam

[colinneil]

Recently we started buying cooking gas from a small village shop.

Normally 1 15 kg bottle lasts us about 10/12 weeks. Only 2 people at home wife and myself.

The last bottle finished after 6 weeks !!What !!

We buy 2 bottles at a time so we always have a spare. I got my wife to weigh the full bottle, and the empty 1, empty 16.2 kg full bottle 28.7 kg (no red seal on the bottle !!)

Wife asked in town at a gas shop, how many kg of gas in a full bottle? 15kg was the answer, so a full bottle should weigh 31.2kg not 28.7.

It would appear village shop using gas for a few days then selling on the bottles to unsuspecting customers, we will be changing our supplier.

[lopburi3]

Am sure different bottles will be different weights - only real check would be on same bottle before and after fill up.

[dddave]

Never hurts to do a soap bubble test just to make sure there are no small leaks around fittings. It does happen.

[Rob13]

No need to weigh the bottles just pour some hot water down the side of the tank, where it's cold is the propane,warm is empty.

[billd766]

Why did you buy the bottles with no red seals? Didn't you get a clue from that?

Be polite a firm and reject any without the seals. If they wont serve you you have lost nothing.

[colinneil]

Why did i buy bottles without red seals, because i am paraplegic and they bring the bottles to our home.

If i had noticed no seals i would have done something.

[DLock]

Your math doesn't quite make sense.

An empty bottle is 16.2kg and full bottle is 31.2kg, so the gas weighs 15kg.

If a full bottle lasts you 10 weeks, then you use 1.5kg per week.

If the bottle you got weighed only 28.7kg, then you have 12.5kg of gas, or at 1.5kg per week, 8.3 weeks...and this is all at your low estimate of 10 weeks.

...I really have to get a hobby.

[billd766]

Why did i buy bottles without red seals, because i am paraplegic and they bring the bottles to our home.

If i had noticed no seals i would have done something.

My sincere apologies to you.

I did not know that.

[KhunBENQ]

No buy with your wife checking for the seal.

[stoneyboy]

No buy with your wife checking for the seal.

Why speak likey thaty.

[colinneil]

Why did wife not check seal!! easy she was at work.

[Thian]

It seems they cheated you.

But i also wonder how it works with old/new bottles. They brought us a very rusty crappy one which i would refuse in Europe. I paid for a new one (it's a small one for the bbq) but the wife said next time we get a newer one.

But next time i go to that shop myself and want a nice new one or i go to another shop.

Is there refund money on gasbottles ? And how long does a bottle last? In Europe 10 years is the limit i thought. Then the user pays a new bottle (the bottle itself).

[Shot]

The guys at my local shop smoke....in the shop. I just get what I need and get the hell out of there.

[cyberfarang]

Why did i buy bottles without red seals, because i am paraplegic and they bring the bottles to our home.

If i had noticed no seals i would have done something.

Over my years living in this paradise of smiles, politeness and where everyone respects me and only have my best interests at heart, so my girlfriend tells me, it has at times become a battle of wits between me and the Thais. If I require a service or go to make purchases in the markets, at some stores or need any favours from the locals, for a price obviously, it`s 10 baht even if a neighbour says hello to me, it becomes a catalog of lies, bluff and BS anyways possible to try and get me to pay more believing I am the dumb Farlang and will fall for it. In the past I have spent thousands over the going rates, conned every time and over time I`ve wised up to it. The problem is that once I`ve caught on it`s already too late I`m well out of pocket. The worst part of it is I know these people are trying to rip me off and it`s enough to make a person paranoid and because of this I no longer believe anything anyone tells me here. Even when getting a bargain I still wonder if I`m getting ripped off and wonder would be cheaper for a Thai.

This is the way things are here and have I`ve dealt with these situations is once bitten, twice shy and gone somewhere else. That`s about all you can do.

[billd766]

Why did i buy bottles without red seals, because i am paraplegic and they bring the bottles to our home.

If i had noticed no seals i would have done something.

Over my years living in this paradise of smiles, politeness and where everyone respects me and only have my best interests at heart, so my girlfriend tells me, it has at times become a battle of wits between me and the Thais. If I require a service or go to make purchases in the markets, at some stores or need any favours from the locals, for a price obviously, it`s 10 baht even if a neighbour says hello to me, it becomes a catalog of lies, bluff and BS anyways possible to try and get me to pay more believing I am the dumb Farlang and will fall for it. In the past I have spent thousands over the going rates, conned every time and over time I`ve wised up to it. The problem is that once I`ve caught on it`s already too late I`m well out of pocket. The worst part of it is I know these people are trying to rip me off and it`s enough to make a person paranoid and because of this I no longer believe anything anyone tells me here. Even when getting a bargain I still wonder if I`m getting ripped off and wonder would be cheaper for a Thai.

This is the way things are here and have I`ve dealt with these situations is once bitten, twice shy and gone somewhere else. That`s about all you can do.

IMHO it all depends on where you live, if you are known and if you can speak limited or better Thai.

I have lived in rural Thailand in Khampaeng Phet province for about 12 years now and I know most of the shopkeepers in the main village and I pay the same prices as the local Thais, even in the weekly markets where prices are mainly displayed. If I need any work done mostly I get my wife to sort it out but I still pay roughly the same as she would.

Out here we still get real smiles and friendly banter on both sides and I have found through experience over the years that if I can laugh and joke with people I tend to get more help and better service.

I don't think I get ripped off and certainly not locally nor that I know of do I get ripped off in the big cities but I don't go there that often. I find that if I hang back a little and listen with my limited Thai I get a rough idea what prices the locals pay and that is what I work towards.

That has been my experiences for some 15 for so years.

[lopburi3]

Some of us just live under that cloud

[mogandave]

Do you write the date on the bottle or what?

[DLock]

It seems they cheated you.

But i also wonder how it works with old/new bottles. They brought us a very rusty crappy one which i would refuse in Europe. I paid for a new one (it's a small one for the bbq) but the wife said next time we get a newer one.

But next time i go to that shop myself and want a nice new one or i go to another shop.

Is there refund money on gasbottles ? And how long does a bottle last? In Europe 10 years is the limit i thought. Then the user pays a new bottle (the bottle itself).

Funny you say that.

When I got my shiny new BBQ, I got a shiny new gas bottle.

I thought I could take it down to the gas place and they would simply refill my shiny new gas bottle.

But I was wrong. They swapped my shiny new gas bottle for a dented, rusty dirty gas bottle.

So, whoever got my new bottle when they traded their crappy one...you're welcome.

[mogandave]

You can take your bottles to the pumps that sell LP and they will refill them.

Easier just to swap them out. Pay the deposit for two, swap one at a time. I watch for a new delivery and point out a nice clean one to swap.

[Thian]

It seems they cheated you.

But i also wonder how it works with old/new bottles. They brought us a very rusty crappy one which i would refuse in Europe. I paid for a new one (it's a small one for the bbq) but the wife said next time we get a newer one.

But next time i go to that shop myself and want a nice new one or i go to another shop.

Is there refund money on gasbottles ? And how long does a bottle last? In Europe 10 years is the limit i thought. Then the user pays a new bottle (the bottle itself).

Funny you say that.

When I got my shiny new BBQ, I got a shiny new gas bottle.

I thought I could take it down to the gas place and they would simply refill my shiny new gas bottle.

But I was wrong. They swapped my shiny new gas bottle for a dented, rusty dirty gas bottle.

So, whoever got my new bottle when they traded their crappy one...you're welcome.

In Europe the refund on those bottles is high, 2-3000 baht. But my bottle is empty now and my wife said we have a contract, next bottle i get will be a new one again. So i told her to tell him to bring me a new bottle tomorrow....they are closed on sunday (also that annoys me but lucky we don't grill today).

For the other bottle in the kitchen we have a company who brings them but then he even doesn't bring any tools to tighten the pressure-reducer. He needs my tools for that which i think is strange and unprofessional.

Also i don't want to have that guy in my house, i exchange the bottle with him at the gate and do it all myself. Don't want him to damage my kitchen.

[CP3]

I use 6kg gas cylinder at home. When I moved to a new place and exchanged with a shop nearby. It used to last about 1 and half month but it was gone in less than 20days. I was like what? the shop must be a scam. Ended the pressure release was lose, even though I thought it was close properly, it wasn't.

[mogandave]

It seems they cheated you.

But i also wonder how it works with old/new bottles. They brought us a very rusty crappy one which i would refuse in Europe. I paid for a new one (it's a small one for the bbq) but the wife said next time we get a newer one.

But next time i go to that shop myself and want a nice new one or i go to another shop.

Is there refund money on gasbottles ? And how long does a bottle last? In Europe 10 years is the limit i thought. Then the user pays a new bottle (the bottle itself).

Funny you say that.

When I got my shiny new BBQ, I got a shiny new gas bottle.

I thought I could take it down to the gas place and they would simply refill my shiny new gas bottle.

But I was wrong. They swapped my shiny new gas bottle for a dented, rusty dirty gas bottle.

So, whoever got my new bottle when they traded their crappy one...you're welcome.

In Europe the refund on those bottles is high, 2-3000 baht. But my bottle is empty now and my wife said we have a contract, next bottle i get will be a new one again. So i told her to tell him to bring me a new bottle tomorrow....they are closed on sunday (also that annoys me but lucky we don't grill today).

For the other bottle in the kitchen we have a company who brings them but then he even doesn't bring any tools to tighten the pressure-reducer. He needs my tools for that which i think is strange and unprofessional.

Also i don't want to have that guy in my house, i exchange the bottle with him at the gate and do it all myself. Don't want him to damage my kitchen.

Just get an extra bottle and you never have to worry about running out.

The regulator should not require tools to tighten, probably why he doesn't have any.

[Thian]

I remember when we rented a condo the big bottle was empty after 2 weeks and i had to pay 200 baht for a new bottle.

The next bottle lasted more then a year so it was empty when we moved to there.

Not sure but i guess we pay around 300 for a big bottle now, 12 years later.

[Thian]

Yesterday our gascompany was closed so my wife called them 8 am this morning, he would come around 9 they said.

At 1 pm she called them again, they would come between 1 and 2pm.

He just came here at 3:30 and gave me another old rusty bottle while we have the receipt here and he would bring me the new bottle finally which he didn't.

I told him to call another company next time.

[billd766]

You can take your bottles to the pumps that sell LP and they will refill them.

Easier just to swap them out. Pay the deposit for two, swap one at a time. I watch for a new delivery and point out a nice clean one to swap.

But not everybody lives near a LPG refuelling station, and for most of the population especially in rural Thailand it is easier to go to the village shops.

[lopburi3]

But with more than a million LPG powered vehicles on the roads of Thailand it really is not too hard to find a refilling station anymore.

[Thian]

But with more than a million LPG powered vehicles on the roads of Thailand it really is not too hard to find a refilling station anymore.

A LPG-tank for cars can be filled MAX. 80% and it has a valve for when the tankpressure gets too high, then it just spits the gas out under the car.

Gasbottles don't have such valves so if you fill it at the LPG-station and leave it in a hot car it might explode.....up to you, mai ben rai.

[colinneil]

Our local lpg station will not fill bottles anymore, due to safety concerns.

[mogandave]

LPG is not high pressure.

CNG is high pressure.

[Thian]

LPG is not high pressure.

CNG is high pressure.

LPG is 8 bar in a cartank, filled 80%....now put that tank in the sun and see the pressure go up...untilllllll

It doesn't matter how high the pressure is (CNG has 200 bar) it's what the tank is designed for.....and if the tank has a pressure release valve for emergency or it will say BOOM.

In my homecountry it's very illegal to fill bottles at the lpg-pump but some folks weld the right connector on their bottle and still do it.