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Propane Tanks: Same Price For Less Barbecuing

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May 21, 2009 8:05 pm US/Eastern

Propane Tanks: Same Price For Less Barbecuing

Suppliers Short-Changing Customers With 15-Pound Fill For 17-Pound Tanks

Reporting
Christine Sloan

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

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Barbecuing for Memorial Day? It may cost you a little bit more to grill this holiday weekend.

It's not that the cost of propane tanks are going up – it's just that you're getting a little less for your buck.

You may have noticed that, while prices haven't gone up, you're getting less in the propane tank for your grill.

"I think they're ripping off the consumers because the consumer's thinking they're buying a pretty filled tank," Lodi resident Mike Minervini says. "Instead, it's not filled a hundred percent."

Amerigas, which supplies the exchange tanks to Home Depot and others, is putting 15 pounds of propane into tanks this year, down two pounds from 2008.

The empty tanks customers brought back are clearly 17-pounders, but a Home Depot spokesperson says Amerigas has reduced the content of the tanks to "keep in line with the industry."

"The tank itself is 17 pounds, [but] it's 15 pounds of propane inside of it," Doug Fliesher says.

Fliesher is the owner of Modern Propane, a family-run fill station.

"If you got short-changed two pounds, you're missing about two or three hours of cooking time," Fliesher says.

If you exchanging a tank at a retailer like Home Depot, you would be paying $19.97 for 15 pounds of gas. At Modern Propane, you'll pay just $13.95 – and you'll get an extra five pounds of propane.

"When we fill a tank, we put in 20 pounds of gas," Fliesher says.

It's like buying wholesale, instead of buying at retail prices.

CBS 2 contacted Amerigas several times Thursday, but was told that no one could help. They did say that other big suppliers have also reduced the content of their propane tanks.