Warning TSC gas

[ace4059]

I have a warning about Tractor Supply gas. I just want everyone to hear about this before you do business with them. My Local TSC sells Thoroughbred gas cylinders, but this has more to do with TSC that thoroughbred. These are not rental or leased cylinders. They are owner bottles.

I worked for TSC in 2007. While I worked there I bought 3 Oxygen bottles from them. I received my employee discount of 15% off the total bill. I purchased these bottles in October of 07. They were still very high priced even with my discount. The bottles were around the price of $365 per bottle plus you have to buy the oxygen in each bottles for an added $31. So out the door I paid in the price range of $1,100 (including tax, and discount).

I did not want to buy them from TSC because they were very high but I was using a lot of oxy with my LP setup at the time. The LWS will NOT sell any bottle over the size 125cf. I wanted bigger bottles, but did not want to rent or lease them, so I had to go through TSC to purchase them.

Now lets fast forward to today. I needed them refilled. I have stopped using a lot of oxy and LP so this was the first time I needed them filled in about 6 months. TSC wants $31 for a refill. MY LWS only wants $11. So I was wanting to get them refilled at the LWS to save money. I have my ownership agreement form that they give you when you buy the bottles, buy the receipt that I have has faded so you can no longer read it (see what this is leading to). The LWS wants a copy of the receipt to put on file to cover themselves. I go to TSC to have them print a copy of the original receipt. The employees are the same ones that worked there when I did, and they know me. The girl that sold me the bottles said she remembers selling them to me. She is now the assistant manager. There is a new manager (original manager was fired for bad customer service and too many complaints) so I did not know him. The manager has been there for about 6 months now and was transferred from another TSC, so he has been with the company for at least a few years. He can print me out a receipt copy so I can take them to the LWS to get them filled. Well, I talked to the assistant manager (the one I know), and she said she would have to talk to the manager to see about getting me a receipt because I paid cash and these where clyinders (not other store merchandise). I just had the month and not the day and time I purchased them, so she would have to look to find the receipt. She talked to him. He would NOT print me a receipt out. This would have taken about 4 minutes to go into the computer and print me one out, but he would not do it. He told me that I can only trade the bottles with other thoroughbred bottles. I explained to him these are my own bottles and I own them myself. He said he knew, but did not want to look thought the computer to find the receipt. (I could tell he acted like it would waste his time). Then, he just came out and told me straight up, he did not have time to do that. I looked up people sales and printed them receipts many times when I worked there, and it is not hard. He is only being lazy. I told him that if he just doesn't want to look it up, or know how, then he could sell me three more just like I have, then do a return so he can print me a receipt. He would not even do that and while I was talking to him to see what it would take to get a receipt, he decieded I was not an important customer, and started talking on his phone (while I was talking to him). I waited politely until he got off. He told me that thoroughbred had a big lawsuit (I dont know anything about that so if some one want to fill me in) and they can now only take the thoroughbred bottles, and I "cant get them filled anywhere else". I showed him they are the thoroughbred brand that I have. He then told me that if I wanted to get them filled it could only be at TSC store. I then asked about "upgrading" to the larger size cylinder, and me paying the difference. He told me that I could not even do that. I showed him the brochure that I got when I bought the bottles and it clearly states you can upgrade at any time. He then showed me the new brochures that they just got in, and it no longer says you can upgrade. I told him I was in no way trying to cheat him or TSC out of money or do them dirty, I just wanted my receipt. His reply was, "it sounds like you are just out of luck".

I was now steaming angry, but held my cool, and left. I remembered Atwood's has thoroughbred bottles and called them to see if they had 3 oxy bottles. I talked to 5 different girls and no one knew what I was talking about. I then asked to speak to the manager there, and he said that the reason no one knows about them, is because they stopped caring them. I talked to him about 5 minutes on the phone and evidently Atwood's had so many problems with the thoroughbred company, they stopped handling them.

So my only option of getting these filled is going back to TSC to exchange them for a full bottle. One thing is sure, I WILL NOT go back to TSC. So I guess I just have $1000 worth of bottles that are sitting in my shop that I can not get filled. I feel that they are my bottles, and I should be able to get them filled anywhere I want to.

I know that this post is VERY long, and I hope you took the time to read it. I just want EVERYONE to know the truth about the thoroughbred bottles, and how they are pretty much useless. I will file a complaint with the BBB on TSC.

Thanks for reading and any advice on what to do would be great. I would also like to know more about the Thoroughbred lawsuit the manager was talking about.

-Ryan Blankenship

[ace4059]

Lawsuit Info
http://www.reuters.com/article/press...009+BW20090126

[unit5alive]

It's sounds like's its time to talk to some people higher up in the TSC food chain ,and talk to them about this manager and his problem with helping out "the customer that is alway's right", it would be fairly easy to talk to someone else that works there to find out who his boss is!, isn't that one of the reason's the other manager got fired ,nothing to lose at this point!

[taylorkh]

When I purchased my HH180 from TSC about 3 1/2 years ago I also purchased a 40 CF cylinder of C25. I was not sure of how much gas I would be using and I had been told that I could upgrade to a larger cylinder if I wished. For about a year I was taking classes from the local Community College and using their gas. Once I began to use the 40 CF cylinder it did not last very long.

When I returned the cylinder to upgrade to a 125 CF I was told by the TSC manager that I could only exchange it for another 40 CF. (As I had been waiting for more than 4 weeks for TSC to get a shipment of cylinders) I drove 35 miles to the LWS and purchased a cylinder.

I then wrote a letter to the President of TSC. I received a courteous reply and TSC in fact purchased back the 40 CF cylinder which I had no use for.

Invest in a stamp and send a letter to TSC HQ. The person I wrote to was:

Mr. James F. Wright President and CEO
Tractor Supply Company
200 Powell Place
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027

[Wyoming]

The advice so far is spot on. If the local dink manager thinks he is God then let him struggle with meeting a higher God's expectations after you call to complain. Generally, local managers are very low on the food chain...unless this is the primo store location of the chain and the owner's son.

[dda52]

Ryan, what size cylinder are you trying to fill?

[ace4059]

Taylor,
Thanks for the address, I am going to send a letter.

Don,
I have several 125cf and a few 300cf. The ones that I got from TSC are 251cf oxy bottles. The old brochures said when exchanging bottles you can exchange the size when you want to get it filled. So if you go bigger (which I cant, b/c 251 is the largest they have) then you pay the difference. And if you wanted to go smaller they will pay you the difference back.

[Ohio Mike]

One could also argue it's asinine that the LWS wants paperwork as they've certainly heard of Thoroughbred and would know that all those blue cylinders with the Gas Pony logo are customer owned. Unless of course you're not asking them to fill them and you want to exchange them. In that case I can see the LWS wanting the proper paper work in order to sell them back to Scott-Gross. More than likely they also want you to use their cylinders because that's were the profit margin is.

[dda52]

Just wondered, Ryan. I dropped all my big cylinders and went with all 150's and 125's to avoid issues with the bigger ones. It has worked like a champ, too. No issues what so ever with the exchanges anywhere I go. Had nothing but headaches with the big ones, too.

My LWS just repaints any Thoroughbred cylinders they get. They come out a brand new purple/maroonish color.

[ace4059]

Don,
Thats what I was trying to do. I would like to turn them in and get 125 or 150. When I had a lot of cylinders, I had all 300's. A 300 is a pain to deal with. It hard for me to move them around, and to get them filled. All the ones I have purchased in the last years have been the smaller ones.

Charles,
They have the smooth neck. I couldn't read all of the PM because the welding hood and HH210 on the right of the screen was blocking it for some reason.
I am going to go talk to some LWS and see if they will fill them.

[ace4059]

One could also argue it's asinine that the LWS wants paperwork as they've certainly heard of Thoroughbred and would know that all those blue cylinders with the Gas Pony logo are customer owned. Unless of course you're not asking them to fill them and you want to exchange them. In that case I can see the LWS wanting the proper paper work in order to sell them back to Scott-Gross. More than likely they also want you to use their cylinders because that's were the profit margin is.

Well the bottles are smooth neck, and they just have the sticker on them that says scott-gross. They LWS around here swap them, None of them take your bottle, fill it, then give you your bottle back.

[dda52]

You can always paint them. They are yours and if they aren't the Thoroughbred color, maybe that will help. Dunno. Shouldn't matter as long as they have the slick neck and in cert. Hard to say.

[ace4059]

Well Don,
Thats kinda going to the extreme to paint them. The problem lies that they are the big bottles. No LWS around here will fill other bottles. The LWS will only fill them if it has their tag/stamp/neckband. The LWS dont care what paint color it is. They will fill any customer owned bottles if they have a receipt that says they are theirs. So my problems is, I need a receipt. It really should be that big of a problem. I just got to get a receipt somehow.

[dda52]

Yeah, it is a little. You are right, the recpt is paramount. I'd keep trying suppliers locally, maybe even a few out of town...somebody may just give you a break. All suppliers should know the deal with Thoroughbred bottles. If someone gives you a break, you will then be given a recpt that will show its an owner bottle. You will be "washed" in the system. I had to do that with an old acetylene bottle. Trigas washed it through the system like that and now I have a valid document showing it as an owner bottle.

[crawler]

Ryan,

Let me know if you're planning on visiting Dallas. I'm sure I could help you out.
I have a few 150CF cylinders I could swap with you.

Charles