I recently purchased a home in Dec. '07 and did not move in until May '08. The home is heated by propane and there are 2 tanks on the property that were leased from a propane company. At the time of purchase, the propane in the tanks was paid for by the previous owner and transferred to me.

In Feb. '08, unbeknown to me or the previous owner, the propane company mistakenly topped off the tanks after having received a termination notice from the previous owner. Upon moving in (May '08) I had not even talked to the original company because I mistakenly assumed that the propane had already been paid for. Hence, I had never signed a contract with them.

Long story short, in mid-June the original company came out and shut off the tanks because they had not received payment. Due to this I decided to switch propane companies because of serious concerns over customer service with the original company. The original company's tank now sit unhooked on my property with whatever propane remained in them. Now the original company is seeking payment for the Feb '08 top off from me (the owner of the property at the time of top off).

Who is legally responsible given it seems the company made the mistake here?

Thanks!

In general most propane companies do a automatic refill at certain times during the year. There is no call or order. But it should be simple, you call the propane company and they come out and pick up the tanks, they give you credit for any propane in the tanks, and you will either have a credit due, or if you used most of the gas, you will owe them a certain amount.

This is the way it normally would or should happen anytme you cancell their service. I will assume you have sent them an official letter asking them to pick up the tanks, and to credit your account with any gas currently in the tanks?

But you would normally expect your current company to normally just come out and refill the tankis on some regular basis, this is how they most do.