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    daynurse
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    DeCarli's Propane Class Action Lawsuit by West Marin Residents - does this involve you?

    https://www.marinij.com/westmarin/ci_11628421
    Point Reyes Station residents sue Petaluma propane distributor


    Richard Halstead

    Posted: 02/04/2009 03:48:12 PM PST


    Three Point Reyes Station residents have sparked a class action lawsuit against a Petaluma propane distributor for allegedly overcharging customers. Scott Yancy said he first noticed in June of last year that the monthly bill he received from DeCarli's Petaluma Butane Distributors didn't tally accurately. Yancy mentioned his concern to his neighbor, Luigi Venezia, with whom he shares a propane tank, and Venezia discovered he was also being overcharged. The men say the propane use cited on their bills multiplied by the price quoted on the bills has been consistently miscalculated.
    Yancy said he checked 18 past invoices and found overcharges on each bill. The largest was for $70. Venezia said he also found overcharges on approximately a dozen bills that he has checked, the largest amounting to more than $60. The men said the company also regularly sends its bills out months late. They just received their August bills.
    Yancy and Venezia said they have called and written to the company but have never received an explanation for the discrepancies.
    A third Point Reyes Station resident, Susan Deixler, became involved in the suit when she relayed billing concerns expressed by members of a senior center where she works to Legal Aid of Marin in October.
    "When we investigated, we found serious irregularities," said Paul Cohen, executive director of Legal Aid of Marin. "DeCarli's was given a chance to correct the client's problem and refused."
    Angela DeCarli, president

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    of the family-owned business, said, "That's grossly inaccurate. They've never contacted me." DeCarli said the allegations contained in the suit are "untrue." She said she had never spoken with either Yancy or Deixler about overcharges. DeCarli said Venezia had complained to her about overcharges on his monthly bill but she said none of them exceeded $4. DeCarli said she and Venezia simply disagree on the method of calculation.
    Regarding whether the company dispatches its bills on time, Richard DeCarli, the company's vice president, said, "Our billing is behind. It has been for several years."
    Jon Gertler, a San Francisco lawyer whose firm usually focuses on large consumer and civil rights class action suits, has filed a class action on behalf of propane users throughout western Marin and Sonoma counties.
    Cohen said if the overcharges are as widespread as he suspects, the company has "diverted to its own profit hundreds of thousands of its customers' money."
    "Many persons are suffering right now in this economy," Cohen said. "Monthly overcharges on heating and other fuel expenses take its toll on the quality of life for a family struggling to put bread on the table, or the senior trying to live on a fixed income."
    Angela DiCarli called the overcharge allegations "absolutely untrue."
    Mark Hanson, chief deputy of the county of Sonoma weights and measures division, said he has investigated allegations of overcharging by other propane distributors in the past, and they turned out to be unfounded. Hanson said because the price of propane is unregulated the amount distributors pay for it from refineries can vary on a daily basis. The distributors put the average price during the month on their bills, he said.
    Hanson said he is currently reviewing bills issued by DeCarli's at the request of a couple of customers whom he would not name, and has not yet reached a conclusion on the accuracy of the invoices.
    Attorney Lisa Fialco, an associate of Gertler's, said, "The fact of the matter is the numbers on the receipts that they give to a consumer don't add up."
    Venezia asked, if the only issue is the variation in what the distributors have to pay for propane, "How come they never underestimate?"


    Read more West Marin stories at the IJ's West Marin section. Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at [email protected]
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