In response to a growing number of Vashon Energy customers who say they are have run out of propane or fear they might soon, a director with Amerigas Propane, which owns the island business, has acknowledged problems and indicated steps are underway to improve service.

After a Dec. 2 fire destroyed the Vashon Energy office, Amerigas officials released a statement saying that customers would not experience any interruptions in service. As recently as late December, Area Director Jim Ellifritt said trucks were servicing the island four to five days a week, depending on the need. Shortly afterward, however, islanders began to comment on social media and tell The Beachcomber directly that the situation was more complicated and for some, more dire.

Last Thursday, islander Mary Ornstead called the newspaper office, saying she had been without propane since Monday and had called the business repeatedly, but had received no indication of when her tank would be filled. She said that she bought a heater and was able to withstand the cold, but had cancelled guests who were planning to come and cancelled doctors’ appointments as well, in order to be available should a delivery truck arrive.

“All I want to know is when,” she said.

She added that not only had her calls gone unanswered, but there had been no direct communication from the company since the fire occurred.

“Of course they are sorry it happened, but they have to reach out,” she said.

Stephen Jeong shared a similar story, saying he had called repeatedly for more than a week as his propane supply dwindled, and wanted to know if they should pack up their pets and leave during the cold snap, but the people answering his calls could not tell him. Finally, when their tank was at less than 3 percent, a propane delivery came.

“It was probably just so close to zero; I really thought it was running on fumes. That is why I am so frustrated,” he said. “I just feel like Amerigas does not have a plan in place for what to do in an emergency.”

That same day, Nancy Weed, who has worked at Vashon Energy for several years, was bundled up against the cold and working out of the back of her car in the old office’s parking lot.

She noted that calls were being triaged and deliveries were going first to those who had run out of fuel and then to those who had less than 10 percent in their tanks. Customers who were calling in saying they were at or near 30 percent were put later in the queue.

At the time, she said, there was only one propane delivery driver serving the island. She added that she understood that people wanted to know when fuel would be delivered, but that she did not have time to return all the calls herself and that she often cannot determine the delivery schedule in advance.

“It could be tomorrow. It could be three days from now. We just don’t know,” she said.

Amerigas District Manager Marney Bennink did not return repeated calls for comment, but on Thursday Ellifritt acknowledged difficulties. He indicated communication with customers has not been as strong as it should have been and that people calling repeatedly for fuel when they are out or nearly so is problematic.

“That is not an acceptable practice on our part,” he said.

On Saturday morning, he emailed the following statement from Bennink to The Beachcomber.

“I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the numerous customers that have not received a call back from our local office. Currently we have two customer service representatives making follow up calls on all messages left on our customer care line. We have a driver delivering on Vashon Island and with the higher demand due to the colder weather, we will have an additional driver out on the road next week. We plan to have deliveries Monday through Saturdays until we have serviced the entire valued Vashon Energy customers,” the statement indicated.

Prior to sending the statement, Ellifritt said Amerigas had just assigned a staff member to calling Vashon Energy’s 1,100 customers to find out how much propane they have. He was also hoping to get assistance from some of the call centers the company works with to speed the calling process.

“We have a direction, but it has to be staffed to get it accomplished,” he said.

He also stressed he would like customers who have not been contacted to call the Vashon Energy local number and let them know how much propane they have and what they use it for. The company is also mailing out cards this week asking for the same information. Previous requests for this information also went out, via third parties, on Facebook.

He added that the process of reaching out to customers was delayed because Vashon Energy’s electronic records were lost in the fire. The business relied on an outside firm to back up its records, he said, but that was not done adequately. Just last week, an Excel spreadsheet was retrieved from the server. He noted that Vashon Energy was slated to upgrade in the summer to the software system other Amerigas businesses rely on.

“If the fire would have happened this summer, we could have run it remotely from anywhere,” he added.

Contributing to the service delays, Ellifritt said, is that one of the delivery trucks was damaged in the fire and unusable. However, repairs were completed last week, enabling two trucks to serve the island. The holidays presented an obstacle to delivery as well, Ellifritt said, as many drivers did not want to come to Vashon at that time.

“You can’t make a guy come over Christmas,” he said.

The driver currently serving Vashon was brought in from California to do so, he added.

As of last week, Ellifritt could not determine when the company will be caught up, he said, as there were too many unknowns regarding its customers and their needs. He noted it takes considerably longer to service a call where a customer has run out of fuel than to fill a tank that is simply very low, creating a snowball effect.

On Monday, Kate Stickel, the Amerigas spokesperson in Pennsylvania, confirmed that there were two delivery trucks on the island along with a service technician

Last Friday, Tom Bangasser, who owns the Sheffield Building where the Vashon Energy office has relocated, said he would have been happy for employees to move in before the lease-signing process was complete, but that did not occur. He added that he had the office painted, brought in furniture and signed the lease himself shortly after Christmas. As of Friday morning, he said one more signature from Amerigas was needed but had been delayed. A short time later, however, he called back to say he’d just received the signed lease and that he expected the office to be up and running soon.

Amerigas’ Stickel said that office had been open since last Wednesday, though that did not appear to be the case.

Some Vashon Energy customers have reported no problems since the fire, with calls for propane followed with prompt delivery. But on Monday, others were pleased that the rough spell they had experienced was possibly getting smoother.

Hal and Molly Green had been frustrated the week before because no one had responded to their repeated inquiries for propane for their stove top and their guest house, which had bookings scheduled. They put in a call to Ellifritt late in the week, and on Monday morning, they received a propane delivery.

“Our stove top works better than ever,” Molly Green said, “and our cottage is warm.”