u/Ornery_Ads

We bought a house and closed nearly a month ago that uses propane for heat in the garage, hot water, the oven/stove top, and the fireplace. It was fully disclosed to us before closing that the tank was leased, not owned.

We contacted the propane supplier twice before closing, but they refused to talk to us because we were not named on the account.

We communicated with the seller about this multiple times, and he stated that he has clearly told them he is selling the property and given them the move out date.

Shortly after closing, we received a postcard from them about how wonderful their service is and offering discounts for signing a new lease with them with automatic delivery. The postcard listed a specific person to contact and gave their number.

Great! Finally, we'll be able to sort this out. I explained to him that we have no interest in continuing deliveries with them. We asked about buying out the tank as they are required to offer by law. They stated that was not an option.

We then stated that we would like to keep the tank until it's empty then have them take it. They said that's not a problem, but that there is a $1,000 deposit to do that. We agreed and he immediately went into a schpiel about how it's a lot of money and that if we sign up for automatic deliveries, there is no deposit.

No, we don't want you making any deliveries, we just want to use up what we have, and you take your tank back after. If that's an issue, we can get a new tank and transfer over the fuel now.

$1,000 deposit and told it's $100/year starting January 1st if we don't use it up by then.

All was fine until Saturday. They just came by and took it. No calls, no letters, no knock on the door, just sneak in and out, and our propane is gone along with their tank.

Today, I got the pleasure of having to run around to find a supplier that will sell me a tank and regulator, then contact my former employer to ask if they have a propane truck coming out my way tomorrow.

I called the poc that I had and was told that they are processing the refund for my deposit, but won't be giving me any credit for the 65% full propane that they took... unless I sign up for auto deliveries. If I do, they'll reinstall the tank free of charge with the propane still in it.

New tank installed and leak checked today, and tomorrow I'll be running 6 propane deliveries for them in exchange for me getting propane at rack rate for me.

TLDR: Bought a house with a leased tank. We spoke to the tank owner, came to an agreement, then they took the tank anyway and stole the propane inside with no notice.

I recently bought a house with my girlfriend, and we were going for a conventional loan, but the loan officer instead pushed us to an FHA saying that our dti was too high for a conventional.

It took a ton of back and forth to finally get numbers from him, but for my income, they went through 2 years of bank statements and backed out every cash deposit into my business bank account saying that they weren't verifiable; this was ~$35k of revenue annually taken away. They also took the 100% bonus depreciation on business equipment and removed that from my income; this was ~$60k of extra "expenses" that I never really incurred.

I also had an unrelated loan that, with normal payments, would've been paid off in January 2028. I instead paid it off early, approximately ~2 months before applying for the mortgage. They said that it doesn't matter that it's now paid off because it was scheduled to not be paid off for another year and a half.

I also had a small balance on a few credit cards (paid in full every month, but the statement was cut with a balance). 3 of the accounts were somehow duplicated when they pulled my credit. They verified with the banks that they were paid in full, but stated that because they have no way of verifying the 3 duplicated accounts were not 3 different accounts with balance, those debts still affect my dti.

Prior to the home purchase, on top of normal housing, I was paying $2,800/month in rent for my business equipment. With the house, I can now bring all my equipment home (very large lot), so I won't be paying that rent anymore. They said that the future estimated savings do not impact the income calculations.

Is this just the normal process? Doing this all took us from very easily qualifying for the loan to just barely squeaking in under the FHA limits.

Rates are through the roof across the board, and they are pushing so many emails trying to get loads covered.

Some examples:

1. They are offering $1,000 for 10 hours as a yard jockey at one site, $1,200 for 8 hours at another.

2. They need someone to go to a third party (with an Amazon trailer) to get loaded and bring it 6 miles. Total of 12 miles with their trailer (and that siteb loads in under an hour). They're offering $600.

3. I have a contract lane with them, 184 miles for $1,400. 1 load a day, 7 days a week.

Maybe I'm a little strange, but I frequently fly with a used, but purged, gas engine (following the TSA rules for them). I've always defaulted to United because I know that they allow them. American and Delta do not.

What other airlines do I have available to me?

I have a handful of Amex cards, but the only one relevant here is an Amex Business Gold card. It is for a legitimate business with substantial legitimate business spend; at no point in time will that legitimate business spend ever include McDonalds.

Back in January, someone, somehow stole my card information and bought McDonalds with it at a nearby location, then again, and again. It was every day or two, always different amounts, but certainly not concerned about prices or their health. I noticed it after about a week of it going on. I contacted support, reported the fraud, and was issued a new card number. The very next day, I see another charge for nearly $100 at McDonalds again.

How could they get my new card information before that card has even been made, nevermind shipped? Apparently, banks will automatically update merchants with new card information. Given that the fraud charges were "online," I suspect that they added my card to their McDonalds account and are ordering through the app.

I again contacted support, explained all of this, and explained that I will never use this account for McDonalds, ever. I asked them to disable the auto updaters before issuing the new card number. They replied with, "The merchant will be blocked and they cannot charge the account moving further. Thus be assured account is safe and secured."

Well, the fraudulent charges stopped... for a few months. This week, they started up again. I again contacted Amex and explained the whole thing again. This time, I was told repeatedly that I did, in fact, give my card info to McDonalds, and that because I gave them my card info, they will not disable the automatic updaters. I repeatedly denied that I gave McDonalds this card info, but they claim that I did.

Feeling defeated, I asked them to at least block the merchant from ever charging to that account in the future, but they just continuously ignored that request.

Short of just closing the account, what are my next steps here?

I'm planning a trip to a South Pacific island, but the only flights connect through New Zealand. Problem is, New Zealand would (most likely) not allow me to enter their country.

What I'm wondering is would I be able to just remain on the international side of customs and connect through, or would this be an issue?

I was the cheap guy. $350/load when the next cheapest guy was $400/load, and the big guy in the area was $550/load.

I had more work than I could possibly do. I tried hiring, but it was a nightmare expecting people to show up, and I just couldn't juggle no shows and call outs along with the mountain of work around me. Customers were just so entitled, and it was just a miserable experience.

Then I just changed my prices. Now it's $450/load.

The most demanding customers were always the ones that shopped around for the lowest prices. They basically just weeded themselves out.

I get more calls that end in people saying they'll shop around for better pricing, but I still stay quite busy. I have enough work that I could hire someone on if the right person were to come around, but I no longer feel so overwhelmed by work that I feel I need the help.

My gross is about the same as before, but that's with doing fewer loads. Less time, fewer miles, easier life, higher profits.

Lowly paramotor guy here. Air was perfectly still with absolutely zero wind and not a cloud in sight. Looking up from the ground, the sky was just a beautiful blue.

Up to about 6,000 ft (both agl and msl), the air was perfectly clear with unlimited visibility. As I kept climbing, the visibility was dropping due to haze. By 7,000 ft, the visibility was down to about 15-20 miles. Still well within legal limits, but also notably worse than at lower altitudes.

I understand why clouds form so specific altitudes, but I don't understand haze.

LOCATION: Connecticut

I run a small trucking business and had someone call asking for a pool water delivery yesterday around noon. They asked how soon I could get there, and I told them that I could get there the next day (being today). They agreed, and I put them on the schedule for today.

I showed up at 8:30AM today and found that the pool was already full. I sent them a text (to get this now in writing), and just asked if we have the wrong address or something. He just openly admits "I called around, and someone else was able to get here at 6:00AM."

I responded with, "Then you should have at least called to cancel. I still had a truck show up ready to deliver, so I expect to get paid."

He hasn't responded since.

I know that chasing him with a small claims suit won't make financial sense, but it feels like the right thing to do to hopefully curtail this type of behavior. My question is, do I have legal grounds to go after him for payment, and if so, how much?

He agreed to pay $xxx for a water delivery from me. I did everything on my end needed to deliver it, but through his own intentional actions, I didn't deliver anything. Am I entitled to the entire sum he originally agreed to pay? The entire sum he agreed to pay minus my cost for the water? Just my actual expenses (fuel, driver wage, estimated wear &tear)? Nothing at all?

I've been saving cash towards a downpayment for a house. Problem is... its cash.

The lender informed me that if I deposited it into an account, it would have to sit there for at least 60 days before they will accept it for a down payment.

I have plenty in my Roth IRA to make the downpayment, which they would accept. So, I'm wondering if it would be possible to withdraw $16k from my IRA to make the downpayment, deposit the cash into my checking account, and immediately replace what I withdrew from my IRA, or would that affect my contribution limits?

Small trucking company here. Going direct to Progressive was just some easy fill in the blank things on their website, pay them, and voila, insurance. They followed up with an email a few days later, I responded, and it's been fine since then.

When I need to add or remove coverage(s), I make one call, and it's done. Payment is due within 30 days. Easy, fast, simple.

If I try to go to other insurance carriers, most of them say I have to go through an agent, and they give a list of agents. Going through agents has been I send an email, and a few days later they respond saying to call.

I call, and they tell me to email a bunch of information.

I send it all in a follow-up email, and a few days later they reply with a fill in the blank form, most of which was already sent in the earlier email.

I fill out the form, send it back, and a few days later, they call to go over all the same information that was in the form.

Then silence.

I follow up by email and calling, but get nothing.

Just ghosted.

Weeks go by, so I assume they gave up. I go to the next agent and send them an email, and the whole process starts all over again.

They all ask for the same general things like loss runs, IFTA statements, etc, so it's all prepared and ready to send to the next one.

My Progressive policy was due for renewal in May, I started this process in December, and ended up just sticking with Progressive because there seems to be no other option out there (I know Geico offers it without an agent, but they were double what Progressive charges).

3 trucks, 1 full time driver (me), and 1 part time driver (employee). I haul water tanker and dryvan (running general freight). No hazmat, no os/ow. All trucks have adas. Business started in 2023, no losses, no claims, and no collisions. Only have 1 inspection, and it was a level 3 with no violations.

Trucks are all daycabs and stay within 150 air miles, so run ELD exempt, but I'm open to getting ELDs if a carrier wants that (and the savings justify it). Both drivers have perfect records, no collisions, and no citations.

I just don't understand why insurance carriers want people to go through agents for this stuff when agents basically just push away business. What is the benefit that they receive?