What Part Of "It's Illegal" Do You Not Understand?

[wolfie]

In this state the places that exchange tanks will only accept tanks with the brand/mark of the company that does the refills (for example, if you go to a Blue Rhino exchange they will only take back empty tanks with the Blue Rhino label).

In Ontario, the exchange places have a poster showing features the tank must have in order to do an exchange (OPD valve instead of POL, valve not corroded green, current manufacturing date, etc.), rather than just taking back their own. When propane vendors first started switching to "exchange" rather than "fill the customer's tank", a friend had just bought a new gas barbecue (with new tank). When the initial fill on the tank ran out, his wife took it to get it refilled, and went to one of the (new) exchange places. Good-bye brand new tank.

[The Grim Shipper]

Just had a moron in trying to get copies of some government papers notarized. Not originals he is signing (he was not signing at all), just photocopies. Some states allow this, but Maryland isn't one of them. Specifically, the Maryland Notary Handbook states:

"A notary public has no authority to certify a copy of a public record, a publicly recorded
document, a school record or diploma, a professional license, or any other public or
private document or record which does not pertain to the notary public's official acts."

Pretty clear, right? Now, not everyone knows this. Like I said, other states let their notaries do these kinds of notarial acts and the feds tell people to "get the copies notarized" constantly. So not knowing doesn't make this guy a moron. But I had to refuse him no less than 6 times. After the first time, I made him a photocopy of that page, which I keep hung on the wall for just such occasions, explained that Maryland doesn't let us do that, and suggested going back to the authority that issued the original documents for certified copies. After a couple more tries to get me to seal them illegally, he called a buddy. His buddy advised him to "just sign it" in front of us, and that should circumvent that prohibition. Erm, no. I generally look for reasons NOT to notarize, not ways to facilitate, since that actually helps prevent fraudulent papers from getting out there. In the end, he said, "So there's no way...", trailing off like he expected me to suggest some magic alternative. No, pal. Not in this state. That's what I've been trying to tell you, please take the hint and get the hell out!

I swear, I'm lobbying the boss to implement a strict "three felony requests per customer" limit.

[Shalom]

In Ontario, the exchange places have a poster showing features the tank must have in order to do an exchange (OPD valve instead of POL, valve not corroded green, current manufacturing date, etc.), rather than just taking back their own. When propane vendors first started switching to "exchange" rather than "fill the customer's tank", a friend had just bought a new gas barbecue (with new tank). When the initial fill on the tank ran out, his wife took it to get it refilled, and went to one of the (new) exchange places. Good-bye brand new tank.

There's another reason to refill rather than exchange: when you fill a tank, you walk out with a full tank (meaning 80% full, or 20 pounds, which is the max that will fit in a modern 25 pound tank with OPD valve) and you only pay for the amount you got. If you still had 5 pounds of gas in there, you only pay for 15 pounds of gas.

The pre-filled tanks, on the other hand, come with only 15 pounds of propane in them to start with. "We have to leave room for expansion" they say... bullshit. There's already room in there for expansion; that's why the max capacity is only 80%. Plus, whatever gas you left in the tank gets "donated" to the filling company, to be resold to the next customer. If you only have one tank, you generally don't want it to get so low that you'll run out during your next cookout, so you tend to refill it earlier. Imagine getting charged for a full tank of gasoline each time you fill up your car, regardless of how much was still in your tank when you pulled in... sound like a ripoff? So why do people put up with that for their propane?

(Of course every rule has an exception. There is one place near me that charges the same price for however much your tank takes, but A, they give you the full 20 pounds, and B, it's cheaper than the 15-pound exchange. Last time I filled up it was $13, as opposed to $18 for only 3/4 as much at Orange Apron, plus I got to keep my own tank. Not sure of current pricing.)

[MadMike]

There's another reason to refill rather than exchange: when you fill a tank, you walk out with a full tank (meaning 80% full, or 20 pounds, which is the max that will fit in a modern 25 pound tank with OPD valve) and you only pay for the amount you got. If you still had 5 pounds of gas in there, you only pay for 15 pounds of gas.

There used to be a place just down the street from me that filled them. But it went out of business, and the next closest place is about half an hour away. Much simpler just to do an exchange.

As far as "gas left in the tank", that's not an issue for me, because I do run it until it's empty. But I also keep a full spare tank in the garage, just in case I would run out in the middle of a cookout. If that happens, I swap it out for the spare, and then take the empty tank in for an exchange.

[wolfie]

There's another reason to refill rather than exchange: when you fill a tank, you walk out with a full tank (meaning 80% full, or 20 pounds, which is the max that will fit in a modern 25 pound tank with OPD valve) and you only pay for the amount you got. If you still had 5 pounds of gas in there, you only pay for 15 pounds of gas.

The pre-filled tanks, on the other hand, come with only 15 pounds of propane in them to start with. "We have to leave room for expansion" they say... bullshit. There's already room in there for expansion; that's why the max capacity is only 80%. Plus, whatever gas you left in the tank gets "donated" to the filling company, to be resold to the next customer.

I've seen different amounts at different refill vendors. The lowest I've seen has been for the "lightweight" composite tanks (Blue Rhino 15 pounders, I'm talking about you), while some exchange places give you the full 20 pounds in steel tanks.

Just had a moron in trying to get copies of some government papers notarized. Not originals he is signing (he was not signing at all), just photocopies. Some states allow this, but Maryland isn't one of them. Specifically, the Maryland Notary Handbook states:

"A notary public has no authority to certify a copy of a public record, a publicly recorded
document, a school record or diploma, a professional license, or any other public or
private document or record which does not pertain to the notary public's official acts."

I may be a bit biased about "reasonable" driving distances, but from the location you give, bot Pennsylvania and Virginia are only a couple hours away. As a service to the morons, you might want to look up whether notaries in those 2 states are allowed to certify such copies, and if so, you could suggest they take a road trip.

[The Grim Shipper]

I may be a bit biased about "reasonable" driving distances, but from the location you give, bot Pennsylvania and Virginia are only a couple hours away. As a service to the morons, you might want to look up whether notaries in those 2 states are allowed to certify such copies, and if so, you could suggest they take a road trip.

I'm pretty sure sending them back to the issuing authority is the only thing I can legally do. Sending them across state lines to do something with federal documents that is illegal in this state is questionable at best, a crime at worst, and I'd really rather not do jail time.

On a new note, I had a woman today present ID that didn't match the name in the body of the document. The last name was the same, but the first name wasn't even close. As soon as I indicated that the names needed to match and that she actually had to sign her name to the paper as it appeared on her ID (Ms. Idiot, no first name, was printed not signed at the bottom), she said she'd go to someone else in the city who wouldn't make her sign. She picked up her paper and ran out the door. Too bad this came up early in the transaction..I only got her name and not full address and license info.