I thought I would share/vent about a situation that happened to me over two weeks ago at the Shell station in downtown Toledo. I stopped to get diesel fuel one afternoon about 12:30, as I was heading out of town. I hit this particular Shell station ofton to use my Kroger fuel points because they have diesel and is on my way to/from work. So on this day, I'm pumping diesel and the pump is slow - unbelievably slow - is was taking a full minute to pump a gallon. But I wanted to get my value out of my fuel points, and it would take time to stop someplace else because I needed to fill up before going out of town anyway, so I stood there and waited and waited and waited while it pumped diesel.
After watching the pump meter hit about 12 gallons I was thinking it should shut off soon, when I started to hear this splashing noise. I turned around and diesel was spilling all over my car, the ground, and splashing on me!!! Stunned, I turn the pump off and hang it up then I head inside to talk to a manager, tracking and smelling of diesel the entire way - it is on my pants and leather shoes.
So now I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for the manager - she has to make a phone call, deal with the ice guy and another vendor before she has time to talk to the customer who is standing in her store smelling of diesel. When I explain to her that the pump did not shut off, she asked if I had the nozzle in all the way because if I didn't operate it correctly by having the nozzle in properly it might not shut off. A bit offended (I've been pumping my own gas for 20+ years) I responded yes. She said that if I would have had it in all the way it would have shut off. (I took this to mean she was accusing me of not using the nozzle properly.
She said that she has a service tech there and would have him look at the pump I was using. When he came over, I explained what happened. He immediately responded the pump must be faulty, he would test it and left to get something. She went with him. I hesitates a moment and followed them back to the front of the store where I see her talking to him and saying "you can't say something like that to a customer; you can't tell them it's faulty.". I just stare at her as she goes back in the store.
The tech grabs a plastic bucket and heads back to the pump. Once he finally gets them to turn the pump on, he starts pumping deisel into this plastic tub. He states "the flow rate is too slow, that will impact the auto shut off.". The store manager then comes back out with an incident report form I'm supposed to fill out. I reiterate what the tech said - the pump is slow and that affects the auto shut off.
I start filling out the form when she looks at the tech and says "it's working fine.". I, again, was stunned! I started arguing with her because she was blatantly contradicting what her own tech was saying. By this time, a half hour has passed and I needed to get going because I was now running late. I said I wanted a copy of the incident report I had filled out and we headed inside. I then asked the manager for the tech's name. (terrorists take note here). She said she didn't know. Headquarters sends them over and she has no idea who he is. SERIOUSLY?!? Some one is working on you gas pumps and you have no idea who?!?
At that point I left. (Sorry this is longer than I thought). But as I was driving out of town, the smell of diesel is horrible in my car - because it was on my shoes and clothes and i started gettig a headache Soi called the number for headquarters that the manager gave me. Left a message with the "Toledo" district rep. A day passes , I hear nothing. I called headquarters again.
Another few days, nothing. My interior still smells from diesel, still getting a headache when I'm in the car for more than 15 minutes so I go online and fill out their "contact us" section and explain what happened. Still no contact.
So here it is 17 days later, I've left two phone numbers and an email address and hear nothing from them. I took pictures of the diesel all over the ground and my clothes and car. Lookin back, I ruined $200 in clothes and shoes for $2.40 in fuel perks savings. Definitely not one of my better risk/reward scenarios. And I have to change my routine to make sure I don't need to fill up downtown - make sure I have enough diesel before going to work.
Frustrating, very very frustrating.
I hope you have already had the car interior detailed or thoroughly cleaned it yourself.
If that is part of the Lyden Group, I would go over to their main office on Tracy Road.
Hopefully it isn't. I know Breen Lyden personally and the sales/operations manager is my uncle. No returning calls doesn't sound like either of them. They are usually pretty quick in getting back to people.
True North has their offices on Airport. I cleaned the interior a few days later on the weekend when I had time. The smell seems to be gone but my clothes were ruined.
How frustrating is that? I can only imagine. When you know you're right yet every single person involved looks and treats you like you just landed from outer space.
Do not let this go. This is a tv station story. Contact one of the "action" reporters from any of the news stations.
Do not give up on this.
Another call you can make is to Anita Lopez's office. She is the county auditor and her name is on all the gas pumps. Report this and please keep us updated.
This is also a safety issue - those pumps could have dumped many gallons of flammable fuel all over the place had you not been there to see what was happening, Mrs. Archer.
I don't think that this is an Anita Lopez issue unless the pump failed to shut off while dispensing an amount of diesel other than what is showing on the meter. Her office certifies accuracy of measurement only. The faulty pump and bad customer service are True North issues.
Luckily, diesel fuel isn’t very flammable. Don’t most gas stations post signs saying they are not responsible for spilled fuel?
this happened to me once at the now closed BP on south broadway. the pump ended up spraying from a leak all over my car and clothes, and it ended up costing me a bit to get cleaned up.
the owner would not take responsibility whatsoever. this was years ago, and i was too young to know the proper thing to do.
to this day i wish i would have filed a lawsuit
I would say that merely posting a sign doesn't absolve the company of a problem when the spill is due to a faulty pump.
The customer has (or should have) a reasonable expectation that the company's equipment is in good working order.
MrsArcher, what do you expect them to do? It's obvious from your description that the pump was defective. Now what?
When the attendant claimed she didn't know the technician's name I suspect she was lying. She lied because she didn't like being contradicted, she didn't like you for interrupting her day and she didn't like the technician for being honest. It's likely she wanted to give you a hard time 'just because'.
Decide how much you want in damages, how much you would settle for and send a few certified letters. When they don't respond, either hand deliver a copy or just cut to the chase and go to small claims.
What they did to you is first rate B.S. and they should not be allowed to get away with it.
At least getting Lopez's office involved might get some attention to the situation.
With all due respect, honestly.... calling governmental agencies who do not have oversight or responsibility for the problem doesn't seem logical. You gonna call the fire marshall about your real estate value? How about calling the Toledo Tax division about your state taxes. The EPA would have more to do with this than the County (read bean counter) Auditor.
This is BS, no doubt. Mrs. Archer appears to have damages and a reasonable case for reimbursement.
But Hockey, I don't think that you have an accurate perspective on what is considered newsworthy by the media. These are not "fighting words," just an observation based on following your ottawa park thread. Not trying to poke you.
No problem justread, I am just thinking that if they come check the measurement of the pump, they also might find that there are problems with the delivery speed.
Just a suggestion.
That's what I'm thinking. Can't hurt
Actually, I saw some of the auditor's staff there that day doing their weights/measurement thing (at least they had shirts on saying 'auditor' and were dumping containers of gas back in the tanks).
I did call True North again after starting this thread. I was given voice mail of the local rep's superior, but she was also out of the office (it was Friday afternoon). So we'll see if she calls me back next week.
What do I want? An apology would be nice. Even the receptionist who answered my call today (and the first two calls - she remembered me) seemed surprised that the station manager didn't take some sort of corrective action.
If nothing else, get that woman to go their with her 11 year old niece. They'll fix that place right up.
I know one of the owners if you really want to pass your info on to someone who really has a vested interest. They no longer live in Toledo and moved out to the Cleveland area.
Well, a week later and while I did receive a voice mail from the supervisor last Monday, she simply said she would call me back - but hasn't.
MrGlass - if you have an email address for the owner, I'd certainly like to pass along my experience. The customer service is beyond lacking.
MrGlass - I sent you a message on your micro blog so you don't have to post the contact info publicly.
May I suggest ditching the e-mail and writing a formal letter on paper to the owner at his place of business? "Contact Us" links are worthless and, since genuine crazy people are online, many e-mails (even sincere ones) by unknown senders are not read.
Write it to the owner, c/o company headquarters. Spring for delivery confirmation to ensure it went to that address. Someone taking the time to write usually gets farther than any random keyboard jockey with an ax to grind. Good luck.
What to put in the letter? I thought this might be helpful:
EHow: How to Write a Letter Requesting Restitution
...since genuine crazy people are online...
Are you talking about Mike Coon? Is it time for a Mike Coon alert?