If you shop at Esso please read.... - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Gundo · 03-15-2006, 07:40 PM

Im on my way home from work today and the car needs gas, so I stop at the neighbourhood Esso I always stop at. I use my debit card to pre-pay for $16, because thats all I have in my one savings account Im about to close. So after the $16 pumps into the tank I replace the nozzle and go to finish filling up the car.

So I try to fill the car on the same pump, it says "Begin Pumping" then suddenly "Transaction Cancelled". I though there was something wrong with the pump so I back out of the stall and into another one, try to begin pumping but the same thing happens, try again same thing when it says "Begin Pumping" it suddenly changes to "Transaction Cancelled". I tried a total of 3 times, so I went inside to ask if the pumps are broken.

I stand in line and when I get to the clerk I ask if the pumps are broken and he says that its pre-pay,okay no problem some gas stations are pre-pay I understand that. So I give him $60 cash to more than cover what it will take to fill my car. So I walk back to my car, an older man was on the other side of the pump filling his car, so I ask if he had to prepay, he said no not at all. So I ask the guy filling on the pump across from me same thing he never had to prepay and I ask the others that are filling and no one else had to prepay but me.

So I fill my car up and go back inside to get my change since I never used the total $60 I gave him, and I ask the clerk who is also the Manager/Supervisor why I had to prepay, he told me everyone had to, then I told him I talked to older guy beside me and he didnt have to, the clerk said "he's here every day, we know him" okay fair enough, then I ask him about the guy on the pump across from me and that he didnt have to pay same answer "he's a regular we know him".

So I call his bluff and say "no one else had to prepay but me and I'm here filling up every 3 or 4 days so how come I'm not a reglular that doesnt have to prepay??"

He says this to me "Some young guys, like you stole $94 in gas in one week"

So I said "what the hell man, thats discrimination! Why do only I have to prepay??"

He says "because young guys like you stole $94 in gas"

I lost it, but I never swore or called him anything I stayed civil and just said thats discrimination and he seen I wasn't cool with what he just said and offered me a free slush,I want to know why I'm being put in the same category as criminals?"

He then told me I was making a scene and asked me to leave the store, I wasn't yelling, I wasnt being disrespectful I was just looking for an answer. So as I was walking out I stopped at the door and told him "I dont know where you come from, but where Im from thats discrimination and thats Bull****"

So I got home and called Imperial Oil and lodged a formal complaint and it turns out the guy who told me "young guys like me" stole gas is the manager and they are looking into it. I'm also going to write a letter to the regional managment and pursue my formal complaint.

Anyone know any other avenues I can take in resolving my complaint??

I can say this Esso has lost my wife's and my business.

ken0042 · 03-15-2006, 07:50 PM

How old are you?

HOZ · 03-15-2006, 07:57 PM

Why didn't you just pay and move on? Or just move on?

Gundo · 03-15-2006, 08:10 PM

im 24

FlamesAddiction · 03-15-2006, 08:24 PM

I don't blame you for being ticked, but I personally wouldn't pick this battle. I doubt head office will do anything anyway.

jonesy · 03-15-2006, 08:25 PM

not sure why he should just 'move on' if they did that because he was brownish, or girlish then it would be front page news. being youngish shouldn't be a reason to single someone out.

Frank the Tank · 03-15-2006, 09:21 PM

Why are you getting so worked up? Is it really worth it? Some young guys stole some gas, you're a young guy so they ask you to pre-pay. Big deal. You could always walk.

ken0042 · 03-15-2006, 09:40 PM

I obviously wasn't there, but I can sorta see the other side of this. They attempted to do something discretely, and you demanded an explanation. You then didn't like the explanation.

I remember being young, long hair, and I drove a nice car. I'd get pulled over all the time. Sucks, but that's a fact of life.

Gundo · 03-15-2006, 09:55 PM

I can understand that they want things prepaid, but the fact that I was singled out and told "young guy like you" , getting pointed at in front of a store that had customers and people sitting at Subway. Thats the part that gets to me.

Why get so worked up?? Because I was discriminated against, lied to about it, emberrased in front of people and then told to leave. In my books thats not right I dont care who you are thats not right.

JiriHrdina · 03-15-2006, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gundo

I can understand that they want things prepaid, but the fact that I was singled out and told "young guy like you" , getting pointed at in front of a store that had customers and people sitting at Subway. Thats the part that gets to me.

Why get so worked up?? Because I was discriminated against, lied to about it, emberrased in front of people and then told to leave. In my books thats not right I dont care who you are thats not right.

Do you think you were discriminated against because of your age? Or is there something more such as your race that you think factored in?

Barnes · 03-15-2006, 10:02 PM

Just take it? Not worth fighting? It's a fact of life? Man has the older generation gotten soft or what?

Fotze is probably right though. Next time tell them that your wife's father is a VP for Imperial Oil retail.

FlamesAddiction · 03-15-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

I remember being young, long hair, and I drove a nice car. I'd get pulled over all the time. Sucks, but that's a fact of life.

I've been there. I can't tell you how many times I've been pulled over for no reason. Once just outside of Strathmore, they even said they had reason to believe I was shipping drugs across Canada. When I asked about the 'reason', they said that when they see a young person with BC plates, it's reason enough. They kept me for over an hour and searched my entire car.

Another time, a very similar thing happened to me in Manitoba. And then there was the time I was returning a movie late at night and was pulled over. They asked what movie I had returned and that they were going to "follow it up".

It really makes it hard for me to like cops, even now that I'm a bit older.

Clarkey · 03-15-2006, 10:30 PM

The guy is probably making 7 or 8 bucks an hour. If that isn't ****ty enough, he probably has to pay for the gas that gets stolen. So while you are correct that he was rude I wouldn't sweat it too bad, he probably hates his job and is miserable. All this letter writing business is more negative energy for you.

RougeUnderoos · 03-15-2006, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarkey

The guy is probably making 7 or 8 bucks an hour. If that isn't ****ty enough, he probably has to pay for the gas that gets stolen. So while you are correct that he was rude I wouldn't sweat it too bad, he probably hates his job and is miserable. All this letter writing business is more negative energy for you.

He makes a lot more than 7 bucks an hour if he's the manager and only if he's the sucker of the year does he have to pay for the stolen gas. Tough break if he hates his job. Boo hoo hoo. Get another one.

If I'm Gundo, I just wouldn't go there anymore. Write your letter and then forget about it.

I wrote a letter to Canadian Airlines for shoddy service and received an apology and a voucher for more than double the price of the flight I had tried and failed to get on.*

*it was a $39 flight from Lethbridge to Calgary and the voucher was for a hundred bucks, probably the smallest one they have, but still, it was a good deal for 10 minutes of typing, plus postage. There was also quite a bit of self-satisfaction in sticking it to the man. Be wary though... to this day I have a sick feeling that it was my bellicosity and 100 dollar payout that sent that company to Titsupland, so you should think twice before you send your letter. I'm not too familiar with Imperial Oil or the petroleum business as a whole, but if things aren't going well for that industry the don't follow my advice. I'd hate for you to flush that company down the toilet.

Jagger · 03-16-2006, 12:09 AM

I don't think that he should just 'move on' that easily. I cannot stand that type of attitude and believe that he every right to be annoyed, especially if he does go to that station 3 to 4 times a week. I certainly wouldn't frequent that location anymore but you should write Esso a letter. It might not get you anywhere but I feel it's warranted. Write your letter, boycott the place, and then move on.

Like Rouge I also wrote Canadian Airlines after a problem and was given a $250 voucher for my trouble!!! (The trouble I had was horrendous though so I don't feel bad about it at all. You rest easy about your measly 100 bucks though Rouge. It was my $250 that put them in dire straits)

Engine09 · 03-16-2006, 12:16 AM

I was going to ask the guy if he was black, then recalled the outrage when I said "Hongcouver".

Gundo · 03-16-2006, 07:16 AM

Im a white male, and the mananger was Hindu. Like I said I dont want a handout I just want an apology.

Sylvanfan · 03-16-2006, 07:31 AM

Well your time is pretty valuable. You might spend a lot of it trying to get a simple apology from Esso.

Frank the Tank · 03-16-2006, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Just take it? Not worth fighting? It's a fact of life? Man has the older generation gotten soft or what?

Fotze is probably right though. Next time tell them that your wife's father is a VP for Imperial Oil retail.

Haha! Well being "old" (35) I'll tell you the first thing I learned in the "grown-up" world. Learn when to pick your battles. This battle, is not worth fighting guys. Go get gas somewhere else. Pretty simple really.

AaronSJ · 03-16-2006, 07:49 AM

I agree with Frank, although I understand your frustration.

The problem is that the store/manager hasn't done anything wrong, per se. If he chooses, for business reasons, to make certain customers pre-pay, then that's his perogative. He's likely come to the conclusion that it's more profitable for him to annoy unknown honest customers than to risk losing a tank full of gas every few days... and he's probably right. Is it fair? No. But life isn't fair.

Your best recourse is to never buy gas there again and encourage others to do the same. And move on...