Calgary Openings, Closings, and Developments

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I worked at a full-service gas station after high school. A Co-Op one.

Most customers were cool, but you'd get these fat white trash bitches who would want you to check their tire pressure (knowing of course they had a leak because you saw the same chunky idiot once a week). Then they'd want you to fill up their tires. They're always the ones who wanted you to squeegee their side windows and lights, too. Like, get off your duff and pitch in on taking care of you own crap you dumb bitch.

So you didn't tell them to pull around back for the rest of the full-service?

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Locke

I HATED Co-Op Full-Serve gas bars, I still do but I used to too.

I get it, its nice, its convenient, maybe the weather outside sucks so make the kid pump your gas?

But I can pump my own gas rather than sitting there like an idiot while someone else does it for me.

Yeah, pumping gas like an idiot is much better than sitting there like an idiot.

[getbak]

There was a time when Co-op had a promotion where if they didn't pump your gas, wash your windows, and offer to check your oil and tire pressure, they'd give you something like a free car wash voucher.

I knew a girl whose boyfriend worked at the Co-op gas bar and when she wanted a car wash, she'd have him "forget" to do one of those things then complain to get the voucher.

Not surprisingly, her name was Karen (a couple decades before that became the catch-all term for women who complain about bad service).

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by getbak

There was a time when Co-op had a promotion where if they didn't pump your gas, wash your windows, and offer to check your oil and tire pressure, they'd give you something like a free car wash voucher.

I knew a girl whose boyfriend worked at the Co-op gas bar and when she wanted a car wash, she'd have him "forget" to do one of those things then complain to get the voucher.

Not surprisingly, her name was Karen (a couple decades before that became the catch-all term for women who complain about bad service).

Hah, I forgot about checking oil. Same pigs who wanted you to run around doing a bunch of BS for them were the same ones who'd have you check their oil. It was always low and black AF. They never had you top it up.

I remember one of these ladies came in with a battery and I had to install it. Like...not our job, clown. This was mid-90s at the height of 'the customer is always right' so of course we'd do it. Karens (pre-"Karen" of course) loved just having you work for them no matter how busy you were knowing you had to do it with a smile and not say no.

I'm so much better to service people than so many people I dealt with when I had service jobs. I never let people fk with my staff like managers of yesteryear let people fk with employees. I even have a saying that 'the customer is always wrong' at my work because 99/100 they are wrong. How the hell is some reject off the street going to know more about our products and manufacturing than us? It's just so unlikely. Not to say we're closed off to criticism or feedback, but after 20 years doing this job I can't help but notice most complaints are beyond stupid.

My all-time favourite is a guy complaining about dusty shoe prints on his big industrial project that was going to live outside on top of a building. I was like, 'how would we not have shoe prints and it doesn't matter because they'll disappear after one rainfall...' He wanted us to work on his project in our socks. That was his solution in an industrial manufacturing warehouse with equipment, a forklift and 100s of pounds of sht everywhere. Can you imagine if OSHA walked in and saw us in our fkn socks? I still remember his name. If that was you, we still laugh at your stupidity a decade later, guy. You have yet to be displaced as our dumbest customer.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Locke

And once the tanks were removed didnt the plot of land have to sit vacant for a very, very long time?

As I recall they only had to sit if there had been a leak found after tank removal. There would have to be testing done to determine the level of contamination and how well it was remediated.
If there was no leakage I dont think there was a mandatory waiting time...but its been a while since I looked into it

[Locke]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

As I recall they only had to sit if there had been a leak found after tank removal. There would have to be testing done to determine the level of contamination and how well it was remediated.
If there was no leakage I dont think there was a mandatory waiting time...but its been a while since I looked into it

I grew up in Acadia so I just noticed as those Gas Stations were going down, those lots remained vacant for significant periods of time, but yeah, I just thought that was part of the process, I dont know what the actual mandated rules are.