Don't Tread on Me!

[threadwalker]

12/19/07
6:45 pm
Redwood City, CA
Chevron Gas Station, Whipple ave (94512)

My gas card slid all the way into the card reader at Pump No. 1 and fell into the machine. I was a little perturbed because that had never happened before and I suspected it would slow down my trip to fighter_chick's house. I'd already spent over an hour on the road getting from Berkeley to RWC and hoped it would be easy to extract my card. Before heading into the mart, I verified my pump number and double checked that I hadn't accidentally ignored a posted sign warning about a faulty card reader. There were no signs nor dangling strips of tape that might show the reader had been blocked earlier.

So I head off to find the station attendant in the attached mini-mart.

"Excuse me, sir, but my card is stuck in Pump No. 1. Can you please help me?" Says I to Attendant No. 1 (AN1).
AN1 exhales in frustration and says,"You have to slide it in and out gently and quickly. Not push it all the way in."
Me, "Excuse me? I've never had this problem before."
AN1, "You were not using the equipment correctly, I don't know if I can help you."
Me... okay, my eyebrows and my hackles rose and I was starting to sound testy, "Excuse me, but you didn't have any signs posted and it's clear to me that your reader is faulty. Don't you stand there and blame me for your broken equipment. This is your responsibility. You need to come out and fix this."

AN1 Harumphs and gets some tools and heads out. He looks the situation over and declares that he cannot help me and I will have to wait for the following morning to get my card. He harumphs and stomps off to the mini-mart. I follow.

Internally, I blew it. What kind of customer service is this? And he's blaming me? And I'm supposed to accept that my card is stuck in the machine until morning? I wanted to rip his fucking head off for his hostile behaviour and for blaming ME for his fucked up gas pump. I really think I get kudos for not screaming at him.

I raised my voice, but not in pitch and not in volume. I don't know how to describe it, but I get very focused and intense and my voice gets "bigger". And I become very lecture-lecture about it. The husband says I fluff up all over, as if I really do have hackles.

Back in the mini-mart, AN1 has retreated behind the counter and looks past me. I tell him and the quiet attendant (AN2), "Let's see. I'm in the gas station because I have no gas. The card I buy gas with is stuck in your broken machine. My card is hijacked until morning. So my gasless car and I will be spending the night here."

AN1 looks at me, "I can't do anything about it."

He was going to leave me stranded there until the following morning. Alternately, he expected that I would leave my card in the machine and either also leave my car or get someone to show up and rescue me. Total bullshit. I briefly thought of what numbers I had in my cell phone, but my mom, who lives in RWC, is out of town and the only other people I can think to call are in Half Moon Bay (unless they are working late) or too ill to drive. That sort of sense of being stranded really motivates the need to survive and fight back. Well, it does in me, I can't speak for others.

I felt like I was shedding my "roll with the situation" self and my, "Fine, you want a fight? Bring it" self woke up.

Me, "Well you better call someone who can because I'm starting to get upset and this is all your fault. I'm being held here by you and my car and I will be here until my card is out of that machine."

AN1, "I guess I could call my manager."

me, raising left eyebrow and give the look that says 'you're an idiot', "Why don't you do that."

AN1 whining, "I am already." and then, "Would you like to wait in your car?"

Me, "Absolutely not. I'll wait right here."

AN1, "My manager lives in Campbell and it might take a while."

Me, "That's fine with me. Apparently I'm not going anywhere since your broken machine and you are holding me hostage. I've got plenty of time."

He dials and takes the phone and walks off. He comes back and hands me the phone.

I say, "hello," and then a male voice says hello back, but does not introduce himself or say anything else, not even, "how can I help you?" I wait. I hear kids in the background on his end. He says nothing. This is so fucked up. Fine!!! They want to be pricks. I resort to my professional phone persona in an attempt to use the honey instead of vinegar.

"My name is xxx and while trying to use the card reader at pump..." and I tell my story. I am not yelling, I'm using my tried and true professional voice.

The manager tells me the card won't be retrieved until morning. I tell him that I'm far from home, I have no cash and my car is out of gas. So unless we do something, I'm stuck here until morning. He continues to claim that he cannot help me. I start to get pissed. Apparently the "nice" voice was not working. So I switched it up to angry customer and loud enough that everyone in the mini mart could here me. From here out, that was the volume I used. Never underestimate the power of a making a scene.

"Look here. My card is stuck in your machine. Your attendant had the audacity to blame me. You have no signs posted nor is it taped over. You have created this situation through your negligence and you need to fix it. You are holding me hostage and your staff is hostile. What are you going to do?"

The manager responded that he hadn't realized what his staff said (so what!) but said he couldn't help. He got whiney. He was reaffirming my fear that I was going to be stranded there until the following morning. They didn't give a shit for me and were going to let me hang because it was inconvenient to clean up their own mess.

Me, "You can come up here to fix this yourself or contact the pump service company. I'm sure they have a 24 hr hot line in case of emergency."

He offered to put $5 of gas in my car.

Me, "That doesn't get me home, which is in Concord, and it doesn't get me my gas card back or a way to put gas in my car once I get half way home and run out again."

He asked what I wanted. FYI - by this time my brain was already whirling on what exactly I wanted from him and what would "fix" the situation from my point of view.

Me, "I didn't come in here to get $5 of gas. I came in here to fill up my tank. So you can fill up my tank and you can mail me my gas card. Then I will be out of your hair and on my way."

The manager responed, "What! You're going to pay me back, right?"

My voice goes up in octaves, "You have the worst customer service. Your staff has been hostile, your negligence created this situation, and you are stranding me here hostage. I think the least you can do is fill up my tank and thank me for not getting a lawyer."

The manager says he'll be up there as quickly as he can. I say "fine" and hang up. I hand the phone back to AN1. I figured I had an hour. It was 7pm-ish. All that in 15 minutes. wow! And I was pretty charged up.

AN2 is a petite Latina and has been keeping quiet and specifically avoiding eye contact with everyone while she mans the cash register in the mini-mart.

So I call fighter_chick and with liberal application of cuss words and at extreme volume, I tell her the whole bloody situation over the phone along with my opinions and insights. Everyone in the mini-mart was my audience.

After I got off the phone, I called out to AN2 at the cash register, asking if they were going to get my card out any time soon or if I really was going to have to wait until morning. Yup. Loudly from the center of the store where you couldn't ignore me. I did that every few minutes as soon as a new batch of folks came into the mini mart.

This was muuuuch more fun that sitting in my car hoping for rescue. It felt proactive. At the very least, I was preventing them from ignoring me.

Then AN1 was back on the phone and I watched him scurry from the gas pump to the storage room, toting varoius tools back and forth while I continued to broadcast my situation to the gas station visitors. I thought I heard him mutter something to AN2 about how people that were stupid should be embarrassed and keep quiet, so I guess he was referring to me. Strangely I didn't feel stupid, I felt victimized and self-righteous and determined to get out of that hell hole before the next morning. During that time I also got the name and office number of the gas station owner from AN2. I told AN2 that I appreciated that she, personally, had not contributed to the situation, but I would be contacting Chevron and the owner about what occurred and that the hostile customer service from "dorkus" (she giggled) would be high on my list of commentary. I also told her that I hoped Dorkus burned in hell for his treatment and disrespect of others.

About 15 minutes after goofing around with Pump 1, AN1 got my card out.

Funny, didn't they say I'd have to wait until morning and they couldn't do anything about it? Lazy selfish insenstive abusive bastards. I think he was on the phone with the manager and the only reason they took action was because I forced them.

I took my card from AN1. I refused to buy anything. I limped on fumes to a different Chevron and filled up elsewhere. Fuckers! Never again.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I went from respectful customer to self-righteous rage in less than 15 minutes. I think I was spurred on by the fear of being stranded there until morning because that was the visual I had in the back of my mind the whole time. And they wanted me to accept that. Humph. They created a situation through deliberate negligence. They knew Pump 1 was not working and did not tape up the card reader; AN1 was already grumping about it before he got out there. They refused to help me and were content to leave me stranded in the gas station. They abused their position of power over me and tried to victimize me. They were hostile and they took no responsibility for the bulshit situation. They didn't even apologize when I got my card back. They didn't start doing anything until I dug my feet and fought back. This is not who my mom raised me to be, it's who I've become because my mom left me to raise myself.

I had a few back-up plans. If it lasted past 10pm, I would have to call the husband and explain. I figured I had a few more miles of fumes and I could probably use my corporate credit card to fill my tank up somewhere else. (bah!) Assuming that card would work in a gas station - no idea what kind of restrictions they have. I could call 3-A to be towed home. And I was going to take out an add in the local paper. I may still write to the local paper and tell them how horrible that Chevron was. I also planned on calling the managers house every 5-10 minutes until someone showed up and fixed the situation and I planned to keep on making a scene infront of customers. That was as far as my brainstorming got in the 15 minutes it took AN1 to get my card out.

Today I called Bob Oyster, owner of Chevron, and left a summary message. His office number is available to anyone who calls the Whipple Ave station to ask. The Whipple Ave station number is: 650-216-9155 and Bob Oyster's office number is 650-363-7202. Feel free to voice your concern over the treatment of customers held hostage by inadequate equipment and hostile employees. I have not yet heard back from Bob.

I also emailed Chevron corp today. It would have been longer, but I had a maximum word count:

I stopped in the Chevron Station in Redwood City, CA (94512) last night at 6:45 pm. I was almost completely out of gas. The card reader of pump #1 was broken, but not taped over and my card fell through the card reader and into the equipment when I tried to use it. The station attendant was rude, blamed me for not using the device correctly, and told me I would have to wait until the following morning to get my card back. I was 60 miles from home, cashless, and my car needed gas. The attendant's behavior was hostile and I felt like I was being held hostage in a threatening situation. I protested and the attendant called the station manager. The station manager also told me I would have to wait until morning and that he could do nothing to help me. I explained my situation to him and informed him that his attendant was rude. He did not apologize for his attendant. He also told me I could not get my card until morning. I told the manager that unless my car got gas in it, I would have to spend the night in his station. I suggested that he fill my gas tank and mail my card to me. He protested this and declined further help until I asserted myself and pointed out that the cause of the situation was his equipment, not me. Therefore it was upon him to fix the situation. He said he would come up to the station (from a distance of approximately 40 miles) to see what he could do and that I would have to wait for him.

Frankly, it was his faulty card reader that created the situation. There was no posted notice or sign that it did not work. It was not taped over. The hostile and unhelpful responses I got from the male attendant and the manager made me feel unsafe and threatened. Their behavior was completely inappropriate and I felt like I was being held hostage in their gas station at their mercy. I have contacted the station owner, Robert Oyster, but I have not heard back. I feel that this is significant enough to bring to your attention.

Sincerely,….

****
I wonder if I'll get a response.

P.S. I know some folks who frequently say, "wow! don't piss thread_walker off". But I think that's not really what's happening. I'm not just mad; I get mad all the time because of the rampant stupidity that I have to work with everyday and I don't go around raging at people. These people, however, pushed my "fight or die" button. And my mom lives in that town and buys gas there. I would hate for this to happen to her. So that was a combination of my survival instinct and my impulse that compels me to fighting against injustice. Trust me, there was a part of me that wanted to just call my husband and have him come get me. But that would have been messy to get my car/card back and I would have had to cancel my plans for the evening. How unfair is that? My life torn up because of someone else's negligence and lack of personal responsibility. So before my more self-restrained or non-confrontational friends say something about not pissing me off, perhaps you should instead consider the advantage that there are people out there willing to publically humiliate themselves and make a scene in order to fight the bastards.

Comments

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I'm getting you that t-shirt for xmas. :-) I'm glad you yelled at them.

[callistotoni.livejournal.com]

Once again, you are my hero. :-)

[rustmon.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad you yelled at them. Sometimes, you have to do it - and they need to learn the meaning of the word customer service.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

Good for you, babe! Sticking up for yourself was unpleasant, but it surely did pay off.

I wasn't raised to fight in a situation like that either, but I've learned that being a victim isn't what I want in life. So I would have been giving them a fit if I was the one in that predicament.

[theiadora.livejournal.com]

You did the right thing. You stood up for yourself. Allowed other customers to know about the faulty machine and inadaquate service.
They did piss you off, but you maintained your control.
And now all your friends know not to use that station. Which in the long run will save them from the same fate.
You GO girl!!! I Love the fact that you followed through with contacting the Owner & Chevron to state your case.

[skachick-101.livejournal.com]

sorry you had to deal with that crap, but glad you dealt with it and didn't let their asshattery win.

Good going!

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

And...I'm missing the part where you yell at them. I get communicating clearly your needs and their repeated cowardice in dealing with a situation (I wonder if they'll fix the pump) and that you followed through, but you didn't yell directly at anyone that I can see...just stated your needs more loudly.

Well done!

Re: Good going!

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

actually, I didn't yell until the phone call when the manager told me the 3rd time that I would be stuck there until morning. And that was really so I could talk over him when he tried to cut me off.

I was definitely loud, but if by "yell" folks mean "raise voice in violent angry tones", that's not actually what I did. I think it was more of the loud and articulate "lecturer". Hard to be objective when you're in the middle of it.

Thanks.

[ermine-rat.livejournal.com]

Making a stink to highlight an unfair situation you describe is a fine and noble thing. Meekly accepting what fate hands out isn't a strategy for survival.

What horrible people!!

[dakini-bones.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you stood up to them!

[erzimagdalena.livejournal.com]

Ah hell. What a night.
Kudos for making a scene and forcing them to do something. You are my hero.