Bye, Bye, Chevron! It's not me, it's you.

Dear Chevron,

There comes a time in our lives when things change. It's not always possible to stay fit and trim after you've had a child, or two, or three, or four, or five, and while you were always my first choice in terms of high-octane fun, your intolerance of size-challenged vehicles has forced me to end our long-standing relationship.

It's not me. It's you.

With my middle-finger standing tall, I salute you,
A former loyal customer.


Well, tonight was the last straw. I knew when we bought our GMC Yukon XL Denali that we would probably be getting a lot more intimate with the local gas stations. A few weeks ago I went into our neighborhood Chevron station to fill up The Beast and was surprised when the gas pump stopped at $100. The BC government implemented a new law awhile ago to make all gas stations pre-pay only. It's fine by me because I would much rather stick my credit card in the pump, get my gas and be on my way. It's how I've always gotten my gas. Walking into the store, waiting in line, talking to the cashier, signing a piece of paper, all before I can get some fuel is so... so, twentieth-century!

So, for some reason the pump stopped at $100 and would not let me get any more gas. It wouldn't work even when I replaced the pump and tried my credit card again. This was highly frustrating because $100 was not even close to filling the tank. I had to go inside and hand over my credit card for the cashier to pre-authorize it. When I asked about the pre-authorized limit, the cashier explained that there was a limit on Debit Cards. When I pointed out that I was using a MasterCard, they told me they weren't aware of any credit card limits and it was up to my bank.

I called my bank. The person I talked to said that there was absolutely no limit on me using my credit card for pre-payment at the pump. All restrictions on the card were placed by gas station's policy. So I made a mental note to myself not to use that Chevron station again.

Old habits die hard, though, so the next week when I needed to make a quick stop to fill up the Suzuki Burgman I stopped at that same Chevron station. It takes about $10 to fill up the Burgman, but when I stuck my MasterCard into the pump, it was instantly rejected. I've never had a problem all the years I've been going there using the same credit card, but now it seems like they have that card on a blacklist. I had to go inside and tell them to reset set the pump. It wasn't worth it to me to argue or explain because I was in a hurry. I ended up using my VISA card instead.

So how many times do I need to do something before I learn my lesson? Apparently three times.

Tonight I had picked my wife up from downtown and I needed to fill up the tank to make sure that we didn't end up stranded halfway home. Unfortunately, the only gas station around was a Chevron station. I pulled up and started pumping the gas knowing full well that it was going to stop when it got to $100--which it did. I replaced the pump, got my receipt, and stuck my VISA card in so that I could continue to fill the tank. It was rejected! A different credit card! From a different bank! I went inside and asked them to reset the pump, but even after that, it would not give me any more gas. The cashiers told me there was a limit on Debit Cards, but didn't know why the credit card didn't work. They tried to blame the credit card again, but armed with knowledge I told them that they were wrong. I told them I had called the credit card company and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the card. I also told them that if I had to go through this process every time I wanted to fill my tank, I would no longer use Chevron gas. Then I handed them my credit card--which worked, obviously--finished filling my tank, and left, never to pull into a Chevron station, again!



Comments

  1. well...these things really make me furious..You were right! Tho sometimes we think the world is stepping forward with new technologies, somewhere like these, we had to face such strange situations even if you have enough money to buy the product...strange

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder if you phone Chevron Regional Head Office(Accounting Office), would it work? DL

    ReplyDelete

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