Shell Oil Company--An Open Letter

I wrote this letter to Shell Oil Company nearly a month ago.  They've yet to respond (and they have my e-mail address, my residence address, and my home and cell phone numbers), and I don't suppose that they will--Probably a good calculation on their part inasmuch as there's probably nothing that they could say or do to satisfy me....On the other hand, if they'd have contacted me, I wouldn't have published this.  Here it is:


4-10-2011
Shell Oil Company
P.O. Box 2463
Houston, Texas  77252



To Whom It May Concern …..

My affiliation with Shell Oil Gas Stations begins as a child in the 1950’s in Northern California. For some reason, my father preferred Shell gasoline to other brands and, as a result, I have always veered towards the trademarked Shell emblem for my fuel needs. 

As a teen-ager, once again in Northern California (Windsor, California, if that matters), I began working as a gas station attendant in 1965.  I worked at the Windsor Shell for a man named Joe Woodard until I joined the Army in 1968, and learned how to provide service to the customer—as a matter of note, there was a sign above the lube bays that screamed “Service is Our Business”.

From that time until this, all things being equal, I have preferred to purchase my gasoline at Shell branded stations, even though I can always find gasoline a few cents cheaper elsewhere.

Which brings me to my disappointing adventure of 4-10-2011.  My wife and I regularly buy our gasoline at a Shell station on Midlothian and South in Youngstown, Ohio.  With gasoline approaching $4.00 a gallon, we spend around $200.00 a week at that station.  Today, a Sunday, I needed to check the air pressure in the tires of my wife’s car, and found that the compressed air hose required three quarters to be inserted to activate it.  I went inside the station and asked the attendant to turn it on, and she replied that she couldn’t.  In order to check the air pressure in my wife’s car’s tires, I would have to spend $0.75. 

To simplify my complaint, it runs something like this—How dare you treat me in this manner and expect me to continue to be your customer?  Unless I hear back from your company that this was some sort of issue that can be easily and quickly rectified, our association as customer and company is over.  I will buy my gasoline at Sam’s Club and Giant Eagle’s GetGo station, which are both just as convenient for me, and where the prices are always lower.

If someone actually reads this letter and wishes to explain your company’s policy of not servicing regular customers…….Well, I’m all ears.




James Young

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