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The New
"Shell" Game
Photo
Gallery
Contacts In and Around
Ashland, OR
Response -
9/3/04
As of 10/2/04
However
The New
"Shell" Game
Dads. While vacationing this year, watch out for
the new "Shell" Game, if you stop in any Shell
Gas Station along the way. We first ran into this
at the Rogue Valley Shell station on I-5, just
north of Ashland, Oregon. (461 Valley View Road).
The sign said $1.999 for regular (1),
so I drove up to a pump. In Oregon, it is illegal
to pump your own gas, so most people don't get out
of their car while it's being filled. I did. I gave
the attendant my credit card and ask him to fill it
up with regular. He asked if I wanted my windows
cleaned or oil checked. I thought, finally, a gas
station that is getting back to a "service"
stations. I declined since I didn't need either. He
started the pump and went to serve someone
else.
I looked at the meter and it seemed to be adding
up very quickly. Then I glanced down at the price
on that pump. It was $2.599 per gallon. (2) I
shut it down and called for the attendant to find
out that the difference was. He said I had pulled
into a full-service pump line. (Of their two rows
of pumps, two are "mini" service and two are "full"
service.)
Now, no where on the premises were their any
prices showing the cost of FULL service. And
their main sign only gave one set of prices for
MINI service (1).
That is, if you even noticed the sign about 8 feet
from the ground at the end of the aisle that said
FULL. Now, straight on, it's easy to read (6).
However, coming in from the road only shows FU and
part of the L which could be FUEL which might give
you the idea that they had FULL service if you
didn't have anything else on your mind like kids
wanting a potty break, other travelers jockeying
for a pump from both directions, people talking
from their pump to the snack shop, or even
considering someone gives FULL service any
more, since so few do though when they do, I've
always seen a price comparison on the main sign
facing the street. In this case, you still were not
shown what you were actually paying for their
"FULL" service unless you got out of your car
and went to the pump to see what the actual price
was on the pump. (4).
When I questioned the "Asst Manager", he surly
replied, it's clearly marked. And then said
sharply, "Don't push your card at me." Well, it was
far from clearly marked though it did simply say
"FULL" at the end of the aisle, but noting
else.
While their main trade is the unaware tourist
looking for a little RnR, I wonder how many of
their local customers are "clearly aware" that
they're paying 60 cents a gallon for this
FULL service. Rather than getting $20 worth of
gas (10 gallons of gas at $1.999), you get 7.7
gallons of gas at $2.599 and pay $4.62 to have your
windows cleaned. That's where, playing the
"Shell" Game, you lose, big time.
Consider the following:
1. If you use Shell, insure that the station(s)
you use either don't play the "Shell" game or
prominently displays comparative pricing and
clearly marks each FULL service pump, better
than these pumps were "clearly" marked.
2. If you have been buying gas unknowingly at
one of these stations, discontinue shopping at that
station, let the owner know of your decision, then
copy your receipts and contact Shell Oil Company
(contact information below) and the Consumer and
Business Services Department in the state where the
station is located. If you're local, you might let
the nearest television station, newspaper and radio
stations known and by all means contact your local
Better Business Bureau.
3. If you find one of these situations, drive up
to the pump and ask for $1.00 worth of gas. Then,
be sure they perform all of the
"FULL" Services you deserve.
4. Don't drive into ANY Shell station, since it
was most likely the Corporate organization that
made this promotion and its materials available to
the local operator By doing this, you'll be sure
that you won't have to risk whether or not they are
playing the "Shell" Game with you.
5. Send us the name and address of any Shell
station (or other gas station employing similar
tactics), and we will post them on our web site.
Vacation travel is expensive enough without some
local station trying to gouge more money out of us.
Email us here.
Photo Gallery
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
1. The only listing of
prices on the premises except on the individual
pumps. The line before the Diesel 229/9 price and
before the Food Mart line is barely visible. It
reads "MINI SERVICE." 2.
Direct show of row end with "Full
Service" cut off at the end of "se" and the word
FULL below. 3, 4, 5. Pumps 1, 2, and 3 show
no "FULL" price mention accept the actual
price on the pump. 6. Shows
pump 4 which has the "FULL" on the end above
the pump. As you can see, you can barely read two
"LL"s much less the "FU". 7. The second
aisle - basically identical to the FULL aisle
except that the prices are as posted on the signage
(#1).
8. The surly "Asst. Manager"
who threaten me. If said that if I didn't stop
taking pictures and leave the property, he'd take
the camera away. I wonder what he is hiding? 9.
The receipt of my gas purchase before I could
stop it. $18.99 for 7.3 gallons of gas. If I'd
filled my 16 gallon tank, it would have cost $41.58
or which $9.60 would have been paid for the windows
not being washed. Contacts
in and Around Ashland, Response
As of 10/1/04
However
Contacts In and Around
Ashland, OR
Better Business Bureau of Oregon and
Western Washington, 333 SW Fifth Ave., Ste. 406,
Portland, OR 97204 or 503.226.3981 or Fax:
503.226.8200 or htwww.thebbb.org
or info@thebbb.org,
American Automobile Association (AAA)
Oregon / Medford, 1777 E Barnett Road, Medford,
OR 97504 or 541.779.7170 or 800.325.3089 or Fax:
541.779.5617 Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30
p.m.
Shell Oil Co. Steve Miller, Chm, Pres,
CEO; Susan M. Borches (VP-Corp Affairs), Eydie
Pengelly, Mktg Mgr. Shell Oil Co., 1 Shell Plz, 910
Louisiana, Houston, TX 77002, Mailing address
POBox 2463, Houston, TX 77252-2463,
713.241.6161 or www.shellus.com
then click "Contact" in right top corner. It takes
you to "Tell Shell" with options for phone numbers,
mailing address or e-mail submissions. Click on the
latter and get a list. Click on "Shell Service
Stations" and get a form to fill out.
Consumer & Business Services - for
the state of Oregon: 350 Winter St NE, Salem,
OR 97301-3878, 503.398.4100, 503.378.6444,
dcbs.director@state.or.us
Newspaper: John Enders, Editor, The
Tidings, PO Box 7, Ashland, OR 97520
503.482.3456, fax 503.482.3688, or tidings@mind.net
Radio Stations:
KAGI-AM, talk, news, owned by the State
of Oregon Board of Higher Education. jpr@jeffnet.org
KCMX-AM, News, Talk, ABC, rosemary@cybernetisp.net.
Dick Bailey, News Director, 541.734.2778
KSKF-FM, KSMF-FM and KSOR-FM, Public
Radio, NPR, owned by the State of Oregon Board of
Higher Education. Lucy Edwards, News Director,
jpr@jeffnet.org
Television Stations (Medford):
KDRV-TV: ABC, Renard Maiuri, General
Manager, maiuri@cmc.net
KFTS-TV and KSYS-TV: Public TV,
William R. Campbell, President/CEO. No email.
800.888.1847
KOBI-TV: NBC, Elliott Eki, News Director,
kobi@kkobi5.com
KTVL-TV: CBS, Gary Leaming, News
Director, ktvl@ktvl.com
Response
September 3, 2004
Dear Mr. Gordon,
Please accept our apology for any inconvenience
you experienced at one of our locations. Delivering
world-class customer service is a high priority for
Shell. We are disappointed when we fail to meet
your expectations and we believe the experience you
had is an exception to the way Shell branded
retailers typically operate.
Our review indicates your experience occurred at
one of our independently owned and operated
locations. Please be assured that we have formally
recorded your feedback and the appropriate party
will be notified. Customer feedback helps us to
identify opportunities for improvement.
Please provide our office with your receipt of
purchase.
Thank you for taking the time to share your
concerns. We value your patronage and hope you will
continue to choose Shell's quality products. If you
have additional questions, please contact Shell
Customer Care toll-free at
1-888-GO-SHELL (1.888.467.4355) or send an
e-mail to shellcustomercare@shellopus.com.
Sincerely,
Shell Solutions Center
Customer Care
As of 10/2/04 However
(Make at 4/17/06)
Well, we stopped in our friendship Ashland Shell
station to see if anything had changed. The prices
did change. Unfortunately, they've gone up since we
were originally there and the higher prices at the
Full Pump are still there with no indication on any
signage that they are charging more for going to
those pumps.
The interesting thing is that Shell Corporate
was the only company we heard from, though the
letter was written to us annonoymously. We have not
heard anything from any of the other contacts we
made: Automobile Club of America - Medford, the
Better Business Bureau - Portland, Consumer
& Business Services - for the state of
Oregon in Salem, The Tidings newspaper - Ashland,
Ashland radio stations: KAGI-AM, KCMX-AM, KSKF-FM,
KSMF-FM or KSOR-FM. or the closest television
stations 20 miles away in Medford: KDRV, KFTS,
KSYS, KOBI or KTVL.
Oh well, so much for the little people.
* * *
Problems are messages. - Shakti Gawain
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