From: H.B. Elkins on
I just want to say that I have no plans to boycott BP. The most convenient gas
station where I work is a BP, their prices are right in line with everyone
else's, and I see no need for anyone to boycott them because of an accident that
they're trying their best to fix. I'd prefer to boycott the federal government
that seems to be standing in the way of all efforts to help solve the problem.
(Like not allowing a burnoff, only giving Gov. Jindal permission to use 1/3 of
the booms he wanted, making all the fixes go through Corps of Engineers red
tape, etc.).


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From: Steve Sobol on
In article <8gul06dcvdqoffvu8aupn3snoprhk3jlv9(a)4ax.com>,
scottenaztlan(a)yahoo.com says...
>
> Last time on rec.autos.driving, Steve Sobol <sjsobol(a)JustThe.net>
> said:
>
> >I have zero problems with the quality of the product - my problems with
> >BP are strictly related to customer service. The gas works as well as
> >anyone else's, so why would I want to pay 10c or, in the case of
> >Chevron, 20c/gallon more? That's just stupid.
>
> The difference isn't anywhere near that much - more like 3c/gallon
> IME. I can afford to pay a few extra pennies for the convenience of
> paying at the pump and not having to stand in lines or carry a bunch
> of cash around. Plus, my credit cards all pay me cash rebates, which
> offsets the extra cost.


The difference *is* that big here. If you live in the OC, chances are
you live in an affluent area where the oil companies can get away
charging more for gas. The pricing may very well

Here's an example of pricing in the Victor Valley.

ARCO - Roy Rogers and I-15 - cheapest
Shell - I-15 and La Paz, just over the bridge on the other side of the
interchange - 10c more
Chevron at the intersection of La Paz and Roy Rogers, at the end of the
15 Northbound onramp - 20c more

these gas stations are less than 2 minutes from each other.

> I'm not one of those people who will drive around all over town
> looking for which gas station has gas a few cents cheaper. My time is
> more valuable than that, and it's more valuable than waiting in line
> at a crowded gas station full of penny-pinchers.

Well, gee whiz, I don't have a bloody choice, do I?

I have asked my boss if I can just buy gas where I want to buy it, and
get reimbursed. But if my boss says "sorry, we won't do that", my
choices are either "use the ARCO card" or "do a ton of driving to San
Diego and don't get reimbursed." Given those choices, I'm going to have
to bite the bullet and keep buying gas from ARCO.

Sorry if I sound irritated. I'd appreciate if you try understanding that
my situation is different from yours, instead of trying to make me out
to be some kind of idiot.

And, I live in Victorville and there are a number of gas stations I
frequent. I know where the cheapest prices are, they're generally more
than 3c/gallon cheaper (remember, your particular location may vary),
and it's not really a question of searching for the lowest prices.


--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, California, USA
sjsobol(a)JustThe.net
From: Steve Sobol on
In article <I7idnUY4r6MebJfRnZ2dnUVZ_rudnZ2d(a)nethere.com>,
dwrousejr(a)nethere.comNOSPAM says...


> I'd also rather not purchase gas from an ARCO station due to the severity of
> the recent oil spill. Oh, and does that still include Thrifty gasoline
> stations too? I did find a 1997 press release about ARCO being involved with
> Thrify Oil Company gasoline stations, but I'm not sure if that is still
> valid today or if the Thifty stations are independent once again.

The Thrifty station at 15445 Palmdale Road @ I-15 carries an ARCO logo
now, but it's not a company station, it's a dealer...


> > They don't do that at ARCO. And having to go in to get a receipt,
which
> > I need, can double the amount of time I spend at the gas station.
> >
> You didn't need to go in to get a receipt at an ARCO station unless the pay
> terminal was broken. The usual process was to press the Receipt button on a
> pay terminal, enter the pump number, and the pay terminal printed the
> receipt. The other obvious exception would be if a particular station had no
> pay terminals.

Ummm.. that's the point. Their printers are often out of paper, not
working, etc., and there have been too many situations where I've almost
gotten screwed because their connection to the ATM network is down, and
the only way I can pay is on the ARCO fleet card. (I finally learned to
not wait till the last second to fill up.)


--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, California, USA
sjsobol(a)JustThe.net
From: Steve Sobol on
In article <hueubf026em(a)drn.newsguy.com>,
hbelkins(a)mis.net.restrictorplate says...
>
> I just want to say that I have no plans to boycott BP. The most convenient gas
> station where I work is a BP, their prices are right in line with everyone
> else's, and I see no need for anyone to boycott them because of an accident that
> they're trying their best to fix.


That's your choice and you're entitled to it, of course. But if the news
reports are to be believed, it's BP's greed that caused the problem in
the first place (and enough different media outlets are reporting that
that I am willing to believe it might be true).

I mean, even if you don't believe BP was intentionally dragging their
feet during the initial cleanup, if they really did fail to implement
appropriate safeguards for whatever reason, that's *not* a good thing.


--
Steve Sobol, Victorville, California, USA
sjsobol(a)JustThe.net
From: H.B. Elkins on
On Sat, 5 Jun 2010 22:00:53 -0700, Steve Sobol wrote:

>That's your choice and you're entitled to it, of course. But if the news
>reports are to be believed, it's BP's greed that caused the problem in
>the first place (and enough different media outlets are reporting that
>that I am willing to believe it might be true).

You failed to address my points about the federal government's woefully
inadequate response which, in my view, is far worse than anything BP has or has
not done.


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