Shell

My real life experience of the most terrible customer service and the worst car wash i've ever received.

To date I haven't even received a reply from shell canada. I sent this may 11th, 2010. Below is the actual latter I sent to them. Today I decided to post it here so no one else has to go through what I did and I also sent this to the better business beurau:

Good morning,

I would like this to be my official documented complaint from your outlet at shell canada, 275 albert street, regina, sk, s4r 3c2

On friday, may 7th 2010 I went through your car wash and received the worst wash that i've ever received in my 52 years of life. Car washes are mechanical and they can have issues, I understand this. Where the problem lies is with your staff at that location. Here is how that day went:

I went in and approached the lady behind the counter, only known as jane from her name tag because she refused to give me her name due to the fact I was sending in this complaint. When I asked if she was the manager her response was "why, it depends, is there a problem, what do you need the manager for?" and never did tell me if she was or wasn't. I explained that I went through the wash and that it never cleaned my car and could she take a look at it out front of the store. She asked what wash I paid for and I said the basic one in which she immediately responded that she didn't need to see my car because the basic doesn't use soap and is only a "rinse" and it's not designed to actually "wash" the car.

We've been getting the basic car wash from that location for numerous years and have always had good results, this particular day was terrible as the photos below will show. She looked out the window and argued that my car was clean enough and that i'm making a false complaint. I asked jane and a couple employees there to please come outside and take a closer look. They finally did and jane again said that's the best that can be done. As I asked everyone else there if they would be satisfied if that was their car they all quietly looked at jane and walked away, jane, of course, said she would be more than happy with results like I had.

We went back inside and she went in the office with the actual manager for about 10 minutes. The actual manager never did come out of the office to even acknowledge there was a complaint. He got jane to relay the message that my car wash ticket was a month old and that I was just trying to get a free wash. I tried to explain to jane that I can get gas and a wash receipt from shell canada but do not have to wash my car on that actual day. Jane basically said I could be lieing about that and how would she know. Unfortunately jane doesn't seem to be that bright so I helped her out by explaining that there should be a record in the computer of when that particular wash code was used. She eventually did that and said it was used on may 7th and just looked at me as if "I caught you". I explained that it was may 7th right now and then she said but I could have gotten it anytime that day. Once again I explained if she looked further it would probably show the actual time I entered in the code and it showed that I washed it about an hour prior to our discussion about this. She then said that your car can collect a lot of dirt in an hour of driving and why didn't I come to her as soon as I got through the wash. I explained that when I get car washes I don't jump out at the exit door and examine my car because I assume I paid the fee and my car should be clean. As I said we've been getting washes there for years and never had a problem.

Jane then said that I should have known to get the up sell wash for an extra $5.00 or so if I actually wanted a good wash. First off it's not my responsibility to know the difference that one will wash a car and one won't and I will also have to issue a complaint to the better business bureau and our newspaper for false advertising because jane said the basic is only a rinse and not a wash but yet all your signs have the basic listed under the "wash menu".

I asked jane if she could just give me a refund and I would just leave and call it a lesson learned and she said absolutely not because I got the "wash" but then I questioned her about her specifically stating it is not a wash that it is only a rinse like she said and that is when she said no refund, you got what you paid for. We're now into about 45 minutes of discussion on this and not once was a voice raised, not even when she tried to ridicule me in front of a line of customers for not knowing the difference between the basic and the better wash. I asked her what I was supposed to do because it's not fair that I got ripped off and just have to leave. She finally agreed to giving me another wash ticket and made a point that it would be the "exact" same result as what I had already. I asked her, just to be very clear, would the car come out clean this time and she said "as clean as it is right now." so I took the ticket and left. Never washed my car there then and never will again. None of our vehicles will and in fairness we feel that expressing this story to everyone we know is only responsible on our part to be sure no one else is ever treated this poorly.

Below are pictures of my car after leaving that discussion and back to work, about 6 blocks, where I then got a wet rag and wiped a couple spots so you can see what condition my car exited your car wash that day. If you check the weather channel you'll note that there was zero precipitation so jane blaming me that the car was dirty because of the 6 block drive back to work was just another feeble excuse for her to misrepresent the wash result.

Signed with my full name, address, and phone number.

~

Got my reply from the bbb today, below, and please consider posting a copy of your comments from here to the bbb page by clicking the link at the bottom of this page http://sask.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/1023193/c/h9kzyc where it says "if you have information you would like to provide regarding this complaint, click here. *:

Business name: shell canada products

Thank you for the information you provided regarding the above-mentioned company. Your correspondence was received by the bbb on may 19, 2010 and has been assigned case# 1023193 in our files.

We appreciate your effort in bringing this to our attention. Information from the public is always valuable to us.

As you have not requested our mediation services in regards to this issue, this will become a part of the bbb's file on the business.

Sincerely,

Jody xxxxxxx
Consultant
Bbb complaint department
[protected]@bbbsask.com

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Update. Heard too many stories to let this just quietly go away so decided to pursue this further and go for the refund. All this could have been avoided if they would have agreed to give me a stupid $6.99 refund. Now they have to deal with the bbb for the refund plus I might as well go all the way and get them to change all their signs nationally to either remove the cheap wash from the"wash"signs or add the word"rinse"to every sign. Their choice!

Business name: shell canada products

Thank you for contacting the better business bureau. Your complaint was received by the bureau on may 19, 2010 and has been assigned case# 1023193 in our files. Please make a note of this number for future reference.

Your complaint has been applied to the following business:
Shell canada products
275 albert st n
Regina, sk s4r 3c2

The case has been reviewed and has now been forwarded to the business for their response. This business has until june 4, 2010 to respond to your complaint. You may contact our office after june 4, 2010 to check the status of your complaint.

We encourage you to use our online complaint system to keep up with the progress of this complaint.

Sincerely,

Jody xxxxxxxxx
Consultant
Bbb complaint department
[protected]@bbbsask.com

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Looks like this is the reason no one should ever become a member of the better business bureau or waste their time contacting them if you have a problem. Their response to this whole matter is below but in a nutshell they say"we tried to scare them but they didn't go for it so we quit, good luck"

Complaint id#: 1023193
Business name: shell canada products

We have received your most recent correspondence in the above-mentioned complaint case.

You have indicated that you are not satisfied with the business' response in the matter.

The business has not made any further concessions to their original response.

Unfortunately, the bbb can not pursue the matter further. This complaint case is now considered closed unresolved. Your subsequent recourse may be to pursue this matter with civil action in small claims court (If the value is under $20, 000.00) or in provincial court.

The better business bureau develops and maintains reliability reports on companies in our service area. This information is available to the public and is frequently used by potential customers. The company's level of cooperation in resolving to this complaint becomes a part of their file with the better business bureau.

Sincerely,
Jody xxxxx consultant
Better business bureau
Complaint department
[protected]@bbbsask.com

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My reply back to the bbb and will await their knowledgable answer!

Are you serious jody? Have your supervisor contact me. You closed this after sending two letters to the place that ripped me off because they didn't reply back? I'm embarrassed for the way the better business bureau operates.

Looks like this is the reason no one should ever become a member of the better business bureau or waste their time contacting them if you have a problem. Your response to this whole matter is, in a nutshell,"we tried to scare them but they didn't go for it so we quit, good luck."

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The bbb explains:

Good morning ken,

It's unfortunate you feel that way but the better business bureau is not a law enforcement agency and therefore cannot force a company to respond or even resolve complaints to the consumer's satisfaction.

The better business bureau is a non-profit organization that offers a free mediation service between consumers and businesses who cannot reach an amicable agreement regarding disputes and is the first step before seeking legal action.

As the business chose not to respond to your rebuttal, your case was closed,"unresolved" and the business now has has a poor rating on their report. Your next recourse would be to seek legal action through small claims court.

If you would like to speak to our executive director, danny berehula, he will be in the office on monday, you can reach him at the number below.

Thank you,

Jody xxxxx
Consultant
Bbb of saskatchewan inc.
980 albert street
Regina, sk s4r 2p7
Phone: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
Website: www.sask.bbb.org
Email: [protected]@bbbsask.com

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The saga continues but I do recommend that anyone supporting the bbb with funding, because they are non profit, you may want to look at the numerous non profits out there that are making a positive difference.

Hi jody,

No disrespect intended but my kids could have done the same thing your office did. Send 2 emails and hope for a response. They never gave a response so you quit. I just fail to see the reason for your existence when you don't really do anything more than someone off the street can do. A bad mark on their record? So what, if they really cared about stuff like that they wouldn't have let it get to this point where it is now.

Unfortunately I feel they likely know what limited action your office would do and probably just laughed when your email request to respond came to them. It's the lack of action that allows bad businesses to remain bad businesses and offices like yours to continue to allow it.

I'm replying back to you without prejudice because you're likely governed by restrictions but my question remains, why does the bbb exist and why do you receive funding when you really can't do anything to help us? I hope you understand where i'm coming from. I will give danny an email regarding this matter.

Regards,
Ken euteneier

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This really kind of makes the bbb just a big joke and another place to basically launder money doesn't it? Money in, pay big wages, do nothing to earn it. There are way too many non-profit organizations out there that are creating self sustaining incomes due to donations that unknowledgeable people give to. It's really kinda sad.

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Update: today is almost a year later, may 3rd, 2011, and not even as much as an email response back from shell. No surprise. The other no surprise is bbb just continuing to hide behind the door and not get involved. What a world we live in.

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The first few pictures show the car just after passing through their car wash. The rest of them show the areas that I wiped just with water and how clean I got the spots with no effort at all.