Circle K

I've done my research and lots of it. Did you know Circle K was branded as an ice distributor when it first became a business, they sold ICE, YES I SAID THEY SOLD ICE. They had ice vending machines you bought a block for 2 quarters or a bag for 1 quarter and it dispensed down a slide from a door that opened you lifted up a flap and there was your ice. There is still an old building that ice was vended at, at Petro lock in Lancaster, Ca. Thats some history,

Anyways…. I dont get the big issue when it comes to supplying customers with the best ice you can find in town, but they dont want to sell it? How does that even work... here's my story...

I was once told about being able to purchase a gallon refill of ice for $2.19, which a gallon of ice calculates to approximately 8lb bag of ice, which is the weight of a gallon of water when frozen, since gallon means liquid and not a solid, and the same amount of ice is sold at the 99cent store for $1.19, soooo... And for a fact, the registers have a button to ring up that purchase on their registers. I am one of if not the only person who utilizes the ice for refrigeration for my food, being I live off grid, but I also eat it and it's not hard on my teeth, so I purchase two bags of ice like this and not many customers are aware you can do this. Most customers come in with their own cups daily and get refills of ice for free, which is suppose to be allowed by law, a business can't deny water to anyone even if it is in ice form, but other customers just walk out with their drinks, food and anything else they want and get away with it, but I am a paying honest customer, which most of the employees that work there are aware of. I even purchase an additional cup to fill the bags up with ice. Occassionally I bring my own water jug for the ice but it's more convenient in the bags. Many times my roommate will ask for the gallon refill and not all the employees are aware of our living situation and how we utilize the ice which shouldn't matter, but it is a household expense that can be costly if not managed correctly. So after about a year, there has been issues with one of the day time managers, who I rarely even see, suddenly tells the employees they can no longer honor this sale and changes the price to a per cup fee,when I dont even need their cups, and on June 25th, 2023, I went to the Circle K on Division and Ave K, Lancaster Ca, and one of the new employees claims they need to charge me for 6 cups of ice which means they want to charge $8.00 for less than 4 lbs of ice which is ridiculous, but I paid for it this time and still asked for a bag so that I dont have to juggle all these cups in my car while I drive spilling them on the floor, creating extra waste, la-di-dah... which used to happen before i began utilizing the gallon purchase for my ice. So I'm guess have to bring in my own cups like everyone else and get free ice, like everyone else. Negative I'm not gonna do that, But I was trying to be a honest paying customer. I am even aware of them having monthly ice gallon refills that they dont honor at that location. If they did they could probably raise their revenue on ice purchases and that's simply frozen water. Instead of going against the customers they should make it more convenient. Making something more affordable to your customers will not only bring in more paying customers but is more beneficial than a non paying free ice individuals. And it's not like I live down the street either, I live 15 miles from town in the first place, yeah I even take my business to Sonic but their ice melts faster because its smaller but they sale 10lbs of ice already packaged for $3.00. But I have to drive an additional 12 miles around trip risking the ice to melt in the summer time and my air conditioner is out on one of my vehicles. By not honoring this ice refill at the gallon rate of approximately 8 lbs, they also lose my business for not only gas for our two vehicles and a generator (since we live off grid and rely on gas especially during the summer months to run our swamp cooler, which can consume a fair amount of gas) and misc items, but to have respect, courtesy and appreciation for an honest paying customer who rely on their services just as much as they rely on my business.

Anyways to share some more history on circle k, they once had ice vending machines you bought a block for 2 quarters or a bag for 1 quarter and it dispensed down a slide from a door that opened you lifted up a flap and there was your ice. There is still an old building that ice was once vended at, at Petro lock in Lancaster, Ca.