Petro Canada

Approx. 6 months ago I stopped in at the Petro Can station to purchase $25.00 worth of gas. I pumped the gas in my vehicle and went inside to pay for my purchase only to find I didn't have my bank debit card. The clerk was intolerable and accusatory saying I was deliberately lying. I was totally shocked and upset to say the least. Anyway, he threatened to call the police and I told him to go ahead and call the police. I'm not sure if he did or not, however, he was talking with someone to whom I believe was the station manager at home. The rude clerk photocopied my driver’s license and stapled the receipt to the photocopy. I have never felt so embarrassed or belittled in my entire life by this Petro Can clerk. He carried on in front of other customers which caused even more embarrassment. I was called out of town to a medical appointment and I returned two days later to pay the $25.00 in full with cash and I offered my most sincere apology. The clerk was very rude again and accused me of lying. It was an honest mistake and I'm quite sure it has happened to other people when they have misplaced their debit card. Now, the issue to keep in mind is I live in the neighborhood only a few blocks away from the Petro Can station at 1915 Front Rd. in LaSalle, Ontario. I often stop there for gas, car washes, and to purchase items from their convenience store. At times I have had to deal with the same clerk and he has been always rude due to that one situation that happened in June 2011. Now on Tuesday or Wednesday of December 6 or 7 th I went to the same station to purchase $10.00 worth of gas only to find that my debit card was declined, I also offered my credit card which also came up declined. I must say it was a comedy of errors indeed. I was totally surprised and I had no idea as to why this was happening. I initially thought there was something wrong with the stations debit machine. The clerk again was completely rude and ignorant. I said to him, "please photocopy my driver’s license and I'll be back shortly with the money to pay for my gas. Keep in mind that it was only $10.00 worth of gas. If I was going to deliberately pull a runner and try to scam the station I would have at least filled up the tank on my car. The clerk began to accuse me of doing this habitually and he refused to give me my license back which I needed to drive to my home just a few blocks away to get the money and to call the bank and credit card company to find out what the heck was going on. I told him I can't drive without my license on my person. He blew the whole thing out of proportion and made a scene in front of other customers which was very embarrassing. It was difficult to understand some of what he was saying due to the fact that he is originally from another country, either India or Pakistan area. The fact that he said I was habitually doing this was completely out of line on his part and he should have taken this situation aside quietly out of range of other customers to resolve the issue peacefully, but due to his lack of proper customer skills he blatantly blurted it all out in plain view of other customers. He said he was going to call the police and I agreed with him to go ahead and call the police, he hesitated and I said, "really, go ahead and call the police" I wanted this confrontation to be put on record. I was pleased to see the police. I was finally able to leave with my license and return home to resolve the issue by picking up the cash to pay for my $10.00 worth of gas. When I returned to the station and paid for my gas thee clerk was verbally abusive and continued to insult me as I was leaving. I must say that I was angry and responded with a few comments of my own. I went to the bank which is a few blocks away to find out what happened to my card and I explained to teller what I had just been through and she volunteered information that she had heard of other complaints about the same clerk from some of her customers. One particular issue was when thee Petro Can clerk was in conversation with a customer at the station about how bad automotive plant employees are by being in the union and the fact that they are overpaid for doing nothing and so on. Which I must say I was shocked. The bank teller continued to say that the individual standing behind the customer the Petro Can clerk was talking badly about automotive plant employees with just happened to be an automotive plant employee from Chrysler's. When the plant worker was going up to pay for his purchases at the gas station he made a point of saying that he is one of those people the Petro Can clerk was openly talking about. I was pleased to hear that the auto plant employee stood up for himself to defend himself and other auto workers. However, I was not surprised to hear that the clerk with Petro Can was again very rude and ignorant. It just proves that the Petro Can clerk lacked any customer service skills and that he is not fit to be an employee of Petro Can due to his prejudice and judgmental behavior toward others. How that individual obtained a job with Petro Can is beyond belief and the fact that he is still there is even more of a mystery. His behavior and prejudice is a reflection on Petro Can and it most definitely affects the bottom line as well as raises the question of why Petro Can allows to be represented by clerks like that which reflects badly on all Petro Can stations right across the country. Shame on Petro Canada human resources and the upper management of the organization and its shareholders! Petro Can can count me out as a customer from now and forever.