Comments on: Raving Fans, by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

By: Bob Jones

Bob Jones — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 00:07:53 +0000

Jo,

When I drove through North Platte, I saw the sign at the BP, and it did NOT indicate which pumps had that price – I believe the owner has since added that information. When I pulled up to the pump, there was only the 3 grades of gas with much higher prices, and no sign of ANY kind to indicate that pumps 1 and 2 had the E10 gas. I had to walk into the store to ask and get that information. I believe this to be very deceptive, as many drivers were probably not paying as much attention as I was, and probably ended up paying the higher price. I do agree with you that the customers should pay attention to the pump price, however I feel the pricing practice here is very very deceptive and takes advantage of drivers who are used to pulling up to any pump and having the same gas available at the advertised price.

Look, the most important and revealing information here is that MANY customers are unhappy and feel they have been tricked. When I was there, many customers were wondering what was going on, and many were angry. That is all you need to know. What kind of business owner runs his operation in such a way to piss off his customers ? In the end, he will be the one to suffer.

I chose to leave this gas station and drive into town to buy gas. The price at the station in town was a full 35 cents / gallon cheaper than the actual rate for unleaded 87 octane at the BP.

Later,

Bob

By: Bob Jones

Bob Jones — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 23:05:17 +0000

Jo, YOU are wrong

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:56:00 +0000

Believe what you read by all means…I’ve read the articles you are discussing. What you are failing to see is that they are talking about more than just the Conoco station, they are also talking about 2 BP stations. And I have never said that North Platte or the Conoco’s gas was cheap, just the cheapest in town at some times. Furthermore the article in the Bulletin is not the best thing to use as a source considering that it was The Prowler piece which is basically opinion anyway. They didn’t start out that way but I guess they do what they have to in order to sell papers, considering the real paper in North Platte (The Telegraph)is too much competition for them. People tend to buy the Bulletin for the entertainment value.
I understand that you are not from around North Platte and would not know these things. I am not arguing with the fact that Conoco only has E10 on 2 pumps out of 18. I am arguing the fact that you say there are no signs posted and that you are telling people that all the pumps pull out of the same tank, yet they charge a lower price on only 2 of their pumps for the same gas. It is not the same gas, it is 10% Ethanol. Furthermore, they have 4 underground tanks. One holds unleaded, one premium, one diesel, and one E10.
Two nozzles pull out of E10, 16 out of Unleaded, 16 out of Premium, and 8 out of the Diesel tank. By the way, none of the articles you have shown me said anything about all the pumps pulling out of the same tank, that was something you made up. Just the facts, have a nice day.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:43:32 +0000

Jo, when I read your first comment I wondered if maybe I was wrong. I did “my homework” and within ten seconds I found an article confirming what I had said. That leaves me with a decision: Do I trust my own experience which is confirmed by a published article and backed by an AAA Auto Club survey…

or…

Do I trust some random guy named Jo who questions my common sense?

I am going to have to go with option one. Call me crazy.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:12:30 +0000

Actually you don’t make me look like an idiot. You only make me realize that people will believe everything as long as its printed in a paper. Have you looked yourself?? I’m guessing not, considering your rash accusations about my integrity and intelligence. Maybe you should get out and check for yourself instead of believing everything you read. The specified Conoco has only 18 Pumps and as I said before it IS marked where the E10 is in 2 places. I do buy my gas there because a lot of the time it is the cheapest in town, as long as you can read I guess. And furthermore nothing I have said has been a lie, only true solid facts, Do your homework before you jump to conclusions.

By: Adrian Hanft

Adrian Hanft — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:02:28 +0000

Jo, I hate to make you look really stupid, but here is a quote from the North Platte Bulletin from earlier this month:

“The price of gas is trending downward but North Platte continues to have the highest priced gasoline in the nation, according to reports Tuesday from AAA Auto Club.”

The article goes on to confirm that “Two out of 26 or more pumps have the advertised price.” Click here to read the rest of the article.

The question Jo, is why would you lie? I assume you have some sort of connection to that Conoco? You work there? Stop there every morning for coffee? Maybe you are the owner getting fat by ripping off unsuspecting motorists. At the very least, I am guessing you are a local and I am willing to bet you don’t buy gas there (unless you get an employeed discount). Sorry to make you look like an idiot, but you asked for it.

By: Jo

Jo — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:20:00 +0000

I think you are truly mistaken. The Conoco you are referring to has E10 which has (ethanol in it) in a separate tank with only two pumps that pump from it. Ethanol is NOT in every gas contrary to popular belief. They have not in the last 2 years been OUT OF ORDER, with the exception of a few times when the whole gas system(meaning ALL of the pumps) were down. The “intrusive” flashing sign says Unleaded E10 not regular unleaded, and it also says on the next flash E10 available at pumps 1 & 2. But if the sign was too much for you to bear looking at again, there is also one that doesn’t flash underneath it that states the same thing. If you paid any attention at all you would have noticed it, its hard to miss. While I do not agree with only having ethanol on 2 pumps, I do believe that as a consumer YOU should pay attention to what you are getting, not anyone else. And don’t take it out on the cashiers because they listen to chronic complainers all day everyday and they can do nothing about the prices or the advertising. Sounds to me like you are trying to blame someone else for your own lack of common sense.

By: Chris Rugen

Chris Rugen — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 03:20:54 +0000

I agree completely with the closing paragraph. I’ve learned that people want you to be an expert and do great design, but at a basic level you’re there to think really hard about design and the related technical aspects so they don’t have to (and because they probably don’t know how). If you don’t deliver consistently and as promised, you’re getting in the way. Give them great stuff and don’t bog them down with details unless you have to. People appreciate being spoken to on their terms. Check your line breaks, pay attention to details, but don’t yammer on about it to the client unless you have to.

It’s a tricky balance, but it really works with reasonable clients.