I had to stop to get gas about a month ago on my way home with my 1 year old in the back seat. I frequent this particular location, so I don't really have any complaints about the staff, however this particular visit was not as pleasant as previous visits. I spoke with a manager named Sandra.
I arrived at store #625 a little after 11pm, and attempted to pay at the window so that I could get my receipt so that I could account for my LLC's business expenses. There was no one at the window, however I could see a woman with a young man walking around in the station. I assumed that it was shift turnover and waited at my car so that my infant would not be left alone. I observed another man walk up to the window while the woman was near it, and watched intently so as to gauge whether or not the shift turnover was complete. After what looked to me like he had been ignored, he walked back to his car, and I assumed that he was patiently waiting the same as I had been.
After about 10 minutes, I decided to just pay the extra money at the pump and get my receipt from the pump as well. After pumping my gas, I had become very annoyed as I'd pressed the button to get my receipt after pumping only to hear the sounds of a machine churning out hope and anticipation, and not the receipt that I was expecting to collect. I begrudgingly walked up to the window again to knock in hopes of gaining someone's attention so that I could get my receipt and go home to put my child to sleep. And this is where my experience turned sour.
I saw the woman and the young man pass through the store while I was knocking, but neither of them acknowledged the sounds coming from the window. Feeling agitated now, I, with a closed fist began beating into the window with very little regard for if it would break or not, in order to garner the attention of the two employees. My attempt caused alert, and I visibly looked angry, I assumed. The woman, came to the window to ask me to wait, and I angrily told her that all I needed was the receipt for my pump and added that I couldn't understand why the pump printouts weren't available for people that simply wanted to document transactions if the window wouldn't be available. She attempted to inform me of the shift turnover, which only made me a little more upset because of my child being alone in the back seat.
At that point, the man who had previously went to the window came back out of his car and implored that I calm down and consider how the situation looked to the woman. I, believing that he was another customer, griped about the lack of acknowledgement at the window. He repeated, that I should consider that a woman is responding to what looks like a large belligerent male shouting at her from outside. I continued to be resistant, and he then responded with a very apathetic "you have a nice night sir" and I then noticed that the woman was leaving the station and telling the customer "It's not worth it, let's just go".
At that instant, I realized that the other "customer" was the woman's husband who was waiting for her to finish her shift. Additionally, I found out through conversation with Sandra that she was training a new employee outside of her shift, and was not the person responsible for replacing paper at the pumps(which was one of my gripes to the other "customer"). She apologized for the misunderstanding and very graciously explained to her husband that I was a frequent consumer and was usually very nice and courteous. She also revealed that the station had recently undergone a management change, and that she truly believed that the station was in the right hands with nothing but upside to look forward to.
I'd like to apologize to Sandra and her husband for having to deal with a 6'1" 280 pound "angry black guy". While my complaints and feelings were valid, both she and her husband were the ideal models for de-escalation, and handled the situation with pure grace and patience, and took the time to nurture a mutual understanding and kinship.
I need the heads of the station to step up to the standard set by miss Sandra. Please take care of what is needed so that Sandra doesn't have to feel threatened or unsafe again. REPLACE THE RECEIPT PAPER ON YOUR PUMPS!!!
Only then, will I change this review to a 5 star.
Update: Receipt paper has NOT been replaced in pumps yet as of 5/1/23 read more
