You might like the cheap gas but Aris' station is a menace to the community,. They nearly destroyed my new car. Fortunately the repair shop manager is decent and fixed the damage. (Repair shop is a separate business owned by the same person). After a lot of work, drama, and waste of time.
My daughter in her 20s borrowed my new VW Jetta TDI while I was out of town. She wanted to refill the tank and felt nervous because I told her gasoline will damage the engine.
She naively chose Aris, thinking that it's a full-service station, the attendant could give her guidance . If they didn't sell Diesel he would tell her where to get some.
She pulls in, rolls down the window. Attendant asks, "What fuel? Cash or Credit?" She says "Diesel, cash" and he starts to pump. Daughter gets out of the car and goes around, stands next to him, shows him the big yellow warnings on the fuel gate. "Are you sure it's diesel, read this, 'Even a small amount of gasoline can damage the engine." ??
The attendant says, "Diesel, sure, honey, Diesel, don't worry. I do this every day," and pumps $20 of gasoline into my tank. The diesel fuel pipe is bright yellow, much bigger than a gasoline pipe, and surrounded with warnings.
That night I get into my VW and it makes a horrible noise and is hard to start. I think I must be the problem, since diesels start a little differently and I've owned it less than a week. Fortunately I drove it less than 10 miles that night, but the problem kept happening. AT home my daughter and I decided it must have been the fuel. Was the diesel old? Or maybe not ultra low sulfur? People on the Internet say don't drive the car ... The next morning I rode my bike to Aris... I actually meet the same attendant. Ask him if they have Diesel and he mumbles and sends me to the office. No diesel, he pumped gasoline into my car.
While I was standing there upset a mechanic suggested, "Just throw some motor oil in the tank, it will be fine." Having stayed up all night reading the owners' manual I was able to tell him "Never put any additives in the fuel of a VW TDI!" This was a mechanic? Later that day, he turned out to be the one doing my repair. Smelling like beer. I told myself it must be from the night before (but still he didn't inspire great confidence).
Bob, manager of the repair shop, said he wanted to check the the security footage and I said "Be my guest, you can even confirm my daughter got out of the car and had a conversation with the pump attendant." (He hiding behind the gas pumps at this point--trouble was the last thing he needed I am sure).
Bob decided to believe me, offered to perform repairs free of charge. I called my husband's mechanic (Koko Aroyan in Medford), who said it is an easy job, give them a chance to make it right.
We had to push the car out of the driveway to hitch it to the tow truck, also walk back and forth 2x in the heat. The repair took all day and overnight. Bob refilled the tank. I said If the car has more trouble I will take it to the dealer and bring you the repair bills. Bob agreed. He was a gentleman, able to look me in the eye. His apology seemed sincere.
Car seems fine.
But no one at Aris--either shop or gas station--seems outraged about what happened. Another mechanic said, "When your daughter saw he didn't speak English she should have driven away." I said, That pump attendant repeated the word 'Diesel,' assured her he knew what she was saying and what he was doing. But he obviously couldn't speak or read enough English to understand 'Diesel' or even be alarmed by the big yellow warnings on the fuel gate.
I am no anti-immigration fanatic. You can see from my narrative that some of the mechanics in the shop, who seemed to be born in this country, were making almost equally idiotic suggestions. But a gas station attendant needs to read and speak enough essential English to prevent him from destroying customers' cars. This guy had been working there less than 2 months, trained by his fellow attendants, the mechanics said. Now I wish I had spoken to the gas attendants instead of talking only to the Anglo guys in the repair shop. When I had another car I used to feel friendly to them; I still don't wish them harm.
I wonder what an investigation would turn up about the gas station owner's income tax practices (all those cash transactions) and environmental compliance. For him I imagine the cost of repairing my vehicle is nothing compared to paying his workers better. Of course if there is an investigation the attendants will suffer most. In that respect I was glad nobody seemed to be too worried about what's going on there. Just hope my new baby VW doesn't have lasting damage from its adventure in Aris land. read more
