My only regret is that I can't give this father and son owned company a negative number. My wife and step-daughter recently suffered a nightmarish experience when they visited the Valero's gas station located on Main Street in Phoenicia New York, which is owned and operated by Verona oil. Their night of Hell began when what appeared to be a seriously unhinged employee falsely accusing them of theft, and which culminated with her getting into her car and following them up Rte 214 in a reckless and threatening manner, staying right on their bumper, and trying to run them off the icy road. First let me state that not only did my wife pay for their snacks with a credit card, but both the store cameras and the woman working the register completely verified their absolute innocence. Understandably furious, I later contacted Valerio Oil Com. at their San Antonio address, and was given the name of a Craig Verona, who judging by the last name I deduced was somehow affiliated with Verona Oil. At first Craig seemed "somewhat sympathetic" to my family's plight, and went along with my demand that this part-time employee be terminated. In a follow up call from my step-daughter, who was still understandably angry and shaken, Craig said that he would send us a gift certificate of an UNSPECIFIED amount to be used at his store, which I took to mean as an expression of "good faith" on his part and nothing more.
I waited 2 weeks, with nothing arriving in the mail. I then called him up to check on the status, and Craig was immediately rude and belligerent. He then shocked me by having the audacity to accuse me of trying to extort money from him. Really Craig? You believe your own fairy tale? Let me explain that not only was NO MONEY ever mentioned at any time....but that it was YOUR idea to send a gift certificate in the first place. I never mentioned the subject of money at all. I also doubt the human being has yet to be born that would take the time, energy, and exertion, to try to "extort" someone out of a large coffee and stale doughnut.
Craig then whined that since the employee was a 64 year old female she was therefore harmless. Really Craig? You may feel she's harmless because of her age, but the 2000 pound vehicle she was trying to force my wife off the road with was anything but harmless.
Now on a roll, Craig uses further misinformation to tell me that the employee later told him that she wasn't following my wife, but was merely driving home. Well unless she thought her house was located inside my wife's trunk, that's another huge misconception on his part. Plus in 20 years of law enforcement experience I've yet to see any perpetrator readily fess up to anything if they thought they could get away with it. Not surprisingly, a later investigation showed the employee drove well past her address while pursuing my family, which further deflates Craig's theory.
Grasping at straws now, he then claims that there was no footage of this woman going after my wife. Well Craig, I don't know what kind of car YOU drive, but I've yet to hear of the average auto which comes specially equipped with a state of the art police dashboard camcorder installed in it.
Whether trying to distance himself from any responsibility, or to wash his hands clean of the entire matter, only Craig himself knows for sure, but in any event he then claimed that since the employee was off duty at the time of the incident he wasn't responsible for her actions. Using his illogic, that's like saying if a police officer works a 9-5 shift, and then assaults someone in the precinct parking lot at 5:08 that the dept.is completely absolved of any responsibility. Craig, I spoke to several NYS attorneys who seem to feel quite different about the degree of responsibility of both you and your company.
Whether realizing he had no facts or substance to back up his bizarre claims, Craig then tries to make it out that my family and I are the criminals, and that the employee who instigated the whole affair was the innocent one. He ends our phone call by telling me that my family and I are no longer welcome to set foot in any Valero's. I contacted the head office at Valero's itself, and was told not to listen to any of his threats....not that I was ever intending to. To me it seems Craig likes to pin the blame on the victims rather than the culprit. Maybe it's more convenient that way. Well Craig, I've been a customer at your crappy store for 10 years now, and believe me it isn't your overpriced gasoline (which is higher than all your competitors in the area) or tasteless coffee that draws me, but rather the convenience of its location & nothing more.
In closing I can't give either Craig or his daddy's company a negative enough review. If you like overpriced gas, lousy coffee, being falsely accused of theft, being chased down with a car, and THEN being made out to be the villain, than Verona's is for you. Anybody else should steer well clear. read more
