Dear Mr. Codrea,
I apologize for the delay in getting back to you, but we wanted to make sure that we investigated this incident thoroughly. I would like to update you on what we have learned and what actions have been taken following the robbery at the CITGO station in Gary.
The owner of the station has made a public apology to the robbery victim, replaced her stolen money and met with Gary Mayor Scott King to discuss ways business owners can work more effectively with city and police officials. This meeting has had a positive result -- according to the police chief, the Gary Police Department intends to sponsor a series of sessions for local gas station owners and employees.
Since the station owner has taken these actions, CITGO Petroleum Corporation will not de-brand this retail outlet. Remember, CITGO does not own or operate any of the more than 13,000 branded locations. Actions such as those of the attendant do not reflect the commitment that CITGO has to the communities where we do business.
We appreciate and share your concern over such matters. Rest assured that we do not take these things lightly.
Thank you for your time and concern,
Bruce McCall
I think Mr. McCall deserves credit for following through with this reply, especially since it would have been easier to just ignore me.
6 comments:
Good going, David!
See, YOU CAN HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT! The words of ONE can change the hearts of MANY!
Sorry, I don't see the positive effect. I see some very vague words about meetings and "addressing concerns", etc. blah, blah. Didn't see any concrete action occurring, except the payment of hush money. And then the disclaimer "It ain't us, we didn't do it. We care about our customers." He left out the part where he doesn't care enough to set a hard point plan or debrand the station. It's nice that everybody had an amicable meeting and are going to hold classes as to what businessmen can do, puhleeeze. They didn't already know they could call the cops? And it is news to the PR jerk that thinks vague reassurances that require nothing from the company has fixed the problem. He didn't know that they couldn't call the cops? He doesn't think they were poorly represented by the station owner who needs schooling to know how and when to call the cops? He seriously thinks I take him seriously?
He could have saved some electrons, I have been lied to by experts and he isn't even competent at it. He would starve to death as a conman. He needs to find honest work and quit insulting us with Amateur Hour.
FYI, I received the same email. I hope they change their policies, but since I don't live there, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if something like this turns up in the news again sometime.
Bruce McCall wrote:
"This meeting has had a positive result -- according to the police chief, the Gary Police Department intends to sponsor a series of sessions for local gas station owners and employees."
Lemee see - the Gary Police Dept. has to give a "series of sessions for local gas station owners and employees" so that they can learn how to dial 911?
How many classes does it take to teach a Gary gas station attendant how to dial 911? Kinda sounds like a blonde joke...
Here's my take on this, and I don't disagree with any of the stated objections: I think this shook them up and some people realized they had a PR problem. The corporate motive is to make the PR problem go away. My speculation is some people have been put on notice not to let anything like this happen again.
The motive for contacting CITGO was to keep something like this from happening again. As alandp noted, the proof will be in whether or not something like this does.
In re Mr. McCall, of course he is going to be a company guy spinning the company line. My point was, he could have just said nothing and it would not have effected their bottom line a bit. And yeah, straightarrow, like you, I recognize corporate speak when I hear it. I guess I'm just pleasantly surprised that he followed up with those of us who squawked.
I sent him the link to this, so you can be sure he's aware of these comments and the sentiments expressed.
That fellow certainly has his word candy well chosen.
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