Sunoco Station Across From Merchants Crossing Dangerous, Rude, Overcharge ripoff Englewood Florida

I have never in my 60 years on this planet been publicly treated with such blatant disrespect, poor taste, rudeness, In an unprofessional manner and a total lack of customer appreciation as I was treated by the manager of the station located at:

Sunoco
1680 McCall Rd
Englewood, FL 34223
Telephone: (941) 475-2809

I always go to this Sunoco for my gas and have spent several thousand dollars in the past year, seeing that I have two vehicles and two motor cycles.

I drove in around 11:00pm Friday evening to get gas. I used my debit card as I usually do, pushed the regular tab on the pump, inserted the nozzle into the car and set the lever on the nozzle in the designated ridges to flow until it automatically shut off.

I ran in to get a quick cup of coffee and as I was exiting the building I saw a man running over to my car and he grabbed the handle and jiggled the lever until it shut off. The gas had been dangerously gushing out of my car and had flooded the entire bay. I waded through the flammable gas with a man smoking a cigarette not far from my car.

I removed the nozzle from my car and the gas was still coming out of the nozzle. I stood there in a frozen panic since my 11 year old Autistic son was in the car and my only thought in this emotional and mind freezing moment was to stop the gas from gushing so that the whole station didnt turn into a fire hazard.

The gas continued to run out of the hose as I held it and my first action was to run inside and have it turned off somewhere. I laid the pump handle down on the ground as it was still producing a gas flow and headed to the cashier. She said she couldnt figure out why it was still running after the man manually turned the pump off. Finally the woman at the register turned off the pump behind the counter.

I ran outside to move the car to get my children out of the gas lake. I pulled my car up in the parking spots in front of the convenience area and went back into the store.

The employee behind the counter was very cordial as I do not wish to get her involved in this. She had the where-with-all to turn the pump of at the register.

I asked her if I was expected to pay for all of the gas that flooded the pump area and she said she thought most likely I would not have to since the pump is supposed to shut off automatically (as it has done all of my gas-pumping-life). She called the manager who the clerk relayed to me was angry because she had to get out of bed and drive 15 minutes and take care of the gas spill. The clerk said that the manager was not going to talk to me about the spill or how I could recoup some of my money due to a faulty Sunoco gas nozzle. The clerk said the manager was only coming down to clean up the gas spill.

A van pulled in and parked beside the gas spill and I assumed that it was the manager. As she approached the convenience area I walked up to her and I asked if she was the manager. She replied, Yes. I asked her what her name was and she refused to give it to me. As God is my witness I wasnt mad, did not raise my voice, wasnt rude just a nice customer who was concerned about the larger charge on my debit card; was hoping to get a $15.00 or $20.00 refund as I figured that was approximately how much spewed onto the pavement.


I would describe the manager as in her late 50s early 60s, bleached blonde hair and big teeth.

I told her how long I have been a loyal customer and how much money I have spent in that station over the last year and she totally ignored me on this subject and said it was a policy -- Sunoco does not give people there money back for stupid mistakes. She was rude. She was unprofessional.

She was yelling and screaming at me as I stood there shocked with customers watching the whole scene. She publicly humiliated me. I asked her to please write down the owner of the stations name and she yelled it at me so angrily that I couldnt understand her. She never stopped to actually talk to me. She was talking as she walked around the store gathering things I suppose for the spill clean up. I asked her to repeat it several times and could not understand her do to her back being toward me and herself being at the other end of the store.

At the second or third time I nicely asked her to please write the owners name down she screams out in front of all the other customers, Call security!, Call Security! and walked out to the gas spill. She wouldnt even talk to me about my charges or the faulty nozzle. It was also my concern that another customer would have trouble with the nozzle continuing to pump out gas when the handle was released after I left.

I went to the clerk who had been courteous through the whole event and asked her if she would please write the owners name down for me. She told me she didnt know the owners name and she had to ask the manager several times how to spell it before she wrote it down. When I walked out to my car to just drive away in peace and deal with this unnecessary horrid situation on a more professional level in another way the manager started yelling at me again at the gas spill.

Now there were new customers at the pumps as she is screaming, STUPIDITY IS STUPIDITY and again STUPIDITY IS STUPIDITY. I couldnt take it anymore and I yelled back rudeness is rudeness. I have never been treated like that by an employee of any company in my life. I was career International flight attendant for United Air Lines for 35 years.

If I had treated a customer in this way I would have been fired so fast my head would spin. I was trained (and it is also common sense) that you treat the customer with respect. I have also had my own successful business and in this case I would have given the customer a refund out of my own pocket as opposed to publicly humiliating the customer and her children with rudeness and name calling.

My son cried all the way home because he was so upset that someone would treat his Mother so meanly. I have taught him to respect people and always try and act in a loving and kind manner even if you are mad. I am teaching him that anger and name calling is no way to behave to anyone (let alone a paying loyal Sunoco customer.) In the end for him -- it was a good lesson as to the ineffectiveness of anger, screaming and name calling.

My mind is just boggled. Getting my approximate $20.00 dollars back is now not the only issue I have when one looks at the big picture. How many customers witnessed a Sunoco employee verbally abusing a fellow customer? What was the fire risk of a faulty pump handle gushing gasoline all over the pump area that was a safety concern for other customers as well? And most importantly upsetting my 11 year old son to the point of crying whole heartedly as he watched his mother being yelled and screamed at by a totally unprofessional Sunoco manager.

Santi
Placida, Florida
U.S.A.