MUST - CALM - DOWN - help me, please!

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

Actually IMing with Bullwinkle is calming me down - but she has to leave in a bit and I'm afraid I'll become enraged again.

Car damage over $2100. Station owner giving me the runaround and won't even give me his freaking last name. Am just hoping insurance company will approve the entire cost of the repairs (less our deductible) so I can get the repair process started.

Again, I know these things happen, but this entire incident just makes me SICK.

[laylah]

1. Breathe...

deeply...iiiiiiiiiiin through your nose, blow it out your mouth. Again......and again. :hug:

People can be SUCH ratbastards, aren't they. What you might consider doing is going online to your local BBB, enter the name of the business, and VOILA, you will have the name of the owner. Then, you can file a complaint, even if he isn't a member. The BBB will still forward the complaint to him AND keep it on file. After that, if you have legal counsel, I would call them. If not, or cannot afford, your community may have a pro-bono organization for such situations.

I cannot imagine the anguish and rage you must be experiencing; however, if you are anything like me, you are on the verge of possibly stroking out. If that is the case, STOP and breathe. I only half kid. Stopping and breathing is very important when you are this upset...as my Kaghime and her sister keep reminding me.

Another :hug:

I am here for awhile so PM me if you want otherwise I'll continue to check in.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

2. Thank you

I suspect I know his name, and it shouldn't take much investigation to find it out. I will take your suggestion. I did finally get hold of him, and he did file a claim with his insurance company. I just wish people would do the right thing the first time - how hard is it to tell the truth and not withhold information? Maybe I'm just naive.

:hug: :pals:

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

4. It's ironic - I AM an attorney

I'm trying to be professional about this, but it's easier when it's being done to a client than when it's being done to you!

[mikeytherat]

3. Been there/done that (too many times) - it will get better!

My most recent incident involved Mrs. Rat, who was t-boned (broadsided), at 50 m.p.h., by an idiot running a red light. Both she and the other driver were bruised and shaken, but otherwise fine (the cars are a different story - while the other driver's car was totaled, our car fared much better, but it was not pretty). While I was en-route to the accident scene, I was approaching a red light less than two blocks away from my wife's crash scene (I could see the wrecker and the ambulance), and the truck in front of me was very obviously going to run the red light. I leaned on my horn, I yelled, he ran the light...directly into the path of another truck (I saw this coming as I was looking down the side street to Mrs. Rat's accident). WHAM! Right in front of me, another t-bone crash, just two blocks from another t-bone crash. Finally, after dealing with car storage and towing, etc., we headed home. Right in front of our subdivision, the car ahead of us ran the red light to make a left into the subdivision. Surprise, surprise - she got t-boned, and we had front-row seats.

Mrs. Rat and I stayed in the whole weekend. Seriously.

mikey_the_rat

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

5. MY GOD! What a wild sequence of events!

I'm glad your wife wasn't seriously injured. Why do people drive so crazily? I think our society has just gotten so crazed and hurried and stressed that people forget how to drive safely. I don't blame you for staying in!

My problem isn't an accident - it's damage to my fuel system from contaminated gas I purchased Monday. The service guy said this is one of the worst cases of contamination he's seen. I have a MINI Cooper and LOVE LOVE LOVE my little car, and I take it very personally when something happens to it!

[mikeytherat]

6. I read your Mini Cooper story (I have a soft spot as my cars are all old BMWs).

In fact, it was my restored 7-series BMW that took the broadside hit (it has been totally restored, and the car held up really well considering the shot it took).

I had the same thing happen back in the '90s with one of my cars - it was sludgy gas (contamination from the storage tanks - tanks got too low and the sludge on the bottom got sucked up and deposited into my tank). Nasty stuff - cleaning out the whole fuel delivery and the injectors (nasty, nasty clogs).

Best of luck with your car woes!

mikey_the_rat

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. The first pump I went to was empty, so I tried another one

I certainly don't look at the gas going into my tank - does anyone? I had no way of knowing it was contaminated. I feel so guilty for putting that crap into my little car! I wonder if what happened to you with the sludge is what happened to me.

I'm glad your car survived the crash well.

[RoyGBiv]

12. First "pump" was empty?

What grade of gasoline were you using?

Unless this was a really large station, it probably only has one or two tanks that hold the low-grade gasoline and very likely only one for high-grade. Maybe one for mid-grade, but some localities allow for mixing the low and high grade gasoline at pumping time.

In any case, it would be very unusual for a particular pump to be "empty" since most stations (all of them that I've ever known anything about actually) have systems set up so that all pumps draw from the same tanks.

What some stations will do when their tanks are low, however, is limit the number of pumps that can be used, decreasing the pace of sales while they wait for a tank to deliver more gasoline. This is, indeed, a bad time to buy gas from that station. The only time that would be worse is immediately after a delivery of gasoline to a station. The dumping process stirs up all the bad nasty crap in the tank and lets it be delivered right to your car. If you *ever* see a delivery being made at a station at a time you're thinking of filling up, avoid that station right then.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

13. I use the super unleaded (premium) 93 octane

I think this station has about 12 pumps. All I know is that I stopped at one pump and nothing came out, so I went to another one. No signs were posted anywhere saying "Out of Order" or the like. I just assumed everything was fine. I've gotten gas there for a couple of years and have never had any problems before. I didn't see ay delivery vehicles there at the time. This was at approximately 10:30 Monday morning.

All I know is that I'll never use that station again. I really hate giving any business to the oil companies. I don't want to go to Mobil or Chevron. Valero and Shell seem to be my only other choices in the neighborhood.

[RoyGBiv]

14. Yeah ...

Best to avoid it, especially as I noted from another of your posts that they've had environmental complaints before.

Sometimes what will happen when a tank is low is that not all the pumps will work. Or, its filter may have been clogged, which would prevent it from delivering gas to you. There's a filter inside the pump, and it has to be changed frequently even on clean systems. If this station has a history of problems, they are more likely not to do so. (Or, they could be really crappy and just remove the filters altogether, which is a major violation.) A close to empty tank makes the pump have to work harder to pull the gasoline, and if the filter is causing it to work even harder, it'll just shut down and not be able to pump anything.

The note about delivery vehicles was just additional advice for the future. If the tanks were close to empty, there's no telling what kind of sludge got transferred to your vehicle. When the tanks are low, there's very little pressure inside the tank helping push the gasoline down and into the outtake line (the opening for the tank is usually around 2-3 inches from the bottom), requiring the pumps to pull harder and potentially sucking up water and sludge from the bottom.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

15. Thanks - good info to have

The service guy said there were pieces of black stuff in the gas, and it had only a faint gasoline odor, not as strong as it should have been. I'll try to pick up the sample he saved for me tomorrow.

If this is the guy I think it is, he owns or has owned at least two stations, both of which have been cited for numerous violations.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. But thanks again for the info.

[cobalt1999]

8. My advice...

Wine and lots of it. :hi:

Seriously, good luck, eventually you'll get your answers.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

10. 1. I am fasting. 2. I never drink.

3. So I will try to find another way to handle the problem!

Thanks for your good wishes. I'm thinking I have located this person's name, and he has been busted (not literally) for environmental violations before. If I had the energy I'd try to get him shut down, but right now I just want my problem resolved before turning my attention to the grand picture.

This makes me very tired. x( :mad: :puke: :hurts: :nuke: :grr:

[MrCoffee]

9. finding his name should be really easy

look at your Secretary of State's website. the state filings for the company that owns the station are public records.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

11. Good idea

I did search for that station at the BBB online - nothing. I do think I have his name now from putting two and two together, but am waiting for confirmation to come from his insurance adjuster (I hope).

[laylah]

16. Hope you are

feeling better. Ya know the "life happens when you are making plans" thingy. Have thought about you and sent good vibes. :hug: Keep us posted...we care!

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

17. Thanks

I now have a loaner Mini - had to turn in the Ford F150 behemoth to Enterprise because BMW wouldn't pay for it anymore. At least now I feel more in my element.

And I did call the owner back - he at least notified his insurance company. I have their contact info and claim number. I'm just waiting for my company to determine how much they're willing to pay so we can get repairs authorized. I was hoping this would happen today and not have to wait until Monday, but c'est la vie.

Service gave me a sample of the gas - very dilute with white and dark particles floating in it, with very faint gas smell. THOSE BASTARDS. Amazing how 11 gallons of gas can mess up one's life so much. Now I'm thinking of the poor sea creatures who get coated with oil after oil spills - GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!