On Sunday afternoon, after visiting family in the Lexington, SC, area, my wife and I were preparing to head home. So, I pulled into what appeared to be a nice SHELL / 7 - ELEVEN location for a refuel, and pick up supplies for the +500 mile return trip. My attempt to use the pump mounted credit card reader failed. So, I went inside and advised the clerk (a rather large young man), stating I needed to do a complete fill up on the diesel pump; approximately 35 gallons. The clerk replied: "No problem, just leave your credit card." As it's never a wise idea to just leave your credit card with someone for an undetermined amount of time, I declined. The clerk stated, "The credit card reader hasn't worked for two months." He then added, "Everyone else does it... what's your problem?" At this, I requested to speak to the manager. This clerk, not wearing a name tag, bluntly stated: "Come back Monday between 8 and 4." At this, I began to speak to another clerk (a young woman) who appeared shocked at how this person was treating a customer. As I was speaking to the other clerk, the obnoxious clerk stated: "Don't listen to him, he's just a ...!" The last word was intentionally unintelligible; but intended to be insulting and to escalate this into something more. Recognizing this, I picked up a receipt someone had left behind, thanked the other clerk for her attempt to handle the matter, and left. Fortunately, there was a competitor's location just on the other side of the interstate exchange where I was able to obtain $113.50 in fuel and about $20 in soft drinks as well as various snacks.
As a result of my experience at this SHELL / 7 - ELEVEN location, it will be a very long time before wasting my time pulling into one of their facilities. If this is how they treat guest wanting to spend over $130 in a single visit, it's just not worth the hassle. read more