Siberian_Viktorya

My niece and her 3 friends are on a roadtrip from Maine to California. They are currently somewhere in Texas right now.

She called me and said the she stopped at a Shell gas station to fill up. She swiped her credit card and then lifted the gas nozzle. As soon as she picked it up, gasoline started spewing out all over her. The leak came from where the rubber hose meets the metal on the nozzle handle. She placed it back on the pump and hit the emergency stop button on the side. Gas continued to spew out. She ran inside and alert the manager. The manager was less than interested and said: "oh, yeah, the last customer said the same thing, I'll look at it in few minute"(direct quote) Should someone like that be allowed to be in charge of a gas station?

My niece was almost completely covered in gasoline. She didn't feel like arguing because she wanted to get her clothes off first. She took some clean clothes from her trunk and went to the bathroom to change. She said she tried to clean up as much as possible. Her old clothes were all covered with gasoline.

Her friends, in the mean time, had pulled the car to the parking area of the gas station. The gas leak had slowed, but it continued spew out very slowly. Still no sign of the manager or any other employee. In fact, another customer pulled up to that pump and was about to swipe his credit card. My niece and her friends yelled out and stopped him just in time.

It turned off that the manager went off his shift at noon, just a couple of minutes after my niece ran inside to alert him. He simply left the station. Another employee said "he always leaves work on-time no matter what" but said the asst manager would be there in a few minutes.

When the asst manager manager showed up, she went outside and put a yellow "out of service" plastic card in front of the credit card panel. She apparently also had no idea how to stop the slow leak that was still coming out. She talked to my niece and said that they could file a claim by calling the corporate office. (for damage to clothes and stuff)

If my niece files a claim with Shell, would they really pay to replace her damaged clothes? I asked my dry cleaner and he said they they would not accept any gasoline damaged clothes due to state law.

Thanks!

superangrypenguin

I'd sue them.

gobluetwo

It may depend on whether or not the station is owned by Shell or (more likely) owned by a franchisee. Shell may show some goodwill and reimburse her and then go after the franchisee for the expense, or may just pass your niece onto the franchisee.

Either way, I would most definitely file a claim with Shell ASAP, including the specific location, time, date, pump number, and employee names. Also a description and value of the ruined clothing items. A short factual narrative of the incident is also necessary. Keep it concise.

This is a pretty serious safety hazard, in addition.

Siberian_Viktorya

sue them over damaged clothes/shoes that probably cost less than $200 to begin with? that's just silly, no?

I got it... just take it to Judge Judy! I always say "what would Judge Judy do in this situation?"

84fiero

Only way to find out is to send in the claim and see what happens. Nothing really to lose by trying, other than the cost of a stamp.

abmj-jr

Run the clothes through a washing machine and get on with life?

Delta Hog

File a claim. As always, professional, polite and complete without irrelevant detail is best. Never sign anything that says it is her exclusive remedy, unless and until she is ready to be done with it.

The only lawsuit that would be worth it would be a small claims do-it-yourself. However, the cost and bother of a lawsuit in Texas when your niece likely resides far away would be ridiculous. Try to get what she can out of claims, then move on with life and hope the pump has been repaired so that no one is burned or no explosions, etc. in the future.

Often1

Have her put in a claim on her travel insurance. That kind of stuff is almost always covered. She'll get a check and if the insurer wants to bother, they will slug it out with whoever owns the Shell station.

Before your niece gets all cranked up, ask her what the fair market value of the clothes was. pair of jeans which cost $100 a year ago most certainly isn't worth anywhere close to that.

My guess is that Shell ignores it. If someone else got hurt or gets hurt, paying off your daughter will lead to an assertion that Shell is liable to the other person, presumably for a lot more.

Jesperss

Call the fire department to clean up and let the employee deal with it.

This is a hazardous situation.

Siberian_Viktorya

That's what I would have done if it happened to me. 911 should be called before going into the station to find the manager. The idiot Shell gas station should be fired.

darthbimmer

"File a lawsuit!" is the stereotype of what Americans do, it's not the reality. It's also not the best option. Here's what I would do, in order:

1. If still in the town near the gas station, contact the manager and file a report. Businesses all should have a process for reporting accidents/claims. Ask them to reimburse the fair value of the clothing damaged.

2. If the local operation refuses, contact Shell and file a report and claim with them.

3. If unsuccessful so far, file a report and claim with your insurance agency.

4. Only at this point, if none of the above work, would I consider filing a lawsuit. But even there you'll need to decide if the cost, time, and effort of pursuing a suit are justified by the value of the damages you stand to recoup. For $200 of clothing I think it's pretty clear the answer is No.

will2288

Maybe I'm just lazy, have cheap clothes or just really hate filling out paperwork (or all 3), but I would just wash up and move on.

SeriouslyLost

And then buy a new washing machine. There's a reasonable chance, given modern petrol and washing machines, that the ethanol in the fuel would eat right through the seals & lines in the machine if the clothes were covered in volume. If they were properly soaked then it's not worth trying to save them. Ditch them safely and send BP the bill.


That. Fire department, whichever TX dept is responsible for bio/industrial hazards, EPA - all would be interested in knowing and smacking BP/the owner around for a safety & environmental violation. *Especially* the EPA right now given it's a BP branded station. It's dangerous and businesses only learn when made to pay.

kettle1

This is perfect for Judge Judy. Traveling from Maine to California in the summer via Texas. Brilliant! Next time they need to have AAA do the pen on paper map method of route planning.

This manager needs to be fired (at the gas station) and the fire department called via 911.

Judge Judy would love this case and it would get you niece (and friends) free tickets to LAX and a 5* hotel in LA for the taping of the show.

OP go here: http://www.judgejudy.com/submit_your_case

You can also hit up the other judge shows. This is a win-win. Also tell you niece not to wash the clothes and shoes to put into evidence.

Siberian_Viktorya

They planned these stops along the way: Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas. The route was not chosen randomly. Another reason is that they are driving a leased car that expires in September. It still has almost 9500 miles remaining on the lease, so a LONG roadtrip was the perfect way to eat up those 9500 miles. If they don't make any detours, they will return to Maine at the end of August with at least 1100 miles remaining on the lease.