Isn’t it funny how we all have our favorite brands—for everything? Some we are completely and 100% loyal to and some we will stray from maybe once or twice or even permanently, given a certain set of circumstances. What is it that makes us stay loyal to or leave a brand? And, if we do leave a brand, what does it take for us to come back to it?
For me, ultimately, my loyalty comes down to overall customer experiences and I recently had an interesting one while I was on vacation out of state and fueling up my car. I guess my disclaimer here would be that I am loyal to my brand of fuel in the Denver area. I purchase fuel only from the two brands which Suncor is licensed to market and sell. Unfortunately, when I travel out of state, I may not be able to find those two brands nor would it matter, since Suncor doesn’t supply those brands in other states. Still, I would go there if I could. Remember, too, in the U.S., we don’t have a Petro-Canada site on every street corner!
On with the story…I pulled in to what I considered a reputable brand of fuel, mostly because it was convenient and had a retail store, as well (the kids undoubtedly must go inside for something!). I did not even concern myself with price per gallon at this point. As I began the fueling process, I did notice that many of the other pumps were bagged and not in service. Still, I continued to go through the motions. Then, I began to hear the customer next to me trying to use the pump nozzle. She seemed very frustrated and left her car momentarily to go inside the store. She returned to her car, mumbling something and looking perturbed, just as I am pressing the pump nozzle. Nothing happens.
It's back to school time, which means a lot of thing to a lot of people. But it should mean one thing to all of us - Be Safe.
I've seen it many times. Gas prices go up due to certain factors and the red-faced critics come out of the woodwork to accuse any and all who work in the oil and gas business of doing bad things. Very bad things. My job allows me to respond and defend the decent folks I work with. But in the end, it's just words So it's my pleasure to share with you something Petro-Canada's Downstream employees did that was good. Very good.
As we wrapped up 2007, I am pleased to announce that our ‘Fuel Efficiency’ author, Sneh Seetal and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations Sneh! 
