PumpTalk - Petro-Canada

Nothing is something

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.

A Dying Breed?

My time in the energy business began at an early age – at fifteen, I had a summer job pumping gas.

Apart from having to wear brown coveralls, I thought being a ‘gas jockey’ was a great job.  I enjoyed being outside and the customers seemed to appreciate having their windows cleaned and receiving help with topping up washer fluid, engine oil, etc.

New Contributor Bios

Have you ever wondered who is behind the voices on this website?  Come on, who doesn’t like peaking in to see who is sitting behind the computer.

As promised, you can now find full bios of all of our contributors here.  (Yes, we've even included our pictures!)

Happy reading.

Slowly, but surely...

As Jason mentioned in his last post – we’ve had quite a busy and interesting summer.  We have successfully merged into a new company, and are now getting back into the daily swing of things.  Because of the merger process and with getting our new team up to speed, the blog was put on the back burner.

Over the last few months, we have received several comments and questions.  We are currently sorting through them, and committed to answering as many as possible. 

In the next while, we will take your questions and create a top ten-like Q&A post that should bring us up to date.

Also, something else to look forward to….  We will be introducing some new (Jason, Val, Victoria, Lisha & Kate) and returning (Michael & myself) contributors shortly.  Look for the bios to be posted soon.

Thanks for sticking with us during this process. 

Cheers.

Corinn
(Contributor & Editor)

Let's continue the conversation…

At the mall the other day, I saw a sign that read "Please excuse our dust - we are renovating to serve you better." I immediately thought of Pumptalk. 

It has certainly been a busy stretch for our company, and as Jon pointed out in his 'good-bye' post, a time of tremendous change.  The merger of Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada has consumed us over the past few months.  However, through it all, we remained committed to keeping Pumptalk alive and well.

Back to School

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. 

School buses move slow and stop often.  Kids will be kids and quickly cross the street without looking to catch up with friends.  And parents will worry.   So if you're driving, keep an eye out for the flashing stop signs, crosswalks and backpack-toting kids that took the summer off.   Every kid knows how to cross a street properly, but at this time of year they are excited and anxious to see their friends and get to know their new teachers.   So let's all be grown-ups and show some patience on the roads this week.  It'll help ensure the kids get to school and back home again safely.  There's nothing more important than that.

We'll talk about gas prices, the gasoline situation in Alberta and BC and many other topics again shortly.   But as a parent of two anxious and excited kids, I wanted to take a quick break to share this safety reminder. 

Let me just say "Way to Go!"

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.

One Year Comes to an End, and Another Begins...

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! 

We’ve now jumped right into 2008, and with the New Year – comes a new author.  I’d like to introduce Kelli Stevens.  As Sneh enjoys this time off with her new baby girl, Kelli will be taking over for the next few months where Sneh left off.  Welcome Kelli!

Photo Credit: Sally M

Welcome to Pump Talk

With gas prices and fuel efficiency being hot topics discussed in many parts of the world, my colleagues and I looked for an oil and gas company that might be talking with consumers through a blog. We didn't find one, so we created our own.