Sure, ARCO removed the 45 cent card fee..but...

[WolfeMacleod]

Now I'm seeing most of the Seattle area Arco stations starting to charge more per gallon for using a debit/credit card instead of cash.

Sneaky? Remove one fee and tout it all over TV, but add another which adds up to well over 45 cents for anyone purchasing more than a few gallons of gas.

Funny.

I'd rather have my 45 cent card fee, thankyouverymuch.

Glad I don't get gas there.

[on2wheels52]

If it fair to make more profit off the cash customers than the credit card users?
I'm happy I can operate w/o taking cards, they'd skim close to 4% from me.
Jim

[stomachmonkey]

With the current price of gas I think they figured out they are loosing money on the $0.45 card fee.

Assume a low rate of $0.10 per transaction and a 1% fee on the total.

10 gallons of gas = +$40.00 in your neck of the woods.

Considering stations make pennies per gallon not surprising.

They are not allowed to charge their credit card customers more but they are allowed to give cash customers a discount, I know, semantics.

[sammyg2]

My bet is ARCO will go away soon. BP doesn't seem to want to be in the refining or marketing biddness. They have to sell lots O'stuff to pay "you know who" that $20 billion for the spill. And for the re-election.

BTW The ARCO station I buy gas from is across the street from a shell station (that my company owns). The price difference last week? Shell was 37 cents higher that particular day. For the exact same gas.

Guess some folks are willing to pay stupid money for the exact same product 'cause someone told them "you get what you pay for".
Suckers.
Now before folks chine in and say their cars don't run good on ARCO gas, let me say it again: exact same stuff.

Update: SoCal Arco gas stations to close
By MARY ANN MILBOURN / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Update March 19, Noon, Clarification: BP is not renewing its leases on 257 Southern California gas stations sites leased from Thrifty Oil Co. About 130 are Arco stations. Others operate under the Thrifty brand. Separately, BP said it will divest 770 other Arco-branded gas stations in Southern California. Scott Dean, a BP spokesman, said the company expects the Arco name to be retained on those stations, but that will be left up to the buyer. BP will retain the rights to the ampm brand.

Article Tab: initial-dollars-station-m
Mike Engel, who owns the Arco station at Harbor Boulevard and Orangewood Avenue in Anaheim said he has two years left on his lease but stands to lose a million dollars from his initial investment and improvements, not to mention the sweat equity.

More than 100 Arco gasoline stations will begin disappearing in April and will be replaced by Tesoro-owned USA Gasoline outlets.

BP, which has owned Arco since 2000, is not renewing its leases with Thrifty Oil Co. at 257 station sites, according to a BP statement.

The company has notified its Arco franchisees, who sublet the sites from BP, that they will have to give up their stations as their leases expire over the next two years, according to the station owners. Some franchisees who lease through BP but operate under the Thrifty brand also will be out.

Tesoro said in a statement it will lease 240 of the Arco sites from Thrifty Oil and will phase in the USA stations beginning this year.

The move by BP has set off a firestorm of protest among the 106 Arco franchisees, many of whom own multiple stations and stand to lose their entire investment. About 2,000 Arco workers also will lose their jobs

It also raises questions about what will happen to gasoline prices when Arco, known as the low-price leader, cuts its presence in the market.

The Arco franchisees said they were taken by surprise by BP's decision not to renew their leases.

"I got my notice in February that I would have to get out April 4, then they extended it a month," said Issa Demes of Westminster, who owns three Thrifty-branded stations in Los Angeles.

Demes said he has made more than $500,000 in improvements plus inventory at the stations. BP's decision, he said, will leave him with nothing.

Mike Engel, who owns the Arco station at Harbor Boulevard and Orangewood Avenue in Anaheim said he has two years left on his lease but stands to lose a million dollars from his initial investment and improvements, not to mention the sweat equity.

"And they are just going to give this to somebody else?" he asked.

BP said it doesn't own the station sites and simply is allowing the leases to expire.

"It is our hope that the independent dealers we used to supply with fuel continue their discussions with the landlord (Thrifty)," BP said in its statement.

The owners, however, said they've had no success at reaching Thrifty and have been told Tesoro is bringing in its own people.

Barry Berkett, a Thrifty Oil executive vice president, said the company simply is the landlord and deferred any questions about what happens to the current Arco owners to Tesoro.

Tesoro, via email, did not directly address the fate of the Arco owners.

"Thrifty Oil Co. previously entered into a lease agreement for these stations with BP," said Thrifty spokeswoman Tina Barbee. "Upon expiration of those agreements, Tesoro will be leasing the stations from Thrifty Oil. Independent contractors called Multi-Site Operators or MSOs will be operating the stations."

[sammyg2]

I got a buddy who absolutely refuses to buy arco gas 'cause they charge that 45 cents to use an ATM card.
Instead he goes to the local 76 station and pays about $5 more for a tank of the same gas.
I pointed out the fallacy of his logic.
He said "it's the principle".

Gotta love that ........

[mikeesik]

[QUOTE=stomachmonkey;6760545]With the current price of gas I think they figured out they are loosing money on the $0.45 card fee.



Considering stations make pennies per gallon not surprising.

Uh what !!!!!!!

Gas stations around here are popping up like condos. Considering as well they charge you a buck or two for air in your tires.

One every block for sure.

There are gas stations just completed that behind them there are cow pastures.

Yes, I know they make profits off their confectionary but I will never believe it that -OH-I AM A POOR GAS STATION OWNER-

They remind me of the sobbing of today's farmers.

[stomachmonkey]

[QUOTE=mikeesik;6760826]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

With the current price of gas I think they figured out they are loosing money on the $0.45 card fee.



Considering stations make pennies per gallon not surprising.

Uh what !!!!!!!

Gas stations around here are popping up like condos. Considering as well they charge you a buck or two for air in your tires.

One every block for sure.

There are gas stations just completed that behind them there are cow pastures.

Yes, I know they make profits off their confectionary but I will never believe it that -OH-I AM A POOR GAS STATION OWNER-

They remind me of the sobbing of today's farmers.

So you are saying that were you a business owner with multiple profit centers that you would intentionally/knowingly/willingly lose money on one of them?

ok then.

Certainly if a stations inside profit margin is high enough it could use outside/gas sales as a loss leader.

Still the more you lose outside, the smaller your gross profit margin is.

You pay for the air? 1st it's a choice, no one put a gun to your head. 2nd, you know you can go in and tell them you just filled up and ask them to turn on the air pump and that they'll almost always do it?

If you just pull in from the street and don't spend any money do you expect them to provide the service for free?

It's not like there are service centers attached these days that are running a compressor for the shop and have a courtesy line outside.

It's a business. Don't like the service you get then go somewhere else.

Pretty simple really.

[HardDrive]

I detest Arco stations. The SOB that came up with the bright idea of having a single point of pay for 4 pumps needs a good hard ***** slap.

[aigel]

Just pay cash and walk in and pay the cashier. What' so hard? That's how I buy fuel if I don't buy at Costco.

G