Ambica Mini Mart Sucks

On the return home from Los Angeles on our last trip there (documented here, here, here, here and here), we stopped for gas at a Valero Station in the Valley. Granada Hills, to be more specific. 15544 San Fernando Mission, Granada Hills, CA, to be precise.





Boy, oh, boy what a mistake that was. Let me tell you the story.

I had to use the restroom so while the tank was being filled, I went into the minimart, which is actually an Ambica Mini Mart, and asked to use their W.C. (that's Chinese for English for 'bathroom'). The guy who worked behind the counter, Kalam, had a weird scowl on his face. I suspect that he wasn't having a bad day. (Little did he know, his day was about to get a whole lot more...ermmm... "eventful"). Kalam's lovely wife handed me a "No Cash Value" quarter-sized token for the restroom located around the corner. After using their exceptionally and surprisingly clean bathroom, I hopped back in the MDX and started driving off.

Ker-Klunk!

Annie and I stared at each other, wide-eyed, wondering briefly what that noise was before it registered. Uh oh. I forgot to replace the gas nozzle and started driving off!!
I jumped out of the car to see what would have been a really hilarious sight if I were an innocent third party.

Oh, crud. Now what? I thought to myself. I looked up and here comes Kalam, sauntering towards me with a calm, aggrevated demeanor about him.

Long story short: Kalam wanted me to pay for the damage. The "damage", I opined, couldn't be very much considering the nature of the quick-release safety attachment that I disattached. Well, Kalam disagreed.

We went into his shop and argued for 30-minutes about who should pay for it.His stance: Even though I own and operate this shop, you should help me pay for damages I incur while operating my shop.My stance: If I use your bathroom and clog your toilet, you will bill me for the plummer you have to hire? I don't think so.

As a business owner, I know that if I'm in the field working an event and some kid trips over my tripod, knocks down my camera and it scatters across the dance floor in 14 pieces, I don't grab the kid by the collar and tell him to pay me $3500 to replace the camera. I call my insurance company and they handle it at no cost to the kid. I don't know why Kalam, Mr. "what-do-you-mean-who-am-i? I-am-here! I-am-Valero" himself thinks I should pay for his expenses.
In the end, I decide to give him my name and mailing address as well as my email address so that he can send me an invoice. Fine. I concede. I will help you pay for it. What's your name so I can have it for reference?

"No. I will not give you my name", says Kalam. (In case you are confused, I found out his name later and that's why I can refer to him as "Kalam". That's really his name - I'm not trying to be derrogatory.)

Then Kenny from headquarters calls. Apparently he has been watching us pantomime our dialogue on his video feed. The way we have been very animated in our conversation caused him to become concerned, I guess. I eventually spoke to Kenny on the phone and he agreed that Kalam should have given me his name. I exchanged information with Kenny and finally was able to go.

Last week I got a call from "Kenny" at Ambica Mini Mart and he said I owed them $135 and change. I explained that I didn't think that should be necessary because other station managers that I've spoken to since the incident occured said that they just pick up the phone and a gas station employee from headquarters or wherever, is usually dispatched the next day to fix the pump. Kenny alleges that their store is not owned by Valero so no Valero employee would come to fix it. He said that they are not franchised and that they have to handle these costs on their own.

I said, talk to my insurance company because AAA said they'd take care of it at no cost to me.

So, the short version is this: Daniel at AAA = Awesome. Kenny and Kalam = Really unawesome.

The moral of the story is two-fold:Valero sucks and don't forget to remove the pump from your car before driving off.