I took a bunch of bonused gas stations with Maritz last weekend. 3 of them turned out to be car washes, consisting of a blue gas sign out front, but no self-service area. There was no gas branding anywhere other than the small sign out front. I pulled up and said I just wanted gas, but was told I had to buy a full service car wash. The guidelines said nothing about this, so I pulled over and tried to call Maritz, but nobody was around. Since I really needed a wash anyway, I thought I'd try it, despite knowing I probably would not be reimbursed for the car wash. I pulled up and agreed to the car wash, and asked for just $5 of gas. They said it was either a full tank, or no gas only. Since I had almost an empty tank, and the gas was much more expensive than other places, I decided to decline the gas. The guidelines again don't mention anything about such a situation. For the other 2 shops that were the same carwash setup, I pulled up and again just asked for gas. When declined, I parked, went into their store, and made a small purchase, hoping for the best.

Maritz called and said they will likely have to reject all the shops. They said they would reimburse the carwash, but I had to get gas too, and they only reimburse up to $5, so since I didn't buy gas, it had to be rejected. Since my only choice was full or nothing at a ridiculous price, this seems unfair. It's also stupid that I couldn't even evaluate the pump area anyway, because it was full service and the car is pulled around to an area where customers are not even allowed. What insight would buying gas, or even a carwash for that matter, give the gas client? 90% of my report was N/A haha. Again, none of this is covered in the guidelines. So I guess I'm burned on these shops. Only way to do it is to make sure you have an almost-full tank before doing these. Just wish the guidelines covered it.

Next time I'll be sure to look up on google street view if it's a carwash or not.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/2018 02:22PM by quovatis.

If it was me, i'd push back and say none of this was covered in the guidelines and you did try to reach someone. It comes down to how much you like working for maritz and if you want to go higher up.

A manager is reviewing it all, and I'm awaiting a verdict still. I don't want to push back too hard, because Maritz is usually really good to me and most of my shopping is with them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2018 07:28PM by quovatis.

Hope you get some compensation.

What kind of gas station says "full or nothing?" That's unheard of!

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What kind of gas station says "full or nothing?" That's unheard of!

The employees that pump the gas are not gas company employees. They are car wash employees that offer the branded gas as a convenience while you get a car wash. They all dress like boat captains. So yeah, I'm just confused why these locations needed to be shopped in the first place, as customers have no interaction at all with the gas branded equipment.

I'm going to guess that this is in the Detroit area?

Not necessarily Detroit. There are about 3 or 4 in Dallas. I've run into this problem several times. I actually bought the gas and car wash and the reimbursement didn't make a dent in the money I was out (but at least my car was clean and I didn't need lot of gas to fill me up) But after the first couple, I would refuse service and call Maritz and tell them the situation and request that the shop be removed from my list. They never liked it,but did it. I now know which ones they are and do not self-assign them. The keep showing up on the list every quarter.

Maritz is usually fair when weird things happen. You might need to speak with a supervisor but with a little back and forth communication I think they should be able to see the problem and pay you for the work done. Let us know what happens, please!

If you have a decent relationship with Maritz they're very fair. They treat their top producers very very well. When you're new, they're not quite as accommodating but you'll still probably have good luck if you get a supervisor on the phone. If you're talking about the brand with two names, see if you can get a hold of Beth. She's a sweetheart.

I picked up a well-bonused gas station job last week that was at a car wash. I had done the location before so knew that the one lane on the far side of the facility was for gas only, where the other lanes were for wash and gas. I'm not saying that was your situation, but I assumed I got the job because someone backed out of the job last minute not knowing where to go or went to the wrong lane and was rejected. I hope it works out for you.

@wwin wrote:

I picked up a well-bonused gas station job last week that was at a car wash. I had done the location before so knew that the one lane on the far side of the facility was for gas only, where the other lanes were for wash and gas. I'm not saying that was your situation, but I assumed I got the job because someone backed out of the job last minute not knowing where to go or went to the wrong lane and was rejected. I hope it works out for you.

No, not the case here. Just one gas pump that I could see around back where customers can never go. This is in the San Jose, CA area. I have not heard back from the supervisors yet.

I love Maritz. They have always been understanding and helpful. My only complaint is that if I have a question that needs to be answered right now I might not get anyone to answer. They always do return my call but if you are at the site with a question it is either guess or move on if no one can help.

I've never seen a set up like that. I would think if Maritz has been shopping these locations for any length of time, you should not be the first to run into this situation with them. So, how did they handle it in the past and why not offer instructions ahead of time? Those would be my questions.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2018 02:33AM by Mysterion.

Wishing OP would come back and tell us how it all turned out.

They still never told me. I guess I'll find out when the payment period comes. That's one thing I hate about Maritz, you can't see the status of your shops until payment time.

Just to update and close the thread: I was paid for all these shops. I was even reimbursed for the car wash I did, despite not putting it in the invoice. I didn't get gas at any of those 3 shops. I'm glad the supervisors understood the unique situation and were rational.

I have shopped more than one Maritz gas station where it was mostly a car wash. One of them had just a few self-serve pumps and did not require customers to get a car wash. I drove right past the station a couple of times the first time I shopped it because I did not even see the pumps. Then, I did half a shop (store portion) at a "normal" station of the same brand about a block away, thinking it was my assigned station. I made a small purchase just to get a receipt to check the address.

Another Maritz location had only two full-service pumps and one must get a car wash to buy gas there. Interestingly enough, the specific guidelines for this shop required the purchase of a car wash and a full tank of gas - but it turned out the station did not require the purchase of a full tank of gas.

@quovatis wrote:

Just to update and close the thread: I was paid for all these shops. I was even reimbursed for the car wash I did, despite not putting it in the invoice. I didn't get gas at any of those 3 shops. I'm glad the supervisors understood the unique situation and were rational.

Good for you, and thanks for the update. Would you consider updating the subject of the thread, too, to indicate the shops have now been paid (instead of rejected)?