Engen's Incompetence

Engen has always been my filling-station of choice, not because of any other reason than FNB giving the best eBucks on fuel there... However, after several incidents leading up to the final 2 today, I am seriously reconsidering whether the rewards are worth the awful service.

The first incident(s) happened a few years ago Engen (N14) twice filled my diesel vehicle with petrol, forcing major repairs to be done - and yes I did clearly ask for "diesel" at both occasions... After a long 'discussion' with the owner of the two Engen filling-stations (same owner of both stations where the two separate incident happened), they reluctantly agreed to pay for the repairs on my vehicle. Several other poor service was experienced at other Engen filling-stations throughout SA, which I just brushed off as "human error"... however the last couple of months saw an escalation in the incompetency of filling attendants at Engen filling-stations which I frequently visit.

3 Months ago I stopped at the Engen on the R21 between Kempton Park and Pretoria (Hignveld 1-stop East), and after waiting for 15 minutes for an attendant to look in my direction, I was finally informed that they could not assist me as the "system was down". My question here was why they allowed patrons to sit in their cars and waste time only to be informed minutes later that they cannot be helped...

The final straw was however this morning when I was forced to visit 3 different filling-stations (the first 2 of which was Engen stations) in search of fuel. At 07:10 i stopped at the Pamona Gardens Engen in Kempton Park, where I fill my vehicle at least once per week. However, they informed me on stopping that they only accept cash as the card-machines were offline. Now, I acknowledge that this is not technically Engen's fault, however one would think that a company of Engen's caliber would have implemented alternative methods of payment (Zapper and SnapScan comes to mind) for exactly such instances... I mean, who the heck carries large amounts of cash for fuel these days???

I then continued towards the Engen garage on the R21 (Highveld 1-stop West) where I was again greeted by a 20 minute wait... After the first filling attendant approached me and apologised for the wait, explaining that their card-machines were not working, I decided to refill with the little cash I had on me... After another 5 minutes another attendant came to 'assist' me and asked whether I was paying cash - "YES". I then requested '95', and was informed that they only have '93'. The attendant then disappeared before I had the opportunity to accept the '93' and I was not helped further. After another couple of minutes of senseless waiting I decided to head to work without refilling...

These incidents clearly exhibit the lack of training and professionalism of Engen's filling attendant, and their disregard for service to loyal patrons.