Fao: Turnipsock & Slinkyjoe

[rajinder_1]

Hi Guys,
I have been referred to you 2 gentlemen from my good friend Television.
He informs me that you both work within the petroleum industry with whom I have to thank for my misfortune (mainly BP) with a SL320 chronically misfiring and blowing up my CATS.....
As you will see from my threads I filled up at a BP station with around £55 worth of fuel. The car was running fine previously and after around 10 minutes of driving started to misfire badly.
Got it home and had MB recovery out who checked all the usual plugs, coil and leads and all were ok.
Took it to garage and found that the left cats was blocked and needed replacing which could be causing the misfire £1k or so later and still misfiring. So now it was down to something else numerous parts and sensors were replaced to diagnose the misfire but to no avail.
Finally after going back to basics they found the sludge in the fuel!!!!!!

My question to you two gentlemen is what can I do about this legally and what approach I should take to try and gain some compensation from BP?

Yours Faithfully,

Rajinder.

 

[FOZZY]

dear Rajinder
you will get no compensation from any oil company untill you can shore bills for all fuel the car has ever used in is life working in the oil industry we do not get jack s**t for oil company

 

[SLinKyjoe]

the main points you are going to have to tackle here, is that the fuel itself caused the sludge. so you will need to keep it and have it analysed. On top of that, you will need to know which filling stations you have used as BP will look at their storage delivery and distribution procedures. if the filling station cannot prove it followed the procedures, the blame will lie with the filling station. So you would have to take it up directly with the filling station. BP response would be, they didnt follow our recomendations, if they had it would not have occured. Tha may be all the help you need to get some money!

then you have the car to look at. Could the sludge have been caused by some failure of a car component. Again all this will need evidence to support its claims.

Then you will need to prove that you have kept the car maintained as the manufacturers requirements. Once you can provide all these details, you would have a case that may be taken up by a legal specialist who may take it forward. The onus will be on you to prove you have done eveything you can to have prevented this by following all recommendations, and that you kept the car safely so others may not have poured suger in the tank. This is why you need to sludge tested.

Then again, a nicely written letter to BP, outline what you think caused the problem, why you used BP and why you will continue to use BP, and why you think some failure on thier part, however breifly, has caused you to part money over something you cannot control, may bring a goodwill offer from BP.

Avoid emotion and threatening wording, keep it factual, stress why you used BP as its a good fuel and you will be continue to use them, but this issue has just arrived and you have traced it back to a recent fuel supply.

It may work, altho it may not, bear in mind a 1st class stamp and the time it takes to write a nice letter doesnt cost much, it would be worth a go.

I am sure BP have heard this all before from some people wanting compensation as they dont want to pay themselves.

You will need to research fuel sludging issues, cars affected, what different causes of fuel sludges are etc etc. The net is a good place top start but only use facts and not opinions.

Let us know what you do and what the outcome is.

And I hope its a good one.

 

[rajinder_1]

Hi I sent a email to their careline address was to the point no nasty words just what has happened and what they would reccomend i need to do to proceed with my issue. I will go and see the manager of the station on my lunch break and explain the situation to him (although they dont seem like they will do much) as i went there y'day and they didnt have a clue and advsied to come in today and see the manager.
Either way its worth trying as the damage has already been done and you never know, i could take the matter to the local press if they decline to do anything and see if anyone else comes forward with the same or similar problems...

Raj

 

[SLinKyjoe]

you could also pass on your email to DCUK viw the customer care email address on www.mercedes-benz.co.uk

they dont even have to read it, but they may and they may offer you some advice of information you can use.

and emails are free.

 

[rajinder_1]

thanks slinky

 

[rajinder_1]

Reply from BP,



Dear Mr. Bharath

Thank you for your Email received in this office on 13th July 2006 concerning your recent visit to Snax 24 - Coventry.

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to explain that this service station is entirely owned and operated by a third party under a BP Fuel Agreement. Therefore, whilst we are responsible for the supply of BP sign-ware, fuel and lubricants to this location, there have been no quality issues relating to the fuel delivered to this site. As such the daily operations and issues that may arise, such as the one you described in your Email, are the responsibility of the site owners Snax 24.

As a result, I have contacted Snax 24 and asked that they respond directly to you regarding your concerns. In addition, I have forwarded the full details of your concerns to the attention of the BP area manager responsible for the site to monitor in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention.

Yours Sincerely