Here is a letter Im thinking of writing to shell after an incident I had with them.

To Whom It May Concern:

I have a 2001, Dodge Neon & one day my car would just barely start and then shut off right away. I had asked the nearest Shell to take a look and do nothing more than just take a look. They never called & so the next day I called and asked what the problem was & they said they weren’t sure & that they needed more time. This proceeded for about a week. After that week or so they told me I needed a new computer to figure out the problem because they could not find the problem. It doesn’t take one week to find out if a computer was not operating. Another thing that surprises me is that they tried to charge me about $400 just for looking at my vehicle, I repeat just for looking at it, on top of that their diagnostic sign said it was no more than $90 for a diagnostic. I think this is pathetic that this actually has to be reported to the Shell Headquarters. Not only did they overcharge me but they even said to me that they knew that I was going to take my car else where after finding out the problem which they didn’t. This is not rocket science, if Yorktown Shell had run a diagnostic they would have found out right way that the computer had failed. For this reason I tried negotiating with them about lowering the rate because their sign says about $90 for diagnostic(can’t remember the exact price).

When I finally got my car out of the Yorktown Shell in Falls Church, Virginia, I ended up paying a little more than $200 I believe(I’m sure they still have a record on their computer), I had one of my friends of the family take a look at my car. He ran a diagnostic and tried changing computers(which I had bought a $500 computer from the dealer because the Yorktown Shell from Falls Church, VA had told me to buy a new one and my new mechanic discovered I didn’t even need a new computer. It was a problem with the fuses and in the end, I not only got ripped off for labor but they recommended me to buy a computer which I didn’t need.

This is not the only problem I’ve had with your corporation, I also had an oil change & a few days later my car starts making clicking noises and oil light comes on. I take it to a gas station and they check the oil & tell me that no oil was even put in & that I got ripped off. I am a very unsatisfied customer and I’m asking for a refund especially for the computer, it was bought brand new.

~~End of Letter~~

If anyone can help me out with either the letter or to get some money for the computer which was only used once, and I found out I don't even need it I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Mike

 

That sucks. I would have refused to pay anything. Sounds like they did not even do the diagnostics. On the oil change, they owe you a new motor. Driving around for a few days without oil can do a lot of damage to the motor.

 

i suppose that it was the fuel pump fuse that was blown??? when that fuse goes out, it cuts power to the pcm and will not allow any diagnostics....the scan tool would get a reading that there is no communication between the pcm and the scanner.....basically telling it that the pcm is bad......but either way, if they woulda tried the diagnostics first thing, then it woulda only taken maybe an hour to discover that as the problem....you would think that people that do that kinda stuff for a living would do a better job.....the first time i had problems with my work car, i just got redy to leave work an hour from home at 3:00am,,car would start then die..kept doin it over and over....found out that the fuel pump fuse was blown...kept replacing it, kept blowing it....got it towed to a buddys house that used to be a mopar mechanic, he hooked up the scan tool, couldnt get a reading, looked at some wires, said that we need to put a different pcm in there to see if the problem still occurs, i went home grabbed a different one, threw it in,....checked the fuses...blown fuel pump fuse....replaced it one last time...no more problems....what you should do is put your old pcm in the car(if you havent all redy) and see if it keeps blownin the fuse...if it does then the pcm is bad...just fyi