Community Forums

scenic route · 02-16-2011, 09:40 AM

Hey Dirk...I'm sure enjoying the variety of your avatars. Keep 'em coming, very entertaining.

Bob

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GaryKD · 02-16-2011, 12:31 PM

I guess it helps see the Pilot/J side of the story if one has been there and done that. If the Pilot/J was only looking at their bottom line or they just don't care for the RV business, what action would Pilot/J executives take? If I were them, I'd get rid of any loyalty program that is not associated with a high profit customer. I'd charge what private campgrounds charge to dump waste tanks. I'd charge the credit price at my truck pumps for any non cash or contract customer. After all, I'm providing a service of easy in/out plus the freshest fuel anyone can buy.

If you talk to any CFO they will tell you loyalty programs are a waste of time and money. Try to quantify the benefit to the company of a loyalty program to a CFO. You'll be shorter and weigh less as you leave the room.

The simple truth is the Pilot and the J had very disparate internal systems. Small companies usually have a severe lack of documented processes. This is made worse as the business grows, over time. It makes the I/T department's job extremely difficult. Now enter a buyout of a company with internal business(s) that did not talk to each other (I/T speaking). This becomes a nightmare for bringing the bought out company into the acquiring company.

The only mistake Pilot/J made is not masking this difficulty from the RV customer. An earlier post mentioned large company merger/buyouts go smoothly compared to small company buyout/mergers. The only difference is the large companies have the staff to mask the disruptions from the customer. An example is the Bank of America buyouts of smaller banks in the last coupe of years. Customers of BOA never see the terror going on behind the scenes. BOA has yet to merge all the I/T systems of the banks it purchased!

We should be irritated that a better plan was not implemented to mask the programming problems from the RV customer. That is true. But that should be the extent of our irritation. The Pilot/J do want the RVers business and they are doing their best to get past the problems they are now having.

two-niner · 02-16-2011, 12:53 PM

Elkhartjim has stated it clearly, from the RV'ers point of view.

There's an old song that goes "How long has this been going on ?".

Kerry

Elkhartjim · 02-16-2011, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryKD

An example is the Bank of America buyouts of smaller banks in the last coupe of years. Customers of BOA never see the terror going on behind the scenes. BOA has yet to merge all the I/T systems of the banks it purchased!

Yep... I was part of that program and not once did they change how I made deposits, withdrawals, pay bills, drive-in teller rules, etc.

I could care less about the behind the scenes terror.

Twomed · 02-16-2011, 01:58 PM

I don't need loyalty anything...just a fair price and more importantly be able to pay at the pump (so I get my PenFed discount) AND be able to fill it up without multiple trips in and out of the store.

It's not just Rvers that have this problem, they are losing owner operator business too beacause they are treating them to the same delights. Unless you are a company driver with a fuel contract, or willing to just buy $75 at a pop...being deal in a 150 gallon tank they are making buying fuel there a chore!

PS...I have dealer with truck lanes (Hess) about twenty minutes from the FJ for $3.47 vs $3.69 at the FJ today, so it's a no brainer...save $$ and aggravation.

But I will keep watching this thread....it may be the second one to make to 1,000 posts!

GaryKD · 02-16-2011, 05:14 PM

Make it to 1K posts

golly I hope not. Hopefully this mess will be over with shortly.

Iron Man · 02-16-2011, 05:43 PM

How much sales do you thinks rv's generate for FJ? The answer explains why this is taking so long. Except for those who complain FJ doesn't care or know about the situation.

**JohnRR** · 02-16-2011, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twomed

Unless you are a company driver with a fuel contract, or willing to just buy $75 at a pop...being deal in a 150 gallon tank they are making buying fuel there a chore!

Company drivers are subject to restrictions by federal law as to how many miles they can drive in a given period of time so may have more frequent stops than you might think more importantly they have fuel reports that need to be filled out every quarter to prove they bought enough fuel for the miles they operated in a particular state, they need to document fuel purchased and miles traveled (port of entry and port of exit in each state) so they do not always fuel up even with 300 gallon capacity. Some companies fill a truck where ever they stop while a lot just get a little extra for the state their filling at.

85Eagle · 02-17-2011, 03:07 PM

I stopped at a Pilot to register my card to get the auto pump start and guess what they had no idea what I was talking about. I call Pilot Customer Service and the lady said "QUOTE" That the $500.00 purchase has been waved and the Frequent Fueler Advantage cards will only work at the TRUCK PUMPS so you gassers are out of luck. Just maybe in a year or so they will get their act together. I suggested that someone from Pilot get on these FORUMS and clarify what their position is. We will see.

Elkhartjim · 02-17-2011, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 85Eagle

I stopped at a Pilot to register my card to get the auto pump start and guess what they had no idea what I was talking about. I call Pilot Customer Service and the lady said "QUOTE" That the $500.00 purchase has been waved and the Frequent Fueler Advantage cards will only work at the TRUCK PUMPS so you gassers are out of luck. Just maybe in a year or so they will get their act together. I suggested that someone from Pilot get on these FORUMS and clarify what their position is. We will see.

Terror in the back room, front room and all the other rooms. Its beginning to sound as if Pilot and FMCA are being managed by the same group.

As I said earlier, I'll use independent stations when I can and not renew
my FMCA membership.

Triker56 · 02-17-2011, 04:57 PM

Quote:

PS...I have dealer with truck lanes (Hess) about twenty minutes from the FJ for $3.47 vs $3.69 at the FJ today, so it's a no brainer...save $$ and aggravation.

Hess may work if you travel in the 16 Eastern states they are in.

But Hess is not very RV friendly. Try to find a list of their 1,350 station location's on line and today's price.

Pilot/Flying J very easy to find all their stations and the price of their fuel on line.

W4RLR · 02-17-2011, 06:09 PM

Aside from the changes they have made in their RV Loyalty Programs and the confusion it is causing on both sides of the counter, some of the things Pilot is doing make sense. The Country Buffet was a good concept that went bad as the help didn't seem to care about food quality. I took a look at one CB offering in Kentucky and walked out, the food was terrible. Denny's OTOH was good in both places, but of course some people will moan and groan about the lack of buffets. There will be some growing pains yet, but there is some effort being made to make sure that RV patrons are still valued. Give them time.

AFChap · 02-17-2011, 06:25 PM

I stopped at Flying J at Greenwood LA on 15 Feb ...exit 3 east of Shreveport. NONE of the card readers at the RV island were working. I picked up the phone and the attendant told me most of the card readers on the truck islands did not work either. My CC gives me a 5% discount for fuel paid at the pump, which amounted to 17 cents/gallon in this case, so I was not eager to have the attendant authorize my CC inside. I went inside and asked to speak to the manager. When I explained the issue, he suggested I pull my 40' motorhome and toad into the auto area where there was a diesel pump on an inside island. As there was very little traffic at that time I did as he suggested, and got away with it this time. The pump cut off at $75 three times, and I finished my fillup on another CC. Flying J is making it more and more difficult to justify buying fuel at their locations...

stubeje · 02-17-2011, 07:57 PM

I stopped at several Flying J's on my way to Florida and back and the one at Birmingham (RV) pumps were "down" both times and the one at Clarksville,Tn. had bags on the pumps going South so I stopped at several Pilots and got the discount from all of them for the Real Value card issued by Flying J.