#BP It's OK to smoke in petrol stations #FAIL

Some time ago I was returning home late at night, and pulled into the BP petrol station on the A17 at East Heckington. On walking in there was a clear cigarette fug in the shop. So much so I almost left in disgust without paying (and now wish I had).

So I complained to BP, and suggested they might want to sort things out. After a while they got back to me; but no - it wasn't their problem as it was a franchise operation - so they passed it on to the operator of the garage. I felt this missed the point.

Several weeks later I chase, and then chase again.

Today I am informed that the operator has left the franchise so it's nothing to do with BP any more. So it would appear that if it says BP on the front, and BP on the inside, it can actually turn out not to be BP's problem. Maybe that's how they plan to get out of the blame for the oil pollution problem they have right now.

For me, if it says BP, then it is BP. I don't care about franchises and operators. I use the name on the door as a measure for trust. BP (even ignoring the current Gulf of Mexico situation which is pretty difficult to do) is clearly not a trustworthy brand.
No more BP fuel for me.


PS later on I realised they also were charging VAT at 15% instead of the 17.5% they should have been charging since the beginning of the year. So that was reported to HMRC


PPS let's not forget, it's also illegal to smoke in the workplace AND dangerous to smoke in petrol stations