Comments on: Arizona Republic, AZ: From Porsches to bankruptcy (lottery winner who made the mistake of investing in Shell gas stations) http://www.royaldutchshellplc.com/2006/07/16/arizona-republic-az-from-porsches-to-bankruptcy-lottery-winner-who-made-the-mistake-of-investing-in-shell-gas-stations/ News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Tue, 22 May 2012 20:09:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com http://www.royaldutchshellplc.com/2006/07/16/arizona-republic-az-from-porsches-to-bankruptcy-lottery-winner-who-made-the-mistake-of-investing-in-shell-gas-stations/#comment-29 Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com Sun, 16 Jul 2006 08:15:28 +0000 http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2006/07/16/arizona-republic-az-from-porsches-to-bankruptcy-lottery-winner-who-made-the-mistake-of-investing-in-shell-gas-stations/#comment-29 Unfortunately there is nothing new about Shell tricking people into investing their time and money in running shell gas stations believing that they are dealing with an ethical oil company. Countless numbers of people have been ruthlessly exploited by Shell only to ultimately be thrown out of their sites once their funds and enthusiasm has been exhausted as a result of unfair agreements and predatory business practises by Shell. We first became aware of Shell's disgraceful treatment of Shell licencees over a decade ago when we founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group. The inspiration for the name of the pressure group arose from an article in the September 1994 issue of the Shell "Chairman's Bulletin" sent to Shell shareholders, which claimed a culture of "corporate conscience" at Shell. Our membership included Shell suppliers, fellow Shell shareholders and Shell retailers – amazingly nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined the pressure group. Several hundred Shell retailers participated in our “business ethic” surveys about Shell. We published the results in successive monthly whole page notices in the forecourt trade press. All responses were opened under the supervision of an independent solicitor who provided an Affidavit verifying the results, which were devastatingly bad for Shell. 89% of respondents said that they would not recommend any petrol retailer considering a brand change to switch to Shell. 75% of the Shell stations that participated were of the opinion that Shell was unethical, incompetent, and greedy. Shell never did take up our challenge to commission and publish the results of independent research, using precisely the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. We also received many letters from Shell stations complaining bitterly about the business practices of Shell. Here is a selection of quotes from some of the letters: - “Extremely bad company” “I believe the current regime is totally immoral” “We have serious concerns about Shell’s ethical conduct”. “The fickle nature and lack of honour within our negotiations were a shock to ourselves coming from a large company… We would hope this letter may help you and serve as a warning to others contemplating any form of activity with this company”. “You are not alone in being steamrollered by this company”. It is clear from the news stories which emerge from time to time from the USA that Shell uses the same tactics in that market. Unfortunately there is nothing new about Shell tricking people into investing their time and money in running shell gas stations believing that they are dealing with an ethical oil company.

Countless numbers of people have been ruthlessly exploited by Shell only to ultimately be thrown out of their sites once their funds and enthusiasm has been exhausted as a result of unfair agreements and predatory business practises by Shell.

We first became aware of Shell’s disgraceful treatment of Shell licencees over a decade ago when we founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group. The inspiration for the name of the pressure group arose from an article in the September 1994 issue of the Shell “Chairman’s Bulletin” sent to Shell shareholders, which claimed a culture of “corporate conscience” at Shell.

Our membership included Shell suppliers, fellow Shell shareholders and Shell retailers – amazingly nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined the pressure group.

Several hundred Shell retailers participated in our “business ethic” surveys about Shell. We published the results in successive monthly whole page notices in the forecourt trade press. All responses were opened under the supervision of an independent solicitor who provided an Affidavit verifying the results, which were devastatingly bad for Shell.

89% of respondents said that they would not recommend any petrol retailer considering a brand change to switch to Shell.

75% of the Shell stations that participated were of the opinion that Shell was unethical, incompetent, and greedy.

Shell never did take up our challenge to commission and publish the results of independent research, using precisely the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity.

We also received many letters from Shell stations complaining bitterly about the business practices of Shell. Here is a selection of quotes from some of the letters: –

“Extremely bad company”

“I believe the current regime is totally immoral”

“We have serious concerns about Shell’s ethical conduct”.

“The fickle nature and lack of honour within our negotiations were a shock to ourselves coming from a large company… We would hope this letter may help you and serve as a warning to others contemplating any form of activity with this company”.

“You are not alone in being steamrollered by this company”.

It is clear from the news stories which emerge from time to time from the USA that Shell uses the same tactics in that market.

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