It was the most expensive tank of gas one Prince George resident ever purchased.
On November 18th, Nikki Weightman and her husband were filling up at the Petro Canada and 7-Eleven on Austin Road when a large chunk of ice fell from the overhead canopy and onto their vehicle. The incident caused close to $1500.00 in damage, which Weightman had to pay a $300.00 deductible on.
She was told she would have to call the head office of Petro-Canada to deal with the situation. When she did get in contact with them, they told her on multiple occasions that someone would call back.
“No one ever called me back. I’ve needed to hunt down who to talk to through this whole thing. They don’t care, it’s been me trying to figure out what to do,” she said.
Eventually Petro-Canada passed the buck onto 7-Eleven, telling Weightman they had decided the canopy above their own gas pumps was the responsibility of the convenience store.
More than a month after the incident, the 7-Eleven claims office told her they had “no negligence” in the situation and that her file would be closed.
The station is not a franchise, therefore the only parties that could be held liable are the companies themselves.
Al Delwo, a Prince George resident and an insurance broker of 46 years, helped explain to MyPGNow how negligence works.
“From an insurance standpoint, negligence is not something someone did, but instead what someone ought to have done. Could a prudent person have foreseen that ice would fall from the canopy? That’s the legal liability.”
He said that to see any reimbursement, Weightman would likely have to go through small claims court.
On the phone with MyPGNow, Petro-Canada customer service gave their “sincere apologies” for their poor track record in getting back to Weightman thus far. They assured us they would re-open the claim if Weightman got in contact with them once more.
According to Weightman, when she did, they said they had no idea what she talking about, and closed the case again.
“I told them the 7-Eleven isn’t helping and they’re closing the file too, and they said ‘well that’s their findings then’ and I’ll just have to deal with it.”
Despite multiple redirected calls and messages, 7-Eleven has not responded for comment.
Weightman was shocked that neither companies claimed responsibility.
“What if it had hit a child? This is just a car, but it’s a hazard, what would they do if it had hurt someone?”
“300 hundred dollars is a drop in the bucket for them, you’d think they have some sort of system for when things like this happen.”
Weightman said she’s not one for confrontation, but wants people to be aware that there’s no liability if something like this happens to them.
A representative with ICBC said in these situations, it’s difficult to get companies to reimburse people for the damages, but said they would be looking into the issue.
“If ICBC can prove negligence against the parties involved, ICBC will subrogate the costs of repairs from those involved. As a customer service we will also attempt to recover the deductible portion with our subrogation documents. If we are successful in recovering the deductible, the customer will be reimbursed at that time,” they said via email correspondence.
As of this publication, Weightman’s files are closed with both Petro-Canada and 7-Eleven and has not received any reimbursement for the $300 deductible.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
