Update: While lawyer Absimrat Dhaliwal worked with the operator initially, she has not been retained in any way to represent the operator in the current dispute and says she should not be contacted by anyone regarding it.
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This story was previously published on GuelphToday.
Patrons who filled up their tanks at the Mobil gas station on Woolwich Street nearly two weeks ago are left with no answers and expensive repair bills.
After getting gas from the station at 546 Woolwich St. an estimated 20 or more people had their cars stop working because of bad gas.
ExxonMobil, the oil and gas corporation associated with Mobil, instructed media and affected customers, in an email, to contact the “property owner” Frank Wang, or the property owner’s legal counsel for more information.
Xin Sun, lawyer with XS Law, representing Wang clarified Wang is not the gas station owner or operator, in an email to GuelphToday. The gas station is under power of sale/mortgage enforcement proceedings and Wang represents the lenders, the lawyer said.
“During the enforcement process, it is normal for the lenders to lease out the operation of the gas station to a tenant to preserve the condition and value,” he said.
Xin said the lawyer representing the gas station operator is Absimrat Dhaliwal, who is with Nobility Law. Dhaliwal says they no longer represent the operator in any form.
“Unfortunately I can’t give a comment at this time. We’re still investigating the matter,” said Dhaliwal.
Laci Frazier, one of the impacted customers has spent almost $1,600 between gas, car repairs, and a car rental. She considered starting a class action lawsuit but it’s not in the cards since it could take years and that’s time she doesn’t have.
In her last conversation with the gas station operator he told her the issue was going back and forth between the landlord’s insurance and the corporate insurance.
Frazier created a Facebook group chat with people impacted by the bad gas from the Woolwich station.
“I think people are getting more and more frustrated and the anger is definitely building,” said Frazier.
It’s the lack of communication and follow through that is getting to people, she said.
She feels like she and the group are being “shuffled hand to hand” with no progress being made.
She reached out to Sun and was told she would be contacted later today.
Best case scenario is people get back to her and others soon with a date and plan as to when they should expect compensation.
“I obviously don’t expect payment to be instantaneous,” said Frazier.
Worst case is that they don’t hear from anyone “or they just say it’s going to have to be a longer legal process that could take months and months because we don’t really have months to get that money back,” she said.
