Alvarado Niles Shell

Haven’t posted in forever, but just had a horrible (and actually amusing) experience with the attendant at this Shell station. No wonder it has such a crappy Unilocal rating! Was on the way to pick up some heavy cases nearby and thought it prudent to add air to the tires. Attendant said no, read the sign, only with purchase. Otherwise, a dollar charge.
Most stations will give you free air — doesn’t cost them much, generates good will, and is also be a safety issue. He had this very negative attitude, like one of those gatekeeper «I have the power» types. So I bought a dollar’s worth of gas, then asked for air.
Now he says no, you have to buy at least a gallon. Okay dude, why didn’t you tell me that before? Because you’re a punk. So I will go online and file a complaint with the CBSA or whatever it’s called. Thanks for being an a*hole.
Btw, you did not ruin my day, but I hope to ruin one of yours in the future.
«On and after January 1, 2000, every service station in this state shall provide, during operating hours, and make available at no cost to customers who purchase motor vehicle fuel, water, compressed air, and a gauge for measuring air pressure, to the public for use in servicing any passenger vehicle, as defined in Section 465 of the Vehicle Code, or any commercial vehicle, as defined in Section 260 of the Vehicle Code, with an unladen weight of 6,000 pounds or less.»
California Business and Professions Code, § 13651(a)(1).

The service inside the gas station is pleasant every time. They have a variety of items to buy rom snacks to car supply’s they got it! Also there is a Burger King right next door to it where you can always get some quick ice cream on a nice hot sunny day like today in the bay. The reason I am only giving this she’ll station only a 3 stars is because the car wash is a piece of crap!!! Do not use the car wash drive through for it will only leave you’r car dirty!!! It ripped off my boyfriend for his $ 7 and still left his car dirty!!! If you want a clean car you’re better off cleaning it yourself with the free paper towels and water that’s next to the gas nozzle.

I was there in this place on Oct 4^th 2014 at 12:11:27 PM and I would rather give «ZERO starts» if that was an option.
The vacuum doesn’t suck a thing there and the cashier Tony was the rudest person I’ve ever met. When I gave him feedback about the vacuum not working, not only he ignored it but went on saying, ‘I don’t care and can’t do much about it. It is what it is’.
And then the car wash. I took the most expensive car wash available and most of the dirt on the car’s body was like how it was before the wash.
All in all, it was a terrible experience, dirty place, worst attitude towards customer.
I would obviously not go back and caution anyone who plan to visit here.
Stay away!

Groan.
This gas station goes through more changes than the late Elizabeth Taylor went through husbands.
The car wash was just renovated. It reopened about a month ago.
My wife got her car washed yesterday.
The signs promoting the new car wash may have worked.
In the past, my wife and I never had to wait in a line, but yesterday there was a short one (there was a longer one when we drove by earlier).
The car wash prices now range from $ 7-​$ 9 (I knew that they would go up).
The Express Wash is $ 7 (there are 2 other options).
Nothing but the best for my wife.
(The Express Wash is also called the Econo Wash.)
Tony, as usual, was my cashier.
He’s not super friendly, but he’s quick and competent.
It takes about 4 minutes to go through the car wash (I’m able to have sex 3 times in 4 minutes, but that’s neither here nor there).
The goofy sign is still around («DRIVE THRU SLOWLY … DONT STOP OR WAIT»).
In addition, my wife noted the following: «They could have invested in upgrading the drying system.»
I agree, but vehicles are dried adequately enough (I didn’t expect any real changes in terms of the drying system).
In general, the car wash is better now.
Even the keypad is much nicer than the old one.
I wasn’t really worried, but 2 creepy people walked by (I saw a guy who genuinely gave me the creeps walking around another gas station a few weeks ago).
⁶⁄₂₉:
Regular gas was recently $ 4.15/gallon ($ 3.95/gallon with the purchase of a car wash).
You’re not going to save an arm and a leg here, but this is a cool gas station overall.