Archive for Esso

How Well Does The New Esso/Mobile App Work For Contactless Fuel Fill Ups? Let’s Find Out!

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 22, 2023 by itnerd

You might recall that because of recent issues with the Esso/Mobil app during its rollout that resolved themselves, that drove me to trying the Shell App to see if it was any better at contactless fuel fill ups and payments. But seeing as the Esso/Mobil app was all new, I decided to give that a test to see if it was any better. After all, it was the clear winner when pitted against the Petro Canada app. Thus it would only be fair to see if it retained the crown, or had dropped a couple of places.

I’ll skip past the registration process as I covered that when I encountered the issues with this app. But I am going to assume that now that things seem to be working, it should be smooth for you. The first thing that I will say is that the user interface of the Esso/Mobil app makes it easy to use. Once you click on “Pay At Pump” you’re presented with a pretty clean interface that allows you to type in the pump number and choose if you want a car wash as well (assuming the station has a car wash). Then you can pay using Apple Pay which is my preferred payment method. Once authorized, it only takes a few seconds for the pump to be activated. This is similar to the Shell App.

One thing that I should point out is that the previous version of the app which was called Speedpass+ had an Apple Watch app. But that Apple Watch app was pretty useless as it wouldn’t work properly unless your iPhone was nearby with the iPhone app running. The Esso/Mobil app has done away with the Apple Watch app and I can’t say that I miss it. Though it would be been nice for one of these gas companies to come up with an Apple Watch app that doesn’t require an iPhone so that I can use that to get a fill up if I need to.

Another thing that Esso/Mobil seem to have done away with is the gas discount cards. The previous version of the app allowed you to store discount card and apply them to your gas purchases automatically. This new app seems not to have that functionality. And that’s a serious downgrade from the previous version of the app. They need to bring that back as that was one of the things that made it better than the Petro Canada app. On the plus side, they do better integrate the PC Optimum rewards system into the Esso/Mobil app. Though some functionality requires you to have the PC Optimum app installed.

So where does this leave the Esso/Mobil app relative to the competition from Shell and Petro Canada? In my opinion, Esso/Mobil and Shell are basically tied. If Shell had the ability to use Apple Pay to pay in store, it would go ahead. If Esso/Mobil kept the functionality to add discount cards, it would go ahead. That leaves the Petro Canada app a step behind those two as they really haven’t changed or improve the functionality. And it takes longer to activate the pump versus the other two.

This is something that I’ll be keeping my eye on as contactless payments at the gas pump is the best way to get gas in Canada. And it’s nice that there are not only options, but hopefully those options spur competition to make things better for consumers. And that’s a win for everyone.

Leave a comment »

My Issues With The Imperial Oil Contactless Payment App Are Resolved…. But….

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 14, 2023 by itnerd

Let me get you up to speed here. Last weekend I wrote about Imperial Oil which is the parent company of Esso and Mobil here in Canada transitioning to a new contactless payment app. Replacing what I considered to be the best contactless payment app in a two app shootout a year ago. In the process, I was unable to log into the app when I went to use it for the first time. I did some troubleshooting, gave up, and submitted a help request to Imperial Oil. As I type this, I have never heard from them. This is bad because not responding to requests from your customers when they need help creates a very negative customer experience and dis-incentivizes them from doing business with you.

However, I did test the app this morning for giggles and I was finally able to log in. So whatever issues that they had on their back end are clearly resolved. But it did push me to try the Shell app to see what that was like. And I will have a review of that online on Monday. That wouldn’t have happened if the Esso/Mobil app didn’t work. Thus I guess I have to thank Imperial Oil for prompting me to look at the Shell app and telling all of you about it.

Finally, since I am all about keeping things fair. I am posting this to Twitter and tagging Imperial Oil so that if they have a comment on my experience, they can give it as I’d really like to hear about why the app stopped working, and why they didn’t respond to the request for help that I left here. Let’s see if they actually do respond.

3 Comments »

Imperial Oil’s Contactless Payment App Goes From Best To Worst In One Update

Posted in Commentary with tags on December 10, 2023 by itnerd

In 2022 I did a story on two of the contactless payment apps for a pair of Canada’s gas stations. Esso which is owned by Imperial Oil, and Petro Canada who is owned by Suncor. The latter having been pwned by hackers over the summer. Anyway, the clear winner at the time was the Esso app. But that seems to have changed over the last few days. Esso issued a software update that changed what used to be the Speedpass+ app into the Esso and Mobil app. And it simply wasn’t a facelift. I was given the heads up that this was coming via an email from Esso and Mobil that said this in part:

And true to this email, on December 6th the new app appeared on my phone. I followed the instructions above and set everything up. And to make sure everything was working I logged in and out and everything seemed fine.

On December 8th, I went to a nearby Esso station to get gas. And that’s when I discovered that the app wasn’t working. Specifically:

  • I opened the app and it prompted me for my password.
  • I entered my password and then it prompted me for a verification code which was supposed to come by text message.

The problem was that the verification code never arrived. I tried a few times and gave up. I ended up paying inside the store which is a bit frustration as the whole point of me using contactless payment apps is to not go inside the store and instead pay at the pump in a secure manner.

Pro Tip: Paying at the pump by sliding your credit card in and out of the pump is not a secure way to pay because there is always the possibility of a card skimmer of some sort being installed that will allow criminals to clone your credit card. This can also be true inside the store which makes tapping your credit card, paying cash, or using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay as well as a contact payment app the safest ways to pay.

Now I’ve tried to fix this by doing the following:

  • I tried reinstalling the app and that failed to resolve the issue.
  • I tried recreating my account using my personal email address. That came back with an error saying that an account using that email address already exists, which is true.
  • I tried resetting my password, but when I was prompted to enter the verification code that was supposed to be sent by text message, I never got said verification code.
  • I tried creating a new account using my business email account. But when it was time for me to enter a mobile number, I got an error message saying my mobile number was already in use. Which again was true. And since I don’t have an extra SIM card with an extra number, I was stuck at that point.

Bottom line, the app or something on Esso’s back end doesn’t work. Which means the app is useless. Now I thought I was the edge case here. But perhaps this isn’t the case:

Imperial Oil reached out to this customer asking him to DM his information.

Now I did submit a request for help here, but if the best that they can do is say “try it again in a couple of days” to the person in the last Tweet, then that does not inspire confidence. What kills me about this situation is that Speedpass+ which is the predecessor to this app was unquestionably the best of the two contactless payment apps that I looked at. It was easy to use and worked flawlessly. Now, at least for me, it’s gone in the complete opposite direction. That’s a horrible customer experience and something that Imperial Oil needs to address.

In the meantime, I’ll be experimenting with the Shell App as that is a contactless payment app that I haven’t used before because up until now I had no need to as I don’t usually get my gas from Shell. But after discovering that it not only supports Apple Pay like the Petro Canada app and the Esso Mobile app does, and I can use my CAA membership to get rewards, I’ll give this app a shot and write a review about it once I’ve used it a couple of times to get a handle on how well it works. And what this highlights is that consumers aren’t unflinchingly loyal to any one brand. If they have a good experience with a brand, they will stick with that brand. But the second that they don’t, they will look elsewhere. Maybe Imperial Oil should remember that as the rollout of the Esso Mobil app has absolutely made me look elsewhere for my fuel needs, and the same thing might be happening with others if they have the same sorts of issues that I have experienced.

3 Comments »

Does Esso Or Petro Canada Have The Better Contactless Payment App? Let’s Find Out!

Posted in Commentary with tags , on March 7, 2022 by itnerd

Ever since the pandemic started, I’ve done my best to limit my contact with other human beings as much as possible. And that includes going to the gas station to fill up. Now sure could use my credit card at the pump to avoid interacting with other human beings. But cloning cards at gas pumps has been a thing for years. Thus I have tended to avoid that option. So when both Petro Canada and Esso came out with contactless payment apps, I jumped on them immediately. The idea behind these apps is simple:

  • You drive up to the gas pump
  • You open the app on your phone and pick the pump that you’re at
  • You pre-authorize the pump using a stored credit card or in my case Apple Pay
  • The pump activates and you can fill up your gas tank

But the question is which one is the better app. Let’s start with the Esso and their Speedpass+ app. The key features of this app are:

  • You can earn PC Optimum points on qualifying fills at the pump by linking a PC Optimum card to the app.
  • You can securely add Visa credit, MasterCard credit, American Express, and Esso and Mobil Gift Cards to the app as payment options. Or if you’re on Team iOS, you can also use Apple Pay which is how I use this app. If you’re on Team Android, Google Pay works too.
  • You can use the app to pay at the pump for fuel or fuel with a car wash
  • To save a few bucks, you can add a Price Privileges discount card to your Speedpass+ wallet and have it automatically used when you refuel.
  • You can get directions and navigate to the nearest Esso or Mobil station. 
  • You can view your transaction history to track your receipts and car wash codes in one convenient location. 

All of this works very well. Every time I have used the app to buy gas at the pump, or to buy gas at the pump along with a car wash, it works flawlessly. And if I ever wanted to use either my PC Optimum card or any of the Price Privileges cards in store, I can. Thus I don’t have to carry any physical cards with me which is a nice touch. The only criticism that I have is that if your Price Privileges discount cards runs out, the app doesn’t alert you to that. Esso should fix that as it is possible that you might have gone a couple of fill ups before you notice that the discount card is empty. Thus missing out on saving some money at the pump.

Now let’s go over to Petro Canada and their app for Android and iOS. It’s somewhat similar to the Speedpass+ app as its basic functionality covers most of the bullet points for the Esso app. However unlike the Speedpass+ app, you cannot have any discount cards (which Petro Canada calls Fuel Savings Rewards cards) used automatically when you pump gas despite being stored in the App. On top of that, you can’t use them in store either as they lack barcodes for the station staff to scan. However you can use your Petro Points card in store as that does have a bar code. Thus unlike the Speedpass+ app which allows you to have everything stored on your phone, the Petro Canada app forces you still to have physical cards if you want to get a discount. That’s a #fail. One thing that it does have the ability to redeem Petro Points inside the app for eGift Cards, gas discount cards and the like. Which is handy.

There’s one thing that I should point out that is a major red flag for me when it comes to the Petro Canada app. Unlike the Speedpass+ app which has worked flawlessly for me, the Petro Canada app on my iPhone has not always worked flawlessly. On three occasions when I have tried to fill up using it, I had the transaction cancelled on me. The first time it happened to me, I tried again with the same result. Thus forcing me to go inside the store and pay. Which of course defeats the purpose of this app.

I can see three reasons for this happening:

  • The more charitable side of me says that there’s some sort of bug with the app or with whatever is on the back end that is causing this.
  • The cynical side of me says that the station staff are purposefully cancelling transactions from this app so that they can get you into the store to buy something like a pop or a bag of chips so that they can make a few extra bucks off of you. I say that because every time this happened and I checked my Apple Pay transaction history, the transaction shows as being “refunded”. And in discussions with my bank and Apple, that suggests a human was behind this.
  • The really cynical side of me says that that the station staff might be hoping that you will use a physical card so that they can clone it or something similar. Which is really underhanded if that’s true.

I couldn’t tell you which of these is the reason why I have seen this behaviour. But I do have two other data points to share. The first time that this happened to me, I went into the store and asked for an explanation. They denied that they cancelled and said that my credit card was declined. I called him on it by showing the transaction history from Apple Pay which showed that purchase was “refunded” and then paid using the same card via Apple Pay and had that work with no issues. When I did that it visibly flustered the attendant. The second data point is that in the process of writing this story, I have heard of the same thing happening to other people using the Petro Canada app. Thus there’s clearly something going on here. Because if something like this happens once, it’s a fluke. If it happens twice or more, it’s a pattern. And if you hear the same thing happening to other people, it’s a cause for concern.

So, who has the better contactless payment app? I have to give the nod to Esso Speedpass+. In short, it works flawlessly, allows me not to have to carry physical cards around, and get discounts on gas in an almost seamless manner. Which is important given the current price of gas. And finally, unlike Petro Canada, I never get the perception that something shady might be going on when I try to purchase gas using the app and it fails to work.

As for Petro Canada, my suggestion to Petro Canada is to look at my feedback and improve your app accordingly to match the features that Speedpass+ offers. And you should also look at what your station staff might be doing as like I said earlier, cancelling transactions to force people to come into the store and then making up a story as to why the transaction was cancelled isn’t cool. Assuming of course that something underhanded is at play here. And even if this is a bug of some sort, it’s still doesn’t leave a positive impression on your customers. And that’s important because a good app experience can drive sales to you. But a bad app experience will drive sales away from you. And right now, the experience that I’ve had with both apps has driven me more towards buy fuel at Esso and away from buying fuel at Petro Canada.

1 Comment »