BP on the Hot Seat…..Again (BP)

BP (NYSE: BP) is in hot water again. Not from Gulf residents, environmentalists, or competitors, but from its own BP filling station operators.

A group of BP, Arco, and AM/PM Mini Market franchisees in the western United States have filed a $200 million lawsuit against BP in relation to the sales and inventory software they are forced to use by the company.

The software costs around $35,000 dollars to purchase, yet allegedly crashes repeatedly, overcharges customers, and sometimes does not charge them at all.

As if the bad software were not enough, BP also forces its franchisees to purchase the program from company-approved suppliers – ones that pay BP a fee. This, the suit claims, has cost operators “tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.”

“This is because the BP ‘approved' vendors charge higher prices than the ‘alternative' vendors proffered by the BP franchisees. This is not surprising since the BP vendors have to recoup the monies that they pay to BP for the privilege of being on BP's selected list,” the suit alleges.

The franchise operators are, in addition to damages, seeking a court order, which will prohibit BP from entering into exclusive deals with vendors who sell to the franchisees.

The case is: Hoskin Hogan v. BP West Coast Products, BC460880, Los Angeles County Superior Court (Los Angeles).