Main Gas Buddy Page

Can you give us any idea what direction y'all are headed with this?  I think it's the unanimous opinion that the new "Stepford-Wife" (LOL) websites suck.  First they killed off the whiteboards and forums, isolating people who'd become a community.  "CampKohler" was kind enough to establish this forum so people could continue to chat, but even now, over 6 years later, there are fewer than 1,200 people who've joined.  A lot of people tried to spread the word back then that there was a new place to gather, but apparently not many found it or were interested.  I know a lot of people threw in the towel back then, or said they were.

Now this.  I've thought for a long time they'd eventually do away with the web-based site completely and force everyone to use the app.  I started out 19+ years ago when there was no app.  Or smartphones.  I've continued to use both now.  Each has its pros and cons, but you had to use both to maximize the number of magic fairy dust points you could earn.

Guys, the blog is boring.  It goes beyond dry reading.  Rarely have I seen an article or blog post that held my interest long enough to finish reading it.  The same two articles from 2021, with the exception of the occasional new (3rd one) added for a few days, have been linked on the front page of the website all these years.  The weekly polls seem to be on autopilot with the same ones cycling every 52 weeks.  It hasn't seemed like TPTB have cared about the website in a long time.

Is the Master Station List still accessible?  You can "suggest edits" to individual stations on the app, but it's clunky and in the end, at least in my experience, the edits don't stick.  When many of our local stations (Memphis) began playing "musical brands," often the name on the station wouldn't match the brand avatar.  I finally gave up trying to correct anything.

I, like many old-time members, volunteered my/our time and work to help build that list.  I think people did it for fun and/or the sense of community the site originally fostered.  A little acknowledgement of us old-timers occasionally would have been nice.  For over a year when we were in the (long) process of moving from Houston to Memphis, I posted prices on both, depending on where I was at the time.  Often on trips I'd post prices up through east Texas and across Arkansas.  It was pretty simple then.  I shudder to think how difficult that would be now.  I was in Houston most of that time, but I added Memphis-area stations to the MSL from home using nothing but a laptop and pinning little red teardrops on the Google satellite maps.  I was new to Memphis, but by mapping all those Memphis stations remotely, I never needed a map to get around Memphis once we were living here.  So it helped me, too.  I could tell you from anywhere in town I found myself where to find gas!

There was one member in particular, "ItsAJeepThing," named Warren who I think was retired and GB was his hobby.  He would send congrats to people across the country when he would notice someone reached some milestone.  I don't know if he's even still around now.  Like I said, people were cut off from communicating (beyond the handful of buddies you already had), and it happened with little to no warning.  It's the lack of communication from GB HQ that sticks in my craw.  I'm sure others feel the same way.  It's seems like we're just clicks for GB ad profits.  Again, burying any announcements in a GB blog post guarantees that most people are NOT going to see them.

The old Oregon site worked until a couple of days ago.  Are there any regional/metro sites that haven't transitioned yet?  It would be nice to maintain access to the DM section, MSL, and favorite stations until y'all decide what's going to happen next.

Thanks for listening.  It would be appreciated if someone with GB will respond with some solid information, not just that "we're listening."

I think you're absolutely right.  I see no sign whatsoever that "they" are listening to us or that they care about the members other than for ad revenue clicks.  At some point I'll cash in all my points on the gas card drawing (which I've never won), and like Elvis, leave the building.  I've been able to stay in touch with one of the "buddies" I wanted, so GB isn't needed.  And I'll check in here some.  I was the 2nd person to join here (after #1, CampKohler), but as you can see from my stats I've not been very active here in recent years.

ETA:  I, too, am still skeptical about who wins those gas cards.  For the longest time it seemed it was mostly new members or members with very few points.  Each member should have the same odds of winning per entry, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

Years ago I clicked on some survey on the app and was promptly awarded a $100 Sam's Club gift card.  It took WEEKS and a lot of back and forth with GB, but I finally got it.  Used to be there were frequent surveys by Flying J, Gulf, Phillips, and other brands that awarded points for taking a short survey and supposedly entered your name into a drawing for a gift/gas card.  I haven't seen one of those in ages.  IDK.  Maybe the price of advertising for those companies wasn't cost-effective.

Back when this forum was created a couple of us were joking that we should pool our money HERE for a weekly drawing for a $1.00 GBO Forum gas card.

As I recall, you had to be logged in separately to each site you wanted to post from. Maybe that was it.

I have no idea, really, but I would THINK that when they sold the business they would have included those. But who knows?

BTW, if it was just the names, it would be a copyright, I think. Maybe if it was the formats, too, but they're not using those so that's not relevant anyway.

I've been posting from the app for a long time. Gonna miss the regional web sites.