The Truth About MyGallons.com

The MyGallons.com pilot program started in 2008. It was administered by Zenacon LLC, and was limited to a select few people for the purpose of testing back-end support. Zenacon worked with KE Austin Corp. (d/b/a “GoGas Universal” or “GoGas”), an authorized reseller of US Bancorp’s Voyager Fleet System’s Inc. (“Voyager”) payment network, to set up the program. Voyager, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US Bancorp (“US Bank”), processes card payments at the pump similar to VISA and MasterCard.

Upon completion of the successful pilot program, MyGallons LLC was formed to roll out the secure fuel savings program to the public. MyGallons LLC worked with GoGas, Voyager, and US Bank in preparation for the public launch in  late June, 2008.

On June 30, 2008, MyGallons.com launched with a ton of national press. The public response was nothing short of amazing.

Nevertheless,  US Bank/Voyager suddenly pulled out of the agreements, leaving MyGallons holding the bag with many new members and no way to service them.  MyGallons was forced to suspend operations pending a replacement for US Bank. Significantly, MyGallons returned every single penny to its members and offered them a free one-year membership upon re-launch as compensation for any inconvenience.

In addition, in response to US Bank/Voyager’s  actions, MyGallons filed a lawsuit against US Bank, Voyager, and GoGas in US Federal Court. The lead attorney for MyGallons is Sherrie Savett, of the Philadelphia law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C..

MyGallons’ Complaint alleges 9 causes of action  against the defendants, in connection with their termination of MyGallons’ contracts and related public statements, as set forth below:

Count I: Breach of Contract (against all Defendants)
Count II: Promissory Estoppel (against all Defendants)
Count III: Tortious Interference with Existing Contractual Relations (against US Bank and Voyager)
Count IV: Tortious Interference with Existing Contractual Relations (against all Defendants)
Count V: Tortious Interference with Prospective Contractual Relations (against all Defendants)
Count VI: Defamation (against US Bank and Voyager)
Count VII: Disparagement / Injurious Falsehood (against US Bank and Voyager)
Count VIII: Publicity Placing Persons In A False Light (against US Bank and Voyager)
Count IX Violation of the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 75-1.1) (Against All Defendants)

You can read the full complaint by downloading the PDF. The following are actual excerpts and quotes from MyGallons’ Complaint:

•             Further, the false nature of the statements to the media was actually known to US Bank when they were made. [US Bank’s] Charest sent an e-mail to [US Bank’s] Eckelberg and Barkley on June 20, 2008 – prior to the launch and prior to any media inquiries – asking if either was aware of the relationship with MyGallons.  Eckelberg forwarded that e-mail to [US Bank’s] Loveridge, Stebel, and Kral on that same day.  Loveridge’s response says it all: “Yes, right now My Gallons is an approved Voyager fleet card account under the KE Austin GoGas channel partner program . . . .”88 Accordingly, the defamatory press release was issued intentionally.

•             The true reason for denying the existence or validity of MyGallons’ contracts appears to be that US Bank and Voyager were working to develop a competing program with Pricelock – the competitor entity which engaged former US Bank Senior V.P. Regan Hutton to join its Advisory Board. See July 1, 2008 email from Kral to Dorroll: “Phil – Please send me the contact information for the people at My Gallons.com The bank wants to send them a letter requesting that the website be taken care [of] immediately as it is in conflict with another agreement that we have with Pricelock.”

•             However, despite the July 3rd denials by US Bank and Voyager, the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) had issued a contradictory article on July 1, 2008 entitled “UPDATE:MYGALLONS TO HEDGE ALL GASOLINE RETAIL SALES ON NYMEX, OTC SWAP MARKETS.” Significantly, the article stated that “Regan Hutton, senior vice-president of U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems Inc., confirmed with OPIS” the “MyGallons [] alliance with the U.S. Bank’s Voyager fleet network.” The OPIS alert directly quotes Hutton, declaring: “MyGallons will have access to our network. We provide the backbone to their system.”

•           [GoGas’ National Fleet Director Phil] Dorroll provided Verona with a statement on behalf of GoGas and authorized Verona to use the statement publicly. Dorroll’s GoGas statement was as follows:

GoGas had agreements in place with Zenacon LLC and MyGallons LLC in order to provide support for the MyGallons program through the use of the Voyager payment processing network. We believe the MyGallons program is an innovative business and it could offer Americans relief at the pump. We were very excited that Steven Verona and his staff have developed a program that can help the American public and to give them a tool to manage their personal budget given the constant increase in prices at the pump. We wish MyGallons and their members all the best as they move forward with another payment network. We feel certain there are other networks able to support their needs.   We believe Steven Verona to be a man of integrity and honesty based on our dealings with him. In fact we truly enjoyed working with Steven and his staff.” We are sorry that MyGallons and their launch have been harmed by the release of incorrect information and confusing statements resulting in negative press.

GOGAS apologizes for any actions that may have resulted in any release of this incorrect information. MyGallons should be applauded for their ability to develop a program that is so positive for American drivers.” —Phil Dorroll Fleet Director, GOGAS Universal

There is a lot of false and misleading information on the Internet about MyGallons and Steven Verona, stemming from US Bank/Voyager’s termination of contracts with and/or its denial of, a relationship with MyGallons and Mr. Verona.

Here are a few samples that have been posted after nearly every mention of MyGallons on the internet:

There are numerous post from a person calling themselves “Ironman”. Here is an example of that implies they have done some bona fide research or have insider’s knowledge. Who would be motivated to write something like this and then post it repeatedly all of the web? If they had done any research, they would be writing something completely different when presented with the facts:

An open post to the owner (Steve Verona) of My Gallons from one of the Americans you tried to scam.

I think my opinion speaks for most people who were almost scammed by you and your company, mygallons.com.

Steve Verona, you f*#@ked up. You launched early without having all of your ducks in a row. You had no deal with Voyager and you had no backend to process the gallons. You lied and said you did to try and scam people out of a membership fee. From what I see, you jumped the gun and put out a press release before you were ready….

Ironman

This series is also extremely suspect, from “Peter,” who seems to have a personal vendetta against Steven, and will stop at nothing to discredit him. Again, why would someone go to so much effort to create this fiction and then post it as a comment after every online article they could find? Is this person being paid to inflict this damage?:

Do a thorough search on Steven Verona, and you will see he’s moved from state to state over the past decade and is a patent troll. He’s ‘invented’ an illuminated purse light, pool cue, and sold various clothing items online. Now he’s introduced fuel hedging?? Something does not compute. Also, he originally claimed MyGallons was supported by the US Bank/Voyager network. But when NBC 4 in Ohio contacted Voyager, they said that Voyager has NO business relationship with MyGallons. Here’s a clip from NBC4:

“Representatives with the Web site tell NBC 4 you can use their card at a majority of stations because they use the Voyager Fleet Payment System offered by US Bank. But, when NBC 4 called US Bank, representatives told us they had no affiliation with the site. According to a company statement, U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems does not have a contract with to do business with MyGallons.com. We did not authorize the use of our name in association with this venture and we are not affiliated with this company. The CEO of MyGallons.com, Steven Verona, says they had worked out an agreement with a partner of us bank, and are now negotiating directly with US Bank. He says if they cannot come to an agreement and turn to another payment method like Visa or MasterCard, they will give people the opportunity to cancel their membership and a receive refund.

He’s trying to get people to sign up. Whether he can secure a deal with Voyager (or other) seems unlikely. Also unlikely is the fact that he will return people’s hard-earned money.

Peter

If this post wasn’t so damaging, you could find it slightly amusing, because Steven doesn’t even have a brother! More important, after the stalled launch, in the midst of chaos, disappointment and frustration, MyGallons promptly refunded every penny to the people who joined to protect themselves from volatile gas prices.

Hi !

I’m Steve’s brother and I wouldn’t waste a nickel investing in my own brother. He is the KING of the scam artists. Steve never had a contract with any company to process the mygallons debit card and any poor bastard who has already given Steve money will NEVER see it again. So anyone else who is considering this BEWARE. If you can’t trust your brother, who can you trust ? Florida state laws allows for all kinds of scam artists to operate freely within state borders. Numerous companies have been prosecuted over the past several years. If you ignore this and go ahead and give him your money, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.

Bruce Verona

The truth is this: MyGallons did not go out of business and hasn’t gone anywhere. They have been hard at work to bring the secure fuel savings program back to consumers. The sister company that services fleets and high-volume consumers, MoreGallons, has been successfully servicing over 1,000 members since its launch in February of 2009.

MyGallons is still having trouble overcoming the reputational damage inflicted by US Bank/Voyager , and therefore has not yet been able to secure another national card processor. For now, in order to bring a secured fuel savings program to consumers, MyGallons is offering a non-card program, similar to MoreGallons.

The bottom line is that MyGallons is once again offering real protection against volatile fuel prices.