Posted on 08/29/2014 11:40:23 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
Got this from a email friend today. She says . . . I ALWAYS check the first gallon before pumping more – simply to MATCH the PRICE (advertised) against the ONE gallon pumped into my car. – I “caught” a SHELL station (here in Mesa, Arizona) that had the price 12 cents per gallon HIGHER than the advertised price on the pump AND the sign out front. – I called the local Department of Agriculture (weights and measures division) from my cell phone immediately – waiting for them to show up. They did, some 20 minutes later. The Department taped all the pumps – stopping ALL traffic from using the pumps. They (two men) checked all 6 pumps, finding them all “rigged” at a higher price (by 12 cents) per gallon than advertised.
PS – That particular SHELL station was being operated by 2 men from India.
This is especially prevalent at places owned by foreign born entities.
In some case, they even have counterfeit Department of Agriculture stickers to put on the pumps when they re-calibrate. The State seldom physically inspects the pumps as it is very labor intensive, so it often goes overlooked for months or years. I usually buy all my gas at Sam's Club, but always get receipts wherever I have to get fuel. Often, I will pump exactly ONE GALLON and check the pump pricing before continuing the fill up, and even then, I am aware of how much fuel I should get within a couple of tenths of a gallon from experience.
This is true. It happened to them three weeks ago somewhere in Pomona on our way to Penchant. The pump should have totaled @ $68.00 (and change). When the receipt was printed, and she checked it was $77.00 (and change). She got mad, went inside the store, asked for a calculator and let them do the math.
They refunded her, she told them that if they cheat, they had better make it right. Normally, her husband would skip printing the receipt. Not her. We saw on the news the other night that this is happening everywhere.
Brian pumped exactly one gallon of gas. The price did not match the cost of one gallon. It was higher. He went inside and complained, and got a refund.
There is also a number on each pump that you can call and complain.
I stopped at a BP gas station in GA. My truck's gas gauge was on 1/4 of a tank. I use the mid-grade, which was priced at $3.71 per gallon. When my tank is at this point, it takes somewhere around 14 gallons to fill When the pump showed 14 gallons had been pumped, I began to slow it down. Then, to my surprise, it went to 15, then 16. I even looked under my truck to see if it was being spilled. It was not.
When it showed 17 gallons on the pump. It stopped at 18 gallons. This was very strange to me, since my truck has only an 18 gallon tank. I went on my way a little confused, then on the evening news I heard a report that 1 out of 4 gas stations had calibrated their pumps to show more gas had been pumped than a person actually got.
Here is how to check a pump to see if you are getting the right amount:
Whichever grade you are using, put EXACTLY 1 (one) GALLON in your tank, then look at the dollar amount. If the dollar amount is not EXACTLY the price of the fuel PRICE ADVERTISED, then the pumps are rigged.
In this case, as I said, the mid-grade was $3.71 per gallon; my dollar amount or 1 gallons should have been $3.71.
I wish I had checked the pump. It doesn't matter where you pump gas, please check the 1 gallon price. If you do find a station that is cheating, contact the state Agriculture Department, and direct your comments to the Commissioner, the info is on the gas pumps.
Please don't delete this until you have sent it to all people in your address book. We need to put a stop to this outrageous cheating of customers. The gas companies are making enough profits at honest rates.
Here is the biggest problem with small independent gas stations - they can’t stand behind their product.
Here in town, a local chain accidentally had water in the gas. They put flyers up and advertised on tv: if you used our pumps, take your car in to get inspected/repaired...and we will pay for it. That’s great - they preserved their reputation and stood behind their product.
Around the same time, my stepson put gas in my truck at an independent station...and the underground tanks ran dry. That’s right...the station ran out of gas, and all the rust and other crap in that tank went into my truck. They were running on a shoe-string. Do you think they would have paid a nickel, if my fuel pump went out?
It did go out a few years later...but they’re long out of business.
Thanks for the correction. I’m running off memory that’s older than most posters!
This doesn’t really make sense to me.
If you put 1 gallon in at 3.71 (and you are trusting the pump to tell you what one gallon is) then when the pump say’s 1 gallon then it will also say 3.71.
The only way to truly check this would be to have a 1 gallon container in the car which you fill up first.
—
What the described check will do is verify that the outdoor sign matches the price programmed into the pump.
You have more wisdom than you realize.
I have wondered about this, thanks for posting.
LOL
Cuz your car and the pipes/hoses close to, and above ground are cooler, and the fuel is more dense.
Be sure you have a few miles to drive, though. In high school, I filled my '66 Nova SS full in the morning. My car sat in the hot sun until noon, and when I got out to it, the fuel was dribbling out of the cap, as it was expanding, and the cap was, well, 1960's vintage, and not a tight sealing one. Left a nice dribble mark in the paint that had to be repainted, no way to fix it. It didn't "buff right out."
Or raising prices AND cutting back on volumes or weight.
This doesn’t really make sense to me.
“If you put 1 gallon in at 3.71 (and you are trusting the pump to tell you what one gallon is) then when the pump say’s 1 gallon then it will also say 3.71.
“The only way to truly check this would be to have a 1 gallon container in the car which you fill up first.
—
“ What the described check will do is verify that the outdoor sign matches the price programmed into the pump.”
You are exactly right, another reason to call BS on this item, in addition to Weights and Measures showing up in 20 minutes.
If consumers want to get upset about something, I’d recommend getting upset at how much the federal, state, and local governments are making off the sale of a gallon of gasoline. Their percentage is usually way higher than what the either the oil company refiner or the gas station owner makes off the same gallon.
The biggest rip-off is the ethanol that EPA requires in just about all gasoline sold today. You don’t get near the gas mileage from ethanol that you get from the same volume of gasoline, the ethanol is damaging a lot of engines and fuel systems, worst of all, it is not cleaning up pollution or reducing carbon dioxide. EPA requires it because Congress wants to keep getting huge contributions from agri-business and to keep getting midwestern farm votes.
Worse, an old neighbor is mine trusted a station attendant to do the fill on up his diesel truck for him without watching - with gas. As the tank was about empty it ruined the engine. Last i heard they were in court trying to prove it.
BTT
Hmm, we get up to a buck a gallon off at Vons/Safeway/Pavilion Market-affiliated pumps. Now I’m thinking it would be a good idea to check periodically, though am not a fan of carrying around a gas can. Had enough of that many moons ago when my car in high school always contained a gas can, oil, and spare parts at all times.
lol
People who believe this nonsense are so dumb
I buy from locally American owned stations in East Tennessee. One is a chain owned by a respected family {no not our governors family business Pilot Oil} but an older one {Weigels} that started out as a dairy farm selling milk and expanded into convenience stores/gas stations. No complaints I’ve bought gas there for a couple decades now. The other place is a local Mom and Pop market everyone knows where the owner lives and when he knows the next shipment is a skyrocketed price he warns regular customers to get it cheap while they can.
IF someone managed to hack the pump’s computer {anything I guess is remotely possible} how could they on an ongoing basis reconcile it to their Dip Reports and delivery truck record and Dip reports which show a reasonably accurate measurement of what is in the storage tanks? Having tanks come up on the dip showing more on hand that what you have supposedly sold by pump readings is begging to be ordered to have the tanks inspected for leakage among other things. Those things are watched closely these days.
I buy most of my gas at Sam’s Club because they seem to be more honest with their prices than stations that are quick to raise prices when oil is going up but far slower to lower them when it’s coming down. I always check the first gallon and make sure it’s charging me the marked price. Never had a problem with Sam’s, but I have had a problem at a local Citgo station where the tank never seems to be quite as full as it should from the amount of gas I purchased. I don’t go there any more (nobody there speaks English so no use complaining).
“PS – That particular SHELL station was being operated by 2 men from India. “
Around here, ALL shell stations are operated by people from India. Every last one of them. They all seem pretty friendly, but guess I’ll start checking my first gallon. Actually, I’m going to start doing that at ALL gas stations from now on!
Sigh. Thanks, thackney, for debunking this. I didn’t read it carefully: I thought it was a Freeper reporting a direct experience.
Instead, it’s just another damn BS internet hoax that’s been going around forever.
I just HATE to see this kind of crap posted at FR.
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