Ripped off at the gas station: what should you do?
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Transportation
My brother called me today to tell me about an unfortunate incident at a gas station. Short on money at the moment, he told the attendant that he wanted $20 worth of gas and the clerk promptly filled the tank and told him he owed $60. My brother protested and the clerk was reasonably apologetic but told him there was nothing he could do. Being a heck of a nice guy, my brother paid the money and went on his way -- short on cash for other expenses.Of course there's an argument to be made that this isn't really a ripoff. He would have needed to fill the car up eventually and with gas prices rising daily, the clerk may have actually done him a favor. But consumers have a right to decide how much gas they want to buy, and if you want $20 worth of gas, you shouldn't have to buy $60.
My brother's a mensch so it's no big deal but what are some other options he might had? As I see it, he could have done one of two things in this situation:
- Tell the clerk you don't have the money and that your credit cards are all maxed out and your checking account is already overdrawn and that you're sorry but all you can do is give him $25 in cash. Tell him that if he wants the gas back, he's welcome to suck it out with a straw.
- Ask to speak with the manager and, if one isn't available and you are really aggravated and have a lot of time on your hands, tell the clerk that you're going to have to call the police to find out what to do. You can bet that his manager won't be too happy to find out the cops were called to resolve a dispute over his error. He may be motivated to find a way to make it right.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-22-2008 @ 1:53PM
Ed Leach said...
The last three times I urchased gasoline or diesel, the money meter and volume meter ran several seconds before any fuel flowed from the nozzel. I hear that there is a check valve to prevent backflow of fuel from the pump back into the underground tank, and if they malfunction, the fuel has to be replaced before it leaves the nozzel and goes into your tank. This amount of fuel is metered, but you don't get it in your tank. I have protested each time, but to no avail. Is anyone else having this problem?
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5-22-2008 @ 2:45PM
M. Gainey said...
Yes, a local tv station here where I live ran a story on just this thing. It advised calling your local Bureau of Weights and Measures because in Virginia at any rate, this is against the law. Maybe it's not called the Bureau of Weights and Measures where you live, but surely there's something similar, and surely it's against the law there, too. It's fraud no matter which way you look at it, because you're paying for something you're not getting.
5-29-2008 @ 12:57PM
Tom said...
On Christmas Eve, at the local North Carolina Alco #27, I pumped 2 or 3 minutes worth of fumes while I cleaned my windows, for a total of 11 cents. Upon entering the store to ask about the pump, I was informed that they were out of everything but high octane, there was nothing they could do to void the charge, the manager wasn't there, and they weren't going to call him, nor would they give me his number. When I asked, the 2 girls behind the counter stated that they were ok with losing a good customer over 11 cents. And they did.
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6-17-2008 @ 9:57PM
J Cohen said...
I pulled into a gas station and asked for $30.00 of gas. The attendant didn't seem to speak good english, and I told him again $30.00. I realized itwas taking a little longer to put the gas in the car and I turned and noticed that there was $45.00 on the meter. I told the attendant to stop the pump. He then told me it was $46.00. I explained to him I only request $30.00. Hethen called the manager out to the pump. I explained to him also that I only wanted $30.00 and I was not going to pay the overcharge. He then said he was going to call the police, and at which time I said go ahead, and I showed him my badge and I saw the look on his face as to say, oh no! He then said sorry sir, took the $30.00 and said have a nice day, his atendants fault. I think he was attempting a rip off and got caught with his pants down by his attitude when my ID came out. So tell everyone make sure to keep an eye on the pump, you only have to pay for what you asked for, and that is the law in most states.
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6-27-2008 @ 11:33PM
Lois Reed said...
I think we were ripped off at an East coast Gas Station near Petersburg, VA. off of I-85. We were almost out of gas, thought we might have had a gallon left. We filled up and it took 18.768 to fill up an 18 gallon tank. I keep a record of amount of gas at fillups and the mileage we get out of each tank. We had been getting an average of 26 MPG. On this fillup, it said we got 22 MPG. Something's wrong.
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7-03-2008 @ 10:32AM
Dayle said...
As a person who faces all of you and your complaints and gripes and whining about gas prices and the high cost of convenience store goods day after frustrating day I have to add something here.
This is just me, and I apologize that there are some bubbleheads out there that can't see their nose in spite of their faces.
I know gas is expensive.
I know that occasionally the pumps have a hiccup and that .11 cents of fumes just makes your blood boil.
I know money is tight and you want what you paid for.
I know because I've heard every single type of complaint all day long every day of the week from thousands of customers who insist on complaining to me about the same stuff thousands before them did.
People ask me, "Why is gas so high?".
People ask me, "Isn't that gas in the ground the same I paid .20 cents less for yesterday?".
People ask me, "When are gas prices going to go up/down?".
I'm a clerk.
I'm not an economist.
I'm not a politician.
I'm not a Wall Street speculator.
I'm a clerk, working at a gas station for $6.50 cents an hour.
I don't know why the pump gets an occasional hiccup and does weird stuff.
I'm not a pump technician.
I'm a clerk.
But you are my customer, and I am aware that if not for you, I would not have my measly little $6.50 cent and hour job with no health insurance benefits, no retirement, and no paid vacations......
But, and like I said, this is just me:
You are my customer and I hate listening to the same stuff over and over and over again so I try very hard to remain cheerful and do the best I can to send you on your way at least with a smile on your face and as happy as you were when you pulled into my station.
If you get ripped off for .11 cents, I'll take the pennies out of the "Need a penny, Leave a penny" tray and put it in the drawer all shift long just to cover things like this.
Unfortunately, some people think that penny tray is there to cover ENTIRE purchases and don't hesitate to scoop all the pennies out and put them on the counter in front of me to buy a soft drink, candy bar, or newpaper, et.al.
It happens every single day.
And I'll take a dollar of my $6.50 pay before all the taxes and the $30.00 a week I try to save by having it directly deposited from my check, out of my own pocket so that you don't leave mad.
And put it in the drawer.
That's MY money but it's better and less stressful on me than having you berate me in front of 10 other people standing in line behind you waiting to pay for their purchases.
As for the $20.00 of gas that magically turned into $60.00 in a filled tank?
Unless this was a full service gas station, the only, and I do mean, ONLY way this could have happened was if the clerk programmed the register for $60.00 worth of gas instead of the asked for $20.00 on a prepaid pumping situation.
In which case, I would have, and rightfully so, asked the customer why, if he only wanted $20.00 worth of gas, he let the pump continue until his tank was filled with $60.00 worth instead?
You can say that you were busy with cleaning your windshield, checking your oil etc etc, but let's get honest here for a hot second.
No, I mean, let's get HONEST.
We all know, and I do also because I too have to pay for my gas so I can get to work to watch you pay for yours as well, that $20.00 worth of gas takes about 20 seconds to pump and then it clicks off if you prepaid for THAT amount.
We all know when the pump clicks off, we generally hear it or feel the vibration when the nozzle shuts off.
So this is a question of judgment.
Someone replied that he should have lied and made up an X,Y,Z of excuses why he couldn't pay because he was flat broke save for the $20.00 in his pocket.
Is that honest?
Call the police?
I would have handed him the phone after I dialed the number for him.
My local police are well aware of the sheer volume of "pump and runs" I report to them on a daily basis. They know that at other stations, owners will subtract the dollar amount for those "pump and runs" from an underpaid, overworked, and very unappreciated clerk's measly weekly check.
I would have let my local police handle this gladly.
I'm not going to argue with you over it.
I have 9 more customers in line behind you who are waiting to pay for their gas so they can be on their way to wherever they are headed to.
Why don't I find another job?
Because I love my job and I do love my customers and 95% of them are as decent and hardworking as I am and scraping to make their way in this greedy world the same as I.
I'm a clerk.
I'm not a weights and measures officer.
I'm not a CEO who sets the tone of the company I work for.
I'm a clerk.
And I love my job and hang onto it as tight as I can because I know the job market is tough and some people have it much much worse than I do.
Thanks for reading....just hope this gets posted.
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