Sunday, July 13, 2008

Cheating at the Gas Pump

This is a true story that happened to a friend of mine who will remain nameless. She did check with the Dept. of Agricultural and it is a real concern.

It is maddening how everyone is out to make a buck off the hapless driver who is only trying to get to and from work, school or the grocery store. There will be a special place in HELL for these cheaters.

On April 24, 2008, I stopped at a Exxon gas station, located at Balcones Drive and Parkcrest Street , Austin , Texas 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 it up. 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. Then it showed 17 gallons had been pumped. It stopped at almost 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 10 GALLONS in your tank, then look at the dollar amount, if the dollar amount is not EXACTLY 10 times the price of the fuel you have chosen, then the pumps are rigged. In my case as I said the mid-grade was $3.71 9/10 per gallon, my dollar amount for 10 gallons should have been $37.19. If I had only check the pump. It doesn't matter where you pump gas, please check the 10-gallon price. If you do find a station that is cheating, contact the Texas Department of Agriculture, and direct your comments to Todd Staples, Commissioner (512-463-7476). In other states contact proper authorities.

Remember to report them to the authorities. DO NOT take matters into your own hands, even if you have a rifle handy! LOL


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can you imagine? Just what will the crooked think of next? Today this was in Texas, tomorrow it will be happening all over the world.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable! I'll bet that this is happening all over - especially now that it's made the news.

Dugg! and thanks for your digg too!

Anonymous said...

When I first read the title, I thought you were referring to an issue that is happening in South Florida. Turns out that there are some thieves in Miami who stole a pump key and ended up stealing hundreds of dollars worth of gas. It is really horrible to see the true nature of some people trying to steal while other hard workers end up suffering.

Anonymous said...

It is unbelievable and outrageous for U.S. In the third world I could easily figure, but in U.S. not.

Michael said...

That's no good...

I've never really done anything to make sure that I am getting all the gas I paid for, but this is a quick and easy way.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Dugg! and thanks for your digg too!

CyberCelt said...

@sailor, tricia, joe, doru, mark and kpk, this story is what my friend told me. I posted this on my travel blog and the BS blogger said that checking at $10 has nothing to do with being cheated. I am not technical enough to know if that is true or not. Y'all be careful out there. As gas prices rise, cheating will escalate.

Anonymous said...

Some people have no shame. I just recently saw in the news that a few gas station owners are being fined in British Columbia for coordinating an unnecessary increase in their gas prices. Greedy scum!