Trickery at the Gas Pump

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smokinhusker

Legendary Pitmaster
Original poster
I just received this from a friend and also heard about it mentioned on the news:

WHO CAN AFFORD 10 GALLONS OF GAS?

CHEATING at the gas pumps (PRINT OUT YOUR RECEIPTS!!!) Read to the end. 

This email was sent by the LA fire captain. 

This is true. It happened to his wife three weeks ago somewhere in Pomona on her way to Pechanga. The pump should have totaled @ $68.00 (and change). When the receipt was printed, and she checked it, the price 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 stop doing so and 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, complained, and got a refund. 

There is also a number on each pump that you can call and complain. 

This is a true story, so read it carefully. 

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 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 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 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. I wish I had checked 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 state Agriculture Department, and direct your comments to the Commissioner. The info is on the gas pumps and on your paper receipt. 

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 (as are the state and federal governments with their taxes on gasoline!). 

This is the same thing as the butcher with his finger on the scale. The company has nothing to do with the station owner's practices. Yes, the oil companies are making big bucks; but some dishonest guys will still be dishonest and try to make a few bucks at your expense!
 
Yup!  Plus, check your checking account if you use a debit card; some stations will impose a $50 or even a $100 'temporary fee' on your card until it is put through, a hold that can tank your card until it clears.  Most put a $1.00 hold, that I can take, but at a different station than I normally get gas they put a $50 temp charge on my card and I only had $22.51 in my account and got $15.00 in gas and it overdrew my account and assessed a $25.00 overdraft fee and 2 extra hours of my time resolving it with the bank plus letters to representatives and the Banking Committee!
 
Yep they do that and the big thing on the news here with Debit cards and gas stations is that thieves are installing card readers to them and when you punch in your PIN, they then have it and can access your account. Boyfriend always does debit but I've convinced him to do credit now to avoid entering a PIN on these unattended machines.
 
Debit or credit doesn't matter when a skimmer gets you.

They put the temporary fee on you when you use credit, not debit since it is an automatic withdrawl.
 
Here in ark you can take a picture with your camera phone of the price at the pump and send it to the attorney genral. The state will slap them with a big fine .
 
What bothers me is that the day oil prices rise gas and diesel prices go up but when oil prices fall it takes forever for gas and diesel prices to fall and they never fall back to what they should be
 
What bothers me is that the day oil prices rise gas and diesel prices go up but when oil prices fall it takes forever for gas and diesel prices to fall and they never fall back to what they should be
Ain't that the truth!!!!

Having worked as a service tech in the petro industry for 15 yrs I know who, how, and why these people try to do this. But around here Weights and Measures, ( the governing body for this type of equipment) takes a Very dim view on meter tampering. All meters are tested by the state twice a year. If they are out more than +/- 3 cu in in 5 gals ( @ a tablespoon). The pump is tagged out and cannot be used until a certified tech makes repairs and recalibrates the pump. Then the lockout tag has to be filled out by the tech and sent back to the state by the company that preformed the repairs. This in combination with using seals that are traceable to the specific technitian keep the honest people honest.
 
As was mentioned this is something that is regulated.  In addition I have seen this almost word for word several times and I just want to share something here http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/cheating.asp

This is a situation of getting caught would be a bad thing for your business.

Now it is important to be careful looking for skimmers and this applies for any tampering with the pump as far as I know.  Each pump has security tape over the keyhole.  If that tape is broken in anyway you need to inform the attendant and don't use that pump.  Best way to make sure you don't get cheated.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/all-about-skimmers/

- NickyB 
 
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