Gas Scam at Pumps
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.
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
I don’t understand why gas stations would still take up the nerve to cheat on people. Wasn’t the money paid not yet enough for them?This is one of the most valuable articles..thanks for it
What is this!!! Cheaters are there all over the world. We should be very careful in dealing them.
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Sadly, I am no longer surprised at the cheating and swindling going on. I guess I’m becoming too cynical in my “old” age.
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here in indonesia gas scam was also quite alot, scam start from ‘arranging’ the meter up to playing when fueling our tank. here in Indonesia gas was filled by one of the gas station employee so when they want to fill our tank they start to fill and stop, fill and stop(continuesly) that way they can manage steal up to 1litre from us (depend on how many times they start and stop fueling and what tank size did you have). So when ever you refill your tank watch out for the employee or the meter, better careful then lost money when all life cost was sky high and salary not raised..:(
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This is one of the most valuable articles I’ve come across in a long time (and it has been saved to my de.li.ous. I often wonder, as someone who has an old clunker why when I try my best to find prices within only a few cents of each other, I somehow never get the same or even close to total.
Thanks!
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With the price of gas rising so fast, I don’t understand why gas stations would still take up the nerve to cheat on people. Wasn’t the money paid not yet enough for them?
Thanks for posting this one, I hope people will be more vigilant because of this.
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I’m from NY and I travel by car pretty often. There have been a few times where I filled up and something didn’t make sense. Thanks for pointing this out. I’ll know what to look for from now on.
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what a bunch of cheats! lucky you had you’re wits about you.
Wow! Thanks for sharing this! I sent a message to everyone on my email list telling them about this. I bet I’ve been overcharged at the gas pump before. There have been times where I thought… “Hmmm, that was more than I thought it was going to cost.”
I should really keep a lookout from now on. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll also get blogging on this. Thanks!
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I tell you, If it is not one thing, it’s another. Great tip and I will follow with intensity! I would just love some vaseline when getting screwed by not only the oil mafia but their
lackeys as well? This is the biggest scam going on right now and the only way we can
stop it is by buying from OTHER than exxon, shell, texaco, and mobil!
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Sorry, but you’re talking about two different things. If you think you only pumped 14 gallons but the pumps shows 18, then the pump is counting gas out at a rate faster than it is really coming out. That doesn’t have anything to do with the price.
If you think they aren’t charging the proper rate for gas, then the 10 gallon test is a good check.
In either case, you are correct about reporting issues to the State. They do perform regular inspections, but there are far too many stations for so few inspectors. A flag from you could save a lot of people money (and don’t assume it is intentional, I’ve seen it go the other way as well).
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