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[RD]

A friend of mine in the Houston area (Brister) just e mailed this too me, and I thought I'd pass it along. Just goes to show, you've got to be checking all the angles. Since no one has a 10 gallon tank on their bike, just check the 1st gallon vs cost.

RD


This happened to me (Brister) at a Valero station in Port Arthur about 3 weeks ago. For some reason, I could not be convinced that my Harley held 6.3 gallons of fuel in a 4.9 gallon tank. Go figure!

Brister




 

This just happened to me at an Exxon station in Sealy.

Arly

It won't hurt to try this.

 

Subject: Cheating at Gas Pumps

1. This is what happened to a friend of mine at the Kangaroo on Cleveland Hwy (beside Wendy's). They tried telling me that my truck took 25 gallons, when I only have a 20 gallon tank. I refused to leave until they gave me my money back for the difference.

2. This is a true story, so read it carefully.  On April 24, 2008, I stopped at a Kangaroo BP gas station, located at 1325 Main Street , Cartersville , 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 gallon's 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.   

3. 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 checked the pump.  It doesn't matter where you pump gas, please check the 10 gallon price. 

4. Iou do find a station that is cheating, contact the Georgia Agriculture Department, and direct your comments to Tommy Irvin, Commissioner.  In other states contact proper authorities.   

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.

[Crewsn]

this happens way to frequently. a friend of mine is a service tech for a compamy that services fuel pumps. he's told me that it is fairly easy to "recalibrate" the pumps once you know how to do it. on a few occaisons he was actually asked by the stores owner/operator to show them how to do it. like was mentioned above just check the first gallon. also, it may not be as drastic as the above mentioned case, but even if they are off just a nickel per gallon imagine the overall profit for the store. 

[Luckys Lover]

If the price on the pump is blinking, it's going to change real soon. Some places change the billboard first so take a look at it before you pump.

I had to wait about 5 minutes for the pump to match the billboard the other day. Yeah, the price was ging down about a nickel. SO I SAVED A WHOLE 15 cents. LOL

[hipshot]

The Georgia Agriculture Department ain't gonna do squat for the Texasxriders. May I suggest the Texas Comptroller's Office? They're online and in the telephone directory. This old man could be mistaken (imagine that!!), but I believe that their contact information is posted on most fuel pump islands. I just got back from a week in the wastelands of Mineral Wells, Texas (where men are men and sheep are women), so I'm just too tired -- without dropping any sheeps' names -- to go confirm that [mis?]information right now. I can tell you with all confidence (or at least as much confidence as someone who frequently has to check his driver's license to remember his name can offer) that the State of Texas takes tampering with fuel pump meters VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY seriously --- they WILL assign an investigator to the case with explicit instructions to thoroughly investigate any and all allegations and file any and all charges that the laws will support against the perpetrator(s).

[Silver Bullet]

How is checking the 10 gallon price going to tell you if pump is rigged? Doesn't make sense. If pump is calibrated wrong that means less gas is coming out than pump meter reads. The 10 gal price will still show 10 times pump per gal price the problem is that you would have received less than 10 gals of gas.

[hipshot]

Silver Bullet, most folks have a pretty good idea how much gas they will need to fill up. If you think you pumped substantially more gas than you should have, heed this thread. If you haven't any idea, don't worry about it.

[snake]

I thought the same thing, SB. If it was recalibrated, that shouldn't hold true, lol. I guess what they mean is that the pump has a different price on it than advertised on the billboard?

[crow57]

You're right Hipshot, except it's the Texas Dept of Agriculture who monitors fuel pump accuracy.  This is from their web site:

File a Complaint
File a complaint concerning Weighing and Measuring Devices by contacting TDA's Customer Service Hotline (within Texas) 1-800-TELL-TDA or 1-800-835-5832.

In accordance with specifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, TDA tests fuel pumps using a tolerance of six cubic inches - about six tablespoons - per five gallons. The new penalties for first and subsequent offenses are based on how much a pump varies from the tolerance level.


The penalties are:

More than twice in excess of tolerance (12 cubic inches) - $100 per device for the first offense and $200 for each device for the second offense;
More than three times in excess of tolerance (18 cubic inches) - $150 per device for the first offense and $300 for each device for the second offense; and
More than four times in excess of tolerance (24 cubic inches) - $250 per device for the first offense and $500 for each device for the second offense.

[Lucky]

Now that slap on the wrist should teach them good 

[VTXLady53]

The Georgia Agriculture Department ain't gonna do squat for the Texasxriders. May I suggest the Texas Comptroller's Office? They're online and in the telephone directory. This old man could be mistaken (imagine that!!), but I believe that their contact information is posted on most fuel pump islands. I just got back from a week in the wastelands of Mineral Wells, Texas (where men are men and sheep are women), so I'm just too tired -- without dropping any sheeps' names -- to go confirm that [mis?]information right now. I can tell you with all confidence (or at least as much confidence as someone who frequently has to check his driver's license to remember his name can offer) that the State of Texas takes tampering with fuel pump meters VERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY seriously --- they WILL assign an investigator to the case with explicit instructions to thoroughly investigate any and all allegations and file any and all charges that the laws will support against the perpetrator(s).

Where sheep are Women............HUUUUMMMMMMMMM No wonder he was so tired last night.

[gsboriqua]

Sounds like an urban legend to me.....

[Morgan Buchanan]

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T out to get you!

there are essentially TWO ways a pump could be wrong, and Silver Bullet is just "seeing" the problem the OTHER way.

Problem 1 - you don't GET as much gas as the pump says...   IE, you get 9 gallons but get charged for 10 gallons.  In this case, what Silver Bullet is saying would be correct and you wouldn't know.  IE, the pump would read 10 gallons, you'd pay exactly ten times the dollar per gallon, but you'd only get 9....  and using the advice in this thread, you wouldn't know.

Problem 2 - You get the number of gallons of gas that the pump says, but you get over charged for it....  Then the advice given would be accurate.

Either way, doing both the math indicated AND knowing how much gas you SHOULD be putting in your tank are key elements.  Be vigilant just like anywhere ELSE in your life.  It may or may not be a wide spread issue.  But I DO PROMISE that there ARE people out there looking to screw you for a dollar....steal it from you one way or another.