Not MJ specific

[jimoshel]

But something all drivers should be aware of.

GREED!!!

Cheating At the gas pumps (PRINT OUT YOUR RECEIPTS!!!)** *

 

*It happened three weeks ago somewhere in Pomona on the way to Pechanga.

The pump should have totaled @ $68.00 (and change). When the receipt was

printed, and she checked it 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 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 and complained, 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 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, just 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.

[HOrnbrod]

I find this hard to believe, but times have changed, so I guess it's possible nowadays. Years ago I had a job with Sun Oil (Sunoco) in VA. I was a company maintenance mechanic and serviced the retailers gas pumps, lifts, lighting, compressors, etc in my area, most of VA and NC. Every three months one of my required tasks was to calibrate the Sunoco blend pumps they had at the retail outlets. This included measurement of the product into a 5-gal test can, and checking the price of the dispensed product against the actual quantity. Tolerance was tight, and if the pump was out, I had to fix it. The Virginia Bureau of Weights and Measures had to do the same every three months and if they had a problem they would call me. It would be difficult for anyone to rig the blend valve and price computer as they were sealed units. All a station operator could do was change prices up or down externally on the dispensers. We never has a problem with customer gouging complaints.

 

Today though most major oil companies use contractors for this maintenance, and with all the layoffs/cutbacks, who knows if all the states have people anymore checking gas quantity and price. But I'll be checking at 10 gal. from now on.

 

[Geonovast]

Sounds like someone needs to start making clear plastic gas tanks with marked lines on the side indicating how full it is.

[dakal]

thanks for the tip, jim.

[HKB3]

How are you going to know you pumped exactly 10 gallons? Unless you are pumping into a marked container you are at the will of what the pump reads.

Getting off topic here but ethanol is the worst additive the "gov't" decided to push....

[xjrev10]

Thanks for the heads up. I know damn right ill be checking at ten gallons from now on.

[FrankTheDog]

Wow, I must be strange. Every time I pump gas I always watch the pump at the 10 gallon point to see that they match.

I've been doing it since I started driving in 1980. They have always matched.

Also, I set my trip meter when I fill up and I calculate how much it should take using the MPG from the last tank full.

It has always been within a gallon of what it took to fill.

It only takes a few seconds to figure it if you do it every time you fill up.

[DirtyComanche]

On the topic...

 

I needed gas on my way home tonight. Normally I buy fuel only during the day, since the 24hr station near me is kinda :nuts: But, I had an unexpected trip back into town, and had no choice.

 

In BC you have to prepay for fuel... So I put my card in the pump, it accepted, but then I sat there and waited for the pump to be authorized for a couple minutes... So, I got annoyed and cancelled it and went inside to pay. After standing in front of the till for a minute before the cashier realized I was there, I explained that I needed some fuel:

 

"Can't you just use your card at the pump?"

 

Me "I tired, the pump didn't authorize, so I came in. So here's my card." (Most places will just hold a credit card and run it after you pump the fuel)

 

"I have to charge you for the fuel before you pump it. How much do you need?"

 

(Slightly annoyed) "Oh, say, $135 or $140ish. Something like that."

 

"You know I can't refund you if you don't take all of it?"

 

(Annoyed) "Umm, no, I did not know that since everywhere else would either just hold my card, or would pre-authorize it but not charge it until the final amount was known. And if not, I'm sure they could give me a refund. So you mean to tell me that I have to guess the exact amount of fuel that my truck is going to take?"

 

"I can't give you a refund. Why didn't you just use your card at the pump?"

 

:doh:

 

Not going back there.

[Optimaldave]

On the topic...

 

I needed gas on my way home tonight. Normally I buy fuel only during the day, since the 24hr station near me is kinda :nuts: But, I had an unexpected trip back into town, and had no choice.

 

In BC you have to prepay for fuel... So I put my card in the pump, it accepted, but then I sat there and waited for the pump to be authorized for a couple minutes... So, I got annoyed and cancelled it and went inside to pay. After standing in front of the till for a minute before the cashier realized I was there, I explained that I needed some fuel:

 

"Can't you just use your card at the pump?"

 

Me "I tired, the pump didn't authorize, so I came in. So here's my card." (Most places will just hold a credit card and run it after you pump the fuel)

 

"I have to charge you for the fuel before you pump it. How much do you need?"

 

(Slightly annoyed) "Oh, say, $135 or $140ish. Something like that."

 

"You know I can't refund you if you don't take all of it?"

 

(Annoyed) "Umm, no, I did not know that since everywhere else would either just hold my card, or would pre-authorize it but not charge it until the final amount was known. And if not, I'm sure they could give me a refund. So you mean to tell me that I have to guess the exact amount of fuel that my truck is going to take?"

 

"I can't give you a refund. Why didn't you just use your card at the pump?"

 

:doh:

 

Not going back there.

 

Wow... That sounds kinda special. I too live in BC and have never had a prob with a pre-auth if you pay inside. And no company would be able to deny you a refund if the service or goods were not exchanged as far as I know. I did get told off by a pump jockey once though as richmond is a full service city by law so I pissed a guy off by filling my own tank as I didn't remember that I couldnt pump my gas...

[mvusse]

I print my receipts and keep track of mileage on my laptop. I have NEVER had the total price not match the amount the pump said I pumped.

 

The only time I suspected a problem is after I swapped in a new 23.5 gallon tank. I poured in two gallons from a can, then drove to the gas station and pumped 25 gallons into it. That's 27 gallons into a 23.5 gallon tank (it's not even 1/10 mile from my house to the gas station). The sticker on the pump said it has been certified by the county auditor a few months prior, but I called the number anyway. I got a call back from the county two days later to let me know the pump's calibration was still spot-on.

[jimoshel]

Most gas tanks will hold more than their rated capacity. They do this to allow for expansion of the fuel. A storage tank sitting above ground at the end of a hot day will have more volume than an underground one early in the morn. Try a experiment

. fill a plastic jug 3/4 full with gas. Mark the level. Now sit it out in the sun, in the shade, in the basement. Check the level. I remember when I was a kid, my uncle always told me to fill up late at night instead of late afternoon.

[skidoo_j]

They had done a "sting" regarding this not to long ago. I think they even had it on dateline. The newer digital pumps were set so 1 gallon, 5 gallons or $5 worth was perfect for price vs volume dispensed as these were the standardized test settings for verification. However, if you ended up needing 5.5 gallons in your car the pump could read 6 gallons and you'd get charged for 6 gallons not 5.5. I don't remember the exact calibration that the pumps were doing, but what was changing was the amount dispensed vs the pump reading, so you wouldn't be able to just print the receipt and compare volume vs price. I always check my mileage before I even start the vehicle. And if it's way off and I havn't been hammering it I'll ask the attendant if they've had any complaints.

 

My father once pumped 13.5 gallons into a snowmobile that only had a "10" gallon tank, the attendant came over and said there must be something wrong with that pump and didn't charge us for the gas we had dispensed in that snowmobile. We then used a different pump for the remaining, the guy however did not put an out-of-order sign on the pump when we left.

 

people have done stuff with meters for years. When working at the power company they must have had 100 different tampered meters on display. Some where people have drilled the glass and messed with gears, others that they'd tried to bypass the meter etc.

[skidoo_j]

Most gas tanks will hold more than their rated capacity. They do this to allow for expansion of the fuel. A storage tank sitting above ground at the end of a hot day will have more volume than an underground one early in the morn. Try a experiment

. fill a plastic jug 3/4 full with gas. Mark the level. Now sit it out in the sun, in the shade, in the basement. Check the level. I remember when I was a kid, my uncle always told me to fill up late at night instead of late afternoon.

 

 

In my area they used to have some gas stations with tanks above ground too. We'd always buy gas from them in the am during the winter and during the summer we'd buy gas at the stations with in-ground tanks. With the in ground tanks the temperature is pretty constant so I doubt there would be any noticeable differences from am/pm purchases.

[Optimaldave]

Most gas tanks will hold more than their rated capacity. They do this to allow for expansion of the fuel. A storage tank sitting above ground at the end of a hot day will have more volume than an underground one early in the morn. Try a experiment

. fill a plastic jug 3/4 full with gas. Mark the level. Now sit it out in the sun, in the shade, in the basement. Check the level. I remember when I was a kid, my uncle always told me to fill up late at night instead of late afternoon.

 

 

In my area they used to have some gas stations with tanks above ground too. We'd always buy gas from them in the am during the winter and during the summer we'd buy gas at the stations with in-ground tanks. With the in ground tanks the temperature is pretty constant so I doubt there would be any noticeable differences from am/pm purchases.

 

All the pumps here say that the gas is corrected to 15 degrees (celsius) all year round so it makes no difference to us what time of day or temp beyond the winter vs summer blends

[DirtyComanche]

Wow... That sounds kinda special. I too live in BC and have never had a prob with a pre-auth if you pay inside. And no company would be able to deny you a refund if the service or goods were not exchanged as far as I know. I did get told off by a pump jockey once though as richmond is a full service city by law so I pissed a guy off by filling my own tank as I didn't remember that I couldnt pump my gas...

 

I didn't know Richmond had that deal... I stay there often enough, but can't recall if I've ever actually bought fuel in Richmond... I hit up a Husky in Delta last time, it was the worst gas station I'd ever been to. The diesel pump (which I was hoping was a commercial speed pump) did about 5L/minute, so I gave up after 50L. It leaked all over the place at the same time, and they had thrown spill absorbent all over the ground to try to slow the environmental travesty, all within sight of the river. They also had to take my word on how much fuel I bought, since they didn't seem to have any system to tell what the pumps had dispensed. Or maybe that's what the 10yo girl was supposed to be doing, but they just figured I was honest :dunno: At least they didn't have an issue holding my credit card.