Anyone suspect gas stations sometimes charge

[mechanicx]

For more gals than are actually pumped? I know that if I run my car until the low fuel light comes on it normally takes ~12 gals to fill up. Sometimes at a different pump or station it will take 14 gals. I think there can often be a 10% overcharge. With gas at near $4/gal this can insidiously push it over $4/gal. The pumps are hardly ever inspected maybe once a year or two. It appears it's not an uncommon issue http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...ght-3588193.php

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Faulty-pumps-fuming-drivers-3588358.php

 

[WishIhadatruck]

My Grand Prix is very consistent in how close it fills up from time to time and the angle of how the car sits makes little difference. My Buick wagon is very sensitive and it can vary by 2 gallons how much close it fills to "full" depending on the angle of the car (which way it is leaning) to how the pump nozzle fits into the fuel filler, etc. Not necessarily an over charge.

 

[eljefino]

The smog stuff in your tank tries to keep an air bubble at the top. Depending on "everything" you can jam more fuel in half the time, making for inconsistent readings.

But if you narrow it down to one pump or one vendor, stay away for sure. If you track your MPG it'll show as being worse if you fill up consistently, but will incorrectly blame the previous tank's vendor if you switch around.

 

[Shannow]

I don't know about the states, but in Oz, every complaint to the Department of Fair Trading ends up with guys in white coats lobbing up at the bowser, and pumping 5 litres into a calibrated 5L jug...if it passes, they'll sticker it, if not, the owner goes a row of brick dunnies.

Back in 1987, I was working at a petrol station, and over the course of a year, had 3-4 visits from the white coats, to one pump...Reported that we were 15% underdelivering...and always tested OK.

Turned out that these commodore wagons

had a fuel filler that had a tortuous path down the back of the wheel arch, and into a flat pancake tank, designed to hold 80+ litres for range, but could only be filled to 65...manual reflected 65 after testing by the factory.

One bowser allowed the tank to burp properly (was back RHS when viewed from the console), and would let them fill properly.

It was only the occasional owner who would sit and wait for that pump, as they got way more range from that one.

I later had one of these

and as can be seen, it was more ludicrous, needing to pump "uphill" first

 

[Silk]

Use a container to catch them out for sure - you can't see how full your tank is so are just guessing. With a 1 or 2 gallon container there is no guess work and you won't make a fool of yourself. Oh, what do I do with a container of fuel? Duh, put it in your car.

 

[Shannow]

:doh:

^^^ what he said

 

[demarpaint]

They do it where I live, in fact a while back two stations where nailed for pumping less gas than what the pump stated. They get a fine and continue on their merry way. After the Hurricane Sandy fiasco a few stations posted prices on their big sign, and if/when you got to the pump the price on the pump was as much as a dollar a gallon more than the rip off price posted on the sign. The police were at these stations directing traffic, and when complained to they said it wasn't their job to monitor prices, just to keep order. It was the truth too. Fortunately I got the heads up from neighbors who were screwed by the gas stations in question and got gas elsewhere.

 

[Kruse]

A few months ago, I saw on the news that the gas pump calibration was set on some pumps so that it would measure 1 gallon perfectly (usually what the inspectors used), but the ripping off of the customers would be done at higher measurements. The thieves are getting smarter.

 

[scurvy]

IIRC the allowable tolerance in Illinois is ±6 cubic inches for every 5 gallons dispensed - IOW it's allowed to be out ~0.5% (maximum 6 cubic inches for every 1155 cubic inches dispensed). Some states tighten that to half of that range for the first 30 days a new or just serviced pump is in use.

If you suspect something funny's going on, contact your state's department of weights & measures.

 

[Chris142]

Ca is very strict about this. The state checks the gas station's every month or so. They pump 5 gallons into a jug and see what the pump says vs the line on the jug.

 

[Doog]

In Cleveland the guy who was the County Auditor and had his face on all of those stickers ended up in Federal Prison for selling reductions in property tax values to the highest bidder. I can only imagine the gas pumps are wide open for theft there.

 

[ddtmoto]

Oh it happens. When I pumped 25.3 gallons, according to the meter in the pump, into my 25 gal tank that still had a gallon or two in it. The state guy said his test showed the pump was metering correctly. Yeah, right....

 

[rjundi]

There is a number on every pump you can call in NH.

Apparently the state has a special car(Weighs and means) that can measure gallons received and will make sure it gets corrected and potentially levy penalties. They go where people complain to check,

 

[Kira]

Hello, I think the electronic controls which are all around us today would make it simple to adjust thievery on a car-by-car basis. How much water can the ethanol in gasoline keep in suspension? They know. Can a dispenser be set to "honest volume" at the touch of a button? You know it can. When we were younger (as in, just started driving) we used to refer to Vermont as "Home of the 3 quart gallon". Kira

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Ca is very strict about this. The state checks the gas station's every month or so.


I somehow doubt they are checking each pump every month (or so). Legally it only has to be done annually. Having it done more often than that unless there's a customer complaint seems like a massive waste of taxpayer dollars to me.

According to the CDFA there's about 320 inspectors statewide (source). I couldn't find a good source for how many pumps are in the state, if we take the approximately 9,700 (source) stations, estimate they have 4 double-sided islands that each dispense regular, mid-grade & premium, that's 232,800* pumps they have to check.

That works out to each inspector having to arrive at, inspect, document & return from three pumps a day in order to do them all annually. To do all of them every two months, that's 18 a day, every day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. Perhaps your state workers are more motivated than they are in the Land of Lincoln but I somehow expect they've got plenty else to do (paperwork, mostly) besides repeatedly filling the calibrated fixture and racing from station to station.

*9,700 stations * 4 islands per station * 2 dispensers per island * 3 pumps per dispenser = 232,800 pumps... probably a low estimate when you consider the fueling stations at truck stops or Costco.

 

[Stelth]

Quote:
the owner goes a row of brick dunnies.


This is an excellent phrase, but I have no idea of its meaning. If you could enlighten me, Bob will be my uncle.

Also, "lobbing up at the bowser?"

 

[Win]

If you feel you are being ripped off, call whatever bureacrats in your state are in charge of such things.

They'll check it the same way they've done since I began pumping gas before the first arab oil embargo - a calibrated five (5) gallon container. If it's off in the owner's favor, they'll lock the pump until it's fixed. If it's off in your favor, the owner will lock the pump until it's fixed. If it's not off at all, and I've never seen one that was because pump owners don't want to give gas away, well, oh well.

I wouldn't have a clue how to make my pumps screw people by delivering an insufficient quantity of fuel, nor would I want to. Cheating people is a really, really, poor business model. Maybe that's a big city / northern states / California type thing.

 

[Artem]

A smart thief would make the pump dish out the correct amount of fuel during the first 5 gallons (which is what the inspectors use to test the pump, as others have said) but then start dialing back the fuel as you near 10+ gallons of none stop pumping. The pump tests fine but we continue to get ripped off.

Of course, I'm sure that its not an easy thing to do, but I'm just saying, if I was out to cheap customers, that's how I'd do it as you'd never get caught!

I personally have never had a problem with gas stations scamming me of my few drops of fuel. Always seems accurate and my Scan Gauge II and mileage calculations are always on point. Of course I stay out of the ghetto and fill up at major name brand stations on my side of town. I suggest you guys stop filling up at random gas stations (unless traveling across the country) and give all your business to a single (or few) gas stations of your choice.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
Quote:
the owner goes a row of brick dunnies.


This is an excellent phrase, but I have no idea of its meaning. If you could enlighten me, Bob will be my uncle.

Also, "lobbing up at the bowser?"


Our mates down under have likely gone for a bit of kip.

We have a somewhat similar phrase in US English: That someone afflicted by mental illness is 'crazier than a s---house bat'. You'll catch the meaning as someone that has gone completely mental (i.e., by having their fuel pumps and thus their income source shut down). There's also 'built like a brick s---house' which is a bit related as well.

Lobbing generally means queuing, standing around, lining up.

Bowser is named after the inventor of the modern fuel pump at a filling station, Sylvanus Bowser. Common UK/AU/NZ slang for a gas pump at a station, generically a bulk delivery pump and/or tanker trailer.

A myriad of nations divided by a common language, but now Robert's your Mother's brother!

 

[surfstar]

You'd have to be a computer programmer to do it now-a-days.

Could be done I guess, but don't see it happening anywhere around here. They fine people if its a maintenance error that causes it, but if you were doing it deliberately and enough - I think large fine / jail / shutdown, would result.