Common glitch at pump adds to gas costs,cheats stations

There’s one more reason to complain about the high price of gas. This article claims that consumers have been paying for gas they didn’t receive. Apparently there is a common glitch at the pump that causes it to malfunction.

Some alert consumers have noticed it over the years: A pump that seems to hesitate a second when the lever is squeezed. Anywhere from 2 to 6 cents tick off before the rush of gasoline starts. That's what happens with a common, hard to diagnose and mostly ignored problem with the "check valve," which is supposed to make sure gas flows at the same time the price meter starts.

The article also says that “even if your gas pump works, it can still be off as much as $5 for every fill up.”

Some astute customers have noticed this and reported it to government regulators like state and local Bureau of Weights and Measures. Others complain to the gas station manager or attendent, who most likely won’t report it since it’s not a high priority. Higher priorities for the industry include preventing identity theft, “static electricity discharges and the 5 percent of retailers whose old mechanical equipment can't register a price of $4 a gallon.”

According to the article, most station owners wouldn’t do this on purpose or know how to. I don’t see why they would jack up the price of gas even more anyway when people are already irate about it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_...bad_gas_pumps_2

I rarely fill up until my tank is almost empty so I can pretty much predict how much I should see on the pump when I'm done filling. If my amount has been off a bit. it certainly hasn't been as high as $5. I don't know how you'd be able to even tell unless it was like the case of the guy who got charged for more than his tank could hold.

I've heard it's bad for your car to wait til it's almost empty to fill up. You'd think I could find something more definitive on the web to explain why but this link is the best I could come up with.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_better_to_...or_almost_empty

I swear, I've read it before. I've been reading a lot of Car & Driver, the Drive columns in the Merc, and a couple of books on how cars work over the years.

And even if it's a myth (which I don't think it is) or outdated information, I like how Click and Clack explain how filling up more often beats running out of gas.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Arc...98/June/04.html

Today's Action Line featured this topic. I didn't find it very helpful but maybe others will so here's the link.

http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_9092406?IAD...mercurynews.com

It also said a vehicle's fuel gauge is only an approximation and has a margin of error of 3%.

What can a consumer do? Answer: Please contact the weights and measures department in the county where the station in question is located.

Here's another letter from an Action Line reader who explains why it's a bad idea to make a habit of running your gas tank down to empty.

The fuel pump is inside the tank and needs to be covered with gas to remain cool.

Constantly running on empty can lead to early fuel pump failure - an expensive repair usually involving removal of the gas tank.

Robert Otwell
Sunnyvale

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9216347?IADI...mercurynews.com

Thanks, Robert!

This post has been edited by mobyfan on May 11 2008, 03:13 PM

Many old-fashioned pumps can't register more than $3.99 on their spinning dials
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/12/old.gas.pumps.ap/index.html

This doesn't really sound like a problem to consumers. But it is a big problem for some 8,500 mom & pop-type station owners.

For many station owners -- who, because of a relatively small profit margin on gas, aren't raking in money even though gas prices are marching higher -- replacing the pumps altogether with electronic ones is just not an option.

It's worth remembering that many station owners make very little profit off the high cost of gas. It's the oil companies that are making record quarterly profits.