That is valid on the overfill but not on the octane issue. The higher octane not only cost more but supposively does not run as well. I have read this in owner’s manual and heard it discussed on Car Talk (NPR), would need a car expert to explain the why’s.
If any auto experts out there hopefully they can chime in an explain if this is a real worry or minor.
This was a not uncommon scam in South Africa where the pump attendants were all African, for whom English was a second, if not third or fourth language - the driver would pull up and ask for “Fifty Rands worth” (in the days when R50 would almost fill a tank but not quite), the attendant would fill the tank to the required amount and then the driver would make a fuss saying “I only asked for Fifteen Rands worth you stupid … , that’s all the money I have on me!!!”, and carry on browbeating him until the attendant accepted the lower amount of cash.
Nowadays, R15 would be a ridiculously small amount to ask for, so I doubt it would work…
Grim
I’d tell them they’re free to remove the gas from my tank.
Yes, I agree. You would not get “use” out of the higher octane gas, so you have no responsibility to pay for it. I am not sure that it “does not run as well” but I am pretty sure that it is valueless to those who’s car doesn’t require the higher octane.
Just tip them less.
Tipping is gone in NJ. I use to go to same station every week and had the same dead head attendant 90% of the time. At Christmas I thanked him and gave him a $20 tip. He told me only 1 other person had given him a tip and only at Xmas time.
That’s because in Minnesota, you will be flash-frozen the instant you step out of your car.
Okay, say the attendant overfilled your car by an unfortunate but understandable accident. You refused to pay, and the gas station took you to small claims court. Your claim would be that you had not contracted to buy the extra gas, and you’d probably be right. However, the gas station has a claim against you for quasi contract, because you have been conferred a benefit due to their mistake, and received an unjust enrichment. Equity dictates that you should pay for those benefits, so you’d probably owe the gas station.
Never happens to me any more. Not since I discovered that not only can bar maids not tell if I’m ordering a Guinness instead of a Tennants but petrol station attendants can’t tell if I’m ordering fifteen or fifty Euros of unleaded :rolleyes:
I honestly did not read this before my own post. I think my voice is just too soft and quiet to be heard properly :smack:
I had a scary experience with Oregon’s gas laws when I was driving from California back to Washington. It was the middle of the night, and my gas light started glowing on the freeway in the mountains. I got off at the next exit and found nothing but gas stations that were closed for the night. It took a lot of driving with the needle on “E” to find a place that would actually sell me gas at that hour.
Around here, even in the middle of the night when no one is working at the gas station, you can still pull up and use your credit card to buy gas. I can’t remember the last time I used a gas pump that didn’t have a card reader built in.
I hate to say this, but I doubt that. Even in CA, there generally must be an attendant on duty - somewhere. He doesn’t have to be there to pum or take your money (disabled persons might be an exception) but AFAIK, he has to be there in case of Emergencies. There’s an 'all night" gas staion right across the street, with card readers and all, but the manager told me he has to have someone 'on duty" to be open.
Yes, with a card reader and pumping your own, many gas stations find it much cheaper & easier to stay open all night.
Back in the 50s and early 60s, when gasonline was less than $0.50 per gallon, certain customers would say “Gimme five” or “Gimme ten.” If the attendant pumped five or ten dollars worth, the customer would insist they meant five or ten gallons. I suspect a few people did get some freebie gas this way. I fell for it once and thereafter insisted on the customer specifying the unit—five or ten what?
Can any lawyer answer this? I drive up to a gas station, and say “$10 please”. The attendent gives me a full tank. Passengers in my car include a former state governor, and a Roman Catholic Cardinal. Both testify I asked for just $10. Thus there is no dispute I may be lying or misspoke.
Must I pay in that case?
[QUOTE=DrDeth]
I hate to say this, but I doubt that. Even in CA, there generally must be an attendant on duty - somewhere. He doesn’t have to be there to pum or take your money (disabled persons might be an exception) but AFAIK, he has to be there in case of Emergencies. There’s an 'all night" gas staion right across the street, with card readers and all, but the manager told me he has to have someone 'on duty" to be open.
SNIP/QUOTE]
There is a completely unattended gas (disel, actually) station 2 miles from my house. It serves OTR semi trucks only, and apparently is affiliated with “Fuelman”.
There’s a building on site, but it has no windows, and I’ve never seen anyone come out of the associated building.
So how do they stop people from stealing gas if the station is unattended?
credit cards only.
Couldn’t the station simply have siphoned out the extra gas? If I contract with a roofer for X brand of shingles and they instead place Y brand (which are much more expensive), one remedy would be to remove the Ys and palce the Xs as per the original agreement.
Well, in my experience, the batch stays open and the credit cards keep processing even if the day has been closed and no one is logged on inside. I have processed lots of batches where there are credit card transactions from after we’ve shut down and gone home for the night and before we open up in the morning. I figure it’s a “pump at your own risk” type thing. Besides, there is the outside emergency stop if something were to go really wrong.
I have worked in 3 different gas stations, a Sunoco, Shell and Pioneer throughout my teenage years. I was an Assisstant Manager for the Shell. This is in Canada. You are suppose to say the following things at basically all of them; you have to give a nice greeting that shows you want their business (hi, how are you today?) then ask them to fill up (fill it up today), the customer then says no (or yes), just $20, you then repeat $20? Of high Octane? They say no, you say oaky $20 regular, then offer to check their oil, and then just wash their windows.
This is done for a few reasons, to try to upsell the customer, to ensure you know how much the want, and to show them that you are a friendly person and want their business.
If you fill up and they only wanted $10, you apologize and ask them to pay. They generally do, if not then the attendant is on the hook for the bill. However, these days, most full serve gas stations have programmable pumps, you just enter the amount they asked for, and can basically walk away. This elimanates the problem of forgetting how much they wanted, but of course you can still enter the amount wrong at the beginning.
So, in summary, the attendant is responsible for the overpump, however in my experience the few times I did overpump the customer always paid for it, and when a co-worker did so only once did I see the customer not pay, an dtaht was because he really did seem to have only 10 bucks on him (it was a teenager, no credit card)