Drivers Quick On The Take For 33 Cent Gas

Dozens Take Advantage Of Wisconsin Service Station Employee's Pricing Mistake

(AP)  Dozens of drivers made a mad rush for cheap gas after a station employee accidentally changed the price to 33 cents a gallon.

An employee closing Trig's Minocqua Shell for the night mistakenly entered the price of a gallon of gasoline as 32.9 cents instead of $3.299 on Monday night.

He left about 10 p.m., but drivers could still use their credit cards to buy gas.

Word of the bargain spread fast in the rural northern Wisconsin community, with 42 people buying 586 gallons of gas in an hour and 45 minutes. One person had pumped 27 gallons and two purchased 18 gallons.

Local police saw the horde at the station and called store manager Andrea Reuland, who went to the station and pushed the emergency stop.

"There were cars two deep at each of my pumps," said Reuland, who knew many of the drivers and told them they were being dishonest - the main store sign had the correct price.

"I was very upset that there's that many dishonest people," she said. "They knew there was a problem, and they took advantage of an employee's mistake and I think that's terrible."

The employee, who has been there for about six months, had changed the gas prices 25 times in the past six months.

"It was an honest mistake," Reuland said. "I could have done it."

Area residents were still talking about it Friday morning.

"Was it you guys?" a woman in the station asked Reuland. "Why do I always miss the good stuff?"

[grammawhamma]

Yes, I am THAT honest. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[kailumego1]

And I''m willing to bet the woman that claimed these individuals were acting dishonestly isn''t so honest herself...

[kailumego1]

GrammaWhamma why you quiver, because I''m quite sure that if given the same opportunity you wouldn''t have thought about is this a mistake, you would have screamed "bank error in my favor"..

And they weren''t dishonest, you want to talk about dishonest, what about service [gas] stations that have full service stations [auto mechanic service] who knowingly "CHEAT" or ripoff consumers, inflating charges, etc., a lot of them praying on women..

There are too many "Judases" out there, e.g. businesses to even quiver about consumers being given a break "accidentally".

Because I would like to know how many business owners would have honestly informed a customer if he/she had made an mathematical error in his/her favor shortchanging the consumer?

Not too many...That''s why the phrase "buyer beware".
Now you think that phrase was created because there are so many "honest" businesses, or to protect the consumer against fraudulent behavior..

[toadnipples]

The employee changed the price of gas 25 times in the last 6 months - ridiculous! Serves em right - the gas companies have been steeling from the consumers for far too long its nice to see some justice once in awhile.

[grammawhamma]

"DISHONEST", tell that to Exxon Mobile, Shell, Texaco, etc.tell that to George W. Bush.

Oh come on!! You don''t really think this error at the gas pumps was noticed by Exxon, shell etc. NO way...the only one hurt by it was was the gas station owner. And yes...it was dishonest of those who took advantage of it.

[kailumego1]

"DISHONEST", tell that to Exxon Mobile, Shell, Texaco, etc.tell that to George W. Bush.

If I had drove up to a station and saw gas for 32.9 cents I''d pumped too just like the rest of you.

Stop with the self-righteous dribble, these people did what any person in similar circumstances would have done, stop and fueled..

And I too would have saw it as a blessing, notwithstanding.

[michellem99-2009]

Gramma, They drive and they know the price of a gallon of petro/gas. They have to step up to the plate and pay the difference. I Can''t drive but know what they did was not right.

[walt1944-2009]

When the average consumer, being driven to extinction by greedy big business, finds a bargain and wants to take advantage of it, that consumer is called greedy and dishonest! When a big-shot executive takes millions in salary and options, drives the company bankrupt because of poor management and bad decisions, then walks away with a "golden parachute", that''s NOT being greedy and dishonest, but called good business sense!

The wrapped double standard of big business!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[grammawhamma]

Shame on all you dishonest people! You remind me of my mother-in-law....she will go back to a store to raise holyhell if they over charged her by $1.00 (or less) but then be the first to gloat (at her good fortune) if she would get $10.00 too much back in change another time.

[airport1207]

did the guy get fired?

[scott-1968]

"Would you have taken the gas at that price?" might not be the only question worth asking. Let me ask, rather: if you were running a gas station, and had access to psychological evidence that people were more likely to buy your gas at $3.229/gallon than at $3.23, and that the difference in consumer interest was far more than 1/10th the difference between gas at $3.22 and that at $3.23, would you just set your price at the more honest rate of $3.22 or $3.23, or would you set it at the psychological tricky rate of $3.229, knowing that this would slightly increase your profit over time, but making it harder for consumers to make completely rational decisions about where to make their purchases?

Round up or round down, gas station owners. Don''t give us 4-digit prices that go up and down each day. In fact, round it to the nearest nickel and don''t change it so often. Make it easier on us. And on your harried clerks. If you don''t, you have only yourselves to blame if people buy the gas at the price you set, mistakenly or not. When you go to great lengths to manipulate people, and run afoul of your own manipulation--well, that sounds like something Hamlet once said.

[jester188]

nice... why can;t that happen where i am... i would have been all over that like a fat kid on a happy meal...

[mythoughtsr]

I truly can say with all honesty that I would NOT have taken advantage. I was brought up better than that. Gas stations'' profit margins are common knowledge and that owner might have trouble paying his mortgage next month. The people who pumped the gas should be ashamed of themselves. I think better of myself and my fellow man to do something like that. Knowing that I''m taking from someone''s pocket is the same as stealing. It was an obvious mistake and a error. I would have called the police and reported it and not moved my car until they arrived.

Am I surprised this happened? No way. Lots of crass and selfish people in this world. America is a shameful place in so many ways.

[lone_arrow]

to gheemaster38: you mention: "but considering the price of gas and how big oil has shafted us"

According to the US Department of Energy (in 2005), gasoline costs fell into the following rough breakdown:

19% of cost of gas goes to refining costs and profit
19% of cost of gas goes to state and federal taxes

Since big oil has to use their 19% to pay refining costs, this means that their average profit is likely to be far less than 19%.

Since the government does not have to pay refining costs, their "profit" per gallon of gas is a whopping 19%. As an additional slap in the face, the government, typically does nothing but increase the cost to make gas by levying costly legislation on the industry trying to make the gas.

So...I would probably say that it is the government that is shafting us.

Just a thought.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/eia1_2005primerM.html

[carlylaine]

Just how is the casual person supposed to know it was a mistake? If I saw gas for that cheap I''d slam on the brakes and get some. I wouldn''t have felt dishonest at all. I would have seen it as a blessing.

[toolmangler-2009]

A reflection of our reality.
Remember the true measure of your character is what you do when no one is watching.
Me, Me, Me. I''''m tired of this mentality.

Posted by SparkBox at 09:10 AM : Dec 08, 2007



I am with you on this one. GOD knows, even if no one else does.

[jn122736]

In this case, from what is contained in the article, and since store signs showed the correct price, this is as much a matter of simple shoplifting as taking items from inside the store/station, without paying for them, just because the doors may have been left unlocked.
Since all purchases were made with credit cards, the identity of each purchaser is most likely available and should, at the very least, be billed for the difference.

I remember buying gasoline as low as 18 cents per gallon in the St Louis area during the %u201Cprice wars%u201D of the mid 1950%u2019 and when I moved to the Branson area in march of 1973, I filled the gas tank, on the rental truck I was using, at 34.9 cents per gallon. Less than 3 years later gasoline jumped to as high as $1.50 per gallon, then over a period of a few months, dropped back down to less than half that.

I also remember that the actual cost per gallon to produce/refine Gasoline in the 1950%u2019s was about 2 cents

[sparkbox]

A reflection of our reality.
Remember the true measure of your character is what you do when no one is watching.
Me, Me, Me. I''m tired of this mentality.

[gheemaster38]

At some of the bigger chains ie, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Kroger. If the price is set at a lower price then what the item is suppose to sell for then the customer get the item for the cheaper price. The price of the item is immediately corrected from that point on. I dont agree with this being dishonest, however, what I do see is advantage was taken of an honest mistake. Normally, I would feel bad about this since it may be a small business; but considering the price of gas and how big oil has shafted us- all I can''t feel anything. I do feel bad for the employee who will end up baring the blunt of this-Probably will be terminated.

[cryonbrian]

This just goes to show you how dishonest people really are. If this happened somewhere in the inner city there would be a ton of nasty post! So the next time you hear an article on how a town is so wholesome and is like one big family, just think of them as a family of mobsters!