Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am still a dinosaur - I like to buy gasoline with cash. Usually I buy $20/$40 or $60 dollars at a time - depending on how many loose 20's I have in my pocket.
This winter has been very brutal in the Northeast. Sometimes it hurts to stand outside and pump your own gasoline.
My peeve is that many pumps go into a slow mode $.50 or more before they cut off. If you are freezing it is hard to wait for the last tenth or hundredth of a cent of gasoline to be pumped into your vehicle. My feeling is that many do not wait and therefore are cheated out of a few pennies worth of gas.
I had asked my office of Weights and Measurements in PA about this. They supposedly had a discussion about it - but then decided there was nothing that I or they could do.
The problem is that we have no standard when these pumps enter into this slow mode or how slow can they go. Some pumps wait until the last $.25 cents. Sometimes their filters are clogged and they pump even slower.
When there is a loser; there is always a winner. This might not seem like a lot of money - but at the end of the year it all adds up.
The pump slows so it can more accurately measure the flow and cut it off at the right time.
On a side note, I've been seeing a lot of threads similar to this one popping up. It seems that more and more people think there's some conspiracy by businesses to "cheat" them out of something. In literally every single case, there's a simple, non-conspiratorial explanation. Some people accept it, but most would rather believe that "the corporations" are trying to surreptitiously steal from them. Logic flies out the window.
Someone in this forum was claiming that Amazon was trying to compel them to purchase a Prime subscription, because their order shipped from across the country. WTF? And there have been countless threads about rising prices and smaller quantities of various grocery items. Everyone thinks it's a big conspiracy, even though the price and quantity are printed right on the box.
Anyway, there's nothing hokey going on at the pump.
The pump slows so it can more accurately measure the flow and cut it off at the right time.
On a side note, I've been seeing a lot of threads similar to this one popping up. It seems that more and more people think there's some conspiracy by businesses to "cheat" them out of something. In literally every single case, there's a simple, non-conspiratorial explanation. Some people accept it, but most would rather believe that "the corporations" are trying to surreptitiously steal from them. Logic flies out the window.
Someone in this forum was claiming that Amazon was trying to compel them to purchase a Prime subscription, because their order shipped from across the country. WTF? And there have been countless threads about rising prices and smaller quantities of various grocery items. Everyone thinks it's a big conspiracy, even though the price and quantity are printed right on the box.
Anyway, there's nothing hokey going on at the pump.
I'm sorry; but I disagree. There was one man I spoke to at Weights and Measurements that admitted that he did not wait for the last drop of gas. I have asked others that said they did not/would not last for the last drop. Some pumps do not make cash customers wait the same length of time. The technology has improved over the years. All I am asking for is a standard.
I find it hard to believe you spoke to a real Weights and Measure Inspector.
Weights and Measure has a specific standard fuel pumps must adhere to. If you pay X dollar amount with equals Y gallons of fuel, anything below that amount means the consumer did not get the fuel they paid for. It also means the pump is shut down until fixed and the station fined. But, a REAL Weights and Measure Inspector would also have told you that if the pump gave MORE fuel than purchased, the same things apply. The pump must provide the exact amount of fuel. In addition, the pump is required to shut off at the exact amount of dollar and fuel. In order to meet this requirement pumps must slow down in order to accurately dispense the fuel for the dollar amount and shut off within the slim margin allowed. Any legitimate Weights and Measure Inspector would tell you that this is just the way it is and a slow pump at the end is normal. No Inspector is going to cast a doubt on the accuracy of the process by agreeing something suspicious is going on.
So, you may want to find a legitimate State Weights and Measure Inspector and have a real conversation with them.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,581 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57818
I have seen people that upend the hose and try to squeeze out every last drop, it's really not helpful. Evenan extra 1/4 cup of gas is only worth about 5 cents at current prices of $3.50/gallon. My suggestion is to sit in side the car while it's filling up, get out when it stops completely. Hopefully all that cold is over and it won't be a problem for a few months. I hope you go to the Chevron or others where they have lower prices for cash.
I find it hard to believe you spoke to a real Weights and Measure Inspector.
Weights and Measure has a specific standard fuel pumps must adhere to. If you pay X dollar amount with equals Y gallons of fuel, anything below that amount means the consumer did not get the fuel they paid for. It also means the pump is shut down until fixed and the station fined. But, a REAL Weights and Measure Inspector would also have told you that if the pump gave MORE fuel than purchased, the same things apply. The pump must provide the exact amount of fuel. In addition, the pump is required to shut off at the exact amount of dollar and fuel. In order to meet this requirement pumps must slow down in order to accurately dispense the fuel for the dollar amount and shut off within the slim margin allowed. Any legitimate Weights and Measure Inspector would tell you that this is just the way it is and a slow pump at the end is normal. No Inspector is going to cast a doubt on the accuracy of the process by agreeing something suspicious is going on.
So, you may want to find a legitimate State Weights and Measure Inspector and have a real conversation with them.
If my old computer did not die; I could show you the e-mails. Basically, what he told me, is that they (the Bureau of Weights and Measurements), have never looked into this before. The original man, that I talked to on the phone, told me that they were supposed to have a meeting about a year ago and he would bring it up. I waited months and did not hear back. So I e-mailed them again and whoever responded to me was not the same as the person that I originally talked to. But; I had a computer that died in the meantime and I lost my references and noted on my first contact.
I am not saying that this is a conspiracy. I think in some cases it is only a matter of service stations keeping their old equipment too long? All I am asking for are standards. If one pump can slow down and hit the right amount pennies away from the target; so should the others.
I am a tightwad and I will freeze to death before I call it quits if I did not get what I paid for. I do feel that there are some people that just don't have the patients.
If someone chooses not to wait for the last few cents' worth of gas to be pumped, how does that affect you? You choose to wait and get every drop. Fine. The fact that someone else might choose not to do so is really not your business. They don't need you to play nanny and demand that "someone" do "something" about it. I suspect that the person you talked to at Weights and Measures likely gave you the "thank you for your concern, we will look into it" speech they give to every busybody calling about something irrelevant and pointless. You even answered your own question: Some pumps are older than others, some stations choose to manage the flow closer to the end than others. It's not a conspiracy; it just is. Some people are taller than others, some have blue eyes, some speak Chinese, some can recite thousands of sports statistics. Individual things and people are different. You may choose to wait for the last few cents; others may not. That's their business, not yours.
Status:
" Charleston South Carolina"
(set 7 days ago)
Location: home...finally, home .
8,814 posts, read 21,280,851 times
Reputation: 20102
I am old enough to remember giving the attendant a five dollar bill for a fill-up and getting more than a dollar change (window shield cleaned & oil checked).
__________________ ******************
People may not recall what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel .
I live very close to the NJ border in PA. Depending on fuel prices I'll drive over to NJ where it a state law that an attendant must pump your gas for you. I did this regardless of the price when it was bitterly cold this winter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
