Cheating at the gas pump!

ATLANTA, Georgia - July 28, 2009 - The pump should have totaled $68.00. When the receipt was printed it read $77.00.

She got mad, went inside the store, asked for a calculator and let them do the math. They refunded her. She told them that if they cheat they had better make it right. Normally, her husband would skip printing the receipt. Not her.

We saw on the news the other night that this is happening everywhere.

This is a true story, so read it carefully.

On April 24, 2008, I stopped at a BP gas station in Georgia. My truck's gas gauge was on ¼ of a tank. I use mid-grade gas, which was priced at $3.71 per gallon. When my tank is at this point it takes somewhere around 14 gallons to fill it.

When the pump showed 14 gallons had been pumped, I began to slow it down. However, to my surprise it went to 15 and then 16 gallons. I even looked under my truck to see if gas was being spilled. It was not.

Then it showed 17 gallons on the pump. It stopped at 18 gallons. This was very strange to me, since my truck has only an 18 gallon tank. I went on my way a little confused, then on the evening news I heard a report that 1 out of 4 gas stations had calibrated their pumps to show more gas had been pumped than a person actually received.

Here is how to check a pump to see if you are getting the right amount of gas:

Whichever grade you are using, put EXACTLY 10 GALLONS in your tank; then look at the dollar amount. If the dollar amount is not EXACTLY 10 times the price of the fuel you have chosen, then the pumps are rigged.

In my case, the mid-grade was $3.71 9/10 per gallon; my dollar amount for 10 gallons should have been $37.19. I wish I had checked the pump.

If you do find a station that is cheating, contact the State Agriculture Department and direct your comments to the Commissioner. Contact info is on the gas pump.

We need to put a stop to this outrageous cheating and fraud. The gas companies are already making high enough profits at honest rates.