gas pump price vs sign price

uncle henry · Aug 29, 2013

didn"t want to hijack american"s post i got gas this afternoon the sign out by the road said 3.62 so i pulled in prepay and start pupming gas looked at the pump as i was pumping the gas and it said 3.92 i ask the girl what the deal was she said she would call the manager he came out and said i would have to pay the pump price has any had to pay like this

Anonymous-0 · Aug 29, 2013

contact owner or corporate. For most areas law says they have to honor the sign out front.

rockyridgefarm · Aug 29, 2013

Did you accidentally hit the button for a higher octane gasoline? I know when I'm in Iowa, the midrange octane tends to be cheaper than the low octane stuff.

It isn't hardly worth causing a scene - on a 15 gallon tank, you paid $4.50 more than you expected - but if you didn't hit the higher octane stuff and was overcharged, you could really cause them grief with the state for false advertising.

uncle henry · Aug 29, 2013

in east texas i took a picture of the sign out by the road if they changed before i called corporate in the morning

uncle henry · Aug 29, 2013

no i always buy super unleaded

Anonymous-0 · Aug 29, 2013

causing a scene? No grey area here at all and anybody employed there ought to know the law.

NEKS · Aug 29, 2013

That is against the law in Kansas. I would of got some other witness's and raised he?? with the manager on duty. When going up you change the sign then the pump. When going down you change the pump then the sign.

ShadetreeRet · Aug 29, 2013

As kornfused said, if the sign says 3.62 he should have to sell it to you for that. Otherwise it is misleading or false advertising.
We have a local privately owned convenience store whose pumps read a nickle higher than the sign, BUT the price on the sign is "cash price", if you put it on a card he charges five cents more per gallon to offset the cost of using the card. If you buy twenty gallons and pay cash, he hands you a dollar back.

NCWayne · Aug 29, 2013

One thing I've noticed buying diesel is that they will often have a 'teaser price' on the sign with CASH somewhere. In other words they tease with the CASH price, and unless your paying really close attention you will pay a higher price when you try to use a card.

That said, and I'm no lawyer, but I believe the law states that if they have an advertised price then they have to honor it. Unfortunately in a situation like this they also have an advertised price on display at the pump. Basically if your not paying attention to what the pump says, your pretty well stuck regardless of what the sign on the road says.

john in la · Aug 29, 2013

Rather than start a new post here is what happened to me yesterday.

Stop at a gas station to get a coke and some chips to hold me over till I get home to eat dinner.
Sign in cooler window says Coke $1.69 each or 2 for $2.22
I'll bit so I grab 2 bottles.
At check out price seems high so I ask cashier to double check price charged.
Says yes it is right.
So I pay and ask for the recite
Recite says Coke $3.38
I tell her she charged me wrong price; was suppose to be $2.22 for the cokes.
Looks at recite and tells me the extra charge is tax.
I tell her no tax is added at the bottom.
She then says that is the price and turns her back on me and walks away.
I asked to see a manager and she says she is the only one here.
Flat out refused to refund my over payment.

Now $1.16 is not going to make or break me; it is just the principle of the matter and the way the cashier handled the situation.
I figure she knew it is not worth my time to write a letter to the corporate office over a dollar.

PJH · Aug 30, 2013

When I was much younger, and thought I could still fight, I got in a ruckus in Perryville, Missouri over that same situation. After much loud discussion the attendant got out a calculator and figured how much I owed him based on the sign price. Then he added tax onto that figure, and the ruckus started again. Finally, he dropped the tax and I handed him a twenty and then he tried to short change me. By then we were both so mad we could hardly function. I finally got the correct change from him and left, never to even slow down by his place again. Looking back, it's a wonder that he didn't shoot me over what might have amounted to a couple bucks at the most. That station is long gone, but I think of it every time I drive down that street.

I spent a lot of time working in a gas station. If there was a price change, the sign was ALWAYS the highest, but then the guy I worked for was an honest man.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 30, 2013

Pour some coke on the counter, and she'll have to clean it up!

Wile E · Aug 30, 2013

You should call your state attorney general...........it might do something.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 30, 2013

There is supposed to be a sticker on the pump to report this. It is 100% aganist the law. If none there...find a station that has one and call it in.

js305 · Aug 30, 2013

If you want to fix it, call the local TV station, or if there isn't one close enough, call the nearest newspaper and find someone there who is a little bored, looking for something to do. You won't get anything out of it but the negative publicity will do wonders.

Also, find out who actually owns the business and call/write/email/whatever (or all of the above) and explain what is happening.

Be aware, if this happened during an actual price change and the attendants were simply slow in getting everything done it's going to be a tough fix. Really needs to be an ongoing thing.

Bottom line is that the people at the station don't care, that isn't their long term career choice anyway. If you get mad and leave that's one less person they have to deal with.

Wheres Waldo · Aug 30, 2013

This is absolutely wrong. The pump price ONLY rises AFTER the 'sign price' is FIRST raised. Casey's here in Iowa operates that way, and it's why they are so successful as a convenience store.

Nancy Howell · Aug 30, 2013

They are required to honor the sign price, but you may have to get ugly to make that happen.

Nancy Howell · Aug 30, 2013

Good for you.

Goose · Aug 30, 2013

A year or so ago, they had a big flap about that in North Platte, Nebraska with a place on I-80.

Same deal, sign quoted a price 30 or 40 cents lower than the surrounding going price. Their gimmick was, out of a dozen pumps only two were set at the lower price. The rest of the pumps were at or over the current local price for everyone else.

In order to get the lower price, you'd have to cruise all of the pumps to find one with the lower price.

As I recall, the place got called on it once, then was actually dumb enough to try it again a few months later. The negative publicity probably cost them a lot more than they made off of their scam.

The criminal mind is always predicated on success, they never consider the negative aspects.

Greenday · Aug 30, 2013

Yep Ive seen that scam too. Out of 10 or 12 pumps only one will have the lower advertised price.

RN · Aug 30, 2013

Some advertising varies- look at small pint for "cash" price and pay cash for the price break. If your credit card company says that is illegal ask about 1974 case Sears V Master Card- credit card company lost. Price discrimination against a credit credit is legal- a store card can give a lower price, cash discounts legal and surcharge for credit cards is legal. And Indiana sign price doesn"t note the addition of sales tax is totaled in after pumping- that went to court for false advertising and was tossed - court ruled gas sign was honest price with the state law saying add the sales tax to total valid, gas was treated same as any other item with retail price that had excise, import tax included with the state sales tax on total- might be called a surcharge tax on tax but it was legal practice same as paying sales tax on beer that had excise tax included in the advetised sale price, shut up and pay the state the 5-6%. This is one of the situations that the Amish chuckle about- horse just nibbles the shoulder of road "free fuel" RN

oleclint · Aug 30, 2013

How is this for getting treated bad?
Was filling my truck at a station in SW Mo. when the pump stopped. The guy at another pump said his stopped to. I went in and asked why they stopped pumping. The woman said they had to "UP" the price rite then! I paid for what I pumped and never went back! There were "words " exchanged too. We used to get fuel there five times a week, so they lost a good customer.

Mike (WA) · Aug 30, 2013

Had the same thing happen to me- went in to find out what was going on, why couldn't they wait until I was done? It was a big station, lots of pumps- guy said there is never a time when none of the pumps are being used, and they have to change all at once because its on a central computer. "I know its a PITA", he said, "but on the bright side, we do the same thing when price is going down."

Not making excuses for anyone, but sometimes there is a logical explanation for things that appear to be out of line.

gas pump price vs sign price

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