An Illinois man says he’s uncovered a scam by local gas stations. Kaloyan Pechevski says he has filmed gas meters that are racking up costs without pumping any gas into the hose. Though he paid for $25 of gas, he still had an empty tank.
The employee said it was a mistake and sometimes the pump becomes loose and malfunctions.
However, according to Heavy.com, Redditors says the practice is a common scam in Eastern Europe. Here’s the warning they gave:
“I work for my state’s Department of Agriculture. We have a Fuel and Measures department. We have two types of inspectors: Weights inspectors (split between large and small scale weights) and Fuel pump inspectors. Weights wouldn’t do anything about this but we would definitely dispatch a Fuel Pump inspector out to the station. People need to realize that unless the public reports these problems, it’s hard for us to know it’s happening. We have only a handful of inspectors to cover the entire state so stations only get inspected maybe once a year. Public reporting is huge and we depend on that to help protect consumers. Stations can get anywhere from a fine all the way to being shut down.
…
If you got to pump gas and you pull the handle and you notice the amount go up before you notice gas star to flow. That means that the calibration is off and that pump needs to be shut down until it’s fixed. Also, if you notice your car just isn’t quite running right it might mean that there is water in the gas and the station needs to be shut down so that we can test the gas. One more thing in regards to looking at prices: if you notice the sign is advertising one price but the pump is registering a higher price then that needs to be reported (this excludes them advertising a cash price but it must say it is for cash on the sign).”
Warning: Graphic Language
Source: Heavy
Not always so, sometimes large fluctuations in temperatures will cause a jump at the start. If that is the case, they usually have an old hose that has become soft walled, and needs replaced. If it happens throughout pumping, it is either a leaking diaphragm or a creeping meeter. This requires a pro repairman to evaluate and fix.