Problems At the Pump
Introduction
Almost everyone in America relies on gasoline for their transportation needs. People seldom think twice about buying gas at their local pump... maybe they should. Gasoline fraud is on the increase and it can cost the consumer money. Even if consumers pump their own gasoline, they are still at risk. Gas station attendants have many ways of tricking unsuspecting customers.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology helps control gas fraud by assisting federal, state, and local governments to achieve uniformity in weights and measures standards, laws, and practices. The pumps at any given gas station should not be off by more than 6 in3, or 3.3 oz, for every 5 gallons. If it is found that a pump is off by more than 6 in3, then the gas station must shut off the pumps immediately and get them fixed. If they aren't fixed within a specified amount of time, then the station owners will not be able to turn the pumps back on. NIST publishes these requirements for the National Conference on Weights and Measures in NIST Handbook 130: Uniform Laws and Regulations. NIST helps to train state employees in the weight and measures offices to inspect gas pumps using standard measures.
There are many ways to confuse consumers and to make them pay more at the pump. One of the ways consumers can be cheated out of their money is in a method used in self serve. Inside the gas pump there is a small mechanism that turns and counts the amount of gas that is being pumped into a car. If this mechanism is tampered with, then the counter may turn faster than it is supposed to. This means that you will have to pay more money for fewer liters or gallons of gas. Even if the counter is not tampered with it may still give the wrong price. For instance, if the counter is inaccurate because of the age of the gas pump, then overcharging or even undercharging the customer could result. Unfortunately there is really no way to know if this is happening to a customer unless the pumps are regularly calibrated.
A second way to trick consumers occurs at
the full serve pump. The story below illustrates
the problem.
In the state of Maryland, the Department of Agriculture has been cracking down on gas station employees that are committing gas fraud. The people who are tricking consumers are now being caught regularly.
Caught in the Act In Maryland, on September 30, 1981, two service station attendants were caught shortchanging customers at a gas station. Two employees from the Department of Agriculture spied on the gas station from a spot in a wooded area across the street. Using binoculars, they saw the attendants pumping gas into the vehicles with money already displayed on the pump. They pocketed amounts ranging from 99 cents to 2 dollars for each customer paying for more gas than received. The two attendants were arrested and sent to jail but were later released. They later stood trial for their crime (Duncan, 1981).
Work Cited
Last Update: November 2, 2004 |
