Analog
Lifer
Glitch Puts Gas Price at 19 Cents a Gallon
Updated: Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 - 6:26 PM
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - Selling gas at 19 cents per gallon brought in a lot of business for George Riley's gas station last weekend. If only Riley had planned it that way.
Riley is out $2,000 after a computer glitch Saturday night lowered the price of gas at his Phillips 66 station from $1.83 per gallon to just 19 cents. The mistake was corrected the following morning when a television reporter called to ask about the cheap gas. But by then, Riley said, customers had pumped 1,200 gallons.
The inadvertent discount had been the rage of radio call-in shows. A truck driver called the gas station to warn that news of the bargain had been broadcast on CB radio.
A church offered to help Riley with the loss, which he declined, but he said no customers have come by to give him more money. He plans to take advantage of the publicity, offering 66 cents a gallon gas for one unannounced hour a week, beginning next week.
"It's hard to blame people," he said. "Most people don't realize a small individual owns this business. They think they're getting the big oil company."
Last month in Nebraska, a misplaced decimal point put the price of a regular gallon of unleaded gasoline at 18 cents. The gas was supposed to cost $1.89.
http://wtop.com/index.php?sid=402755&nid=104
Updated: Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 - 6:26 PM
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - Selling gas at 19 cents per gallon brought in a lot of business for George Riley's gas station last weekend. If only Riley had planned it that way.
Riley is out $2,000 after a computer glitch Saturday night lowered the price of gas at his Phillips 66 station from $1.83 per gallon to just 19 cents. The mistake was corrected the following morning when a television reporter called to ask about the cheap gas. But by then, Riley said, customers had pumped 1,200 gallons.
The inadvertent discount had been the rage of radio call-in shows. A truck driver called the gas station to warn that news of the bargain had been broadcast on CB radio.
A church offered to help Riley with the loss, which he declined, but he said no customers have come by to give him more money. He plans to take advantage of the publicity, offering 66 cents a gallon gas for one unannounced hour a week, beginning next week.
"It's hard to blame people," he said. "Most people don't realize a small individual owns this business. They think they're getting the big oil company."
Last month in Nebraska, a misplaced decimal point put the price of a regular gallon of unleaded gasoline at 18 cents. The gas was supposed to cost $1.89.
http://wtop.com/index.php?sid=402755&nid=104
