Fuel Pump Meter wrong at Sam's Club?

[Eli]

This is a pretty strange story.

We pulled into Sam's Club to get gas because it's the cheapest around. She gets out, starts pumping..everything is normal. Then suddenly she sorta panics, shuts the pump off, and comes to the window saying "There's something wrong with the pump!"

I'm like, "What?" and say something about how the pumps aren't wrong. Then I look at it.

14.864 gallons. :shocked:

My girlfriend drives a 2001 Honda Civic EX. It's easily verifiable that this car has a 13.2 gallon fuel tank. Her fuel light had just come on as we were running errands, meaning she had >1.5 gallons left. We have over 8 receipts from filling up when the gas light comes on, or shortly there after, and the [/b]most[/b] she ever filled up with was 12.8 gallons, and the needle was about to drop below the E line at that point. There is no way that she put almost 15 gallons into it. Not even if she was running on fumes. She didn't even top it off...

WTF?! The most frustrating thing about it is what the hell are you supposed to do? The manager in Sam's Club was understanding and gave us a 5$ gift card, but said the same thing I did - the pumps aren't wrong. It has to be though.

It seems like in Oregon, if you think the pump ripped you off, there was a number you could call and they would come check it out. I can't find anything like that in New Mexico though.

 

[lxskllr]

Pumps can definitely be wrong. In MD they have to tested annually, and certified. I don't know what you need to do to get your money back.

 

[GeekDrew]

I don't know what New Mexico's policy is... but for what it's worth, in Ohio, the County Auditor's office of Weights & Measures certifies the accuracy of fuel pumps, scales, etc. If New Mexico has a similar office, give them a call.

<edit>

Googling led me to this: http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/Help-FAQ.html

What do I do if I want to file a complaint about a gas station?

The first thing to do is to get as much information as possible. Know the pump number, the grade of gas, the check stand number, the aisle number where the item is located, the address of the establishment, and any other information you think might be pertinent. Call our office with this information at (575) 646-1616 or you can reach us via email. We would like to have your address and daytime phone number. Complaints are vital to our department. We take all complaints very seriously, and we respond to these as quickly as we can.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It's called the bureau of weights and measures.
It's a federal office and they do check things when there are complaints.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, that's what I was searching for. Maybe I just suck at teh google tonight.

Edit: Ah. In New Mexico it's a part of the Agricultural department.

Text

Edit2: Jesus, what happened to my thread? lol

 

[zanejohnson]

maybe her gauge is off? :dunno:

the gauge on my tbird is off i know for a fact, i dont know how far off though, but it's pretty far off... it supposedly has a 17 gallon tank, but it shows full at ~13.5 gallons, in order to test this i once ran it all the way past the E line, and then bravely drove to and from town twice in one day with it pegged as low as it could go before i finally chickened out and filled up... so yeah, when it says im out, i still have about 3-4 gallons left, kinda nice because as a habit i always fill it up when it gets a little below a quarter tank.. i've ran out of gas in other cars and it's not fun.

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
maybe her gauge is off? :dunno:

the gauge on my tbird is off i know for a fact, i dont know how far off though, but it's pretty far off... it supposedly has a 17 gallon tank, but it shows full at ~13.5 gallons, in order to test this i once ran it all the way past the E line, and then bravely drove to and from town twice in one day with it pegged as low as it could go before i finally chickened out and filled up... so yeah, when it says im out, i still have about 3-4 gallons left, kinda nice because as a habit i always fill it up when it gets a little below a quarter tank.. i've ran out of gas in other cars and it's not fun.

I doubt it's the gauge in the tank is wrong when the machine said it pumped more than your car can physically hold.

 

[Eli]

Even if her gauge is off..

The tank is 13.2 gallons. Even if her car was completely empty, fuel tank and fuel system, I don't think it would hold almost 15 gallons. It's so weird.

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: Eli
This is a pretty strange story.

We pulled into Sam's Club to get gas because it's the cheapest around. She gets out, starts pumping..everything is normal. Then suddenly she sorta panics, shuts the pump off, and comes to the window saying "There's something wrong with the pump!"

I'm like, "What?" and say something about how the pumps aren't wrong. Then I look at it.

14.864 gallons. :shocked:

My girlfriend drives a 2001 Honda Civic EX. It's easily verifiable that this car has a 13.2 gallon fuel tank. Her fuel light had just come on as we were running errands, meaning she had >1.5 gallons left. We have over 8 receipts from filling up when the gas light comes on, or shortly there after, and the [/b]most[/b] she ever filled up with was 12.8 gallons, and the needle was about to drop below the E line at that point. There is no way that she put almost 15 gallons into it. Not even if she was running on fumes. She didn't even top it off...

WTF?! The most frustrating thing about it is what the hell are you supposed to do? The manager in Sam's Club was understanding and gave us a 5$ gift card, but said the same thing I did - the pumps aren't wrong. It has to be though.

It seems like in Oregon, if you think the pump ripped you off, there was a number you could call and they would come check it out. I can't find anything like that in New Mexico though.

:camera:

 

[Adul]

I have had that happen, the pumps can be wrong as parts do wear out. Complain and they generally credit you a certain amount, then contact the department of weights and measures to check the pump out.

 

[Newbian]

The problem is there have been reports of gas companies doing this where the gas flow shuts off yet the cost keeps going and the testers usually don't notice it since it showed they only test around 5 gallons at a time and they flow stops later then that.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Newbian
The problem is there have been reports of gas companies doing this where the gas flow shuts off yet the cost keeps going and the testers usually don't notice it since it showed they only test around 5 gallons at a time and they flow stops later then that.

yeap.

they did a report on gas station (think 60 minutes or one of those shows). they went with testers and they would only do 5 gallons. but the show went back and did 20 and ti wa off the mark at 3 out of 30 stations.
meaning the pump hit 20 gallons when they had about 16.

another station did 20 gallons and said 20 gallons but the amount was off.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Newbian
The problem is there have been reports of gas companies doing this where the gas flow shuts off yet the cost keeps going and the testers usually don't notice it since it showed they only test around 5 gallons at a time and they flow stops later then that.

yeap.

they did a report on gas station (think 60 minutes or one of those shows). they went with testers and they would only do 5 gallons. but the show went back and did 20 and ti wa off the mark at 3 out of 30 stations.
meaning the pump hit 20 gallons when they had about 16.

another station did 20 gallons and said 20 gallons but the amount was off.

Why don't they notice it if it's only a 5 gal test? Are you saying that they're rigged to be perfect at 5gal, but at higher volumes say 10, 15gal they go off? Because even if you're off 25% at 16gal as you said, being off 25% at 5gal is over 6 gal which is still noticeable.

 

[alkemyst]

was there gas under the car...I have seen many keep pumping and the gas all dumping out under the car.

I don't know if they did something to bypass the autoshutoff or it was defective at the time.

I don't buy into that 'the pumps are set up to spit out a perfect 5 gallons and then cheat at more" bullshit.

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: zanejohnson
maybe her gauge is off? :dunno:

the gauge on my tbird is off i know for a fact, i dont know how far off though, but it's pretty far off... it supposedly has a 17 gallon tank, but it shows full at ~13.5 gallons, in order to test this i once ran it all the way past the E line, and then bravely drove to and from town twice in one day with it pegged as low as it could go before i finally chickened out and filled up... so yeah, when it says im out, i still have about 3-4 gallons left, kinda nice because as a habit i always fill it up when it gets a little below a quarter tank.. i've ran out of gas in other cars and it's not fun.

I'd like to see you put 14.8 gallons into a fuel tank that is 13.2 gallons, no matter how spot on any gauges are.

hehehehehe

 

[FelixDeCat]

Ive noticed QuickTrip is notorious for cheating. Thats why I go to RaceTrack.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
was there gas under the car...I have seen many keep pumping and the gas all dumping out under the car.

I don't know if they did something to bypass the autoshutoff or it was defective at the time.

I don't buy into that 'the pumps are set up to spit out a perfect 5 gallons and then cheat at more" bullshit.

Lol, no, fuel was not spewing out of the filler tube.

And I wouldn't doubt it. If they know that the testers only test to 5 gallons, why not? I should seriously give the Weighs and Measures department a call. It says they take reports seriously and will come check it out.

 

[LTC8K6]

It's possible, but it would be pretty rare for the pump to be that far off.

 

[OutHouse]

did she fill it all the way to the rim?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

In Florida, all the pumps mention Charles Bronson is the commissioner of some such thing.... You don't mess with the pumps in Florida.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Newbian
The problem is there have been reports of gas companies doing this where the gas flow shuts off yet the cost keeps going and the testers usually don't notice it since it showed they only test around 5 gallons at a time and they flow stops later then that.

yeap.

they did a report on gas station (think 60 minutes or one of those shows). they went with testers and they would only do 5 gallons. but the show went back and did 20 and ti wa off the mark at 3 out of 30 stations.
meaning the pump hit 20 gallons when they had about 16.

another station did 20 gallons and said 20 gallons but the amount was off.

Why don't they notice it if it's only a 5 gal test? Are you saying that they're rigged to be perfect at 5gal, but at higher volumes say 10, 15gal they go off? Because even if you're off 25% at 16gal as you said, being off 25% at 5gal is over 6 gal which is still noticeable.

sorry i was not clear. the state/fed test a 5 gallons on price/ volume. so teh pumps are nearly always right at that size. the state does not test (well they didnt 15 years ago) on sizes or amounts over 5 gallons. so the pumps are rigged to on amounts over that.