This is going to sound like one of those urban legends people love to forward as junk email. You know, the kind that come with the assurance "This really happened!" Well, this did really happen, although it is hard to believe it's true even as I write.
On my way to a gig in Jersey on Friday, I noticed my fuel light blinking. I was running on empty. Nothing new there, I am one of those people who always seem to be leaving the house with just enough time to arrive wherever they are going too late to stop for fuel.
I whispered encouragement to my little car all the way across the Cross Bronx, hoping to make it to Jersey, where the gasoline is somewhat less obscenely expensive. Avoiding the ubiquitous Exxon (I cannot in good conscience support them in any way,) I managed to find a Hess station in Lodi, not far from where I was heading. I put in twenty dollars, which gave me 6.9 gallons. When I pulled away, I saw that my fuel gauge was still on empty.
This had been happening lately, so I have taken to setting the mini odometer to zero each time I put gas in the car. It's a trick I picked up from driving my last car, whose fuel gauge was unreliable. After running out of gas a few times, I learned to reset the odometer and keep track of the math myself. I figured the fuel gauge was malfunctioning. After all, I just put in twenty dollars.
The light kept blinking the rest of the way to the show, but I ignored it. On my way home, I could stop off at a gas station and fill the tank. Which is what I did.
Here's where it gets interesting. My car only holds eleven gallons. 6.9 went in at the Hess in Lodi. It's only about 20 miles to Totowa, where I had my show. At the second gas station, the car took $35. The needle was now at full. Eleven gallons!
This made no sense. How could my gas tank be completely empty after I put in twenty dollars? Unless....
I drove back to the Hess. I explained to the man what had happened. I showed him receipts. I expected him to tell me there was no way they could have charged me for gasoline without putting it into my car. I thought he would tell me I was nuts for even thinking such a thing.
Know what he said? "It happens."
It happens? How does it happen? He said it was human error. Apparently, there is indeed a way to rig the pump to show that gasoline is being dispensed without actually dispensing gasoline! The fellow then added that it was 50% my fault for not catching it right away!
My father had a rule whenever we played board games. It was okay to cheat, as long as you did not get caught. If you got caught after the next person took their turn, it was too late. You got away with it, because it was the fault of the other players for not paying close enough attention.
This man from Hess had the same shady morals. Now I was wondering if all the times I thought my gas gauge was not working, I was wrong. Maybe the mind is more willing to accept a mechanical error than it is to accept that people are just plain corrupt. Not only are they ripping us off by charging inflated prices (while their CEO's are raking in record profits,) but now they are stealing from us outright!
In New Jersey, it is illegal to pump your own gas, which I guess makes it easier to get away with something like this. I called my credit card company to dispute the charge, but can't help wondering how many times I have paid too much for gasoline that I did not get, and how many other people have done the same, without knowing it.
Merry Christmas to you too, greedy oil company.
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