No one likes to see their money disappear into thin air so when this Merced resident saw this gas pump “stealing” his money, he whipped out his smart phone.
Update 9/11– Mark Conover of Merced Weights and Measures responded.
We’re aware of the video, and thanks for following up. Because the video lacked information we require, we checked out all six grades on dispensers #1 and #2. We could not duplicate the issue. There was another issue with the super on #1, so we shut down that grade with an out-of-order tag. That meter will be repaired. I have referred the complaint to state weights and measures department (Division of Measurement Standards); they will follow up today with an undercover purchase on the meter in question, just to cover all the bases.
We encourage anyone with a complaint to call us at the department number (385-7431); that way we can obtain information that was absent from the video. Thanks again.
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Gas station storage wells filled with water from a hose, credit card skimmers found on gas pumps, and meters that run even without you pumping gas, we’ve all heard the horror stories how some gas stations cheat you out of your own money. So when Merced resident Ge Lao (who goes by Vision Ge) pulled up to a Valero gas station on R St. and Olive, finished pumping close to sixty dollars, and pulled out the gas pump, he got the shock of his life to see the meter still running, the Valero gas pump still counting his money away. Thankfully, Ge whipped out his smart phone and filmed the offending pump doing its thing. Check out that video below.
Published earlier this weekend on Saturday (Sept. 8, 2018) the video has already been seen close to 50,000 times, shared more than 200 times and dozens of comments left, a lot of them shaming Valero for “stealing their money.”
I’ve titled this particular article “extreme meter creep” because in the short 30-second video, the pump manages to keep pumping for 30 more cents, which is a lot compared to some meter creep videos I’ve come across.
Coincidentally, this is not the only meter creep video I’ve come across when I’ve covered stories. Just three years ago at a Costco gas station in Modesto, a good friend of mine experienced the same situation. I wrote about his experience on the now defunct Examiner.com and even tipped off the Modesto Bee on what happened.
Here’s what that meter creep looked like. It was a lot slower compared to Merced’s.
Local Modesto investigator Erin Tracy did some digging around and found out that this type of thing happens all too often.
As per the Modesto Bee,
Dave Young of Donlee Pump Co. in Ceres said meter creep generally is the result of a leak in the vapor recovery hose (the one inside the hose attached to the nozzle) or a bad check valve.
It can be obvious, with fuel dripping onto the ground or your vehicle, or it could be leaking inside the dispenser.
If this happens to you, notify an attendant. Ask him to reset the pump to zero if it’s prior to fueling or reimburse you for the pennies it racked up after.
Just to take my advice, I forwarded the video to our local Merced weights and measures government division. As it’s only been a few hours, I haven’t heard anything back yet.
We expect these pumps to work flawlessly, every time, so when something like this happens we immediately cry foul play, and that’s natural.
Just know that there’s a plausible explanation for most things and in the rare case you are being cheated, there are consumer protections that have your best interest in mind.
