Gas at 33 cents - Can your conscience handle it?
This happened a few months ago, but it popped in my head this morning and I thought you might find it pretty interesting. With gas prices these days, it's no wonder people go rabid with this stuff!
From "Error sparks mad dash over 33-cent gas" on MSNBC.com:
The article goes on and talks about how the station owner was pretty upset (rightfully so), and that the customers were dishonest. "They knew there was a problem, and they took advantage of an employee's mistake and I think that's terrible."
I'm no goody-goody, but i have to side w/ him. It's an obvious mistake that not only hurts the station, but could possibly have the employee fired. Some might even consider it a form of theft. In all honesty, I'd tell the station manager. That's not to say that i wouldn't fill up FIRST and THEN tell him, cuz i probably would, but without a doubt i'd bring it up.
I know this because that's exactly what i did a few months ago while down in Richmond. The gas was SUPPOSED to be $2.96, but as i was filling up i noticed that it was actually set at only $2.69! Not as extreme as 33 cents/gallon, but that's still a good $6 saved in the end.
So I filled up the rest of my tank (i knew i would!), and then i walked over and alerted the station manager. Who knows how long it was going on before i got there, but i can tell you one thing - that guy was THANKFUL!
$hit, even the look on his face was worth the honesty :) And you know what? It felt great afterwards. Sure i didn't tell him before i filled up, not that i had known yet, but that's one good deed that prevented a lot of heart ache in the end.
From "Error sparks mad dash over 33-cent gas" on MSNBC.com:
"Dozens of drivers made a mad rush for cheap gas after a station employee accidentally changed the price to 33 cents a gallon. An employee closing Trig's Minocqua Shell for the night meant to drop the price of gas by 1 cent."Forty-two people bought 586 gallons of gas in an hour and 45 minutes. Talk about some good news traveling fast! As sexy as it sounds, however, would you consider it dishonest? I could see how the first person could have filled up w/out much attention, but when your tank tops out at $5 bucks, you HAVE to know something's up. But do you say something?
The article goes on and talks about how the station owner was pretty upset (rightfully so), and that the customers were dishonest. "They knew there was a problem, and they took advantage of an employee's mistake and I think that's terrible."
I'm no goody-goody, but i have to side w/ him. It's an obvious mistake that not only hurts the station, but could possibly have the employee fired. Some might even consider it a form of theft. In all honesty, I'd tell the station manager. That's not to say that i wouldn't fill up FIRST and THEN tell him, cuz i probably would, but without a doubt i'd bring it up.
I know this because that's exactly what i did a few months ago while down in Richmond. The gas was SUPPOSED to be $2.96, but as i was filling up i noticed that it was actually set at only $2.69! Not as extreme as 33 cents/gallon, but that's still a good $6 saved in the end.
So I filled up the rest of my tank (i knew i would!), and then i walked over and alerted the station manager. Who knows how long it was going on before i got there, but i can tell you one thing - that guy was THANKFUL!
$hit, even the look on his face was worth the honesty :) And you know what? It felt great afterwards. Sure i didn't tell him before i filled up, not that i had known yet, but that's one good deed that prevented a lot of heart ache in the end.
Labels: cockamamy indeed, gas
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posted by J. Money at
10:44 AM
8 Comments:
I don't know what I would do in a situation like that. However, I kinda feel like the business owner should take responsibility for the mistake...and just make it into a huge promotion to get press. Positive spin would have made the situation a lot better!
I don't think buying cheap gas that wasn't priced right makes the customers dishonest.
To tell the truth, I probably would have filled up all my vehicles, plastic gas tanks and my 50 gallon portable gas tank too. That's a heck of a great deal.
I hope the employee didn't get fired.
you know people will take advantage of a good thing!
While I would have liked that price, I would have hated to wait in line.. I probably wouldn't have waited around if the line was more than 20-30 minutes. Of course if I'd stumbled upon that price first I would have gassed up too...
Once I walked by some seriously cheap chicken packages, I knew it had to be a big mistake. I was too scared to bring them to the checkout so I just left them there! It kinda felt wrong to take them, but I know someone else did....
Wow, i guess a lot of people would fill the tanks right up! I'm pretty shocked to be honest, but i guess it makes sense. we're on a PF blog here and anything cheap goes :)
I appreciate everyones honesty though, thx guys!
and Canadian Saver, you are TOO funny!
Canadian Saver brings up a point about saving money that is normally not talked about. The time you take to find the deal or save money.
In this case, it would probably be worth it to wait 20 minutes for 33 cent gas.
But sometimes people spend HOURS doing research on a purchase, trying to get the best deal.
Now I am all for that, and I love to get the best deal. But I also know this, that my time is worth something. Take your average salary, divide it by the number of hours you work in a year, and that is pretty much what you are worth per hour.
So if I feel like it is going to take me hours of running from store to store just to save $25. Probably not worth it. I would rather have my time.
Just something to think about.
Just responding to the original post here--but man, I can't believe that many people just took the $.33/gallon gas without saying a word! Call it the station manager's problem if you want, but unless you are completely ignorant of the fact that the price is dramatically wrong (highly unlikely), then you just made a conscious choice to overlook the mistake and take advantage of it. And THAT, quite frankly, is just wrong.
If the govt accidently sends you a check for $293048903 for your tax rebate (when you know very well it's supposed to be $7), and you cash it, you will be responsible for returning it. Just because someone makes a mistake, doesn't mean it gives the "lucky" recipients automatic license to steal.
I would have paid the difference. When things get tight people try to squeeze a little more from the little guy.
The gas station owners are not the ones making the huge profits. It is the oil companies.
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