It's been a long time since U.S. motorists paid $1.10 for a gallon of gas.
With fuel prices surging to near-record levels, it’s understandable buyers look for any bargain they can find, especially in California, where motorists typically pay more than almost anywhere else in the country.
A number of smartphone apps and Internet services have been created to help savvy drivers find a deal – which might normally mean a savings of a nickel or dime a gallon. But word-of-mouth drove long lines to form outside one suburban Los Angeles gas station when drivers realized they were being charged just $1.10 a gallon.
While some vendors have resorted to huge promotional discounts – or even to get back at a competing service station nearby – that wasn’t what owner Kenny Nguyen had in mind. In fact, he didn’t even realize what was happening at his Valero station in Wilmington, initially.
An effort to post a price change went wrong and a staffer, busy handling sales at the convenience counter, didn’t immediately notice. So, buyers continued paying about a quarter of what the station normally charges for quite some time – ultimately ringing up losses of about $21,000.
The local paper, the Daily Breeze reports that Nguyen was understandably upset by what happened and is hoping that customers who got the unplanned discount will now come back to his service station to pay what difference in what they should have been charged. For a motorist with a 15 gallon tank, that could be nearly $50.
So far, no word on whether anyone has agreed to give the service station some extra cash.