NJ Gas Station violations

[AVE0SAM]

boy was i shocked to hear someone come in today and say we were on a list of gas stations in violtion with weights and measures I am trying to see what for but they make it seem like we aren't giving the right amount of gas or we add water. What doesnt add up is that I use only our gas now because I get better gas mileage...so if you think about it if I am getting better gas mileage how can we be adding water or not pumping the right amount of gallons? my mileage would be less that advertised but its actually higher than advertised....i think the main complaint is because we just recently changed to cash and credit. This is my feeling on this, since we have changed we have been able to charge atleast two cents cheaper to cash payers than the other gas stations so why should we punish cash payers for credit card payers? we get charged an average of 2.5% of every bill and the cash discount is 10 cents a gallon so if you do the math the 10cents more a gallon still does cover the whole fee. now some of you may say well everyone else eats the fee and to you i say consider how the amount you spend on gas has doubled, therefore the amount we get charged 2.5% of has doubled result in the fees being double what we are use to paying yet we arent making any more profit now per gallon then before....actually we are making less per gallon now. does anyone else see this rationality? i just need somewhere to talk about this because its really frustrating when i get yelled at at work about it by customers.....plus if you think cars have an average of 15 gal tank so the extra fee is only 1.50

[mikedudley17]

just tell em to **** off cus they still need gas.

[ontarian_frog]

Well I was watching the US news the other day and apparently, charging more for credit card users is illegal. Might want to check that too.

[AVE0SAM]

Well I was watching the US news the other day and apparently, charging more for credit card users is illegal. Might want to check that too.

but giving a discount for cash isn't....if it was illegal why would there be regulation that we have to follow. it sucks that us private american owned gas stations have to suffer, the only way we can stay open is to do that...i mean obviously retail isn't profitable otherwise exxon mobile wouldn't be selling off all their gas stations to get out of retail....its more profitable for them to screw us with the crued oil.

another thing with the cash and credit is the fact that we could just not accept credit cards....rising gas prices are hurting everyone

[NYChevoo]

the shell station here by me is doing the same thing. they charge more for credit and debit cards, than they do for cash.

[B1rdbrain]

you guys do know that Credit cards and Bank cards like ATM have a service charge? it depends on the system they use but the % charged to the station owner can be as high as $2.00 Per transaction. I know this cuz my Mom sold the systems. there are a few companies out there Raping Mom and Pop stores and Gas stations with the card readers. It's Bull**** but it happens. the people charging more for Credit cards are just trying to get the charges they would get for the transaction back from the customer. if you don't like it then get a shell card and get $0.20 per gallon back Mobile is also offering less money for gas using there card. or don't pay into the whole thing and pay cash.

it's just one way the small buisness man is getting screwed.

[NYChevoo]

i admit it! i was a squealer. i reported my local shell station to the nys dept of consumer fraud, and also to the the dept nys has set up for gas gouging. lets see if anything happens.

[AVE0SAM]

you guys do know that Credit cards and Bank cards like ATM have a service charge? it depends on the system they use but the % charged to the station owner can be as high as $2.00 Per transaction. I know this cuz my Mom sold the systems. there are a few companies out there Raping Mom and Pop stores and Gas stations with the card readers. It's Bull**** but it happens. the people charging more for Credit cards are just trying to get the charges they would get for the transaction back from the customer. if you don't like it then get a shell card and get $0.20 per gallon back Mobile is also offering less money for gas using there card. or don't pay into the whole thing and pay cash.

it's just one way the small buisness man is getting screwed.

thank you...big business can eat those costs when gas bills have doubled but a small single gas station like us cant

[AVE0SAM]

i admit it! i was a squealer. i reported my local shell station to the nys dept of consumer fraud, and also to the the dept nys has set up for gas gouging. lets see if anything happens.

do you have any proof or just mad a gas prices? i seriously think thats what most people report places for. i mean if you got a 13 gallon tank and it ends up filling to 15 then yes theres a problem.

i thought i would ellaborate on the cash or credit price thing and why people say its illegal....it is illegal to add surcharges for people paying with credit because of the agreement the owner signs with the credit card companies, but it is not illegal for the owner to give a discount to cash paying costumers....yes its just a play on words, but its legit

[AveoRob]

Hey Sam,

This cash/credit has been around for a long time. I used to pump gas years ago when I was in school and we had the cash credit deal then. The reason gas stations cannot eat the surcharge is that they don't really make a lot of money on gas. Like 5 to 10 cents a gallon. 2.5 percent of 4 dollars is 10 cents, their whole profit margin. Amex is even worse, like 3 or 4 percent. When we did it, we had the pumps set to the credit price and had to give a "discount for cash" which is the legal loophole. So back then if you bought 10 dollars worth with cash, we were supposed to pump 10.40. Most people did not know this and some of the the shady attendants would just pump 10 dollars, pocketing the rest. I think this is why it went away for a while, but with the price of gas now the surcharge is too big to eat. Plus probably 90 percent of business now is credit cards cause no one carries enough cash to fill their SUV at 120.00 a pop. I really feel for you right now Sam cause people are just bitchy about the price of gas and take it out on the attendant just doing his job. I was at the station yesterday, and everyone coming in had a story or a complaint about the price of gas. Lets face it, it is the biggest thing affecting everyone. As for the water thing, water and gas do not mix, unless homoginized (sp?). Only thing I ever head on that was since the pump pickup in the tank sits like six inches from the bottom, and water is heavier than gas, some stations would put six inches of water in the tank to raise the gas so they can pump every drop, but I only heard of this when they were closing and wanted to empty the tank, but guess with 4 dollars a gallon, six inches is a lot of money. We were checked evey year by weights and measures for accuracy and a seal was affixed to the pump certifying it. I am sure they still do that. OK I will end this long rambling post...