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Mobil? Are you sure the gas station you were at wasn't a BP? ZZIINNGGG. No but seriously the onus is on the employee for mistakes like that without a question. He should be cleaning up his own messes and not screw up in the first place.
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Based on my understanding of how gas pump automatic shutoffs work, I'm pretty sure it was entirely the attendant's fault.
About the only way it should be possible is if he leaves the pump resting in a weird position so that the tank can fill up without the top of the pump's "hole" being submerged, which I would not be surprised by, given he probably does the same shit all day every day.
I can think of no way it could reflect a fault with your gas tank.
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I've never heard of a pump overflowing the gas tank. I seriously doubt it's your cars fault, shouldn't it be the mechanism inside the pump that makes it stop?
I checked HowStuffWorks for the gas pumps, and I got this:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-consumption/gas-pump-full-tank.htm
This mechanism has been around for a long time, so it is safe to say there is not a miniature camera inside the nozzle hooked to a microprocessor. It's purely mechanical -- and ingenious.
I don't see how it could have been the car at fault.
I would've acted the same way you did. Probably a little more pissed off because it's so obvious the pump was at fault here.
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Haha wtf he seriously tried blaming it on your gas tank?
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United States24701 Posts
On September 27 2010 07:46 hifriend wrote:
Haha wtf he seriously tried blaming it on your gas tank?
He said something about the air inside the tank but with his accent I couldn't really make it out.
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The way it works is that there's a little hole in the gas pump that takes in air that gets pushed out by the gas. When the gas tank fills, that hole can no longer take in air, and thus (I believe) a vacuum is formed somewhere, which automatically shuts off the pump. This should have nothing to do with anything about the air in the tank, so he was probably just bullshitting.
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I probably would've done the same thing, since it cost you 7.70 for the spill, but I'd be pretty frustrated at the attendant. I don't think the customer should be responsible for a spill when it's a full service gas station, since the attendant operates the pump.
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damn thats weird you get gas filled by an attendant? I gotta do it myself and ive been to gas stations around all parts of cali >__<!
anywho it was clearly not your fault if there are people who should be "attending" to that need
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he spilled 2 gallons? that must've been a gigantic puddle. also what's the point of it being full service if he's just gonna auto pump it anyway.
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Germany / USA16648 Posts
wow.
I would either a) have flat out refused to pay the full sum and demanded to talk to the owner or b) thought fuck it and have left it alone, I mean there's no reasoning with imbeciles. That being said I don't recall ever having had gas filled by an attendant, or even having seen a gas station that does that. Maybe 15 years ago when I was a kid or something, not sure
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Was there nobody else to talk to at the gas station? At least that is what I would have tried to do. Find somebody I can understand and make sure why they thought it was my responsibility. Other than that I'd be pretty pissed off.....
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United States22883 Posts
Obviously it's not the customer's responsibility. That's the kind of thing a business should take a loss on.
Report it to BBB.
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Err i don't think i've ever filled my tank and then it kept overflowing without the pump stopping itself
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United States24701 Posts
It seemed like he was the only employee there so there was nobody else to talk to.
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Happened to me as well, except I was pumping it myself. You expect it to auto stop, until it just suddenly started flowing out. I quickly let go of the pump, so I lost very little gas, but sometimes these systems do fail for some reason...
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Based on the details you provided, it is no doubt the attendant's fault. However, quibbling over a few bucks when he's deficient in English really isn't worth it. You were a bit screwed over, but you did the right thing.
Glad I live in NJ. It is illegal to pump our own gas here 
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Australia7069 Posts
this is why you should never trust anyone to fill up your car. Trying to negotiate with someone who cant speak english is a pain, take the money hit as a lesson to why you watch that shit even if it is a full service
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Osaka27152 Posts
Go back to the station and talk to the owner. Report it to the BBB.
I wouldn't have paid for that though haha. Not in a million years.
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You're very nice to let him off like so.
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OMG 2.4 gallons is almost 10 liters right ? That's not a little spill.... You really got robbed 
Bad mouth them !
I almost got into a fight 2 days ago, because the zucchini was labeled 6 yuan, but the cashier charged 7 yuan lol.
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Oh micronesia, only you would pay for this lol..
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United States24701 Posts
On September 27 2010 11:54 Ack1027 wrote:
Oh micronesia, only you would pay for this lol..
I mean I used a credit card so it was just a question of how long I had to argue for a partial refund... what should I have done?
edit: oh I was misleading... I paid before we started pumping via credit card... not after the pump was complete.
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I would have:
1. Asked to speak with the manager.
2. If he was the only employee there, go back later and ask to speak with the person in charge.
3. Never stop looking for some kind of customer support you can report this to.
4. Gotten the employee's name and some kind of Employee ID number.
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Why did you even bother stopping for gas at a full service station when you had half a tank left?
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United States24701 Posts
On September 27 2010 12:52 herve wrote:
Why did you even bother stopping for gas at a full service station when you had half a tank left?
Cause it's sunday and I don't want to have to get gas in the middle of the work week if I can avoid it. Also, I can alternate between 89 and 93 octane to save a bit of money since my car needs 91 and I can't get 91 at most gas stations around here.
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On September 27 2010 12:45 dabom88 wrote:
I would have:
1. Asked to speak with the manager.
2. If he was the only employee there, go back later and ask to speak with the person in charge.
3. Never stop looking for some kind of customer support you can report this to.
4. Gotten the employee's name and some kind of Employee ID number.
lol...
I'd probably ask for the manager. Usually you can get a refund pretty quick and easy. But if it seemed like it would take a good bit of time via arguing...I'd just let it go since it's <$10 and never go back to that station in the future. Not really an amount of money getting worked up about.
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i would have
A) never left the proces alone
so really B) would not be an issue, but if it ever was
B) tell the gas station my adress and drive off and tell him that we cacn discuss this at a later time
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Not sure what state micronesia lives in, but to those wondering, certain states are bound by law to have full-service stations. New Jersey, for example, you can never pump your own gas. Most states, I believe, allow the store to decide whatever they want (which is typically automatic so that they pay less wages, I imagine.)
If you weren't in a rush to get out of there, I would have been the first person to ask to talk to the manager. Given being pressed on time, however, paying is better than driving off. Given the fact that he had this "powder" (or whatever) on hand, it sounds like he knew this would be an issue. I almost wonder if there was already a puddle there from the previous customer when you drove up.
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T-T this is why you always carry cash, I would have payed him a little higher then what i believe i owe him just to be nice on the rounding and be done with it. It's not my fault they have incompetent equipment and staff.
I assume you fill the tank to full when you can, if there was air in your tank enough to be an actual problem which it wouldn't effect the gas pumping by how the mechanisms work, also your check engine light would have came on by then if you were already at half tank.
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It was his fault, not yours. You should not have been expected to pay. Although on the bright side of things, you probably saved the guy half a day's paycheck by covering for him. Gas station attendant is not a very well paying job...
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Osaka27152 Posts
Knowing that you paid ahead of time makes it suck a lot more. I thought he was demanding the cash from you afterwards.
Still though, your temper is a lot cooler than mine. I don't think I would have signed anything haha.
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Random fact: gas stations are almost all full-service in Taiwan - I was definitely surprised to see that when I first got here.
You definitely got screwed over, but all in all it probably wasn't it worth your time to argue over it at that point... not exactly sure where you'd draw the line, it all depends on how valuable you consider your time to be in proportion to the monetary cost. Also a bit surprised that the tank was able to overflow - I didn't think that was actually possible, given the auto cutoff.
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Dude, you pay and leave after a few minutes of arguing because you don't want trouble.
But then you go on their website to look for customer support, ponders about the ethical nature of your ecounter, and blogs about your incident.
Sounds like the typical nerd afraid to stand up for himself (in person). I would have refused to pay the spilled amount by either taking it up with someone higher up or just leaving - it's completely the gas station's fault.
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i read this as gas station blew up and expected cool photos....
you should have gotten out and yanked your card as soon as you saw that shit. those guys are notoriously scummy people and retarded too, spilling gas all over your car, putting in regular when you ask for premium (does wonders for your fuel injectors...)
time to restore to the karmic balance between you and your gas attendant: Take only $10 cash with you and tell the guy 'fill it up with $10'. Because he's a greedy dumbshit, he will hear only the fill it up part. when he comes back, give him the ten, remind him that you're the person he tried boning when he fucked up and drive away laughing like a maniac!
also, i feel bad for you poor, poor people who have to pump your own gas. just another thing we do better in jersey i guess.
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This is probably 'cause I just woke up and read it. . .
but I read the blog title as, "Full Service Gas Station Blew Up"
But yes - full service = nono
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United States24701 Posts
On September 27 2010 23:27 ArbAttack wrote:
Dude, you pay and leave after a few minutes of arguing because you don't want trouble.
But then you go on their website to look for customer support, ponders about the ethical nature of your ecounter, and blogs about your incident.
Sounds like the typical nerd afraid to stand up for himself (in person). I would have refused to pay the spilled amount by either taking it up with someone higher up or just leaving - it's completely the gas station's fault.
There was nobody higher up. Basically I'm a scared nerd if I don't refuse to pay and run? Doesn't even matter since I prepaid with credit card...
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You are too nice, should have tried to argue a bit to get a gallon or two off the price. Its the attendant's fault.
But you paid for it, so I suggest why bother with the refund process, since it may put you through a lot more frustration. Just think you did some favor for an immigrant.
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lmao. Never would have gone to a full service gas station in the first place.
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I worked at a gas station where the pump did this... its definitely the pump's fault and not yours. Luckily in my case, I cleaned off the car and the woman paid for it so I didn't have to explain to my boss what happened... but realistically it's their fault so they should pay.
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Yeah I wouldn't pay for that shit lol even if it's like 1 dollar, the fact that they think they're right and that the customer is wrong would piss me off. Like you said, it's the principle not the money.
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Hyrule19093 Posts
What the balls? At all full service stations you're supposed to get a cleaned windshield as well as tire pressure and oil level checks! You got ripped off more than you know.
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On September 28 2010 00:02 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On September 27 2010 23:27 ArbAttack wrote:
Dude, you pay and leave after a few minutes of arguing because you don't want trouble.
But then you go on their website to look for customer support, ponders about the ethical nature of your ecounter, and blogs about your incident.
Sounds like the typical nerd afraid to stand up for himself (in person). I would have refused to pay the spilled amount by either taking it up with someone higher up or just leaving - it's completely the gas station's fault. There was nobody higher up. Basically I'm a scared nerd if I don't refuse to pay and run? Doesn't even matter since I prepaid with credit card...
Oh, if you prepaid with credit card you should edit that into OP. That changes the situation entirely - much more time/effort to get your money back.
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United States24701 Posts
On September 28 2010 02:20 ArbAttack wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2010 00:02 micronesia wrote:On September 27 2010 23:27 ArbAttack wrote:
Dude, you pay and leave after a few minutes of arguing because you don't want trouble.
But then you go on their website to look for customer support, ponders about the ethical nature of your ecounter, and blogs about your incident.
Sounds like the typical nerd afraid to stand up for himself (in person). I would have refused to pay the spilled amount by either taking it up with someone higher up or just leaving - it's completely the gas station's fault. There was nobody higher up. Basically I'm a scared nerd if I don't refuse to pay and run? Doesn't even matter since I prepaid with credit card... Oh, if you prepaid with credit card you should edit that into OP. That changes the situation entirely - much more time/effort to get your money back.
Yeah definitely. But leaving this way lets me see who actually reads the thread before posting I guess ^_-
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United States24701 Posts
Update: finally heard back from Exxon-Mobil.... they say whether or not the customer pays for spilled gas is up to the discretion of the individual gas station.
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Lol? What a shitty business practice.....
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Back when I was about 16 years old I worked at one of these full service stations. Sorry buddy but you got played. The reason he told you it was the cars fault is because if those attendants come up short at all they have to pay the difference out of their own pocket. Basically he didn't want to pay for the mistake he made so he had you pay for it for him. Keep the reciept go back and complain to the manager. You MAY get a refund maybe not though:/ sorry bro
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EPT
