Last night after book club, where Before Women Had Wings was discussed over food and drinks, and after picking Jace up from my brother & sister-in-law's I needed to get gas. I pulled into the Quik Trip...nay Road Ranger. There were a couple cars at the pumps already and I pulled in between them. I wanted to pay inside because I also wanted to stock up on a couple sodas for the mornng. So, I selected PAY INSIDE CREDIT on the pump. I really was paying with my debit card but PAY INSIDE DEBIT was not an option.
Wait...let me go back a little...I was wondering why the pump wasn't asking me which payment option I wanted on the screen like it normally does. It already was to the point where it tells you to pick up the nozzle and lift the handle. Ok, so I pushed the PAY INSIDE CREDIT button that is near the number pad. It was slow reacting but finally the screen changed and said $7.00 Prepaid. I thought GREAT - somehow I selected some option that only allowed me to put in $7.00 worth. I wondered why the heck would they pick that crazy odd amount as a limit when you want to PAY INSIDE CREDIT. I just said screw it, $7.00 is enough for now - I'll get more gas tomorrow. It pumped in the $7.00 and the pump shut off.
But wait a second...something still seemed a miss here...the pump went back to the start screen asking me to select a payment method. I decided to start over and go ahead and fill up. I was starting to suspect someone screwed up...someone pre-paid (for $7.00) and then didn't actually pump it. So, this time I selected PAY OUTSIDE DEBIT because I didn't want to go inside and face the cashier if they had put 2 and 2 together and accuse me of scamming them. My sodas could wait - I had a 2 liter of Diet Mt Dew at home and that would get me through the night (as it has many a night - ha).
As I was pumping (again), I noticed the car on the same island as me, which had already been there when I pulled in, it's driver had walked inside (I figured to pay and go on his way) and now was on his way back to his car. He was on his cell phone and I had not pushed 1 for English so I couldn't understand him. By now I had put 4 and 4 together and determined HE was the one who had prepaid for $7.00 and the cashier inside screwed up and posted the prepayment to pump 3 (mine) instead of pump 4 (his). The whole time he had been standing there waiting to be able to pump his $7.00 worth...that $7.00 was being pump into my truck.
At this point, I decided NOT to fill up - to cut my losses and get the hell out of there! I stopped my pump at $20. Thank God I had selected PAY OUTSIDE DEBIT so all I had to do was slap my gas cap back on, jump in and peel out...inconspicuously of course. I fumbled with the gas cap at feverish pace as if I were calf roping in a rodeo and once it was screwed in tightly I could throw my hands up in the air signaling the judges to stop the clock and give me my score. Cap in place, I jumped in, quickly looked inside the building - scanning the faces of the workers to see if they had any inclining as to what just happened and then...I put the petal to the metal.
There was a car in front of me waiting to pull out in traffic and when it was my turn I had to wait for oncoming cars before I could safely pull across the lanes. Panic was setting in...I thought I was busted for sure! I thought about turning the opposite direction just to get going and get out of view. The last thing I wanted was for them to get a description of my vehicle or my license plate #. Ever see those pictures on the gas pump of the Iowa State Trooper saying that if you don't pay for your gas you can loose your license? SC-AAAR-RRYYY!!!
I got down the road was still basking in the glory of free gas when I realized at $2.84 a gallon my coo amounted to all of 2.46 gallons of gas. Still, it was a victory over price gouging every where!
No comments:
Post a Comment