Adventures at the fuel pump

So, since someone who shall remain nameless (only be known by the letters kdr) said my blog was too boring and geeky, I’ve decided to post what happened to me yesterday while trying to fill up with fuel.

This happened at the Conoco in American Fork, UT.

I get off work and drive to the nearest petrol station. I pull out my credit card, swipe, and begin fueling. I’ve only put in about a gallon when a woman (dressed in Conoco employee uniform) comes out and starts yelling that I haven’t paid for gas. I tell her that I swiped my card. She repeats herself, getting frustrated with me, and tells me I need to come inside to pay. I’m obviously a little annoyed at this point, as I was in a bit of a hurry.

I go inside, and the woman explains that the guy on the pump next to me had pre-paid $15 for fuel, and by some accident, they’d allotted the money to my pump by mistake, and I’d used his fuel. She then proceeds to tell me that I owe this random guy $3.07. She asks me to pay him. I obviously refuse. I then tell the lady that I was going to pay with a credit card. I explain that I bought the fuel from Conoco, and will be paying Conoco with my credit card. The Conoco employee says she doesn’t know how to fix the problem. The only solution is for me to pay the guy $3.07, the guy then pumps the remaining $11.93, then pays Conoco my $3.07 and pumps that. She claimed there was no other way, and asks me if I can drive to an ATM to get the money. Being so extremely complicated (note the sarcasm), I explain that the guy can pump the remaining $11.93 and then I can do a pre-pay of $3.07 with my credit card, which he can then pump as well. Then everyone’s paid and everyone’s happy (except for the fact that I’ve just wasted 10 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.)

Sounds simple, right?

Wrong.

Everything goes according to plan. The guy pumps the remaining $11.93. I then pre-pay for $3.07. But, then, rather than send my $3.07 to the guy’s pump, the lady send the $3.07 to a different pump, and the EXACT SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN. She darts out toward the pumps and starts screaming at this poor woman “You haven’t paid, you haven’t paid. Stop pumping fuel.”

I’m not so much fed up at this point, I’m just shocked at the sheer incompetence. The woman asks me to wait until this is all sorted out. I kindly explain that I have now paid for my $3.07 of fuel, and that I’m free to leave. I also mention that I still only pumped 1 gallon of fuel, but that I will be using that gallon to get to a different gas station.

I leave.