I am returning from a long weekend trip to Dallas on 10/18/09 and I stop off to get gas. I still had a quarter of a tank but wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way so I didn't have to stop again on the way home.
I stopped at Tiger Tote #103 in Corsicana off of 45 S and MLK Blvd. I did the pay at the pump and while my gas was pumping, I was cleaning out my car, throwing out trash. I assumed the pump would stop automatically.
My 6 year old daughter who has special medical needs was standing by the pump because she wanted to help me put it back and put the cap on. Before I know it, gas is spilling everywhere. I fussed at her thinking she pulled it out while it was still going. Then I noticed the handle wasn't being held down and it was splashing on the ground and pouring out of my tank and the dollar amount was still increasing.
I shut it off. Meanwhile, my daughter who is wearing flip flops has her bare feet and the bottom of her pants saturated in gasoline. I calmly go into the attendant and here is how the conversation went:
"Are you aware that your gas pump isn't working properly?"
"Yes, you are the 4th person to complain about that today"
"Really? Did you think of maybe, putting a sign up or a piece of tape indicating that it was not working?"
"Yeah, I am waiting for the manager to do that. I have told him but he hasn't done it yet"
"Okay but are you aware that not only did I pay for a lot of gas that is all over your ground and not in my tank? Not to mention my daughter got splashed by it?"
"Sorry about that. If you would have paid inside, I could have told you but when people pay at the pump, I have no way of warning people"
At this point, I could see the conversation was not going to be productive. Nevermind that she could have stuck her head out and warned me without leaving her post. She could have come on the intercom as well.
I reminded her that not only their delay is wasting people's money but of the extreme safety hazard should someone go by and toss a cigarette. She was able to get an attendant out right away to put out the cat littler on the spill. Not sure why that is any easier than just putting up a sign before it got to this point.
So I did the calculations on my year and make of car, the gallons that my gas tank holds, how much it already had vs. How much it took to fill it up. I then calculated my final cost and it was about $10.00 worth of gas that spilled on to the ground.
In the grand scheme of things, $10.00 isn't even worth my time to write this complaint. However, I am a single mom on a teachers salary. I momentarily punished my special needs child for something she didn't do and now the inside of my car smells of gas and I will need to have it cleaned.
I just wonder of those other 3 complaints prior to me lost money and how many more after me lost money before they got a sign up or fixed the pump.
I think it is a disgrace that they flat out admitted fault but did not attempt to do anything to pay me back for my lost money or inconvenience.
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