Pump Prices Jack Up Number of Drive-Offs

Retailers try to stem the flow of motorists who fill up and leave without paying as gasoline prices continue creep up.

March 11, 2011

ARDEN HILLS, Minn. - Drivers who are upset about the price of gasoline sometimes deliver a message to retailers by filling up and driving off without paying, KARE.com reports. One Arden Hills Shell station experienced three drive-offs within a two-hour window.

"It??s a problem. We get a couple a day," said owner Ted Brausen. "We bring in extra people, so that??s an extra cost just to watch for drive-offs."

To combat the drive-offs, cashiers jot down license plate numbers prior to pump authorizations, but most motorists pay at the pump with credit or debit cards. The station works with the Ramsey County Sheriff??s Department to find drive-off drivers.

"Ramsey County investigates all drive-offs," said Commander Joe Paget. He said the 22 retailers that fall under his jurisdiction have seen an uptick in the number of drive-offs this year.

"It isn??t only the price of gas, it has to do with the economy, people being out of jobs," said Paget. The department has a program that provides retailers with a direct link to deputies, which enables the law officers to catch around 75 percent of the drive-off offenders.

"Those folks are either going to court and doing restitution on what they owe the gas stations or they're walking in the door, paying for the gas and paying an additional $30 service fee," said Paget.

Brausen estimated that in 2010, drive-offs cost his station $4,000. "When demand is down, gas is up, and sales in the store go down, so it's a vicious cycle," he said.

Late last year, the Appleton, Wis., police department alerted retailers that it would stop investigating drive-offs.

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