Talk About Shrinking Margins

$1.10-a-gallon gas mistake costs station owner more than $20,000.

May 19, 2011

WILMINGTON, CA - A computer input error caused motorists to form long lines at a Valero gas station when gasoline was dispensed at $1.10 a gallon, the Torrance Daily Breeze reports.

Station owner Kenny Nguyen said the computer glitch allowed customers to purchase premium gasoline for $1.10 a gallon for nearly four hours last Sunday, which cost him roughly $21,000.

The price should have been more than $4.25 a gallon, and thanks to smartphones and Facebook, word of the error spread quickly.

From 8:30 am to 11:30 am, consumers pumped 7,000 gallons at the discounted rate. Nguyen said the attendant on duty was busy managing the convenience store and the inside register, and that the $1.10 price only showed up on the outside pump.

"There was a lot of traffic," said Nguyen, who wasn't on duty Sunday but came to the store when word spread of the traffic rush.

Nguyen said he hopes customers who took advantage of the unintentional windfall will patronize his food market so that he can recoup some of his loss.

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