Gas For 33 Cents Per Gallon In WI

Gotta love a bargain

Yep

The owner is pissed because the real price was on the sign.  She has all the names of the people who took advantage of her, we'll see if she does anything about it.

Somehow I doubt there is anything she can do about it.

Actually she could have all of them charged with shoplifting, since the actual price was clearly posted. The people getting the gasoline knew they were stealing from her, they just didn't give a crap.

I doubt it since the store itself is responsible for setting the pumps to the correct price, not the customers.

I agree that the people took unfair advantage of the mistake, but don't think any actual law was broken.

If there was no way for them to know that it wasn't the actual price, no they didn't break any laws, but since the price was clearly marked, and they knew there was a problem, yeah, they actually did. I doubt she'll press charges though.

Sorry, I guess it's the latent stop loss security training coming out. ;~D

Well, actually, if they really wanted to get technical about it the gas station owner was the one in violation of state law. In WI the consumer protection law specifically states that the pump price must be the same as the price posted on the sign. It doesn't say it can't be higher, it specifically states it must be the same.

Of course common sense tells us this situation is the opposite of what that law intends, but technically the station was in violation of that law and the consumers are not responsible for that. I would challenge anyone to show the specific law that these people violated. They pumped gas and paid what the pump said they owed.

Were they being greedy and unscrupulous? No question. Did they actually break a law? No. Any decent defense lawyer could get this tossed out if there were a prosecutor dumb enough to try and file.

I was thinking about that too, there is also the "mimimum mark up" law here in Wisconsin. So, one count each agaist those who knowingly stole gas, and two counts against her. ;~D


Either way, it was a pretty rotten thing for them to do to her... Especially the ones who know her.

True regarding the two counts, but technically nobody stole gas, they paid the price the pump charged them.



I agree 100% there.

Let's think for a second about the .0001% who actually might have needed gas. Minocqua's a pretty small town, and although I didn't count the number of service stations last time I was there, it surely can't be many. And patrons shouldn't be expected to sit out overnight to wait for the error to be corrected.

I would guess that the first person to receive the "discount" probably was there not to defraud but just to fill up. Their poor form was in notifying everyone else of the error; in a community such as Minocqua, you would think they would have the class to notify the owner instead.

Yep.

Nice if you can get it. The price of petrol in Egypt is 1 LE and 10 piastres a litre. That works out at 9 British pence and approximately US 20c a litre. Don't know how they do it!

LOL

Too bad the effects of 33 cents a gallon aren't felt all the way to the middle east....since they hate our dollar so much, maybe they'd like our pennies...

  

I think Wisconsin also has a law about underselling on Gas.  Given what has been coming out of that state recently, I would not be surprised to see the owner prosecute under that law.

They do have a minimum markup law as Ted mentioned, but as it was an honest mistake I doubt the state will prosecute. If they did I think it would be an abuse of the law.

The price on the pump is what you pay. I don't think anyone violated the actual law, except that one about posting the same price on the sign and pump. Though a lot of people violated moral code and ethics, for sure.

Exactly. It isn't theft if you pay what you are actually charged, but they sure won't win any ethics awards.

At the risk of sounding anal on this. Yes, they did break shoplifting laws if they knew the price on the pump was not right. If they knew they were taking advantage of a mistake, they were stealing. If they truly thought the price was accurate, then they weren't.

But the bigger point isn't whether they were stealing or not. It's that these people (many of whom knew the owner personally) were completely willing to take advantage of the mistaking. They didn't care that it was her that had to pay for the gas they took.

I have to disagree (again). If THEY had somehow changed the price it would be a violation of the law. They didn't so it wasn't. I read the statute, and nothing in it applies to this situation. Maybe they need to re-write it, but as written it simply doesn't cover this. They may have violated the spirit of the law, but not the letter of the law which is all that matters in a court of criminal law.



On this we agree.

Hey, I get free gas after a good plate of beans. What can I charge for that

Whatever the market will bear

LOL My wife recently told me about a methane convertor being used in the diary industry to power everything on a typical farm AND put enough extra back into the grid to supply a small, local community.

There are days when I think, with the right convertor, I could power Sydney

The man who invents that......................is not a man I want to shake hands with.   

If you go into a supermarket and the price says "1.99!" and it rings up 5.99, the right price, don't they need to give you the goods at 1.99 because they are advertising it at that price?

Also, who leaves a gas station unattended all night? Isn't that dangerous?