LEAGUE CITY, Texas – The state is now investigating a League City gas station where a customer said he was overcharged.
“I felt like I was being robbed and it just seemed like they didn’t really care,” driver Garry McAllister said.
McAllister said he drives an SUV, which a takes a lot of gas.
He said this past weekend at a Stripes Sunoco gas station at 1111 W. League City Parkway in League City at pump number 18 he was being charged after he was done pumping.
“The pump runs even when you’re not pumping,” McAllister said.
He said his hand was completely off the gas pump trigger and zero gasoline coming out, but that the gas pump kept charging him more money.
In other words, he said the meter just kept running.
“After pumping like $30 worth of gas, I pulled the pump nozzle out of the gas tank and noticed the meter was still running, it was still showing I was pumping fuel. I had never seen anything like this, except for on Facebook,” McAllister said.
Immediately, McAllister said he went to the gas station clerk to report the malfunctioning machine and get a refund for what he had been overcharged.
“I went inside to let the lady know that the pump what it was doing. She refunded me about 50 cents in cash. She told me she would put a plastic bag over the pump handle,” he said.
McAllister said the clerk promised to put that pump out of service by covering it with a plastic bag so no one else would be overcharged.
But at about 11 a.m. Sunday morning KPRC reporter Jake Reiner went back to check on that same gas pump at the Stripes Sunoco station on League City Parkway and found that pump had not been shut down. There was no plastic bag and the pump was still malfunctioning.
Reiner said he tested it out and began fueling one of the station's vehicles and it did the same thing with as McAllister claimed.
Even with Reiner’s hand off the trigger and no fuel pumping, pump 18 kept charging him.
Channel 2 Investigation team contacted Sunoco’s Corporate Headquarters for an explanation. Sunoco Public Relations Representative Jeamy Molina said that there was an issue with that pump.
Molina said after hearing about the incident on Sunday, it was closed for repairs.
She said that customers who feel that they were overcharged at pump 18 at that gas station are asked to return to the station on League City Parkway with their receipt and they will be refunded the amount they were overcharged.
Repair crews were at the gas station for 2 1/2 hours Monday but out of service bags remained on the pump when they left. A Sunoco spokesperson said a cause of the problem had not yet been determined.
The gas station was last inspected by the state in October 2016 and was found to be compliant in all areas.
The Texas Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures agency is investigating. The department could fine the gas station if it is found to be in violation.
To search for the last inspection on a fuel pump near you, click here. You can set the time range, then enter the business name and city and zip code, then hit search.
To file a complaint about a gas pump, click here.
