Dear Editor, It has come to my attention, that many times during the summer months people pull into a gas station in New Jersey on Route 17 or 4, and ask the attendant to fill up. Because people are busy or tired or sometimes go into the store to buy something, they fail to realize that they have been scammed.
When the customer comes out of the store, the gas attendant tells you 25-30-35-40 dollars and you pay – and only when you drive for a while you notice that you are still on empty! What the guy did, was just put the nozzle into the tank but never lifted the lever, so you end up paying what the last guy pumped and you received no gas.
I have personally tested the last Exxon station before the George Washington Bridge – where many people told me they only noticed when they were already on the bridge that they were ripped off. Sure enough, the guy tried to pull the same con job on me. I notified the owner – and told him this better not happen again.
Please go out of your car make sure that the meter states ZERO and that he starts pumping gas. When he is finished, start your car before paying to make sure that if you wanted to fill it up-that its FULL.
Do it every time you buy gas, it costs way too much for you to get ripped off and then get stuck in the middle of your trip.
A concerned reader.
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37 Responses
Where excatly is this Exxon station?
There is no Exxon station in Ft Lee, on the RT 4 approach to the GWB..
note by N.J law there is no self service gas station in N.J.
i was at a gas station in israel and i wanted to pay with a credit card and they said my credit card didnt work so i payed with cash to my surprise my credit card was charged
You can avoid this by paying with a credit card and checking your receipt. I fill up on Route 4 an average of once a week ALL YEAR and I have never had this happen to me. Also keep track of your mileage by resetting your trip A mileage counter.
why didn’t you call the police???
chaim groynim,
this is prob on the palisades.
a few comments / suggestions if i may,
1. this should be reported to the local tv stations so they could do an undercover report to see if its true. if it is, they should chap these mamzerim and get them shut down.
2. pay by CC. if they ##$%$ you, you cancel the charge. they are prob also charged with cc fraud — something which is MORE fun.
I recommend that all those ripped off contact
the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office
at (201) 226-5532.
mark levin:
The letter clearly states: “…into a gas station in New Jersey on Route 17 or 4…:
#c 1: Caveat empor! buyer beware! It is the buyer’s responsibility to see what he is buying! So stay at the pump. Just common sense! What you see is what you get!
I many times used to fill up on Palisades Parkway or on Rt. 80 just before
the GWB, and that never happened. Mistakes can happen,too.
What the letter writer means (for all those who just don’t get it) is that he has heard many reports of this taking place on Routes 17 & 4 – be he personally tried it at the Exxon.
Beware at ALL stations.
I’ve always been curious about why there’s no self-service gas pumping in NJ. When someone first told me about this a few years ago, I couldn’t believe it!
Chaim…
I stand corrected which is why I am not 100% convinced this is true.
If it weren’t for the stupid NJ law that prohibits self serve this incident could not occur. Why does NJ and OR have this riddiculous law anyway?
I have never expierenced this particular scam, but readers should also be aware of the “ran out of $ ” scam.
a fellow came over to me @ the rest are on the gs parkway that he had a flat & needs $28 for the tow truck….. I “graada” gave it to him becuase i felt its worth it, but beware!
If u trust anybody w?o checking ur a tam
UPDATE: Its Englewood, NJ, just a quarter mile before the GWB and a credit card is not always the answer.
Also, the Bergen County’s office does not handle it, but the NJ Attorney generals office was contacted as well as with UPN news.
mark – i agree, something isn’t right with this story..
To all who are interested- various attempts were made to change the law in NJ to allow self service- however- to protect the interests of seniors and handicapped who would have to pay more for full service- it would be a disadvantage to them-
avi, we are already paying more because its only full serve and we are paying extra for that service. If we were to dismantle the full serve and have a seperate side designated for full the way we have it in NY then it would eliminate the problem while accomodating the handicapped.
FYI
There are 4-5 states in USA that it is mandatory for full service. NJ is one of them the reason because there were woman with long fur coats that were caught in fire while filling there car. and thats why NJ has passed it into Law.
this is what you call highway burglary and thats why i’m happy that i do the pumping for my car you could put this on the news and file a lawsuite and make money of off the money you lost from the savage beasts…
insurance is the answer. the insurance in NJ would be prohibitive to the owners if they went to self serve.
i love the nj law of not pumping gas yourself!! and it is the cheapest gast to boot! nj is such an intelligent state!
I don’t know what you are complaining about- filled up today- full service at 2.49 a gallon- no complaints-what do you guys in BP and Flatbush pay?
davsil
2 states,
For a good readup on this:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20040715.html
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=110510
OK.. There is no Exxon station on RT 4 East (towards the GWB) in Englewood or Ft Lee.
There is a very simple solution–when you get into your car after asking to fill, look at your gas gauge. If your car was filled, it will read full. If it does not say full, then you know right away something was wrong and can call the person on the spot. Why should it take several minutes of driving to notice this?
Can happen anywhere. I’ve been told where the attendant clears the meter so you don’t know what the total cost was, and then charges the credit card…
chaim yankel and mark levin you guys seem to have plenty of time at hand maybe just sit down and learn some mussar, yom hadin is around the corner.
When you fill up,the attendant has to give you a printed receipt from the gasoline pump when he asks for the payment. So if there is no receipt,don’t pay.
Never had this problem in all my years.
madness! in england we pay after we fill inside the store… arent u americans supposed to be advanced? we even have pay at the pump using a debit or credit card…. get ur act together!!!
chullent is the way to go lol
It’s called ‘hanging the pumps’ Although I never did this, it was always a known thing when I was a ‘pump jockey’ back in the early eighties. There is nothing new under the sun.
shaffenhausen : Thanks for the advice. I will now be thinking of you throughout Elul.
BTW — I stand corrected, there is 1 Exxon station on RT 4 East, in Englewood.
It is the one that graciously allows a sign on its property that reminds people to buckle-up and say T’filas HaDerech.