I never thought customer service at a gas station could be so bad I'd be traumatized after the experience. I usually go to this one because it's enroute from work to home, and very cheap for this area. Today, I thought I had more than enough cash with me, so I told the attendant, "Fill up with regular, cash please." As it was pumping, I looked into my wallet and found only $33 and I panicked.
The gas pump stopped at exactly $33. The attendant comes over, reaches for the pump handle, and I yelled, "NO! STOP! DON'T PUMP ANYMORE!" And he kept pumping, as I yelled at him to stop, until it reached $34.
I said, "You should not have continued to pump because I only have $33 for you."
The attendants stood there staring at me, thinking I'd hand over the extra $1. I showed them my wallet, "Look, I seriously only have $33. I'm not even joking. I can't give you an extra dollar."
The guy who counted my money said, "But this is only $33."
I said, "I KNOW. I SAID I only have $33 and you just kept pumping after it stopped pumping. I can give you my credit card and you can charge the extra fee on there if you want."
"We can't do that, we already set it on cash price. We do have an ATM inside."
"But isn't the ATM is going to charge fees?"
"Yeah.. probably only $1."
I felt like I didn't have a choice, so I went to their store, but the door was locked. He comes over to unlock it. I tried out the ATM with my debit card twice, didn't work, so I tried my credit card to see what happened, and still didn't work.
He asks, "is there something wrong?"
"Yeah, I don't think it's working...it's not accepting any of my pins. I'll check my car again to see if I have maybe any change in there."
I went back to my car to dig for change or quarters, but couldn't find any. Then I went back to the store and said, "How about if I just buy something and you can charge an extra dollar?"
He explained something which I didn't really understand because he had a heavy accent. In the end he said, "...and then it would be ok. "Oh, you mean just let it go?"
"NO! You buy minimum $5 and I charge extra $1 so $6...."
I grabbed 2 beverages which were $3 a bottle, obviously overpriced, but I needed to get home soon. I paid them a total of $7 at the store, to make up for the $1, and finally I was able to leave the gas station.
Honestly, I don't think that was a smart move on their end because the amount of time I spent parked at that pump is a loss of more than $1 for them. They could've pumped several more vehicles instead of keeping me hostage during that time. So, I definitely don't recommend going there just to save a few cents. There are plenty of other cheap gas stations in the area. Some may be 2-3 cents more, but I'd rather do that than to go through another traumatizing experience at a gas station.
[This review is also posted for 200 US Highway 1 North because Google Maps is pointing 236 US Hwy Rte 1 at a completely different location on the map, even though my ATM receipt says "236 US Hwy Rte 1". I'm guessing it could be either the same owner using this address since all the reviews here sound familiar, or Google's database is wrong.] read more