Inspectors Making Sure Customers Don’t Get Ripped Off At The Gas Pump

By ABC-7 Reporter Darren Hunt

EL PASO, Texas – With today’s gas prices, do you ever wonder if you’re getting what you paid for?

ABC-7 tracked down one of the guys in charge of checking those pumps, a senior inspector from the Weights and Measures Agency, a branch of the theTexas Department of Agriculture,that regulates fuel pumps in the state and determines, who’s accurate, and who’s not.

The inspector, Mario Saavedra, uses a device called a “five gallon prover” to prove that pumps are accurate. After pumping five gallons into the metal container, he checks to make sure it’s within six cubic inches, or about six tablespoons, of the correct amount.

“We don’t find a lot of discrepancies, but we do find some that are giving too much gas and some that are doing both,” said Saavedra, who’s been with the department for 27 years. “It goes both ways.”

Saavedra said there are three things you can do to make sure you’re not getting ripped off a the pump.

First of all, check the Texas Department of Agriculture sticker on each of the pumps, and every one has them. Second of all, make sure the pump is completely zeroed out before you start pumping. Lastly, get out a calculator after you pump and calculate to make sure you got the proper amount of gas.

“The legislature mandates they are inspected for calibrations every four years, but the device has to be registered every year,” Saavedra said. “We can come out sooner than that, if there are complaints or if they are concerned about that device or business.”

That’s reassuring to drivers already being hit hard by rising gas prices.

“People want their money’s worth if they’re paying for something,” Elgin Charles said as he filled up in East El Paso Wednesdasy. “They want to get everything they’re paying for. So for it to be adjusted wrong, that’s kind of scandalous.”

Anyone who suspects they are not getting the gas they paid for can report it by calling the Texas Department of Agriculture’s local number at 859-3942. If you want to see a list of stations statewide that are more than twice the amount out of compliance, click here.

ABC-7 found one El Paso station on that list, the Circle K at Redd Road.