Unsafe pumping at the 76 Gas Station

OK I just found this because this same thing happened to me. I went
inside of the station to report it and they just looked at me like I
had spilled gass all over the ground and myself on purpose. I had to
pick up my kids at school so I made it very clear that it was a busted
nozel at fault and left. I showered and washed my clothes ASAP, but
it did take at least 20 min. to pick up my kids (driving with the
windows open all the way so that the car would not become a killing
jar) and to get back home. I have been pumping my own gas for more
than 20 years and never had such a result before. It was like the gas
had too much pressure for it to stay in the tank (I always check that
I have set it in properly befor squeezing the trigger and I did so
this time too). The shut off did not trigger as it flew out of the
tank, out of my hands, all over me and finally landing on the ground.
I had to pick it up and phisically release the trigger to get the
gasoline to shut off.

In hind sight I should have called 911. I do not trust that the gas
station fixed the problem. I do not know how dangerouse the amount of
gas that sprayed all over me was realy, though trust me I was nervouse
and stayed away from open flames etc.. Were the fumes a danger? Did
my skin absorb the fuel and chemecals and I might have other things to
worry about?

It seems that GAs stations should be required to provide proper
information and assisitance when these things happen, or call and
angency who will. All they did was look at me like I was crazy and
start cleaning up the spill on the ground. I thought at the time that
this meant that there was little or no danger to myself.

When I tried to look up online to learn what one should have done in
this situation google only listed articals about people who had been
doused with gas and then set on fire on purpose. No government or
customer service information was offered! Good to know that the big
oil companies care so much! After much searching, I found this.
Thinking about it this must happen fairly often given the number of
gas pumps nationwide.

I did find instructions on a University website that said that if this
happened while using the campus pump (for campus vehicles) they would
have you shower and give you something clean to wear. Neither were
offered at the local Arco!!!

I'm not sure a lawsuit would net much, not enough to make it worth the
hassle, anyway, because there was no injury or lasting damage done
(fortunately!). There was only the added inconvenience of having to
go home, shower, and change, and show up to work late. Now all of
this I admit is a pretty big inconvenience - I hate to show up to work
late because I feel like I've lost control of the whole day then - I'm
just telling you how the courts would probably view it. My family
came just that close to being killed when they were T-boned in a
Caprice by a full-size pickup. My (then) wife, who was driving, had
huge bruises on her thighs, and she was on the opposite side from the
impact. My daughter was on the impact side and she was picking pieces
of safety glass out of her scalp a year later. My son was just banged
around a bit. My wife got 35k, my daughter 2k, and my son 1k and, not
to pooh-pooh what COULD have happened to you, it didn't, and that is
how the judge will look at it. Plus the witnesses are unknown, and
the cashier probably didn't see it, especially if this was one of
those stop-n-rob convenience stores.

You reported it to the clerk, which is good, but you should follow up
with the manager; he is the one that would be most likely to refund
your money, and you deserve to be refunded for the gas that went on
you and the ground; I don't know as much action will come from this
letter. The check valve in that spigot is obviously flaky, and that
is potentially dangerous, and I am glad you weren't seriously hurt.

When I fuel up, I always stand right there in case something like this
happens, but it SOUNDS like maybe that wouldn't have helped in this
case.

u dont care if the pump was fixed.. u just want $$ lol.

I thought about this letter while filling up today. It sure would have
been nice to set the nozzle where it would cut off when full and get
back in the warm car. I stood outside and pumped my gas manually just
because of this letter.

Glad to know it was fixed. That is a hard lesson learned. I may
start doing the manual thing too. That is probably the same person
that spends hours on computers coming up with viruses just to tick
people off. Some people, huh (insert rolling eyes here).

On another note, I was pumping gas yesterday and looked all around for
the emergency stop button. It was nowhere in sight.

Are you writing this from heaven? Because, in reality, you'd either be
dead, or suing 76 to it's last ICEE!

Are you writing this from heaven? Because, in reality, you'd either be
dead, or suing 76 to it's last ICEE!

I would want to go home and shower too. I don't blame Tonia one bit
for that. Gas can burn the skin without being lit. I have psoriasis
and the slightest thing causes burning/itching.

I have not put much thought into the red stop button either, but I
have noticed one on the Chevron gas station on HWY 7 South in Oxford,
MS. It is on the building, not at the individual pump. After reading
this, I will make more mental notes on knowing were the emergency stop
is.

My ex SIL was an assistant manager at a gas station for many years and
her manager was hardly ever around, even in emergency situations. She
had to handle more than 95% of the problems that came to light.

The summer after I graduated high school, I worked in a gas station.
I would like to clarify a few things.

1. An employee is not able to handle a gas refund. The manager must
handle the situation and trust me when I say that most managers at gas
station avoid the customers as long as possible because it is a huge
hassle to refund that money.

2. She didn't say that all of that gas spilled onto her. The nozzle
didn't stop. It sprayed onto the ground and on her. With the flow of
the gasoline coming from the nozzle, 3 or even 4 gallons could have
easily spilled out by time she was able to stop the pump.

3. There is protocol that is followed when there is a gas spill and it
normally does not involve calling the fire department. Inside the
station there is a solvent that is used to soak up and neutralize the
gasoline. This is then swept up and toss in the dumpster.

Having first hand knowledge of how this stuff happens and works I
completely believe the OP. Did you seriously expect her to sit there
covered in gasoline until the manager got there?? My boss lived an
hour away when I worked at the gas station. And even still, getting
him to come in for something like this was next to impossible. Many
gas stations require you to take a safety course before you start your
first day. You spend a day taking an online course and quizes to
ensure that you know what safety measures need to be taken. While I
believe that the letter could have been more well written, it is
certainly a valid complaint.

After I pitched the Hissy Fit of all Hissy Fits demanding every
government agency in the world to investigate, I would have left and
went home to shower also. I have had gas on me. Not the most
pleasant experience. And I would have been concerned about becomming
a human torch, if someone were smoking near me. I would have been
less concerned about my money and more concerned about my health and
safety. I would have also went right back over there once I was
clean. And demanded to speak with the management! I understand being
a manager, I was one for too many years to count, however your company
would have understood your delay.

You really should have made a bigger deal. If it happend to you,
chances are it will happen to someone else, and it could be much
worse.

And I have never noticed a gas shut off valve on the pump. Near the
door of the station or in the station but not at the pump. Would not
be very smart to put a gas shut off valve on the pump when the thing
goes up in flames now would it?

Query - Your gas cost $30 something and your tank was full at $23.
Last time I checked, $30 something less $23 was about $7. Why are you
requesting a refund of $10?

Unless you meant to say your gas cost close to $33... Which imho is
much different from "$30 something" which sounds to me like an amount
up to $30.99. Perhaps you should re-write to make this a little more
clear.

To not address this with the station personel at the time of the
incodent, paying for the gas all over the pavement, was a huge
mistake. Even if you were in a hurry, you've let them off the hook.

Yikes. I guess this is why we're not allowed to pump our own gas in
NJ. I hope you pursue it to make sure they do fix that pump. I'm glad
you weren't hurt.

Here is a pretty good read on the topic of Fuel Dispensing etc.

http://www.guangmingdaily.com.cn/technique/fuel_dispenser_t20060313.ht
ml

The manager was not in and the address is 8971 Highway 64 the 76 cirle
K. I did not wait for the fire department. I had to be at work and I
had to go all the way back home and take a shower and change clothes.
I will check back tomorrow to see if the hose was fixed.

You're very lucky. Much Much worse could have happened...all it takes
is static electricity or a spark from a cell phone etc... to ignite
it... if it had gone in your face and you wear contact lenses....it
could have caused even more damage.


I never gave it much thought, but will be sure to look for the
emergency cutoff button and ask if there's some kind of precautions in
place to handle things like this...
I'm glad you shared this letter and hope something good comes from it.

I was sitting here thinking about how it could have gotten stuck and I
wonder, ya know how some pumps have that little latch that if you push
the handle all the way in, it catches it so that you don't have to
hold the handle the whole time you're refueling? And it snaps off when
your tank is full? If you want to stop before your tank is full, you
have to be very careful to fully push the handle in again to disengage
the latch. I could see someone unfamliar with that pulling the nozzle
out of the tank and it spewing $10 worth of gas because they're
unaware of the latch.... I don't know, just a though.

Even at $3/gallon. I'm not buying that she just mildly walked away
and didn't try to follow up, at all, that day. In order to get the
pump to run on it's own she HAD to have pushed that lever down. We're
supposed to believe she doesn't know how to stop it by squeezing the
handle?
I'm just not convinced.

Tina is right - - you should have immediately called the fire
department as this is a major safety hazard. It appears that you told
the cashier what happened and now want to know that the pump was fixed
and "my $10 something dollars back". A cashier's job is just that - -
to accept money. You should have escalated this to someone much
higher.

By the way - - what is the location of the station where this
happened? It's pretty tough to figure out which pump spilled over two
gallons of gasoline on you without this info.

What did the store manager say? What did the fire department say?
You DID call both, right?