Columnist Susan Snyder: Getting our fill of full service

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 8:18 a.m.

How much over the regular pump price should a gallon of gasoline cost at a full-service pump? In Nevada the rule appears to be whatever the traffic will bear, which is why I recently paid $35.25 for three-quarters of a tank.

What the station charged for so-called full service was legal (I call it gouging), but in my eyes it was excessive. It's not my usual practice to use full service, but I was in a hurry and it was the only pump open. No wonder.

It was my responsibility to look at the price on the full service pump, but I didn't. I didn't ask the price per-gallon until I got the receipt and saw the total. My cost was more than $1.20 per gallon over the self-serve price.

How could the station justify the price? It didn't have to. Since Nevada is one of the few states with no laws governing such things, stations can charge whatever they want to, and they do.

During a telephone conversation with the station manager (I never was able to reach the station owner), I asked how they would handle a customer who was unable to pump gas who pulled into full service. The answer? If they use that pump they pay the price listed. Persons who need assistance can have it at the self-serve price only at a self-serve pump.

Of course, disabled consumers would also have to know to honk their horn twice to get such service. According to the person I spoke with, "There is a sign on a pole that says so."

I looked for this elusive sign three different times after hours and never did find it. Perhaps they take this important message off the pole when the station is closed.

Patricia Jarman Manning, director of the Office of Consumer Affairs, said this issue is outside her jurisdiction. Her department deals only with deceptive trade practices. I eventually reached Kevin Coyne, who represents the Bureau of Weights and Measures in Southern Nevada. He'd heard stories such as mine in the past, but as long as the law permits it, it's caveat emptor -- let the buyer beware.

Coyne said gas stations are not required to post any gasoline prices. But if they do, they'd better be accurate, or his office steps in. He recommends that when only self-serve prices are posted, consumers should check the amount on the full-service pump. It must list the correct price for gasoline at that pump. If not, call the Bureau of Weights and Measures at 486-4690.

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