Motorists Sue Over 'Hot' Fuel

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoMoShocks @ Jul 8 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]475078[/snapback]</div>

Just my .02, but if the gasoline that is pumped into the tank on a regular basis is above 60 deg wouln't that raise the temperature of the tank itsself? just curious. and also wouldn't a tank sitting under a 100 degree+ pavement lot want to raise in temperature however much that might be.

 

Sure, a penny here and a nickel there is no big deal, right?

Wrong! That's how money is wasted. I don't know, but it seems odd how these little discrepancies never seem to favor the consumer...

My 8th grade math teacher, who was a cop, told me about this guy he arrested, who worked at a gas station. He'd round 'up' the amount of gas purchased.

Say he sold $3.56 of gas...he'd (this was back in the full serve days) tell the customer, "that'll be $3.65." Usually, he didn't get caught, but if he did, he'd just say, "whoops, must have switched those last two numbers..."

Apparently he made more money than might be expected in this manner...

Sounds a bit like this to me. A penny there and a nickel here adds up to a lot when you're selling millions of gallons of gas to millions of people.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alexstarfire @ Jul 6 2007, 10:11 AM) [snapback]473955[/snapback]</div>

As stated above, it's WAY over $100 per life time. But even if it was $100 per year, time tens of millions of drivers, do the math. Even litigation for amounts of $100 or less per individual is performed as a class. So it's the attornies that will really be cleaning up. I wish it was ME that could pick up THAT referral

As for the McDonald hot coffee suit, their cups FAILED to warn back then. NO warnings. But Mc D knew for a long time that THEIR excess hot coffee temps had severly burned numerous customers, but Mc D blew the victims off. The woman mearly wanted Mc D to pay her emergency room fee, which they refused. You don't punish a multi national company like Mc D with a $1,000 fine. But the reason YOU only got the facts that YOU heard was because those were the facts that the insurance industry published ... so that they could make it easier to heavily restrict negligence payouts via heavy lobbying. Bottom line, except for the insurance industry folks, we all loose. don't kid yourself, A legitimate / successful negligence claim is WAY harder to achieve now days.

 

People are odd, aren't they? We're talking about a few cents per gallon, right? Buy hot gas, and it effectively costs you a few extra cents a gallon than "it should have". Buy cold gas, and it effectively cost you a few cents less a gallon than "it should have".

Now, when gas prices per gallon go up and down every day in a seemingly random and unpredictable way due to market conditions, people take it in stride. But when gas goes up and down in a predictable, easily understood way based on how hot or cold the weather is, people get all bent out of shape about the injustice of it all. The variability in price due to temperature is just noise compared to the variablity due to market conditions.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jul 9 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]475665[/snapback]</div>

Exactly!

Tom

 

All true, but again...it's odd how this stuff always favors the company, and not the consumer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinto Girl @ Jul 9 2007, 05:43 PM) [snapback]475759[/snapback]</div>

That is a very local view. We purchase plenty of gasoline at temperatures lower than 60F.

As for favoring the company, remember that they get to set the price too. The oil companies pretty much hold all of the cards. We like to think free enterprise keeps them in check, but I think the jury is still out on that one.

Tom

 

This is such a ridiculous non-story. Gas prices are higher and consumers are casting about for someone else to blame. Typical. They blame someone else rather than change their own behaviors, like filling up when it's cooler, which if there's really something to this, it might actually save them some gas, and help reduce fumes when pumping, etc. Of course that's asking too much.

I think gas stations should be forced to install the equipment and pass on the costs to all the whiners! :lol: