Monday, November 3, 2008

That Dinosaur is Sneaky!

So I was on my way up to Sandy from Provo earlier this evening, when my car cried out in hunger. When my tank gets below 1/8th full, it "dings" four times. In car language, this translates to "I need more gas!" or "Feed me, I'm hungry!" or anything else that has four words in it. (The car language is very loosely translated)

Anyway, I happened to be right near the Sinclair gas station right there at the corner of University Parkway and UVU, so I pulled in. The price for regular unleaded was $2.57 - not entirely a good deal, considering I've seen some places with gas in the 2.40's and lower, but I was there and it was convenient.

Well, when I started pumping the gas, I looked at the gauge, which read $2.62 / gallon. Five cents is nothing to get in a huff over, especially when with a full tank of gas it only amounts to about 60 cents difference. When I finished filling up, though, I thought I'd let the gas station people (as they like to be called) know about the discrepancy.

I walked in and notified them of the error, with absolutely NO malice, cynicism, sarcasm, or hate in my voice - just being casual. The kid behind the counter - a gaunt, lanky kid in his early 20's - turns to me with obvious attitude in his voice and says, "Sir, I don't know if you saw when you came walking in here, but there's a sign out there that says if you pay cash you get five cents off. Otherwise it's the normal price."

"Oh, okay." I nodded. "Thanks for the clarification. I didn't see the sign."

He continued with his attitude, looking at me, mouth open, head cocked to the side, "Maybe next time you should just pay cash and you won't have to worry about it."

"Yeah. I'll do that." I left the store puzzled at his insistence on being such an ass. I wasn't about to make his day worse, though. Sometimes, you just gotta let people be jerks, ya know? Maybe he had a real bad day. Maybe his girlfriend just dumped him and his house burned down. Maybe his dog came down with a really awful farting sickness and he's just really sick of the smell. You never know.

One thing, though, stands for sure: I am not a fan of Sinclair's shady price posting.

-Barry

6 comments:

  1. i paid 2.45 today. :-) maverick is the best place for prices i have found.

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  2. i agree- sinclair is SNEAKY!!! The best places are Texaco or Chevron.

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  3. He was probably just jealous of your incredible good looke

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  4. hahaa, yes "looke" as in old English, "Me thinks he be an incredibly goode looke-er"

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  5. Yeah, all of your reasons for him being a douche bag are possible, but I think he's just mad because he's in his mid 20's and he's working at a Sinclair gas station.

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  6. It's amazing, but I've seen multiple chains advertise that you only get the lower price if you pay with cash. Maybe they think we'll buy stuff if we go inside or something. I'm not sure. The other day I was pumping and it had a sign saying that today cash and credit had the same price, and I thought to myself, "should that be like a special? It seems like it always should be the same." Sigh.

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