The Price at the Pump May Be Just the Half of It

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Sep 10th 2005, 4:16 am

elfman

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Location: Sparta NJ

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The Price at the Pump May Be Just the Half of It

This to me is proof that America has been living in la-la land with regard to petrol prices: Most gas station pumps with mechanical dials can only display a maximum price of $2.99 a gallon, forcing states to introduce emergency legislation allowing retailers to display prices by the half gallon. And it can cost $300 to convert a pump to display up to $9.99.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/national/10pumps.html

"Something similar to the recent headache has actually happened before: in the 1970's, when a number of pumps stopped at 99 cents a gallon"

Sep 10th 2005, 6:53 am

Rompers

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Re: The Price at the Pump May Be Just the Half of It

Same thing is happening in the UK as petrol stations need to add a 4th digit on their signs so they can display prices higher than 1 pound/litre.

Sep 10th 2005, 9:23 am

Englishmum

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Re: The Price at the Pump May Be Just the Half of It

I bought a tankfull of petrol at an old Exxon station last Tuesday (they still had the signs outside stating "Super Tuesdays, 6c off per gallon" although I think they were disregarding that! We have to put premium in our Volvo and the price was $3.46 per gallon. In NJ it's against State law to pump it yourself and an attendant has to do it.

I did a double-take when the pump price was $28.50 and the guy said the charge came to $57....then I noticed in small print on the pump it stated that the pump price was 2 x the amount on the meter.