CHICAGO -- The Chicago Department of Consumer Services (DCS) recently cited a city gas station for overcharging customers 40 cents more per gallon. Acting on several consumer complaints, inspectors completed an investigation of Stambolics Shell and cited it with 30 counts of violating the city's ordinances barring deceptive practices and prohibited acts, said Norma Reyes, Consumer Services Commissioner.
"Consumers are paying historically high gas prices right now, and it's always unacceptable that a station is charging more at its pumps than it is advertising," [image-nocss] said Reyes. "Every drop of gas that is paid for should end in up in the tank."
According to Reyes, the station was charging drivers full-service prices without an attendant dispensing gasoline. "Our inspectors watched three cars pull next to the full-service pump, where prices are 40 cents more per gallon. The drivers pumped their own gas, received no services from an attendant, and paid the higher cost," she said.
While the pump did have a sign that says full service is only available from 2 p.m. to midnight, the inspectors visited the station at noon, and noted cars being charged the higher price, Reyes noted.
At an October 19 administrative hearing, the defendants were granted a request for a continuance until November 9, said a report in the Edgebrook-Sauganash Times Review. If the administrative law officer hearing the case eventually finds Stambolics guilty of the 30 infractions, the station's owner can be ordered to pay fines and other penalties. Fines range from $50 to $500 for each count, in this case possibly totaling as much as $15,000. That is unless the defendant works out a disposition with the city attorney, pleads liable and pays a likely mitigated fine.
John Dombrowski, the station's attorney, said the single full-service pump on which city inspectors claim to have observed customers pumping their own gasoline was clearly marked as full-service. If someone did not receive the service for which they were paying, he said it was not a deliberate attempt to cheat customers. There's no deceit or deception on the part of the filling station, he told the Times Review.
Dombrowski added, After this, the station decided just to do away with the full-service island, so this wouldn't happen again.
In addition to investigating complaints, DCS inspectors routinely check gasoline pumps. More than 10,000 dispensers in Chicago have been tested and certified during the first six months of 2005, said the department. During these inspections, City inspectors found that more than 99% of all pumps were functioning correctly. More than 150 citations were issued, with most of the violations related to business issues, such as invalid licenses or allowing new equipment to be used without inspection.
Inspectors test an estimated 21,000 pumps operating at the more than 500 Chicago stations every year. If a pump is cited for inaccuracies, a citation is issued and the pump is taken out of service until the problem is solved and the pump passes re-inspection.
In 2004, City inspectors started using new measuring equipment that allows for more accurate pump measurements in less time. The device pumps five gallons of gasoline into a transparent cylinder. If the pump and the cylinder display both read the same, the pump is operating properly and certified for use.
As reported yesterday in CSP Daily News, three stations in New York were charged with overcharging customers and for octane fraud.
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