All these pumps have been shown time and again to be rigged to short drivers a gallon or more each fill up --- but government fines are way too small to matter to gas stations --- also these fines are given out far too infrequently -- a few times a year -- stations make more in a few hours shorting customers than these tiny fines ever amount to -- so think about that when you a tipping these guys a buck or two!

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IIRC, you can thank AAA for this, they've insisted in Trenton that if stations get rid of the gas jockeys they must lower the prices. It's been an impasse for years. And Oregon has no self service too.

Most of the time I've tried to pump my own the pump needs a code to unlock. I've given up.

This was a no brainer when I was a kid working at a gas station after school - It happened from time to time, so we would get a hose and bucket which you could measure and siphoned it out from their tank.
My experience was that many motorist would (scam) lie and try to hoodwink staff at the gas station and it happen more often during high unemployment or a turn in the economy.
Gas theft from parked vehicles is most likely on the increase as is 'drive-offs' at self-serve stations in todays climate.

Simple solution to avoid this from happening again--Pump your own gas. That's what I do.

Legally, you received the goods, there's really no way to return or remove it, so it's now yours and you have to pay for it otherwise it could be considered theft. Involving police would result in a he-said she-said and your advice would be to never go back to that particular gas station again.

By the way, I have a diesel and for that I always get out and pump. I wish everyone would do this, or at least attempt to. NJ is the only place where we don't pump and we lose a level of control that way.

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That part may be a little hard if you're paying with a debit or credit card.

and don't pay the guy jeez

For what it's worth, next time this happens (& hopefully it won't) just get out of the car & shut the pump off.

I've had this happen at stations all across the state. They somehow "no speak a the English" well when you ask them to stop the pump. I had $50 in my checking once and it took 46 to fill my tank when I asked for 20. Then I didn't have enough money to hold me over until I got paid and wouldn't reimburse me because "the transaction went through, you had enough money."

You got pwned, sadly.

I went to the Exxon station on 18th and Jersey on Thursday. I tell the guy "$20 regular" and I give him my card. He punches in the info and walks away.

I notice the pump doesn't stop at $20. And on closer inspection I realize he's filling my tank with a higher octane. I start yelling for the guy to come back. He comes back and I tell him I wanted $20 regular. He filled my tank with higher octane and it cost me almost $50.

He tells me in broken English that I said to fill it up with premium. WTF?!

It's not technically theft since I got the gasoline but what if I had had only a $20 bill on me?

I've never had this happen to me at this station before. Was it an honest mistake? Possibly. Does anyone know what my rights are when this happens, especially since you can't pump your own gas in NJ?