Argument for Air
“California law requires this station to provide free air and water for automotive purposes to it’s customers who purchase motor vehicle fuel.”
This is what is supposed to be posted at all gas stations in the state.
As I pumped gas today I noticed that one of my tires was low. When finished, I drove over to the the air pump and went inside to collect a token for the machine.
“Odds are they’re out of tokens, just like the last 4 times I’ve tried to get a token from this place.” I thought
As I walked in, I greeted the attendant sitting at the register.
“Hello! How are you today?”
“Just fine, how can I help you?” He said.
“I just need a token for the air pump.”
“Well we’ve run out of tokens, but you can put a quarter in the machine.”
“Um…I was under the impression that California law says…” I tried responding but was cut off.
“Yeah I know California says you get free air, but we’re out of tokens.”
“You were out of tokens the last 4 times I tried to get air from you.”
“The guy only comes in on Wednesdays.”
“Well Wednesday was yesterday dude. Are you’re telling me you only have tokens 1 day out of seven?”
“Well they don’t last long.” He responded.
“Well could you at least give me a quarter for your machine?”
“I can’t give you a quarter, sorry.”
“I just put $42 into your pumps over there, and you can’t even give me 25ยข for the air you’re mandated to give for free?”
He rifled through the drawer in front of him, then through his own pockets and pulled out a quarter.
“I can’t give it to you from the register, so I’ll give it to you out of my own pocket. Here.”
“Thank you very much.” I responded.
California provides a 1-800 hotline to report stations that are out of compliance with the law. Fines for non-complying stations are $250 per valid complaint, and $50 per day they are out of compliance.
The attendant should not have had to shell out a quarter for this station. I intend to report them to the state as soon as I can.
The hotline is (800) 356-7057 just in case you were wondering.