A California gas station manager was recently fired after he accidentally set the price of fuel to the wrong price. He set it to just 69 cents a gallon instead of $6.99. The moment went viral locally and people then flocked to the station to take advantage of the deal-of-a-lifetime.
His name is John Szczecina and he managed the Shell station in Rancho Cordova. Like anyone, he made a mistake and accidentally put the decimal point in the wrong place. Instead of putting $6.99, he put 69 cents.
Watch the local CBS’ coverage of the viral event.
The price went viral and people posted about it on social media. Lines started to show up outside of the station to take advantage of the perceived steal.
One of their recent customers said he filled up his gas tank for $14.
At first was thought to be a glitch, but later Szczecina admitted that he put the decimal in the wrong place.
“Well, it was a mistake that I did, you know,” said Szczecina. “And I thought, ‘this is a nightmare. I put all three prices on there except the diesel, but the last one kind of didn’t go right.”
“So I just took responsibility for it and I said ‘yeah it’s my fault, and I’m to blame,” Szczecina said.
The Shell station lost $20,000 from the simple mistake and Szczecina was fired over it.
Now, the the man’s sister is trying to raise the money in a Gofundme campaign so that her brother can pay back the gas station if they sue him. By the publishing of this article, he had raised $5,300.
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However, Szczecina would likely not be held legally liable for the loss says a business attorney named Craig Zimmerman interviewed by KOVR.
“The only way he would be responsible, absent a written agreement, is if he was acting outside the scope of his employment,” contends Zimmerman. “For instance, if his boss said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t ever set the price on that gas pump.’ And then he did.”
This just goes to show how much people are thirsting for cheaper gas. It’s funny, but three years ago, would this have happened when gas was half the price it was now? Would you have run to the gas station if you saw this price? Let us know your thoughts.
