State Budget constraints impact gas pump inspections

By Mollie Halpern
Investigative Reporter
Published: May 13, 2008

How do we know each pump is giving us that full gallon?
It’s an issue that’s fueling concerns with driver and advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog.
John Simpson says, “If you’re not having regular inspections it is possible that people would knowingly tamper with the pumps to rip off the consumer.“
WSLS 10 On Your Side has learned that the state is down five inspectors because of budget cuts.
Investigative reporter, Mollie Halpern, discovers that means the state isn’t being as aggresive as it could be.
Gas prices are climbing High, higher and even higher.
WSLS 10 on your side went on a road trip, visiting nearly a dozen gas stations from Roanoke to Troutville.
Everyone pulling up to the pumps agreed, gas prices are…
T.J. Lowe, a driver says, “they’re outrageous, outrageous.“
As prices rise, so do the number of complaints to the Office of Product and Industry Standards.
It is responsible for inspecting equipment like gas pumps - so drivers get what they pay for.
But, WSLS 10 On Your Side discovered the state had not yet inspected the newly installed pumps at this Kroger’s gas station in Roanoke’s town square.
When we told drivers who were filling up their tanks there, they weren’t happy about it.
A driver who wished to remain anonymous says, “I wanna make certain i’m getting what i’m paying for and the state has always come in and inspected the pumps for that, why are they slacking off now?“
The grocery-store chain had the new pumps up and running back on March 28th, and then notified the state about it.
The state tries to inspect new and repaired pumps within 30 days, since those pumps aren’t always correct during their “breaking-in” period.
Will Fritz, the regional supervisor, says “We want to inspect new devices as soon as they’re installed to ensure those devices are correct because that’s the primary point of entry into the consumer market.“
Kroger says its own inspectors calibrated the pumps, but it expects the state inspectors to do their tests sometime between now and September.
That means it could be 6 months before the state inspects those new pumps.
WSLS 10 On Your Side asked the state the reason behind the delay.
Fritz says, “certainly the time frame that we do the inspections is not as frequently as we’d like but because of our restrictions, and limitations on resources that does not always happen, but that is our goal to inspect those new devices.“
There’s no law that requires the state to inspect new or old pumps within a certain timeframe.
The law used to mandate annual inspections.
But because the state couldn’t meet its own requirements, the law was changed in 2005.
Now the law reads, “it shall be the duty of the commissioner to inspect and test on a periodic basis as he deems necessary…“
Only 8 inspectors cover 48 localities in Southwestern Virginia…leaving lapses of between 18 to 24 months between inspections.
Fritz says, “i think we could certainly be more effective as an agency if we had more human resources.“
We joined compliance safety officer, Bill Upshaw at an inspection at this Botetourt County “stop-in”.
None of the stations in the county has been inspected since September 2006.
Bill Upshaw says,“We’re trying to test to see if this meter on the mid grade is accurate at 5 gallons.“
Of the 36 pumps, 8 were rejected because they weighed in favor of the customer.
But sometimes it’s the customer who stands to lose.
From July 1st, 2007 through March 31st of this year 15-percent of gas pumps were rejected for measurement errors in roanoke county alone.
The pumps are used over, and over and over again, and the natural wear and tear impacts how much they pump out. Another reason consumer advocates say Virginia should have a regular inspection law.
But, there’s no movement among lawmakers to put annual inspections back on the books.
So, inspectors say they are committed to do what they can, with the resources they have.
And that consumer complaints are their top priority.
If you’d like to file a complaint, you can call the Consumer Protection hotline at 800-552-9963.
Or go to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov