One tank of gas costs Spokane man $81 Billion

[Sarge]

One tank of gas costs Spokane man $81 Billion

Posted: Feb 28, 2009 01:13 AM
Updated: Feb 28, 2009 03:41 AM

Also See: One tank of gas costs Spokane man $81 Billion

Story by: Tania Dall / KXLY4 Reporter

SPOKANE - Many people have complained about high gas prices over the years but Juan Zamora has a story that beats them all after he was charged more than $81 Billion for a single tank of gas.
Filling up for gas is routine for Juan Zamora on his weekly commute from Spokane to the Tri-Cities.
"I didn't know if I grabbed the Jet Fuel or the Super I don't know, I couldn't remember," Zamora said.
On Tuesday he stopped at a Richland Conoco station, fueled up and paid for $90 dollars worth of gas. At least he thought he paid for $90 of gas until he got a phone call.
"A pre-authorization at an automated gas station dispenser was approved at $81,400,836,908 in Richland, Washington," the automated recording said.
That's right. Zamora hadn't bought $90 in fuel. According to Paypal he had bought over $81 Billion in fuel.
"I think I dropped the phone once or twice," Zamora said laughing. "I was about ready to look up the president's number to see if I could get a bailout package."
Dumbfounded, Zamora tried contacting his bank, the gas station, even Paypal to figure out what was going on.
"They were arguing did you buy gas at the gas station, and I said yes but not for that amount ... well so you did get gas ... yeah but not for that amount."
No one seemed to believe his story.
"I don't know if they were thinking I was talking about rubles or pesos or what but they just didn't get the amount," he said.
The problem was the charge to his account was very real.
"I broke it down and its like $550 Million a gallon so I don't get a lot of gas mileage and an expensive tank of gas," he said.
The thing is it would be statistically impossible for Zamora to have pumped that much gas. It takes about a minute to fill a car up with about $15 in gas. It would take roughly 10,000 years to pump $81 Billion in gas.
So after spending a lot of time on the phone Zamora finally got his answer and, as you might expect, it all call came down to a computer glitch.
"The mix up was that they used the merchant number for the amount, I guess that's Paypal's explanation of it," Zamora said.
Finances are getting back to normal at Juan Zamora's home, though after this incident he's considering making some changes.
"I'm thinking about signing up for overdraft protection today," he laughed.

[Sarge]

He must have a big gastank, even for 90 dollars.

Breasts,
Sarge

[Blaze]

That would have driven me bonkers. more bonkers, over the edge bonkers, sitting in the corner of a hospital in a fetal position rocking bonkers!

WTH, how could any one not see that error?
And to doubt that it wasn't an error!!!

[FORD]

I know we have the most expensive gas in the country up here, but that's fucking ridiculous.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted by FORD

I know we have the most expensive gas in the country up here, but that's fucking ridiculous.

No you don't...

The FTC (I think) is investigating the pricing in the Buffalo, NY area...it's back up to $2.13 as I speak. Still cheap, but a good $.20 to $.50 a gallon higher than most of America...

[twonabomber]

that's about right, it's 40 cents cheaper here. another dime cheaper on the west side, but that's normal.

[stringfelowhawk]

I love it. The fact that he had to explain to anyone it was a mistake is especially sad. Where would he store $81B worth of gas? WTF did he do, fill up Noah's Ark? Love his sense of humor too. That quip about asking the pres for a bailout package is mint.

Reminds me of that Astranaut Farmer movie. When he's sitting in front of that review board to get permission to launch his ship which is made from an old missle design.
One of them asked him, "How do we know you didn't just build a weapon of mass destruction in your barn"?

And he replies, "Cause if I had you wouldn't of been able to find it"!

Thats some funny shit right there.

[FORD]

Bob Rivers was just talking to this guy on KZOK. He said he called PayPal's customer service line and had to hang up on them twice out of frustration because they were actually accusing him of pumping $81 billion worth of fucking gas.

You would think the Indian call centers would be familiar enough with US businesses by now to realize how much money that is.

And if the root of the problem here is that somebody swapped the merchant number for the amount of purchase then somebody's using a really shitty database