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One tank of gas costs Spokane man $81 Billion
Posted: Feb 28, 2009 01:13 AM
Updated: Feb 28, 2009 03:41 AM
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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.
Posted: Feb 28, 2009 01:13 AM
Updated: Feb 28, 2009 03:41 AM
Also See:One tank of gas costs Spokane man $81 BillionStory by:Tania Dall / KXLY4 ReporterSPOKANE - 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.
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