The average American purportedly pays $204 a month for gasoline alone. But anyone who owns a car knows how hopeless it can feel when fuel costs start to soar. It happens seemingly out of nowhere, without any rhyme or reason.
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And if you were driving during the summer of 2022, especially in California, then you know how bad those costs could get.
But seeing this video posted by a TikToker named Kay (@kaykoski) might bring a smile to the faces of anyone who’s felt bamboozled by gas prices. It seems that a BP gas station location mistakenly set its pump prices for a particular octane to an unbelievably low rate.
In her viral clip, Kay shows that more than a couple of folks caught wind of this error. She recorded them taking full advantage in a video that’s accrued over 7.1 million views.
Right place, right time
“Whoever was working their shift at BP tonight really messed up,” a text overlay in the video reads.
The video shows a massive, thick plastic container meant for holding fuel on a flat bed truck. It’s completely filled with fuel and several men can be seen ensuring the towing bed is affixed to a pickup truck.
Initially, the scene doesn’t look like there’s anything out of place with the scene. After all, it isn’t uncommon to see folks purchasing large amounts of gasoline in external containers.
However, once Kay pans her camera to the BP gas pump machine’s digital display, the reason for the fueling fervor becomes apparent. And the message in her video’s on-screen caption makes more sense.
Pricing gaffe
She shows the amount of gasoline purchased by the BP patrons. It reads that for a little over 268 gallons, they only paid $85.82.
Kay showcased that BP’s Silver, 89-octane gasoline was going for just .32 cents per gallon.
And it seems that there were local customers who caught wind of what had to have been a pricing error. They took full advantage, ensuring that they’d have extremely low cost gasoline for their own personal reserves.
Upon showing this massive discount on-screen, she panned her phone to yet another flatbed truck. It too, contained a large plastic container of gasoline on the back. But instead of being strapped in, the container was fixed in a metal cage with bars. A man is shown in the video standing behind the container, getting ready to fill up.
Other gas snafus
On June 15, 2022, HuffPost wrote about a gas station manager who was fired for a fuel charging error of their own. John Szczecina, who was overseeing operations at a Shell location in Rancho Cordova, California, purportedly cost the business $16,000 in sales.
The outlet reported he inadvertently put a decimal point in the wrong place. Consequently, during one of the highest costs of gasoline in the country’s history, people were only paying .69 cents per gallon of gas instead of $6.90.
According to local news reports, Szczecina says he takes full responsibility for the error. “I put all three prices on there, except the diesel. The last one kind of didn’t go. So I just took responsibility for it and said, yeah, it’s my fault,” he was quoted as saying. As a result, he was fired and his family launched a GoFundMe in an effort to cover the “lost revenue” from his mistake. Furthermore, they expressed concern over potentially being sued by Shell for the blunder.
Newsweek also wrote in August 2022 that another West Coast gas station accidentally sold gas at shockingly low prices.
The outlet attributed the Arco gas station’s low fuel pricing to a “glitch in the system.” Drivers were able to fill up at just 46 cents a gallon. Owners of the station couldn’t confirm how long the glitch lasted when prompted for questions.
@kaykoski $0.32 per gallon tn nobody was missing that opportunity 🙌🏼🙌🏼 #gettingfired #jail #lawsuit #fyp #fypage #fypシ ♬ SUBWAY SURFERS (Main Theme) – Subway Surfers
Viewers were jealous
Some users who saw Kay’s video expressed jealousy about the BP gas glitch.
“May this glitch find its way to me,” one wrote.
While another appeared to be in a party-pooping mood. They remarked that the transportation methods of these individuals could land them in legal trouble.
“Cool until you get pulled over hauling a 275 gallon tote of gasoline without flammable 3 placards and a hazmat endorsement. That’ll cost you 10k,” they said.
Someone else stated that they didn’t feel too bad for fuel companies when customers take advantage of mistakes like this. “Oh no how will the multi billion dollar gas company ever recover,” one commented.
One person wrote that whoever ended up setting the price at that point probably had their employment terminated.
“As a former gas station employee the price is set by the district. So that guy lost a good paying job that day,” they said.
“For all of you saying it’s Theft or Fraud it’s not lol. The price is advertised. Consumers are legally entitled to the advertised price of things,” another said. “They paid for the gas at price, I didn’t see theft.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to BP via email and TikTok comment for further information.
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