Suspected Pump Jump

One man wanting answers about a gas price increase that he saw even before he started pumping gas. Ken Codiga says it happened twice to him at the Woodland Park Farm Crest Conoco gas station. Codiga said it first happened a few months ago at one of the premium pumps. Codiga says, “Before I got the nozzle to the tank I experienced a nine cent charge already taking place.” Codiga says he didn’t think anything about it, paid and left.

He says it happened to him again at the same station pump last week.. Ken says this time it was at 10 cents. Codiga says he put the nozzle back and went inside to ask the store clerk what’s going on? He says the clerk told him this just happens and I can’t do anything about it.

Codiga emailed KRDO NewsChannel 13 to get answers. I called the State of Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment, Oil Inspection Program. Oil Inspector Rich Holcomb met me at the station, Tuesday morning around 11. He told me about what’s called a pump jump or what’s thermal contraction. The fuel in the tank is buried three feet down in the ground. It has a constant temperature. When it’s pumped through the cold ground and cold lines it could create a pump jump on the meter and the extra price. Holcomb says this could happen in the early morning when the pumps are first turned on and operational.

Codiga says both times he got gas in the early morning and may be have been one of the first customers. Holcomb tested several of the pumps to determine if any had that pump jump phenomenon or if there was an actual mechanical malfunction. The pumps he tested didn’t have problems. Codiga didn’t remember the exact pump that had the problem so Holcomb couldn’t test that specific one.

If you believe you’ve been price jumped or may have been ripped off at the gas pump, remember to jot down the name of the station, address, which pump., what time it happened and call the Division of Oil and Public Safety at 303-866-4967.

In 2011, 249 complaints were registered about gas pumps in Colorado. Of those complaints, 115 were about what some believed were gas pumps not calibrated correctly. Of those only five were bad.