More customers say gas from Everyday damaged their vehicles
More customers are claiming their vehicles needed expensive repairs after filling their gas tanks at the Everyday gas station in the 1800 block of North Circle Drive in Colorado Springs.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 first reported the problem on Oct. 15. A Colorado Springs woman, Tiffany Jorgenson, filled her gas tank on Sept. 29 and drove less than a quarter of a mile before her car shut down. She said a mechanic told her there was water in her gas tank, and it cost about $300 to repair it. She said that for weeks, the gas station’s owner avoided her, and an employee accused her of pouring a bottle of water into her gas tank. She called an inspector, who proved there was water in the station’s tanks. A week after her story aired on KRDO NewsChannel 13, the gas station paid for the damages to her car.
Since then, several other customers have come forward saying their cars were also damaged by water in the gasoline from Everyday and that they haven’t been reimbursed.
One of those customers is Theresa Marquez. She told KRDO NewsChannel 13 that she believes she was one of the first people to see the problem when she pumped gas on Sept. 14. Her car sputtered, then stopped a few miles away from the gas station, she said.
“My mechanic said it was a full tank of gas — full of gunk and water,” Marquez said. It cost $700 to repair damages to her car, she said.
Marquez said she confronted the station’s owner, and he asked her to show proof. She said she showed him a mechanic’s receipt and debit card statement showing her purchase. But the owner denied the problem stemmed from his station and refused payment, she said.
An inspector with the Department of Labor and Employment’s Division of Oil and Public Safety examined the gas station’s pump several weeks ago. The inspection report obtained by KRDO NewsChannel 13 shows that water was found in the premium and diesel tanks. There was almost 5 inches of water in the premium tank and 1 inch of water in the diesel tank. The regular unleaded tank did not show any water.
The problem with the pump has since been fixed, according to a spokesperson and the Department of Labor and Employment. But for several days, customers may have filled their tanks with the harmful gas.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 spoke with the station’s owner, who went by Mr. Lali, on the phone Thursday. He maintained that he would pay everyone who had proof of purchase during the days the inspector found water in the gas tank. He said that Marquez would be reimbursed, too.
A representative with Everyday, Mark Norek, apologized on behalf of the gas station and said he would deliver checks for three affected customers on Thursday, including one for Marquez. He estimated that five people were affected by the situation. Norek urged any customers with proof of purchase and damages, to fax the information to 720-540-5077 with attention to Mark Norek.
