Quartzsite, AZ -- It was a typical night at the truck stop: Prices 24 miles closer to California were higher, so it seemed half the country decided to fuel up in Quartzsite.

We waited in line with the rest of the masses yearning to be free, and finally it was our turn at the pump with our little runabout car. After the pump nozzle had been duly inserted in the filler neck and that costly liquid gold dispensed, the nozzle gave its typical "click and bump" signifying a full tank. As was his habit, the driver did a quick glance at the pump meter to find out how much the family wallet had been lightened.

The "click and bump" made by the fuel nozzle was nothing in comparison to the neck snap and eye pop--with the nozzle "stopped"--the pump meter kept gaily running higher and higher. It seemed impossible, so the finicky fueler pulled the nozzle out of the filler neck--and calling the car passengers to attention, all could see clearly that no fuel was coming out of the nozzle, and yet the meter continued to rack up higher purchase prices.

What gives here?

The Arizona agency tasked with overseeing fuel pump accuracy calls the phenomenon "meter creep." It has a close companion whose name is "meter jump." Mr. Jump happens when you turn the fuel pump on, but the meter begins to register a purchase before you squeeze the dispenser handle. Both Mr. Jump and Mr. Creep are the bane of fuel purchasers.

It seems creep and jump aren't all that uncommon--at least not in the Grand Canyon State. By its own accounting, the Arizona Weights and Measures agency says that in a bit less than a year, 9% of pumps it inspected were faulty, half of those were taking customers to the cleaners.

But area paper, The Arizona Republic says it found the statistics were even worse when looked at over a longer time frame. The paper looked into the agency's records and says it looked at a year and a half worth of inspection reports. Nearly 25% of pumps inspected had either meter creep, meter jump, or just plain delivered less fuel to the customer's tank than the meter indicated.

What makes the situation for Arizona fuel customers even more frightening is the fact that the state only gets around to inspecting all of the fuel pumps in the state about once every three years--a record that puts it 49th in frequency of pump inspections. Only Texas gets around to checking out its pumps less often. 

What's a fuel customer to do? Watch the pump closely. Turn the pump on, and wait before you squeeze the dispenser handle. Does the meter register fuel delivered? And when you get done pumping, hang on a moment to see if the meter keeps running. If it happens, make a note of the date, time, location, and pump number (as well as the fuel grade or type). Report the incident to that state's agency that supervises fuel pump accuracy. In Arizona, a fuel station with bum pumps can be fined up to $500 for each inaccurate pump.

Of course, you can also complain to the station manager. We did. He gave us a nickle, a dime, and said he'd immediately shut the pump down to have it checked out. We stuck around to see if he would. Ten minutes later, and the pump was still waiting like a Vegas slot machine to take some other sucker's money.

FOLLOW UP: After this story appeared on-line, we got a phone call from a Weights and Measures inspector with the State of Arizona.

The inspector said he'd visited the truck stop earlier today (July 14) and he found the pump to "creeping" nearly a week after we'd told the truck stop manager about the problem.  The inspector told us about his conversation with the manager:

"I told the man, 'I understand the customer told you the pump wasn't working right, and you said you'd shut the pump down.  Why did you let it go?' And the manager told me, 'Because I wasn't sure he [the customer] was right or not.'

"So I told him, 'Maybe you'll believe him after you get the fine!'"

The fine for a defective pump in Arizona is up to $500.  Remember the old rule? "The customer is always right!"

Photo david drexler on flickr.com

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2008 RVers Friend