Florida gas station makes $10,000 mistake

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By Nestor Mato – NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WBBH) - A North Fort Myers couple says a gas station made a major mistake when they swiped their credit card.

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Susan Bower says she's gone to the Valero at US-41 and Hancock Bridge Parkway for years, but now she will never go back.

In May, she says she and her husband stopped there as they usually did to pump gas.

Bower told us they swiped their credit card for about $20 worth of gas. The next day they tried using the same card but were alerted they were over their credit limit.

The culprit? A $9,949.36 charge at Valero. That is 27,000 gallons worth of gas!

"It was shocking. I mean, it's just like how did that happen," said Bower. "We normally don't look at our receipts, you just assume you're going to be charged whatever you put your credit card in for."

Bower says she went back for a refund the next day but found out it was not that simple.

"The lady came here the next day, I gave her the receipt and I wrote down everything she need, and I gave her our head office phone number," said Robi Kan, the gas station manager.

Kan says the money goes into a corporate account.

Bower says the problem took more than a week to fix.

"They should've picked the ball up and taken care of that. Customer service," said Bower.

She says the gas station did not own up or help her solve the problem sooner and wants more compensation.

We spoke to a representative of Valero's district offices who apologized for the delay. She told us the money was returned as soon as possible. She also questioned Bower's bank for allowing such an outrageous purchase in the first place.

"The machine could happen sometimes, but we apologize for that and we returned that money," said Kan.

Bower says the closed credit card had points on it for a car rental, which she wants Valero to pay back.

The Valero representative says Bower has her money back and as far as they are concerned, it's over.

They say the glitch has been fixed.