Conoco Union 76, Temecula Fuels Corp. Faulty Fuel Pump Nozzle, Denies the problem Temecula, California

On January 30, 2013 I was getting fuel around 4:30am. The pump was slower than usual so I went inside to buy a snack. When I came back outside I could hear what sounded like water splashing, and was horrified to discover gasoline gushing out onto the car and the pavement. The fuel nozzle had failed to shut off. I grabbed the nozzle, getting gas all over my arm. I immediately went back into the store and reported it to the attendant. He advised me to call the manager, who doesn't arrive at work until 6am. We exchanged phone numbers and I wrote a note to the manager describing what had happened.

Later that morning I called the manager since nobody had called me yet. She said she would call me back after talking this over with the owner. Her call back was a message on my voicemail. The response I got from her is that what I described could not have happened so she was going to do nothing about it. I saved that voicemail.

I'm furious! She basically implied that I was lying! I expected at least a thank you for reporting broken equipment and an assurance that the pump function will be checked. Instead I'm told that I'm a liar! I was not looking for reimbursement of gas money. I was trying to report a hazard.

I went online and researched faulty fuel pumps and found a lot of info on incidents like this. So it's not an impossiblility. It's real that vapor locks around nozzles can fail and fuel to leak past them. There are even some brands that fail more often than others.

I went back to the station the following morning to collect phone numbers for the office of weights and measures ... and any other agency that would be associated with servicing their pumps. Visually it was very obvious that a huge amount of "kitty litter" absorbent had been spread over the fuel spill from the day before. I took pictures. Later that morning when I was sure the manager would be back in her office I called her and asked about the kitty litter. She actually denied that there had been a fuel spill which needed absorbants. But I have pictures! I requested that she have the owner call me but as of this time I have not heard back.

I'm extremely concerned that this gas station has faulty equipment that they are aware of but threy're intentionally hiding and denying the problems. Spilling fuel is dangerous. Getting fuel on human skin from splash hazards are a health issue. They know there is a problem but are trying to brush me off. From their actions I would speculate that there are probably other violations they're trying to hide as well.