I woudn't rush there and gas up - there's no way a $3 a gallon discount is intentional, and it's not like it's a loss leader or any of the other reasons why something might be discounted. Given that the station owner is losing $30 or so per tank of gas, if I were the first to notice, or were to hear about it, I'd call the manager (especially given that in a small town, odds are good I know him). This is a good situational ethics question - at what price point does a person become willing to take the discount. For me, I'm certainly willing to accept a free soda, given that it will take more than the soda is worth for me to try to track down who to give the money to (and also given that the owner of the machine has certainly gotten money without dispensing a soda before).
Since everyone who bought gas paid with a credit card, the owner of the gas station certainly knows who the 42 people who got the reduced price gas are. In his shoes, I'd go to each of them and say "You got $X worth of gas that you didn't pay for. You can either pay me that much, or you can see your name up on the list I post at the station."
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Date: 2007-12-10 03:47 am (UTC)This is a good situational ethics question - at what price point does a person become willing to take the discount. For me, I'm certainly willing to accept a free soda, given that it will take more than the soda is worth for me to try to track down who to give the money to (and also given that the owner of the machine has certainly gotten money without dispensing a soda before).
Since everyone who bought gas paid with a credit card, the owner of the gas station certainly knows who the 42 people who got the reduced price gas are. In his shoes, I'd go to each of them and say "You got $X worth of gas that you didn't pay for. You can either pay me that much, or you can see your name up on the list I post at the station."