BajaNomad - Short liters at Pemex

Short liters at Pemex

El Jefe - 6-30-2014 at 08:03 AM

There have been several post on this subject, but I just had to pass on what happened yesterday in San Jose del Cabo at the Pemex on the four lane near Palmilla.

So I have the attendant fill my can to the 20 liter mark and look at the pump to see what it says before filling the car. Pump reads 23.2 liters. I point it out to the attendant with a smile and he looks at me straight faced and says, ''when it is hot like this the gas expands."

Oh, that explains it!

:lol:

villafontana - 6-30-2014 at 08:08 AM

Boyle's law!!! :lol:

chuckie - 6-30-2014 at 09:01 AM

I knew that...

weebray - 6-30-2014 at 10:12 AM

Actually he is correct.

Cliffy - 6-30-2014 at 10:57 AM

As the gas expands with heat maybe 19 liters will fill to the 20 liter point!
It's all measured by Specific Gravity with a temperature factor figured in to get the true gallons at a standard temperature. When we get fuel for the tanks at the airport we measure with a dip stick. The dip stick (just like the 20 liter jug) is measured in gallons at a given temp. The gallons go up as the fuel heats.

bajalearner - 6-30-2014 at 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by villafontana
Boyle's law!!! :lol:

No, it is ladrone's law.

villafontana - 6-30-2014 at 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalearner

Quote:

Originally posted by villafontana
Boyle's law!!! :lol:

No, it is ladrone's law.

Yep!

dtbushpilot - 6-30-2014 at 11:13 AM

I have 6 identical gas cans that I use for my boat, I use 5 for diesel and 1 for water. They are white, the kind you see motorcycle racers use with the large threaded cap with a hose on it. They have graduated marks on the side for liters and gallons and being white you can clearly see the fluid level. The water can is pretty much new, hardly ever used while the diesel cans are well used.

I always stop the pump at 20 liters for each can and it is always a couple of liters shy of the 20lt mark, when I have pointed it out to the attendant they just shrug. Recently I started using the new can for fuel and to my surprise 20 liters of fuel on the pump showed 20 liters on the new can. Upon examination I could see that with age and use the other cans had expanded a bit.

I know there are pumps that aren't accurate but try not to put too much faith in the graduated markings on your gas can, they can be off a bit too. I use the new Pemex on the North end of Los Barriles.

bajalearner - 6-30-2014 at 11:21 AM

Interesting explanations.

Cliffy - 6-30-2014 at 11:32 AM

As I mentioned before, I measured all my gas purchases on my last trip down to Loreto. They all showed within what I felt was an acceptable amount of "error" on my can marks. Maybe a 1/4 inch or less on a 5 gallon (19 liter) mark. Could they have all been 1 liter short, maybe, but I doubt it. All the pumps I saw were new electronic ones.

El Jefe - 6-30-2014 at 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cliffy
As the gas expands with heat maybe 19 liters will fill to the 20 liter point!
It's all measured by Specific Gravity with a temperature factor figured in to get the true gallons at a standard temperature. When we get fuel for the tanks at the airport we measure with a dip stick. The dip stick (just like the 20 liter jug) is measured in gallons at a given temp. The gallons go up as the fuel heats.

Yes, looking at my now cool can of gas there are now 19 liters where yesterday at the station it was close to 20. But that is even worse since I paid for 23.2! Can't imagine my can is that far off accurate, but hey my love handles have expanded over the years, why not my gas can?

JC43 - 6-30-2014 at 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by El Jefe

Quote:

Jefe, u r asking the wrong question. The correct question is: How is it possible that my can is getting so empty?

DENNIS - 6-30-2014 at 01:30 PM

Reminds of a time in Tecate. Stopped at a liquor store and grabbed a sixpak of TKT Rojo. Went to the register and the man gave me the price.
When I asked him why it cost more two blocks from where it was made, than in Ensenada, he just looked at me and said, "It's fresher."
Somewhere in Mexico is a book of replies for every occasion. :lol:

chuckie - 6-30-2014 at 01:35 PM

I suggest keeping your cans on ice, that way they will be smaller and you will get more fuel.

Bajaboy - 6-30-2014 at 02:17 PM

Who really cares? I know I don't. It is what it is....

DENNIS - 6-30-2014 at 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajaboy
Who really cares? I know I don't. It is what it is....

Would you feel that way if it happened at a taco stand or the grocery store? Or is it just expected at gas stations.

chuckie - 6-30-2014 at 02:51 PM

Dennis!!!! I got us a money maker! Cans with sliding liter marks! Just adjust the marks on the can to match what you paid for! No mas problema..Be happy!

DENNIS - 6-30-2014 at 03:44 PM

Sounds good, Chuckie. We could sell them to gas stations.

El Jefe - 6-30-2014 at 03:49 PM

Perfect! Feeling better all ready.

Bob and Susan - 6-30-2014 at 04:25 PM

maybe first you should fill the container with a "real" 20 ltrs

then mark that amount on the container

then complain

otherwise no one really knows what you got

liter.jpg - 4kB

Bajahowodd - 6-30-2014 at 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
Reminds of a time in Tecate. Stopped at a liquor store and grabbed a sixpak of TKT Rojo. Went to the register and the man gave me the price.
When I asked him why it cost more two blocks from where it was made, than in Ensenada, he just looked at me and said, "It's fresher."
Somewhere in Mexico is a book of replies for every occasion. :lol:

And, unfortunately, since the major brewery consolidations, the Tecate one buys in the US is brewed in Monterey.

Bajaboy - 6-30-2014 at 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajaboy
Who really cares? I know I don't. It is what it is....

Would you feel that way if it happened at a taco stand or the grocery store? Or is it just expected at gas stations.

The price of gas is constantly changing in the US and I still buy it. I pay the price and move on. Today I put in 300 pesos at the stand here and got 20.3 liters. I could whine about it or go enjoy a beer on the beach. Guess what I chose to do :light:

[Edited on 7-1-2014 by Bajaboy]

DENNIS - 6-30-2014 at 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajaboy
The price of gas is constantly changing in the US and I still buy it. I pay the price and move on. Today I put in 300 pesos at the stand here and got 20.3 liters. I could whine about it or go enjoy a beer on the beach. Guess what I chose to do :light:

I'm guessing you chose to ignore the difference between sales at fluctuating prices, and thievery.

Funny thing, Zac...you don't come off as the corroborating victim type....'til now, anyway.

bledito - 6-30-2014 at 07:06 PM

i hope you did tip the dispensing agent afterward, he probably works for tips and has no control over the pumps output.

DENNIS - 6-30-2014 at 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bledito
i hope you did tip the dispensing agent afterward, he probably works for tips and has no control over the pumps output.

Station attendants are paid.
That said...I never tip for sales. Only for service. Buying gas is sales...not service.
Washing a windshield is service.

Chupacabra - 7-2-2014 at 05:53 AM

I've always found the Pemex in Santo Tomas south of Maneadero to be suspect. I never quantified the amounts but a fillup seems a bit more there...

Lee - 7-2-2014 at 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by bledito
i hope you did tip the dispensing agent afterward, he probably works for tips and has no control over the pumps output.

Station attendants are paid.
That said...I never tip for sales. Only for service. Buying gas is sales...not service.
Washing a windshield is service.

It's your right not to tip. Personally, I think you're cheap.

Mother Teresa said give until it hurts. That's not you.

Like some here who get stuck on being ripped off -- nobody likes being ripped off -- some Pemex stations rip people, MX and gringoes alike. Don't buy there if it bothers you. I consider it the price of doing business -- and plan around not buying gas in Pescadero since I read they short people.

But I do get gas there if I'm going to Cabo and need gas. And because I know some of the attendants there, I tip them whether they wash my windows or not. Pumping gas is a service I appreciate. And I do consider it a service.

BajaRat - 7-2-2014 at 10:25 AM

Buy fuel in the early morning hours when it has expanded the least :light:

I'm sure the under ground tanks temps are pretty stable though. The old Pemex in Viscaino has above ground tanks which expansion has to be considered.

[Edited on 7-2-2014 by BajaRat]

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee

Station attendants are paid.
That said...I never tip for sales. Only for service. Buying gas is sales...not service.
Washing a windshield is service.

It's your right not to tip. Personally, I think you're cheap.

I said, I tip for service. Isn't that what it's all about?
If you feel so effing superior [and judging from your noblese oblige attitude, you do] that you have to go all over Mexico giving gifts to everybody below your station in life...have at it, but I'm not cheap.

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee
Pumping gas is a service I appreciate. And I do consider it a service.

Boolcrap, Lee. It's sales and nothing else. Have the station owner find another way to deliver the goods he sells if he has to put on an apron to fill your tank.
It must be head swelling for you to be such an effing savior...you and Mother Theresa.

.

[Edited on 7-2-2014 by DENNIS]

chuckie - 7-2-2014 at 01:07 PM

Complaining about Short liters, pump scams etc is a tradition in Baja, Have a cold Pacifico and carry on.....Life is way too short to knot your knickers over stuff like that.. :biggrin:

Lee - 7-2-2014 at 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee

Station attendants are paid.
That said...I never tip for sales. Only for service. Buying gas is sales...not service.
Washing a windshield is service.

It's your right not to tip. Personally, I think you're cheap.

We've had this conversation before, Dennis. I call pumping gas service and you don't. Never said anyone is beneath me. Make it up as you go along, OK?

I'm not superior to you if that's what you're referring to. And you're not alone here because there are other's like you.

Cheap, and emotional. Justify it however you want. You probably short the bag boy at the mercado.

Not a problem for me.

Take a lesson from BillM. He once wrote an enlightened response to tipping, and generosity.

After all, it is about generosity, isn't it.

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee

After all, it is about generosity, isn't it.

Giving gifts, only because you have it, does more damage to one's initiative than you even realize. All you have to do, Lee, is look at our own welfare policies, or the forever unemployment situation.
Be the big gringo Santa Claus if that's what makes it hard for you, but don't call sales a service.
And, don't feel for a second that your beneficiaries see you as anything but a stupid, rich American with a bag of money just because that's how you act.

And...don't call me cheap.

.

[Edited on 7-2-2014 by DENNIS]

BajaRat - 7-2-2014 at 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by Lee

After all, it is about generosity, isn't it.

Ouch, time for a cold one :lol:

Lee - 7-2-2014 at 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
And, don't feel for a second that your beneficiaries see you as anything but a stupid, rich American with a bag of money just because that's how you act.

That's how I act? Like I wrote, just make it up as you go along.

Do you really think I care that someone might view me as stupid and rich, and an American? Bragging rights, really. No one would ever think I'm rich. Stupid, maybe, but, who cares?

Maybe in reality you aren't cheap. Maybe it's your pontificating I"m picking up on.

I'm thinking ''cheap'' is a sensitive issue for you?

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 05:38 PM

That's kinda like not tipping the waiter cause the food sucked. The dispensing agent didn't rig the pump. Or maybe he flips the switch when he see's you pull up as he knows you won't tip. same reason he doesn't do your windows. The grocery bagger and cart guys are just trying to hustle up a few buck at least their showing a interest in earning, a job so to speak, as menial as it may be. Call it charity but i think it plays a part in life for those willing to participate.

SFandH - 7-2-2014 at 05:59 PM

While chatting with an attendant one day while she filled the tank she mentioned how much she was paid. I forget exactly what she said but I think it was 10 dollars for 8 hours work. I remember it certainly wasn't much and it was less than 2 dollars per hour.

I'll ask next time I'm at a PEMEX.

ehall - 7-2-2014 at 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chuckie
Complaining about Short liters, pump scams etc is a tradition in Baja, Have a cold Pacifico and carry on.....Life is way too short to knot your knickers over stuff like that.. :biggrin:

x2 thanks

Bajaboy - 7-2-2014 at 06:29 PM

some people are too busy putting in their two cents on every post here to tip :no:

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 06:50 PM

I find it hard to understand how tipping someone for providing a service relates to welfare in the states. At least these people are working. I guess it could relate to welfare if you just stopped in at the pump every day and just dropped the guy a few bucks and so did everyone else, then maybe the dispensing agent would just hang out there to collect and no longer work the pump. kinda like welfare then, but alas that is not the case the attendant has to pump the gas no one tips for no service. Stupid rich American, is it only Americans that tip?? or the rich? or the stupid? Some of the poorest uneducated and immigrant, non U.S. people I know tip. for the most part in my experiance with service and tipping in mexico, the service is mostly very good, above average. The workers try to please to great extent, and when they recieve a tip are generally grateful. A tip is gratitude for service. ie. gratutity. If you recieve a service offer for a set fee and accept it and are pleased with it you are not obligated to tip but in doing so you are showing your gratitude for the good service.

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 06:56 PM

That's the problem when you have fishhooks in your pockets you can't get your hands in there to pay a bill or give a tip. :lol:

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bledito
If you recieve a service offer for a set fee and accept it and are pleased with it you are not obligated to tip but in doing so you are showing your gratitude for the good service.

Yes. Tip for service. Sales of a liter of gas is not service...it's just that, sales.
Down here, employers will jump on any opportunity to pay employees less, or nothing. When the gratuities become sufficient in the employers eyes, the don't pay their help. The old folks in grocery stores who bag your junk are a good example. The employer has successfully passed on his responsibility to pay his help to the consumer....twice.
Every effing business down here would do the same thing given the opportunity, which these "I'm so generous" tourists will gladly give them.
The two dollar an hour cutey who pumps gas is well on her way to hanging a tip-jar from her neck because that will be all she gets.

Jeeezo...this self-righteous benefactor sheit makes me sick.

willardguy - 7-2-2014 at 07:07 PM

same rules apply, be it at the restaurant or the pump.

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 07:10 PM

The boobs will be hidden behind the tip jar.

.

[Edited on 7-3-2014 by DENNIS]

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 07:22 PM

bag your own, pump your own, cart your own, be self sufficient, need no one. There are a lot of jobs that tips are the pay, the wages are low in Mex .and US. both. If that were not the case then the wages would increase and so would the cost for product and service. either way you would wind up paying. You just choose not to, your angling the the way the system has been established, good for you, you saved a couple bucks for anouther pacifico and can rejoice in your good fortune. Fishhooks.

micah202 - 7-2-2014 at 07:23 PM

.
....2 hints were written before by someone in the fuel industry....

..1...yes ,gas expands with temperature,,,forget how much,,,but pretty easy to see when your fuel-cans get warm,no?...best bet is to go early in the day,,,save ~10% easy!

....2.....Loss through 'backflow'.....if yer run a fuel-pump at full speed,,,it's likely to be flowing a certain amount back to the source--a good place to chill-out,,sloww down,,,but not easy if someone with vested interest ins running the pump.

woody with a view - 7-2-2014 at 07:24 PM

or, the tip jar will be but a pendant!

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bledito
bag your own, pump your own, cart your own, be self sufficient, need no one. There are a lot of jobs that tips are the pay, the wages are low in Mex .and US. both. If that were not the case then the wages would increase and so would the cost for product and service. either way you would wind up paying. You just choose not to, your angling the the way the system has been established, good for you, you saved a couple bucks for anouther pacifico and can rejoice in your good fortune. Fishhooks.

You really don't get it, do you.

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 07:50 PM

blah. blah. complain. drink beer. drink the spit in the beer from the server you didn't tip.. complain some more. get shorted on gas from the attendant , you didn,t tip. drink more beer. complain. b-tch and moan. dig the broken eggs outta your groceries that the bagger threw on the bottom, cause you didn't tip. drink even more beer, cause you have more because you don,t tip. get a swollen liver from too much beer. complain because the whole medical system is messed up and so is your liver. i'd rather tip a bit and not a pacifico or modelo.

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 07:59 PM

I get karma. as you act you will be treated. If your doing good by others you will be treat well by them. am I missing something. Is it just the fact you get ripped off at the pump? I know you don't tip the attendant that very clear. :spingrin:

DENNIS - 7-2-2014 at 08:08 PM

Sober up.

bledito - 7-2-2014 at 08:11 PM

have a heart.

BajaRat - 7-2-2014 at 08:20 PM

I like cerveza and big tips :bounce:

Oh and like we said get your fuel early, plus they will clean your windows :yes:

[Edited on 7-3-2014 by BajaRat]