Report: Many Gas Pumps Overcharge Customers

Do you ever feel like you can't keep up with the rising cost of gas? ABC's "The Lookout", a television show exposing a variety of consumer issues every week, says it may be gallons you pay for, but never actually receive.

Last week they investigated the different treatment men and women experience with auto mechanics. This week's featured problem is known as "meter creeping", and it happens when a gas pump over or under charges customers. The fault doesn't lie with unscrupulous gas stations, but in software.

"Gas dispensers are just big dumb machines," Shawn Marquez, a representative with the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures, told ABC.

A startling one in ten pumps are broken and may be ghosting charges onto your car's gas bill without you knowing it. It can also save you money by undercharging for fuel dispensed.

There's not much you can do except be vigilant at the pump. The Lookout suggests whether under or over charging, you should let the attendant know the pump is malfunctioning and ask that the pump be set back to zero.

Or you can spend less time and money fueling up with some of these efficient green vehicles.