MINOCQUA, Wis. -- Dozens of drivers made a mad rush for cheap gasoline after an employee at a gas station operated TA Solberg Co., Minocqua, Wis.,accidentally changed the price to 33 cents a gallon, said the Associated Press.
An employee closing Trig's Minocqua Shell for the night meant to drop the price of gasoline by 1 cent. But he mistakenly dropped a nine from the $3.299 a gallon in the computer, making the price of gasoline .329 cents Monday night.
He left about 10 p.m., but drivers could still use their credit cards to buy [image-nocss] fuel. Those that did got a bargain, and word spread fast; 42 people bought 586 gallons of gasoline in an hour and 45 minutes.
Local police saw the hoard at the station and called store manager Andrea Reuland. She went to the station and pushed the emergency stop.
"There were cars two deep at each of my pumps," said Reuland, who knew many of the drivers. One person had pumped 27 gallons and two purchased 18 gallons.
Reuland told people they were being dishonestthe main store sign had the correct price. "I was very upset that there's that many dishonest people," she said. "They knew there was a problem, and they took advantage of an employee's mistake, and I think that's terrible."
The employee, who has been there for about six months, had changed the fuel prices 25 times in the past six months. "It was an honest mistake," Reuland said. "I could have done it."
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