MILTON -
Inspectors with West Virginia Weights and Measures spend their days inspecting gas pumps for accuracy. It's done by pumping five gallons of gas from each pump and measuring it for accuracy.
If it is off by a slight margin, the equivalent of only a few cents, action is taken against the gas station.
In 6 percent of cases -- about one in 17 pumps -- inaccuracy is found, officials said. Half of those cases benefit the store, while the other half benefits the customer.
"You expect that price to be accurate; you want that price to be accurate," said Rich McComas, director of Weights and Measures. "So do we."
The state has, on average, 17 inspectors to look at more than 1,300 stations. Each station is meant to be inspected once every year. Because of shortages, inspections can happen 15 months apart.
If there is inaccuracy at the pump, there is no way to know when the pump 'tilted.'
In state documents of nine area West Virginia Counties reviewed by 13News, no inaccuracies were found in the past two years.
Kanawha, Boone, Lincoln, Cabell, Putnam, Mason, Roane, Clay and Jackson were investigated.
One of the largest problems and sources of complaints for members of Weights and Measures is what is called a "meter jump."
A meter jump happens when a pump is first activated. Gas from the previous customer has been put in another car, but the internal sensor charges the current customer. On average, McComas said, this is equivalent to a dimes worth of gasoline.
Weights and Measures gets between three and four complaints a week, and respond to each one, according to McComas.
The issue remains because of how little it affects each individual customer.
"No one is going to court over a dime, though," said McComas.
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