'I'm To Blame': Service Station Manager Fired For Selling 69-Cent Gas Speaks Out
RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) — A Rancho Cordova gas station manager who accidentally set his pumps at just 69 cents a gallon is speaking out after being fired.
"Well, it was a mistake that I did, you know," said former gas station manager John Szczecina.
Szczecina accidentally put a decimal in the wrong spot and began selling the $6.99 gas for just 69 cents. It cost the gas station $16,000 and it cost Szczecina his job.
"And I thought, 'this is a nightmare,'" Szczecina said. "I put all three prices on there except the diesel, but the last one kind of didn't go, you know, right."
People started posting the low price on social media and calling friends and family. The lines formed fast to guzzle it up.
Szczecina was fired Monday after the decimal point debacle. Now, his family had started a GoFundMe account for him with a goal to raise the $16,000 the gas station lost in revenue and pay it back.
They're worried that, besides being terminated, he could be sued.
Business attorney Craig Simmermon says employees are protected from liability in cases like this where they make mistakes performing normal job duties.
"The only way he would be responsible outside of a written agreement is if he was acting outside the scope of his employment," Simmermon said. "For instance, if his boss said 'whatever you do, don't ever set the price on that gas pump,' and then he did."
The gas price glitch turned into a gift for drivers and a goodbye for a station manager who is now seeking a new job.
"So I just took responsibility for it and I said 'yeah it's my fault, and I'm to blame," Szczecina said.
Szczecina has already filled out 10 job applications over the weekend. He is hoping he won't be looking for work for long.
