LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Word spread quickly about a Los Angeles gas station selling gasoline for about a quarter of the going price, but it wasn't a promotion. The owner says the too-good-to-be-true price was a computer glitch that cost him $21,000.
Long lines snaked from the pumps at the Valero station in Wilmington on Sunday. Police were even called to control traffic.
The Torrance Daily Breeze reports that within four hours, about 7,000 gallons (26,000 litres) of the gas were pumped at the discounted rate of $1.10 per gallon (about 30 cents per litre). That's a cut of more than $3 a gallon (80 cents per litre) from the real price.
Station owner Kenny Nguyen says the attendant on duty was busy staffing the convenience store and register.
He says a price change didn't take, so the system defaulted to the $1.10 price.
Nguyen hopes motorists who got the break come back and pay the real price
