Diesel in wrong tank causes $5,700 worth of damage to customer’s car at Sam’s Club Abilene

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC )- When it comes time to fill up the tank, most drivers are just happy to leave the pump feeling like they’ve gotten a good deal. However, Abilene resident Craig Smyser says he is now in for thousands of dollars more than he bargained for following a trip to a local gas pump. He believes the cause of this unexpected expense to be a possible mix-up of the Abilene Sam’s Club’s diesel and gasoline fuel tanks.

“On Wednesday morning a little before 10 I went to Sam’s to fill up with gas. Immediately after I got the gas I noticed my car was surging,” said Smyser.

Not certain what the issue was, Smyser says he believed there may have been some water in his fuel line. After picking up an additive in attempts of flushing the line he took his Mazda back home.

“[The additive] didn’t do anything, and then I tried to start it. It wouldn’t even start the next day,” Smyser said.

He took his vehicle to the Mazda dealership to be examined. On Friday staff told him that after taking a fuel sample from his tank they had apparently found there was 98% Diesel in his fuel tank.

“I was thinking did I mess up some how. Was it even possible for me to put diesel in my tank? I looked at my Sam’s receipt and saw for certain that I put unleaded fuel in myself,” said Smyser.

Smyser had kept his receipt from that trip to the Sam’s Club gas pump, checking it and feeling confident that he had indeed filled up with unleaded. It was then that he heard about a few posts on social media with other drivers seeming to relate to his issue.

“On Friday I heard from my sister in law that she had seen on Facebook that Sam’s had [accidentally] put diesel in their tanks. And then on Saturday, I went over to Sam’s and met with the manager there. They said well allegedly the tanker guy put an entire tank full of diesel in the unleaded, and I’d never heard of that happening before,” Smyser said.

KTAB/KRBC spoke with Shawn Grisham, Owner of Garry’s Auto & Truck Service, to better understand what exactly happens when a vehicle is filled with the wrong kind of fuel. Grisham saying that because the nozzles for diesel fuel are more wide than those for gasoline powered cars, it should be fairly easy to notice if you have the wrong one. However if Diesel does get into your vehicle, it can be a costly mistake.

“If the customer did not start the vehicle, at that point we can get the fluid out of the tank get it cleaned…once you start the vehicle – all bets are off depending on the type of vehicle. . . you’ve got fuel going into injectors, fuel pump, things like that, then it returns back in the line. Now we have total contamination of the fuel system,” Grisham said.

In Smyser’s case the diesel had already been distributed throughout the system, potentially clogging up the line. He says the Mazda dealership has estimated $5,700 in repairs and replacements are needed to get the car running again.

“The [Sam’s Club] manager was understanding. I wasn’t the first person to come in. They were prepared for us. We filled out claim information, and then [Tuesday] morning corporate office in Arkansas contacted me and just said they needed proof that I got the fuel at Sam’s and I owned the car and also that they just need the repair estimate for them to pay it,” said Smyser.

Sam’s Club Corporate released the following statement confirming the wrong fuel was put into a holding take, causing issues for some customers:

On September 24, fuel was briefly delivered into the wrong holding tank at the Abilene Sam’s Club. The delivery driver realized the mistake immediately, limiting the impact to a small number of members who were pumping gas during the delivery. We are committed to taking care of our members affected by this rare mistake made by the fuel delivery company.

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