Gas Station Manager Mistakenly Sold Premium Fuel For 69 Cents — Costing Him His Job

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA — A gas station manager in Rancho Cordova who was fired for selling premium gas at 69 cents a gallon has raised at least $20,000 to try to cover the losses.

On June 9, John Szczecina told media outlets he mistakenly entered a decimal point in the wrong spot — a gallon of gas should have cost $6.99 per gallon.

Drivers swarmed the Shell gas station after word quickly spread on social media that gas was being offered at the station for a fraction of what it should be. Californians have been hit especially hard by soaring gas prices in recent months, with the average gallon of gas costing about $6.42 across the state as of Friday, according to AAA.

“I thought, ‘This is a nightmare,’” Szczecina told KOVR. “I put all three prices on there except the diesel, but the last one kind of didn’t go, you know, right.”

He was fired Monday, according to the TV station.

"It turns out the total dollar loss was $20,000," his sister Paula Jackson wrote in a GoFundMe post Monday. "The manager was [given] his termination notice today."

Szczecina is trying to repay the company, Jackson said in the fundraiser.

"He is being held responsible for the glitch that the station was unable to stop for 3 hours as local people lined up for $0.69 cent gas per gallon," she said. "This led to a $16,000 loss. He now may lose his job. And may be sued. Please contribute even a few dollars per person could erase this huge deficit for him which is a small deficit for all of US!!!"

She later noted the losses actually amounted to $20,000.

More than 700 people donated as of Friday morning, as the fundraiser approached $21,000.

A representative for Shell’s U.S. division told Fortune the station is independently owned, and the company is not responsible for pricing, hiring and termination decisions.

Szczecina told The Washington Post he had typed 6-9-9 three times into the computer to set a new price. As he was confirming the price change, he said, a truck struck a curb and sent water bottles flying across the parking lot. He said he helped pick cargo off the parking lot and got distracted with other work tasks. He returned home and said he did not learn about the snafu until the following morning.

Szczecina accepted the firing.

“Even though it cost me my job, it’s fine. Because the truth is, you know, it’s my fault,” Szczecina told the Post. “I know nobody wants to say that anymore, but I felt it was important to own up to my mistake and do everything I can to make it right.”

Editor's Note: GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.