Friday, September 2nd 2016, 11:14 pm
As we head into the busiest driving weekend of the year, sales for gas stations can be make or break. But a mix-up with the recent fuel recalls in Oklahoma has already hurt business at one metro store.
The McDonald family Sinclair station has been open since 1963, and this family business has made a name for itself -- built on honesty and full service. So when a list of stations with bad gasoline was released early this week, they thought they'd be fine.
“The morning it all happened it was like completely dead, there was no business at all,” said Stephen McDonald.
And that's when the phone started ringing.
“We had about 30, 40 calls like why do we have bad gas? We had to explain to them that we don't.”
The McDonald's had ended up on a statewide list of stations that received gas containing up to 30 percent ethanol. Something that can pose a serious danger to vehicles.
The problem is, the McDonald's only sell 100-percent gasoline. But it was too late, business has already dropped of nearly 25-percent.
According to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, there's nothing they can legally do to Magellan, the company that distributed the bad gas, which could leave stations on the hook for thousands.
In the meantime, the OCC did test the McDonald's gas and says there were no problems found. Their name has been taken off the list, but it may take a little time before business picks back up.
“They tested it, zero percent ethanol and so it's all good, never had it.”
Magellan has said it will reimburse any customers for tanks of gas that were filled with the tainted fuel.
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