Long lines form after $1.10-a-gallon LA gas goof

[May 18, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Word spread quickly about a Los Angeles gas station selling premium unleaded for $1.10-a-gallon, 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 of premium were pumped at the discounted rate.

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 -- a cut of more than $3 a gallon.

Nguyen hopes motorists who got the break come back and pay the real price.

[Associated Press]

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