Independent fuel retailer Burk is now demanding an immediate change to FuelWatch, the state’s fuel-monitoring platform
The retailer in Cannington was forced to sell diesel for almost $4 a litre today after accidentally entering the new price with a costly error.
“We won’t sell it at that, it’s just a rip-off,” Burk managing director Umar Farooq told 9News.
The service station tried to sell the cheapest diesel in the state but instead, a typo made it the most expensive, at $3.97 per litre.
“We tried to rectify it with FuelWatch, multiple calls, multiple emails but we were just told, ‘You can’t sell it at the price other than what’s been reported’,” Farooq said.
Petrol companies must report prices to FuelWatch by 2pm every day, something which is required by law to be locked in for 24 hours.
“That means it’s almost like a reverse auction,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake told 9News.
“They have to tell us what their best price is without knowing what their competitors are doing.”
But Burk is now pleading for common sense when it comes to genuine errors.
“This is a very unfortunate case,” Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said.
“Happy to take it up with the relevant ministers.”
In the meantime, the independent retailer found its own workaround by offering a discount on diesel to customers: simply smile for $1.04 per litre off the advertised price.
Across 17 stations, it’s the first mistake for Burk in six years.
As for the employee responsible, Farooq said, “she’s going to be really fine”.
“She’s going to say with us for very long I reckon,” he added.
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