Error Causes Tennessee Gas Station To Charge Less Than $1 For Fuel

A mathematical error caused a gas station in Tennessee to charge less than $0.50 per gallon of gas for several hours.

Henry DeHart, of Chattanooga, recently stopped by a gas station in East Tennessee to fill up his tank. While he expected the recent increase in gas prices to really hit his wallet, he experienced the complete opposite, per FOX 17. After putting 12 gallons of premium gasoline into his vehicle, he saw that he only paid $5.64.

DeHart instantly realized the mistake and told the owner of the gas station that the decimal was off; instead of paying around $4.54 per gallon, the error showed up as just $0.45 per gallon. He shared his story in a post on Facebook on April 14, saying the owner was "on the verge of tears" after being "screwed over by people for half of day."

"This is NOT to toot my own horn," he wrote, showing a copy of his receipt. "I'm more sad for the owner of this gas station."

According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, gas station owners only make a small profit per gallon, around 10 to 15 cents with normal pricing, the new outlet reports.

"There's no telling how much money he lost today. He was on the verge of tears. I get it, times are tough and gas is expensive, but NOTHING in this world is free. Someone is ultimately always footing the bill," DeHart mused. "How many people this morning thought, it's my lucky day, while this man was getting taken to to the cleaners."