Jul 9, 2008 10:27 pm US/Eastern
MyGallons.com Owner Defends His Company
DORAL (CBS4) ―
It almost sounds too good to be true: Buying gas at today's prices and using it in the future, no matter how high the prices get. That's what a South Florida- based company promises, but we've learned that for now they can't help ease your pain at the pump.
My Gallons LLC makes a big promise. The company's owner, Steve Verona, says his primary mission is to help you help yourself.
"We're here to try and help people protect themselves from the rising price of gas," said Verona.
Here's how it works: You go to the My Gallons website, pay a membership fee, and pre-purchase gallons of gas at today's prices. Then you get a special card, similar to a debit card that you can use at participating gas stations. The difference is no matter how much the gas station is charging per gallon, you will only pay the original price.
My gallons already has more than 6,000 members nationwide, but they've got a problem. The company doesn't have a contract with a bank-card processing service that will allow drivers to use their cards at the pump. Verona insists he held a contract with a subsidiary of US Bancorp to run the cards when he started accepting members' money.
"The problem started when US Banc decided not to honor the contract we have to utilize their system," said Verona.
U.S. Bancorp tells a different story.
In a written statement, a spokesperson says the bank did have a commercial fleet fuel card contract with Verona's other company, Zenacon LLC, however it was for the exclusive purpose of providing commercial fleet fueling and maintenance cards, but not consumer cards.
"It's been grossly unfair for US Bank to release statements that are false," said Verona.
My Gallons is also taking a hit from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB gave the company an F-rating, saying the advertising on its website claims drivers can use the card nationwide, when right now they can't use it anywhere. Verona says their rating was based on bad information.
"I actually met with them earlier today to share the information we have with them and we expect them to be changing our rating," he said.
Verona is now negotiating for a new card vendor, and once they get through all the red tape, he promises you will have power over out of control gas prices.
The Better Business Bureau confirms it's looking into changing the company's rating. We'll let you know if they do. We asked the company's owner if he'll allow those of you who've bought gas on the website to get your money back. He says yes.
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