# Off-Road Diesel Saga - The Rest of the Story



## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

A month ago, I posted that a local Shell station ripped me off when I purchased off-road diesel - charging me 6 cents more/gallon instead of 64 cents less/gallon (than on-road diesel). Here's an update...

As I said I'd do in the previous post, I filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office. Got a letter from their office late last week informing me that the case had been assigned to an investigator. Today the regional manager in charge of that Shell station called and said to stop by and collect the refund for the amount they overcharged. Went over there this afternoon and got my money back. Afterwards, I stopped for an ice cream cone - it's hot after all.

Moral of the story - it pays to complain.

Gary


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## Thorim (Jan 19, 2015)

Glad you got the money you were owed, just wonder how many others they did the same thing too that never complained????


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Have you been back to the station to see if they are continuing with this fiasco.....sounds quite profitable for them.....if the State of PA is just going to smack their hand and maybe issue a token fine I am sure they will continue? Hopefully PA will offer more than a half hearted threat to these thieves.

Regards, Mike


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

I had something similar happen years ago at an auto parts store...

We have a Ford 640 combine, built by Claas ("Senator" model) with a 300 cubic inch inline six (the sleeved industrial version of the pickup engine) which, of course, used the regular Ford pickup fuel pump, carburator, etc... so every time I went in for parts, I just asked for the equivalent parts for a 75 Ford pickup, since they were all the same anyway, and Hi-Lo Auto Parts (predecessor to OReilley's) didn't have the book on the combine anyway, and even if they did, the dumb kids working at the counter wouldn't know how to look it up anyway...

So, I ask for a fuel pump for a 75 F-100, and this [email protected], know-nothing 18 year old gets it and starts to ring it up, and when I tell him it's "farm use" (no sales tax in TX) he tells me "you can't take farm use on a fuel pump for a pickup"... "Yes", I said, "I know that... but it's for a Ford combine that uses the same pump as a pickup, and I can get tax exempt on a combine part." "No, you can't... you have to have an exemption number... " "No, I don't... the state doesn't issue exemption numbers to farmers for sales tax exemption". (This has since changed, but this was at least 20 years ago, when this observation was true).

This stupid kid is gonna stand there and argue, and I'm in a hurry to get back to the field, so I just said, "Just ring the [email protected] thing up so I can go... I don't have time to waste with someone like you..." and paid the tax and left.

Later on, when I was back at the house for the night, I looked up the state Attorney General's Tax Hotline and called it... I got a nice lady on the phone and told her about my exchange with this @ssclown at the parts store, and asked her "who is correct?" She said, "Oh, you're right... we don't issue tax numbers to farmers and churches unless they specifically request them in writing, and you're not required to have or present a tax ID number to get a sales tax exemption for a farm or church... you just have to fill out and sign the form the store keeps on file in case they're audited by the state. Next time, if they refuse to give you the tax exemption, have them call this number here to the tax hotline and we'll clarify it for them... No, we don't issue tax exemption numbers to the farmers and churches usually-- do you have any idea how many farmers and churches start up and go broke every year?? WE'D NEED A WHOLE NEW DIVISION OF GOVERNMENT TO KEEP UP WITH ISSUING AND RESCINDING TAX ID NUMBERS...." "Thank you, I will" I said...

I kept their number in my wallet, and sure enough, I got this same [email protected] the next time I needed a farm part, and he gave me the same song and dance... This time I wasn't in any particular hurry and I refused to pay the tax, pulled out the number, and told him to call them and get clarification. So, he goes to the back for a minute or two, and comes back, looking like he'd just bit into a sh!t sandwich...

Eating crow can taste mighty bad, from the looks of this idiot... but at least he learned something... 

Never had another problem after that...

Of course, that was then, and this is now... a few years ago, the farm diesel distributor that fills our gravity tanks, sent us a form for us to get a US gubmint excise tax ID number, which the feds started requiring to get farm diesel without the road tax... which we did, and they have. I carry the number for that in my wallet as well, because like when we started doing business with a new station selling farm diesel in Shiner, we had to give them the number before they could sell us farm diesel tax free... A couple years ago, Texas instituted a new policy, requiring all farmers and churches to get a tax ID number in order to get the sales tax exemption on purchases... I have a little card in my wallet with the number. Last year, the state started requiring a farm tax ID in YOUR NAME to get farm truck tags instead of regular tags (a whole whopping ten bucks cheaper than regular tags). I had to get a tax ID number myself, which I didn't have, since I usually do all the farm business under my folk's name, since they pay the bills (I just get a "labor share" of sales proceeds). Since the truck was in my name, though, I had to get a stupid tax ID... I guess the gubmint got that new branch of gubmint to keep track of all that BS... sure that's a good use of our tax money...

Later! OL JR


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