Shocking Error Causes Gas Station to Offer Diesel at Unbelievable $4 Price

A petrol station in Perth‘s south-east has been forced to sell Western Australia’s most expensive diesel because of a mistake that could not be rectified.

Burk, an independent fuel retailer, is urgently calling for reforms to FuelWatch, the state’s system for monitoring fuel prices.

Located in Cannington, the retailer mistakenly set diesel prices to nearly $4 per liter due to an input error.

A fuel station in Perth’s south-east was forced to sell WA’s most expensive diesel today because of a mistake which could not be rectified. (9News)

Umar Farooq, Burk’s managing director, expressed frustration to 9News, stating, “Charging that much is unreasonable; we’re not going to sell at that rate.”

The station intended to offer the lowest diesel prices in the region but ended up listing it as the highest at $3.97 per liter because of a simple typo.

Farooq explained their attempts to correct the mistake by contacting FuelWatch repeatedly by phone and email, only to be met with the response, “You must adhere to the price reported.”

Fuel companies are legally obligated to report their prices to FuelWatch by 2 PM daily, and these prices must remain unchanged for a full 24 hours.

Independent fuel retailer Burk is now demanding an immediate change to FuelWatch. (9News)

“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.

It tried to sell the cheapest diesel in the state but instead, a typo made it the most expensive, at $3.97. (9News)

“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.

Petrol companies must report prices to FuelWatch by 2pm every day, something which is required by law to be locked in for 24 hours. (FuelWatch)

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.

Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.