Customers Experience Car Trouble After Filling Up At The Lacey Wawa

Many cars have broken down after fueling up at the in Forked River, spokesperson Alexandra Dalgliesh said.

“There was water in the gas,” Ed Tomasula of Lacey said.

Tomasula’s daughter had stopped at Wawa yesterday to get gas. She made it home but when she went to start her brand new Mazda the next morning, it sputtered, he said.

The car was brought to the mechanic, where they found water in the gas, to be drained and tuned, which will cost at least $500, Tomasula said.

Certified mechanic at Lacey Shell Rich Ritchie has had to fix three cars so far and had three more coming later today.

Ritchie said he has had a lot of inquiries about the incident and his customers were frustrated, as they have been left without functioning cars.

The cars are sputtering, hesitating, and not running, he said. But the impact depends on how much fuel they got at Wawa. One car was more damaged than others because the entire tank was filled with the bad gas, he said.

One customer brought their relatively new Lexus to be fixed and it cost over $700 but it depends on the make and year of the car. Most cars don’t have a drain, he said.

Ritchie has been calling Wawa on his customer’s behalf to try to correct the situation.

“It was an accident but I wish they would resume responsibility and do the right thing,” Ritchie said.

Once water was found in the gasoline, the store immediately shut down pump operations to minimize the impact, she said.

The problem has since been addressed and corrected, Dalgliesh said.

The incident was isolated and did not impact other stores, Dalgliesh said. Wawa continues to investigate the source of contamination.

“What we do know is that it was limited to one batch, which has since been removed and we are working to ensure that this never happens again,” Dalgliesh said.

Customers experiencing fuel related problems with their cars after filling up at Wawa are encouraged to contact the store’s Call Center at 800-444-9292. The store guarantees that they’ll cover the charges related to the incident, Dalgliesh said.

“As always we are committed to the safety and well-being of our customers and are overwhelmed by their understanding and patience,” Dalgliesh said. “We have told each of our affected customers that we will take full responsibility to cover any repairs or reimbursements resulting from this unfortunate incident.”

Further information can be found in a pamphlet provided by the Wawa on Lacey Road for customers who have purchased gasoline at the station during the past three days.

Ocean County’s Department of Consumer Affairs has also gotten involved.

According to Stephen Scaturro, Director of the department, no complaints have been made.

“But we took initiative to send down the deputy superintendent for weights and measurement,” Scaturro said.

The bad gas was removed overnight from the pumps and new gas was in by the morning, he said.

“Wawa has done they’re job. We have done our job,” Scaturro said. “We will intervene on the consumers behalf.”

Gas stations have had similar problems before, although they have not received complaints specifically for this Wawa in the past, he said.

Customers impacted by this incident can contact the Department of Consumer Affairs at 732-929-2105 to have a complaint form sent to their home or click here to download the form.

The form can also be found attached to this article as a PDF.