Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Problem with GasBuddy

I needed gas today, and used the GasBuddy iPhone app from the well know GasBuddy site.  It showed that the cheapest gas was 2 miles up north from the intersection that I was at.  The price listed was $2.43.  This location is close to work, but I was stopped by my apartment to get some lunch.  So on the way to my apartment, I passed a couple of gas stations that had gas at $2.63.  And then right across from the $2.63, I saw a Swifty station that had gas for $2.49.  I was tempted to stop here as it was on the way and it was cheaper than all of the other $2.63 gas stations that I passed.  But I wanted to test out the accuracy of the new application, so I decided not to stop at Swifty.  So.. after eating lunch, I went back to work and went 2 miles north to try out the gas station that was supposedly at $2.43.  Well.. guess what?? It was at $2.63!!!  Argh...  I've looked at GasBuddy.com online before as well, and everytime I try to use it, the gas prices are NEVER the same at the gas station.  I realize that it is up to individuals to update the price of these gas stations (at least, I think that is the model), but... What is the point if sooo many gas stations' prices get updated at different times and aren't consistently updated?

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