ATLANTA — WSB is continuing to hear from consumers who said they got contaminated gas at Georgia Costco locations.
Our partners at Channel 2 were in Brookhaven on Monday, where they are hearing from frustrated drivers after reporting on the issue last week.
The head of Georgia’s Fuel and Measures, Doug Killingsworth, has encouraged anyone who thinks they may have received contaminated gas to immediately call his department to come out and test the pump.
Michelle Robinovitz shared her story last week about bad gas she believes came from a Costco gas station in Sandy Springs, causing $700 worth of damage to her car.
Robinovitz’s mechanic even provided video evidence of the contaminated gasoline but Costco’s CEO, Ron Vachris, claimed the damage to her car wasn’t the store’s fault.
Rachel Bernstein reached out after watching Robinovitz’s story. Bernstein’s gas came from the Brookhaven Costco location. Both women were left with $700 mechanic bills to flush out the bad gas.
“When I brought [my car] in, they informed me that they had suspected bad gas. And once they tested it, it was confirmed,” Bernstein explained.
Bernstein emailed Vachris directly and received the following response:
“We have inspected our gas station and shown no signs of water in our gas tanks. I am not sure who informed you that your vehicle’s problems are from Costco gasoline. We are confident that is not the case.”
Oscar Guevara also claims he received bad gas at a Georgia Costco while he was driving through the state on a business trip.
“They did send me a check for my membership,” Guevara said. “So I do respect that. But obviously, the $60 or $55 is not the same as $1,400, right?”
Costco has since reached back out to Robinovitz and offered to pay for her repair bill. Another Costco representative reached out to Bernstein and said the company will also help cover her bill.
WSB Consumer Advisor Clark Howard said you can be successful taking gas stations that sell you bad gas to court.
“What you’re left with is a good remedy,” Howard said. “You sued them in Magistrate’s court (which) is really easy to use across the state of Georgia. You don’t need a lawyer. The filing fees are not terrible, particularly against the amount of money you need to repair your vehicle.”
WSB-TV’s Justin Gray contributed to this story