A Texas woman says she nearly got arrested over a gas station payment glitch at an Allsup’s.
After the pump failed to process her card properly, she claims the store flagged her license plate and humiliated her in front of other customers.
What Went Wrong At The Allsup’s?
TikTok creator Leslie (@leslie.mango) says she got a call from the Stephenville Police Department in early August with a surprising accusation. She says they told her she’d driven off without paying for gas at the Allsup’s near the city park and funeral home in Stephenville, Texas.
“Freaked me out,” she says. “It really scared me.” She says police told her she wasn’t in trouble but that she still needed to go pay for the gas.
Leslie says she was confused. She says she always pays at the pump, so she didn’t understand how this happened. But when she got to the store, employees told her she must’ve clicked the option to pay inside and then left without paying.
“They made me sound like a real idiot and, like, completely humiliated me in front of all their customers,” she says.
She says the store also added her license plate number to a list of people who weren’t allowed to get pre-approved for gas.
The Same Thing Happened Again, Even When She Was Being Careful
A few weeks later, she claims she found herself low on gas and went back to the same Allsup’s.
This time, she notes she paid extra attention. “I clicked to pay at the pump, and I paid for it, ran my card,” she says.
But after she finished pumping, she says the machine flashed a message: “Please pay cashier.”
Had she not stayed to watch the screen, she says she would have unknowingly left again without paying.
Leslie went inside and told the employee what happened, she recounts. She recalls explaining to them, “‘I’m not trying to steal gas. I’m just trying to let you know what’s going on.'”
She says the worker still treated her poorly and tried to write down her license plate number again while one of her students happened to be in the gas station.
Embarrassed, she says she asked the worker to come outside so that she could show her the glitch in real time. The worker, she claims, refused.
“She was still really crappy to me,” Leslie says.
She Filmed The Third Time To Prove Her Point
Determined to document what happened, Leslie says she went back to the same gas station again. This time, she says she recorded the whole process.
She typed in her rewards number. Clicked “Pay here.” Ran her card. Waited for it to go through. Pumped her gas. Put the pump back. Then stared at the screen.
It read: “Thank you. Please pay cashier.”
“Well, thank goodness I stayed and waited,” she says.
Her video got over 529,700 views.
Could It Be A Glitch?
It’s not entirely clear what went wrong. It’s possible the machine never processed the card and defaulted to requiring payment inside.
Another explanation could be that the pump tried to pre-authorize a hold on the card (usually around $100) but was denied due to insufficient funds, so it never actually activated a full transaction.
Whatever the case may be, we’ve reached out to Allsup’s for clarification.
She Shares An Update
In a follow-up video, Leslie answers some of the questions people had. First, many wanted to know whether she was double-charged, and she said no.
“I am keeping a very close eye on my bank account though,” she adds, “to make sure that another transaction does not come through.”
Second, people asked why she kept going back. She explains that during her second visit, she figured out what was going wrong. And the third time, she says she returned only to document it.
Leslie also shares an important update: A friend went to that same Allsup’s and saw that the “Tap To Pay” screen was taped off with a note that said, “TAP TO PAY UNAVAILABLE.”
Commenters Think Something Fishy Is Going On
In the comments section of Leslie’s video, users threw out more nefarious theories.
“I’ve never seen a pump say wait for cashier approval. This sounds like a scam run by the gas station,” one person said.
Another wrote, “What place nowadays allows you to pump before you pay?? This store seems sketchy!!”
@leslie.mango I almost went to jail. Warning for anyone who gets gas at the Allsup in Stephenville, TX.
“Check your card activity! Someone might be double dipping!” a third person warned.
And one commenter said, “Most gas pumps won’t work until you pay first at the pump or inside. I think it may be a scam with the provider.”
BroBible has reached out to Allsup’s for more information. We’ve also reached out to Leslie via TikTok messages.