Your Gas Tank's Full; That'll Be $81 Billion

When a commuter pulled into a gas station in Richland, Wash., to fill up the tank of his 1994 Camaro on Tuesday, he thought the $90 he had on his PayPal debit card would easily cover the $26 bill.

But the tab for fuel at the By-Pass Deli and Conoco station off state Route 240 maxed out his card, and then some, the Tri-City Herald reported Thursday on its Web site.

The transaction, Juan Zamora told the newspaper, was recorded as $81,400,836,908.

"That's a B, as in billions!" Zamora wrote in an e-mail to the Herald on Wednesday.

Zamora was concerned that his bank account might be in jeopardy. So he called customer service for PayPal, only to have to argue with the agent over the bill. "Like I had to prove that I didn't pump $81,400,836,908 in gas," he told the Herald.

Though the customer service person finally realized the error, the newspaper reported, how the glitch happened remains a mystery.

"I guess the moral of this story is 'pay cash,'" Zamora said.

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