When is a gallon not a gallon??

jlift

jlift

New member
Hope this is the right forum for this. Anyway, just received an order from Chemical Guys which had three gallons of product in separate one gallon plastic clear jugs. I have ordered previously products in these clear gallon plastic jugs. If you go to their website, all of their products in gallon quantity are in these same clear jugs. I noticed that the fill line on the products that I received were not quite all the way to the top of the gallon jug (but it does seems that they were filled all exactly to the same height, about two inches below the cap). So, I took a measuring cup and very carefully filled an empty gallon jug with exactly one gallon of water (16 cups). The fill line after measuring the water was all the way to be bottom of the cap. I carefully poured out some water in the jug that I had just filled, in order to replicate the fill line of the new products that I had received, and determined that the new products were all 8 ounces short of one liquid gallon (i.e., they were all 15 cups). Now, I know one gallon = 128 ounces or 16 cups. But, I am confused as to why the products I received (all three gallons) were only filled to where 15 cups would make the fill line. Can anyone explain this seeming "shorting" of product? I hope I have tried to explain this clearly.

:confused:
 
The only thing that I can figure out is that the product is sold by weight instead of volume. Could the product that you are comparing to have a heavier weight? For example, water is approximately 8 pounds per gallon and gasoline is approximately 6 pounds per gallon
 
jlift said:
Hope this is the right forum for this. Anyway, just received an order from Chemical Guys which had three gallons of product in separate one gallon plastic clear jugs. I have ordered previously products in these clear gallon plastic jugs. If you go to their website, all of their products in gallon quantity are in these same clear jugs. I noticed that the fill line on the products that I received were not quite all the way to the top of the gallon jug (but it does seems that they were filled all exactly to the same height, about two inches below the cap). So, I took a measuring cup and very carefully filled an empty gallon jug with exactly one gallon of water (16 cups). The fill line after measuring the water was all the way to be bottom of the cap. I carefully poured out some water in the jug that I had just filled, in order to replicate the fill line of the new products that I had received, and determined that the new products were all 8 ounces short of one liquid gallon (i.e., they were all 15 cups). Now, I know one gallon = 128 ounces or 16 cups. But, I am confused as to why the products I received (all three gallons) were only filled to where 15 cups would make the fill line. Can anyone explain this seeming "shorting" of product? I hope I have tried to explain this clearly.

:confused:
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I wonder if there machine is filling this based on weight of a gallon not volume, and you explained this very well. I'll be watching this to see what others are saying
 
Have you contacted Chemical Guys and asked them? Seems to me that is the place to ask before posing the question here. The answer may be very logical and you avoid putting doubts in people's minds about someone's product.

IMO the right way to do it is to cantact them and get an answer. Then, if you're not happy with it or feel there is something wrong that people need to know about then publicize it. Conjecture at this point does no good.
 
Yeah, I would suggest calling them up as well. Like most of the other vendors I have dealt with online or over the phone, they have good customer service.
 
I have got an email in to chemical guys. I will post when answered. I don't think that it would be there to shake the product because I would think that even if it was a full gallon (16 cups) it should have the xtra space for shaking. It also seems that alot of food products are shrinking...used to be 16 ounce cans of food, now if you notice it's 15 ounces. Used to be 64 ounces in a half gallon of ice cream, now for some reason, they decided to eliminate 8 ounces and sell 56 ounces for the same price as half gallons. You can see this alot, so it makes me wonder.
 
jlift said:
I have got an email in to chemical guys. I will post when answered. I don't think that it would be there to shake the product because I would think that even if it was a full gallon (16 cups) it should have the xtra space for shaking. It also seems that alot of food products are shrinking...used to be 16 ounce cans of food, now if you notice it's 15 ounces. Used to be 64 ounces in a half gallon of ice cream, now for some reason, they decided to eliminate 8 ounces and sell 56 ounces for the same price as half gallons. You can see this alot, so it makes me wonder.
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Inflation.

Also - It's a disguise to make you "feel better" about buying the product. If it looks like it's the same size container, you might not notice the same price for a bit smaller product. :)
 
JaredPointer said:
Inflation.

Also - It's a disguise to make you "feel better" about buying the product. If it looks like it's the same size container, you might not notice the same price for a bit smaller product. :)
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JP
That's a practice that they use in packaged coffee, you buy what looks like a good price on a pound is really 12 oz, perception is what that is about
 
You are more observant than a lot of people.. Most people don't even notice.
Look at a candy bar it has a piece of cardboard two inches longer than the candy bar.
A bottle of vitamins comes in a huge bottle but when you open it the bottle is stuffed with cotton and only half full of pills.
Nearly all company's try to deceive you nothing new about that.
 
That is definately a very interesting observation. Keep us updated on what they have to say.
 
I was thinking the same thing the other day... do we really get everything we expected to pay for? It isn't just the case in detailing products but juices, milk, food, etc. What really got me thinking is gas. Wouldn't it be easy for a gas station to slow the flow of the gas to make it say you are getting 2 gallons of gas but are only getting 1.8 gallons???? Seems like an easy scam to make $$ to me. Maybe I'm just paranoid :bump :bubba
 
budman3 said:
I was thinking the same thing the other day... do we really get everything we expected to pay for? It isn't just the case in detailing products but juices, milk, food, etc. What really got me thinking is gas. Wouldn't it be easy for a gas station to slow the flow of the gas to make it say you are getting 2 gallons of gas but are only getting 1.8 gallons???? Seems like an easy scam to make $$ to me. Maybe I'm just paranoid :bump :bubba
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I know that a few gas stations in my area were sued and fined heavily for adding water to the gas they sell. One station added so much that one customers vehicle stopped running after a fill up.
 
budman3 said:
I was thinking the same thing the other day... do we really get everything we expected to pay for? It isn't just the case in detailing products but juices, milk, food, etc. What really got me thinking is gas. Wouldn't it be easy for a gas station to slow the flow of the gas to make it say you are getting 2 gallons of gas but are only getting 1.8 gallons???? Seems like an easy scam to make $$ to me. Maybe I'm just paranoid :bump :bubba
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The pumps are checked regularly in our state and if Iowa does it, I'm guessing everyone does. :)
It carries a pretty stiff fine and may even be cause for shutting the pumps down.

Charles
 
This is a topic that should be brought to the attention of the company directly using e-mail or phone call, not on a public board. Settling problems on public boards is not right for the consumer or the company.We have seen it here with foam pads and now with products.
 
jlift:
It will be interesting to see what you find out.
Right now, I have 9 gallon jugs, (or partial), and have used a heck of a lot more over the years and never checked the actual quantity.
I'm probably not going to now, either, but it is somewhat of a question mark in my mind.
Given the way my day has gone, I would probably end up spilling a cup or two so my test would be of no value and I will have lost that much product.:)

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
The pumps are checked regularly in our state and if Iowa does it, I'm guessing everyone does. :)
It carries a pretty stiff fine and may even be cause for shutting the pumps down.

Charles
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Good to know :bigups :bigups Thanks

I figured it'd have to be some type of regulation but it would be easy to get away with otherwise. I mean it'd be very unpractical for every person to take a 5 gallon gas can and make sure they are getting exactly the 5 gallons... and since nobody would be checking it'd be simple for the station to alter... I'm not going on any facts, just my imagination.
 
The company may have an answer, it could be as simple as we are sorry, the machinery was out of alignment and they make good.

As for fuel and food, State consumer affairs regulates it here in NY, and there are HEAVY fines if a consumer is shorted. I work for a food packager many years ago and one of the machines was slightly off and ther was only 15oz in the 1 lb bag and the company was hit with a large fine. Funny thing is if the bag would have have 17oz in it, no one ever seemed to complain :lol:

Keep us updated

"J"
 
budman3 said:
Good to know :bigups :bigups Thanks

I figured it'd have to be some type of regulation but it would be easy to get away with otherwise. I mean it'd be very unpractical for every person to take a 5 gallon gas can and make sure they are getting exactly the 5 gallons... and since nobody would be checking it'd be simple for the station to alter... I'm not going on any facts, just my imagination.
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All jurisdictions check gas pumps, octane, and purity for that matter. The way they do is there are specially modified vehicles that have multiple gas tanks that are used to spot check various stations and pumps. The station has no clue the car being filled is checking on them. Once the special tank is "filled" with say 20 gallons according to the pump it's checked back at the garage to see if it's truly the gallonage the pump says and it's checked for octane, water, etc. The papers are always reporting about the stations that get caught.
 
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