Circle K’s promise to offer 40 cents per gallon off gas for loyalty club members all day Thursday seemed to start with a glitch, which was apparently fixed more than a quarter of the day later.
The company said it would give members of its Inner Circle program 40 cents off per gallon.
The offer was advertised at gas pumps on Tuesday, with ads saying prices would automatically drop on the display.
But random checks by Republic journalists at two pumps showed that the discount was not applied.
At one pump in Tempe, the price dropped just 5 cents a gallon, the normal discount loyalty club members get. A manager at the store estimated what the discount would have been and paid the difference in cash.
A store clerk in downtown Phoenix and a store clerk in Tempe said prices at the pump are controlled by a computer and the problem was likely a software bug.
A Republic journalist was able to get the correct discount around 7 a.m. on Thursday.
A Circle K spokesperson was not immediately available for comment Thursday morning.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Circle K gas discount didn’t apply to early birds
