chevron trick pricing

so, today i needed to get some gas, and i was in north fresno, away from the gas stations i usually go to.  i was heading south on north blackstone and saw that i could get to a 76 or a chevron.  i scanned the signs, and the cash price was about the same, or so i thought.  chevron was going to be a little easier to get to, so i pulled in, went inside, and gave the attendant my cash for the fill up.

and then, i realized i had been duped.

you see, on my experiences, and i'm sure yours as well, gas stations advertise their cash and credit prices.  so, in the picture above, i saw that the cash prices were $4.25, $4.17, and $4.25, with the credit prices 20 cents more at each level.

nope, at this station, those lower prices are for a gallon with a car wash.  with a car wash?  w.t.f.?

yes, it is my own fault for not being able to read that with car wash element when i was going by and eyeballing the prices.  i understand that.  but that is some chicanery by chevron, setting up their pricing advertisement just like every other station, but swapping in a variation of car wash instead of cash.

to be honest, i have no idea what it would have cost me had i been using plastic instead of cash.  i dread the thought that it would've been another 20 cents on top of the non-car wash price.  it's pretty devious to trick your patrons in that manner, especially at 20 cents a gallon.  since i ride a motorcycle, the car wash wasn't even an option, so i'm not sure what it would have actually cost in addition to the gas for the car wash.

today's lesson: i should have gone to 76.  and, never assume that the standard formatting is what you're getting.