Automobile Association Otago chairman Malcolm Budd says a recent fuel mix-up at a Milton service station was a rare and "genuine mistake" but needed to be rectified.
Motorists filled up with the wrong fuel last weekend after the underground 91 octane petrol and diesel tanks at the Caltex station in Milton were accidentally filled on Friday with diesel and 91 octane petrol respectively.
The mistake was not noticed until Monday.
A staff member at the Caltex station yesterday said the station manager was not at the premises and no comment would be available until today.
A Caltex spokesman earlier said he could not provide figures on how many motorists had been hit by the fuel mix-up or how many litres of the wrong fuel had been sold.
Affected motorists should contact Caltex in Milton, and repairs would be carried out "at our expense", he said.
Mr Budd, who chairs AA's Otago District Council, said this was a "rare" mix-up but was "absolutely" costly and highly inconvenient.
It had to be sorted out by the fuel providers and the service station.
Motorists should not be left out of pocket, and steps had to be taken to avoid the mistake happening again.
He "totally" empathised with those affected, and this was clearly different from "the situation of people picking up the wrong pump", he said.
Stuff reported that Otago man Dan Love was one of many hit by the pre-Christmas mix-up, after he topped up his Triumph motorcycle tank with what he thought was 91 fuel, but was diesel.
"The bike ran fine to Dunedin, but would not start from cold the following morning, which is when the problem was discovered," Mr Love said.
He later drove to the Caltex station where staff apologised and admitted the mistake.
They had said other people were also affected and he should refer it to his insurer.
It was unfair for him to have to incur any of "the costs of this", he said.
He was concerned Caltex did not announce the mistake on social media so people were made aware of it, and could avoid filling up over the weekend.
A mechanic said using petrol in a diesel vehicle could result in many thousands of dollars in damage.
