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HIGH POINT — Drivers circled like vultures at the gas pumps along Surrett Drive on Thursday evening, looking to take a bite of whatever was left of the day’s big game.

Their prey? $3.38 per gallon of unleaded gasoline.

But after more than four hours of the all-you-can pump buffet at Grand Central Express, the underground tanks ran dry at 4:30 p.m., leaving dozens of drivers disappointed.

The chaos started at noon for owner Anita Swink and her employees, as they slashed their prices in hopes of restoring the business’s reputation after allegations of price gouging.

On Monday, the station was one of the first targeted by the N.C. Attorney General’s Office after it received complaints of stations increasing prices to $5.49 or more a gallon Friday in anticipation of Hurricane Ike’s impact on oil refineries.

As the news spread that Grand Central Express was under the microscope, Swink said business plummeted after what she called an unfair attack by the attorney general’s office and the media.

“It’s hurt business, and we haven’t had time to take our evidence to prove we’re innocent,” Swink said Thursday afternoon. “(The discounted price) is helping us get people back in here and tell our side of the story.”

On Friday morning, Swink said the station was selling gas at $3.89 a gallon. But as the store’s usual Friday shipment came in, supplier Clinard Oil charged $5.33 a gallon. The station had to sell gas at $5.63 a gallon to make a profit, Swink said. Customer complaints led to a drop to $3.99 a gallon pretty soon.

On Wednesday, when Clinard Oil told Swink she could get 4,000 gallons of gas at $3.38 a gallon, she jumped on it, passing the savings along to customers to rebuild trust.

“It has been crazy, but it’s been a good kind of crazy,” Swink said.

Customers began lining up before noon and kept going until the last drop was gone.

“Man, I missed out,” said Alvin Edwards said as he pulled his Chevrolet Tahoe into the station to find plastic bags over the pumps. “Now, I’ll have to go get it for $3.93. All of the stations have been raising prices, and it ain’t right.”

The attorney general’s office said Wednesday that it had received 3,700 complaints about gas gouging and had issued 16 subpoenas to the owners of 23 gas stations.

The subpoenas require retailers to provide documentation regarding their fuel prices to the attorney general’s office within 10 days of receipt. The law applies to all levels of the supply chain, from retailers to the manufacturers. Those found in violation can be fined up to $5,000.

Swink said she hadn’t received her subpoena yet, and the lower prices were not an effort to “make things right” but restore faith after unfair accusations.

“We feel as though we were charged, tried and convicted in a matter by an overzealous attorney general and the news media, without ever having an opportunity for a rebuttal or explanation,” Swink said in a statement.

Two Greensboro gas stations were named in the price-gouging investigation Wednesday: the Irving Park BP at 2009 N. Elm St. and Big Boy’s Market at 5401-A W. Market St.

Those subpoenas came as a surprise to Charles Holland, who sold the Irving Park BP in 2005 and retired to Florida.

“I was shocked, and it made me mad,” Holland said. “I was in business up there in Greensboro for 46 years. I ran five stations up there, and I never once price gouged anyone in 46 years.”

The attorney general’s office incorrectly subpoenaed Holland but changed the subpoena Thursday to reflect Walter L. Shuler Jr. as the owner.

“I asked the attorney general why they had my name on (the subpoena), and they just didn’t do their homework,” Holland said.

Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said: “We have to take the information that consumers have shared with us, and then attempt to track down the station and its owners through sources such as filings with the secretary of state’s office. Sometimes there have been changes in ownership.’’

Staff Writer Jeff Mills contributed to this report.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com