SACRAMENTO, CA - The owner of an AM/PM gas station explained Monday what led to an incident that offended one of his customers.

Lou Saechou told News10 he regretted the words used by a clerk to identify Helen Hodges in a note to a fellow clerk following a mix-up at a gas pump last week, but said the clerk had few options.

The incident happened Thursday night at the station on Marconi Avenue at the Capital City Freeway.

Hodges, 31, bought $10 worth of gas in an automated cash transaction at the pump island but assigned the money to the wrong pump. When Hodges went inside the store to ask for a refund, the clerk told her she needed to fill out a form with her name, address and phone number.

"He told me it would take two weeks to get my money," Hodges recalled. She demanded a cash refund and left the store to run an errand to allow the clerk time to find the money.

When Hodges returned a short time later, a second clerk handed her a $10 bill with a receipt attached. On the receipt, the first clerk had written "black lady big fat."

"I'd like to apologize," Saechou told News10. "We're sorry she saw the note." Saechou said the clerk did the best he could without the identifying information he had asked Hodges to provide.

"It says 'black lady,' and I can understand that because I am a black lady," Hodges told News10. "But I don't get 'big fat.' I don't get that part."

Hodges said the clerk could have used a description of her car or clothing instead. She said it was her 6-year-old son who noticed the slight, which hurt even more.

Saechou called Hodges Monday to offer the clerk's side of the story. Hodges later told News10 she wasn't satisfied with the explanation because it didn't sound like a sincere apology.

"The lesson they should learn is my money helps run that store," Hodges said. "And I won't be going back."