[the.dogfather]

I have encountered this scam a couple of times. After falling for it the first time more than a decade back, everytime they tried this scam, I just ask them to stop fueling at 500 or whatever the smaller amount is (used to be 100 for bikes), and pay the amount and head to another fuel pump.
If they asked me that you had said full tank, I would say but you stopped at 500, so that's fine.

While the frequency of this scam has come down, it has not totally disappeared.

[dass]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

I just have one question, I always thought since it is online transaction how would the attendants skim the extra amount. But as per the record it is charged 3069 but card swipe was 3569. At point do they interfere during this process, I thought online transactions would directly go to the account.

There are other cash transactions that they negate this with and pocket the cash. I don't think they meddle with the credit/debit card transaction in itself. For them, the end of the day volume should match with the transaction amount. Any excess is theirs and I am assuming any shortage, they will have to pay from their pockets. This is the only logical thing I could think of, experts here might have other thoughts.

[shrinz.vivek]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

The attender stopped at 500 and said done. I again mentioned it's full tank and he said ok. Exactly at that time another attended came to me saying "I thought I20 only has petrol yours is diesel". I got distracted at that time and didn't notice whether attendant reset the meter to zero. Usually my tank capacity is 37 litres, auto cutoff happens at 35litres, so basically at current diesel price in Bangalore usually it is around 3100. But he charged me saying i had filled 500 at first and total was 3659.

Please pardon my confusion.
I see some people are suggesting to pay up Rs.500 when they stop filling for the first time.
At that point will they have really filled for 500 bucks?
1. If yes, then how can they reset to zero and fill for another 3159 rupees when the tank cant physically hold fuel worth 3659
2. If no, then paying 500 will still make us lose money. So how is it a smart move?

I am really sorry if I am missing some point and sounding dumb.

[silvercloud]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Please pardon my confusion.
I see some people are suggesting to pay up Rs.500 when they stop filling for the first time.
At that point will they have really filled for 500 bucks?
1. If yes, then how can they reset to zero and fill for another 3159 rupees when the tank cant physically hold fuel worth 3659
2. If no, then paying 500 will still make us lose money. So how is it a smart move?

I am really sorry if I am missing some point and sounding dumb.

This happened to me in Chennai, where the attendant on a full tank request stopped at Rs. 700 and then asked me "Sir, I have filled for 700.Is this ok?". I looked at him once over and said "Yes, that's perfect". Paid 700 and left. The look on the attendants face was so funny.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by anshu1101

What I do every time to avoid this situation is -
3. Tell him/her the fuel that needs to be filled in - petrol or diesel.

4. Tell him/her the exact amount or volume that needs to be filled in.

Another step i add in between no 3 & 4 is to ask for ethanol percentage. That typically takes the attendants attention away from any such mischievousness as they are not aware of same. This also add a bit of suspicion in their heads if i am somebody connected

They always redirect me to pump manager & wait for me to return with nozzle in hand. It does help that i always do tankfulls, insist on card/ UPI payment before the fill. On top, Suzuki connect also shows the fuel percentage in the app in real time which is kind of double assurance that i got the needed quantity.

[raptor_diwan]

Originally Posted by shrinz.vivek

Please pardon my confusion.
I see some people are suggesting to pay up Rs.500 when they stop filling for the first time.
At that point will they have really filled for 500 bucks?
1. If yes, then how can they reset to zero and fill for another 3159 rupees when the tank cant physically hold fuel worth 3659
2. If no, then paying 500 will still make us lose money. So how is it a smart move?

I am really sorry if I am missing some point and sounding dumb.

For example, let's say I am a fuel attendant, and you ask me to fill for Rs. 1000 worth of fuel:

I would fill for 500 and stop. Then you will remind me that you asked for 1000, not 500. I will apologize and proceed to fill another 500. However, during this process, one of my friends might intervene, asking you a silly question to distract you from watching the meter. In the meantime, I will fill another 500 worth of fuel, making it a total of 1000, right? But I might argue later that you should pay 1500 because, before I filled 500, then I reset to 0, and again filled 1000, so that's a total of 1500. Now, it's your challenge to prove that I didn't reset the meter and continued from 500 to a next 500, but I would insist that I reset it to 0 and filled 1000, totaling 1500.

This is what happened to the OP here. Now he is unable to argue because they changed the language to a regional one, and he was not in his hometown but somewhere away with a lot of strangers and honking, which put him under a lot of stress. Consequently, he couldn't think of a point about his tank's capacity not being able to hold that much fuel. Even though he brought it up, it would take a long time for him to convince.

If you have a lot of time on your hands and you are in your hometown, and if it's a bike, you can simply park the vehicle, prepare to argue, and ask them to take this much worth of fuel from the vehicle in a can to prove that they filled this many liters, and then I will pay. To do this, we need plenty of time to spare. They will remove the fuel. However, currently, there's no need for all of this, as suggested above.

All you need to do is meet a supervisor over there who will have a meter with all the entries of fuel dispensed. If it shows back-to-back entries of 500 and 1500, then it's true that I filled 1500. If it shows 500 + 500 during those times, then they have cheated you. In that case, you can get your money back and file a complaint against the attendant. I have done this in Chennai a long time ago, and I remember seeing the monitor. If you are somewhere outstation and everyone is being difficult, don't worry. You can simply obtain the invoice, note the exact time it happened, dispenser number, or take a photo of it, note the time, and maybe even take a photo of the attendant and the vehicle at the bunk. Reporting will also help you get your money back like OP did.

What others are suggesting is that if you asked me to fill for 1000 and I only filled for 500 and stopped, you shouldn't proceed further. Just pay 500 and leave, and avoid the bunk forever.

I hope this is clear.

[Punto_Ntorq Guy]

To avoid this I always ask for a receipt, irrespective of the amount paid.

Now a days in Petrol station POS machine(s) you can see 10 (if not more) last transactions. Attendants always choose from that only for card based payment. (I also make a point to pay only by cards).

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by raptor_diwan

Consequently, he couldn't think of a point about his tank's capacity not being able to hold that much fuel. Even though he brought it up, it would take a long time for him to convince.

Another thing I would like to add here. In Telangana and AP, usually auto cut-off happens between 3500-3600 for my car as per diesel price here. Now since the similar amount showed up in this pump in Bangalore it didn't catch my attention because I am used to that particular number for every tank full. After few mins I realized that if it is 10 rupees cheaper then cut-off should have happened at even less amount. So if it helps one should have a rough estimate of price in their mind as per that region before topping up

[sach.sri]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I always get out of the car and stand next to the meter. I always look straight at the meter.

Totally agreed. I always do that, get out, stand next to the guy and only then tell them how much i want. and then also keep a close eye on what is happening.

[Revvatron]

Originally Posted by Neomobile

My question may be naive, so please excuse me. But if you know the tank capacity, why can’t you say 30 litres or 35 litres instead of doing a full tank? Then this question will not arise. Or Rs 3000?

It doesn't matter what we say because they will stop at 500 only. Even if you say 3000 they will hear it as 300 or 30 litres as 3 litres.

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

Got scammed with the similar tactic which has been discussed already in thread. What makes worse is despite reading about this kind of scam multiple times on this forum as well as Youtube I still fell for it.

I stopped for refueling at BPCL on Hoskete road at Bangalore and asked for full tank. The attender stopped at 500 and said done. I again mentioned it's full tank and he said ok. Exactly at that time another attended came to me saying "I thought I20 only has petrol yours is diesel". I got distracted at that time and didn't notice whether attendant reset the meter to zero. Usually my tank capacity is 37 litres, auto cutoff happens at 35litres, so basically at current diesel price in Bangalore usually it is around 3100. But he charged me saying i had filled 500 at first and total was 3659. I tried arguing with them but all of sudden they where only speaking in Kannada. Earlier they were speaking in Hindi. There was no way I could have argued at that time, on top of that the vehicles behind were honking constantly. I tried explaining to them but they were still honking. Later I realised that for 3659 I would get 41 litres which would be impossible for my fuel tank. I could have tried proving using that logic but it was too late. This shows that no matter how much we are aware in crucial moments we do loose our logical thinking.

This is the fuel pump https://goo.gl/maps/2V4m7R6MhVEVdGFt9 and notice the reviews, it is filled with similar complaints.

Simple way to avoid this is, when he stops at 500, just pay 500 and leave. This happens to me everytime when I fill up my 390 Duke. I tell the attendant to do a full tank, tank full but all they do is go till 150 and stop. I get frustrated whenever they do this, since I fill fuel mostly at a place which is 400m from my house and despite of me visiting them regularly, they do this to me.

So best solution to this is, tell them to do a tank full twice or thrice or till whenever the attendant can grasp this or stop at whatever quantity he stops. Fill fuel somewhere else afterwards. These morons wont change, and for our own good, we need to be smarter and move on.

[r24x7]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

Guys I have positive update to share on the post I made about getting scammed in bpcl near hoskote. They accepted the mistake and refunded the amount.

While I am glad that things are going positive, I seriously think that their pants are on fire and that they are in a firefighting mode now.

For instance, I was going through their Google reviews and I see a lot of fake-positive, very similar reviews talking about how their company owned transport vehicles are regular here and they don't have any sort of scam or cheating happening here. How many of us think of including the words "no cheating/scamming" while describing positive transaction experience?

Yes, they're definitely into disaster management now.

[IAmGroot]

Place: Indian Oil petrol pump, Wakad side of Wakad Hinjewadi flyover.

There are 2 diesel dispensers, I parked my vehicle behind a vehicle at 1st dispenser. The attendant did not reset to zero and convinced the vehicle owner to start from that point. Now my turn and was told that there is some issue with machine and reset to zero is not happening. I immediately started my vehicle and moved to the second dispenser. Stood there with all my senses active and made sure to not get scammed.

I have been scammed multiple time with my car and bike in the past. Once I caught them in the act at Indian Oil pump, opposite Esquare. The guy did not reset to zero and tried to con me. I had seen him do the same thing a week before to another biker. I stood my ground and told him to get their measuring cylinder. Opened my tool box and emptied all petrol from tank in that measurement cylinder. As expected it was short. I told them I am calling the police and sensing that I am in no mood to back out, put me on a call with their manager. The manager said sorry and asked to top up my tank for free. Till this day I still think that the manager at other end of call was fake.

The story does not end here. I took the receipt and filed an online complain with IOC. This was the time when S Manjunath of IOC was murdered for standing up-to a corrupt petrol pump. A few days later I got a call from IOC regional manager asking me to come to petrol pump for a meeting with the petrol pump owner. I was little fearful, nevertheless I went for that meeting. The pump manager and IOC manager heard me and informed me that the employee responsible for this was fired and hope this episode will not stop me from using their pump. That’s it, I said thank you and left the meeting, never ever stepping back to that pump.

[PrideRed]

Just a habit I have been following- most of the time especially in a new station, I get out of the car, stand in front of dispenser and then let the attendant know how much to fill. This also helps to let attendant know if he is about to spill fuel and incase he does, ask him to atleast clean the mess. Also these days, I do check for density along with checking if meter is reset to zero.

[aviator1101]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Preferred Fuel pumps in order
1. Reliance now called Jio-BP
2. BPCL
3. HPCL
4. Indian Oil
Always avoid Nayara Energy

What about Shell?
How do they score in honesty and quality parameters?