Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


Reply
  Search this Thread
52,908 views
Old 15th December 2010, 23:57   #16
Senior - BHPian
 
khoj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Dilli
Posts: 2,718
Thanked: 1,287 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
My preferences:

- COCOs (company owned pumps)
- BPCL Ghars + Club HPs
- Prefer Pumps frequented by trucks, Avoid those where there are lost of 2-wheelers & tractors
- No IBPs & Essars
- Like Reliance pumps
- Don't like Shell pumps

- Like new pumps, with clean toilets (those are preferred)
- Avoid pumps inside small towns (where there are no bypasses)
- Like Pumps with credit card facilities

....and stand by checking on fuel quality when refuelling is on. I stop refuelling if I suspect quality of fuel.
Hi HVKumar.
Could you elaborate on the two preferences of yours emphasised in bold above. Thank you.
khoj is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 00:00   #17
Senior - BHPian
 
prince_pervez's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Redwood shores, CA, USA
Posts: 4,210
Thanked: 51 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
....and stand by checking on fuel quality when refuelling is on. I stop refuelling if I suspect quality of fuel.
Interesting. How does a lesser mortal like me do that ?

About the Shell pumps, I usually go eyes closed to a Shell. Any pointers there ? Or something we don't know ?

Last edited by prince_pervez : 16th December 2010 at 00:03.
prince_pervez is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 00:34   #18
BHPian
 
kadanaJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 584
Thanked: 952 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Just go to the one where you see most truckers or locals filling up.

They know which pumps are to be trusted and which are not.
kadanaJ is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 00:39   #19
BHPian
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 713
Thanked: 100 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

I am a patron of HP. So as long as it is a company owned HP, I don't mind refuelling there. But yes at times I have mis judged the amount of fuel in my car and at such times, its the first one I see!

Cheers!
Rohan
rjalihal is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 01:37   #20
BHPian
 
Born 2 Be Wild's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Roaming
Posts: 813
Thanked: 1,367 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Quote:
Originally Posted by narchennai View Post
Company owned and company operated outlets are like any other outlet, firstly company owned outlets are let out to a person appointed by the company like BP, IOCL and HP on an annual basis. This person is not an employee of these oil companies. He is like us, I mean has sales targets to meet, has performance rating and is also responsible for personnel management of the specific outlet.

So any BP Ghar or IOCL jubilee can be run or owned by anyone selected by the respective oil companies. Lastly I am a part of one of these oil companies, so you can trust the sentences above.
Thats a very vague Description, COCO's are of 3 types

1. Permanent COCO AKA Flagship outlet- these are the coco which are run directly by the company with there staff posted at the Outlet , and these are mostly there in the cities and very seldom do u find one on the highway.

2. Temporary COCO AKA ADHOC Pump- Given out to an existing Dealer for a period of 11 months.

3. COCO Service Provider- COCO bunks given out to individuvals through an interview process for a period of 3 years selection process is same as the selection of a new dealer except this aint permanent.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pacman2881 View Post
narchennai is right. These company owned pumps are let out to third parties on a contract basis. I heard this from an attendant at one of the company owned pumps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by narchennai View Post
There are various points to consider a good bunk for fuel. Old bunk tend to build up corrosion in tanks and these contaminate the fuel. But that doesnt travel through the piping to the dispensing point, there are filters set up all along to ensure that the fuel is turbid-free. But keep in mind these filters try to purify a already contaminated fuel stored in rusty tanks.

because the owner is new to learn about adulterating and the tanks are new to get rusted, but even in such bunks it might get contaminated while being transported in lorry.
Thats a new one that i have heard in a long time! Please Define what you mean by contamination? There are no FILTERS set up along the piping or tanks theres just one filter in the Dispenser placed next to the Assembly head which is cleaned every month.


COming to the question at hand i would suggest you avoid Filling from the highway unless absolutely neccessary you should plan your fuelling stops to coincide with some city that you go through.

Also only fill up from a place which has a huge 2 wheeler rush theese bunks are the ones who do honest business mostly, as 2 wheeler customers are very finicky about mileage and quality.

Avoid Bunks with huge Truck Lines coz firstly Truckers never pay cash these are usually credit customers and where there is a huge rush of truckers is where all the sales staff are Tendulkar's hitting double centuries , these guys take credit customers for a big rollercoaster ride so you would like a lamb led to slaughter!


Last but not the least what i always say to anyone and everyone " If you are a vigilant and aware customer who takes the pains of stepping out of the car checking the zero and the final reading without batting an eyelid chances of you being swindled are Zilch,finito .
Born 2 Be Wild is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 10:32   #21
BHPian
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 313
Thanked: 37 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Great replies. The consensus seems to be
1. Company operated outlets (COCO)
2. Being vigilant when fueling
3. Checking the facilities of the fuel station (clean toilets, credit card facility).
4. I will add my suggestion as to checking clean and uniformed staff.

There seems to be difference of opinion on whether to follow a bunk with more trucks or two wheelers or autos. Hope that will resolve in subsequent postings. Since my interest is on diesel I am thinking of following the trucks.

I have two questions based on the suggestions above.
Question 1: Its good to learn that there are 3 categories of COCO. How to diffientiate between the 3 categories of COCO bunks? Are all ok?

Does the COCO bunks have employees with uniform too?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild View Post
Thats a very vague Description, COCO's are of 3 types
1. Permanent COCO AKA Flagship outlet- ...
2. Temporary COCO AKA ADHOC Pump- ..
3. COCO Service Provider- ..

Question 2: Adulterated fuel. How do you identify?
hvkumar - can you please elaborate your technique.
narchennai - Indian ingenuity is great. We are masters in bypassing law. I think still bunks do adulteration.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
...
....and stand by checking on fuel quality when refuelling is on. I stop refuelling if I suspect quality of fuel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by narchennai View Post
....
Also adulteration is not possible today, thanks to all technology available from bottling plant to petrol bunk. Adulteration is a costly job nowadays.
...

Condor - fyi. Kohlapur in news today for large booking of Mercedes. next time you can simply follow MB

Quote:
Originally Posted by condor View Post
....

Classic example : Konduskar's, in Kolhapur. The bunk that was for a long time the biggest retail outlet for diesel in India.


...
druva is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 12:01   #22
BHPian
 
Chopper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Calicut, Bangalore
Posts: 56
Thanked: 4 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

I used to check for COCO (Company owned and company operated) pumps. Another way is to look for pumps crowded with HMVs. Sometimes I even ask few of the locals (taxi guys, tea shops) to get an idea about the good petrol bunks nearby.
Chopper is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 12:32   #23
BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 98
Thanked: 23 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Seems many prefers large clean and fresh pumps.

given that all the petro companies have fixed margins to the pumps, wouldn't it be costly to maintain large, clean, fresh looking bunks. If that is the case, to compensate the cost, wouldn't they adulterate?
KumaravelS is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 12:45   #24
BHPian
 
Born 2 Be Wild's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Roaming
Posts: 813
Thanked: 1,367 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Quote:
Originally Posted by druva View Post
Great replies. The consensus seems to be
1. Company operated outlets (COCO)
2. Being vigilant when fueling
3. Checking the facilities of the fuel station (clean toilets, credit card facility).
4. I will add my suggestion as to checking clean and uniformed staff.


I have two questions based on the suggestions above.
Question 1: Its good to learn that there are 3 categories of COCO. How to diffientiate between the 3 categories of COCO bunks? Are all ok?

Does the COCO bunks have employees with uniform too?


Question 2: Adulterated fuel. How do you identify?
hvkumar - can you please elaborate your technique.
narchennai - Indian ingenuity is great. We are masters in bypassing law. I think still bunks do adulteration.
There is no way to distinguish a COCO bunk unless you ask the employees present at the bunk, theres no difference in uniforms or staff the sales staff is the same with dealer operated bunks.

Its very True Pumps With Automation facility installed cant do anything at all because the entire set up is computerised so nothing can be added to the tank without being caught, However this is present just in the cities and that not all cities The plan of the Ministry is to Automate all Bunks across india who sell upwards of 150 kilolitres a mnth by 2015.

Nowadays nobody audeltarates Diesel its petrol that was played around with and every bunk has a Filter paper test for the customer to check for quality, You need to put 2 drops of fuel on the paper and shake the paper for 5 minutes if the fuel leaves a stain then its been mixed if there is no stain on the Filter paper ur good to go.

Hope that helps.
Born 2 Be Wild is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 17:05   #25
BANNED
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 4,287
Thanked: 2,810 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Keep your eyes open. Pumps where you ll see local tractors, autos and private buses etc are usually good.

A fuel pump condition doesn't always tell you its fuel quality. I got a mileage of 15.5kmpl when I filled up at some nondescript pump en route Goa.
n.devdath is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 22:51   #26
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 204
Thanked: 392 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Easy-peasey. Put yourself in the owner's place. If I want to rip off fuel buyers, I locate myself in a place with high traffic (footfall in mall-speak). Since I don't need to bother about return customers, I can cheat on fuel quality with impunity. (Sometimes this can backfire: Everybody's heard about the VIP who filled diesel for his Merc at a bunk and the car conks out just outside the premises. He comes back with muscle and forces the bunk owner to pay for the repairs)

On the other hand, if my location is low traffic, I need to keep my customers happy so they come back. That's why bunks in residential areas, far away from the busy highways, are great for filling up. The residents need to be kept satisfied. Even better if the bunk is in a posh, residential area. Now there's one more incentive for the owner to keep the locals happy: they are VIPs!

So next time you hit a new town and don't know the good places (this works for barbers, restaurants, anything) just go to the out of the way places. You could get at least 30 percent more bang for the buck. Of course, YMMV.

Last edited by proton : 16th December 2010 at 22:53. Reason: spelling
proton is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 23:11   #27
BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: thiruvananthapuram
Posts: 774
Thanked: 25 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Have always filled from IOC pumps (new looking preferred) . If they are out of sight then reliance or IBP. Usually avoids BPCL , HPCL etc . Then some local enquiries also helps .
swathyd is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 23:42   #28
BHPian
 
Fornax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Bombay
Posts: 293
Thanked: 91 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Occams Razor - here is a quick evaluation:
1. Go to a pump near civilization. God knows what happens after dark in the far-away ones.
2. Look for customers, only trucks are a no-no. Note where other "private" vehicles are re-fueling.
3. Generally pumps selling premium fuel alongside regular one, are likely to be frequented more by non-truckers.
4. Stick to one brand, I used to swear by Club HP for their Diesel.
5. Avoid barren pumps.
6. Avoid pumps w/o advertising, or adequate frontage. Feel free to skip all the open to sky ones, especially in rainy season.
7. Make it a point to stop at the station that provides free air-pressure checks. Means they care for their customers, and are not selling purely based on meeting needs.
8. Learn from past mistakes.
Fornax is offline  
Old 16th December 2010, 23:47   #29
BHPian
 
Safari_Beast's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Faridabad
Posts: 376
Thanked: 345 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Hi All

I need to highlight a case with Govt tourism owned petrol pumps . I have factory which uses 70 litres of diesel everyday and we get from Govt tourism owned petrol pumps . They give us own low prices because they are mixing in higher percentage . And since we use burners in our factory we can easily identify the mixing . So better be away from Govt tourism owned petrol pumps . Always fill from where trucks don't fill their diesels .
Safari_Beast is offline  
Old 17th December 2010, 00:59   #30
BHPian
 
Born 2 Be Wild's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Roaming
Posts: 813
Thanked: 1,367 Times
Re: How to Identify good petrol pumps on Highway or in new Cities

Quote:
Originally Posted by KumaravelS View Post
given that all the petro companies have fixed margins to the pumps, wouldn't it be costly to maintain large, clean, fresh looking bunks. If that is the case, to compensate the cost, wouldn't they adulterate?
The Pump is managed by the dealer, Maintained by the Oil company, In case of company owned sites/leased sites. Sites that are not leased to the company or owned by the co. are dealer Maintained. 99% are Company owned or Co. Leased.
Born 2 Be Wild is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks