Short Fueling Tricks At Petrol Stations

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by kreddy

Please avoid this pump and one after Manipal Hospital (on the same side not the one opposite).

Oh i have had my share of run-ins with both of them. I avoid them unless i am taking my bike. That too Rs 60 max.

The second bunk is manned by bigger scum.

[bijuks]

Last time when I filled at HP near Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, I was also suspecting their behaviour. So, when my turn came, i came out of the car and made sure that the reading has been reset to zero.

Probably, this can happen at any pump. The money goes directly to the guy who does this. So, teh management also may not know/notice it.

[Ravveendrra]

The attention diversion scams are legion and the only protection against them is eternal vigilance. I have found that the best practice is to ensure that the meter is reset to '0' and then ask for a full tank (auto-stop). If someone starts talking to you, talk to him without taking your eyes off the meter. Note both the litres dispensed and the amount in rupees. Once the attendants see you do this they lay off you and look for better 'bakra'. It helps to stick to a few known bunks and it helps if you and your vehicles are recognised by the chaps in the bunk.

The start-stop trick known as 'jhatka' used to work on the old mechanical metered pumps. I do not know if it is as effective in the newer digital ones. Basically, the sudden stop ensures that the disc & meter run a little after the flow of fuel stops (due to inertia). Done a few times in the course of a 30 litre fill, it can save the attendant/owner upto a litre of fuel.

I do not think that the long pipe makes that much of a difference. Once primed, the fuel remains in the pipe till the valve in the hand held 'gun'. It is not as if fuel flows back and is replaced with air (a very small fraction might - due to compression & expansion of fuel and expansion and contraction of the rubber hose). I do not know how many non-return valves are normally there in a fuel line. But I do know that if a garden hose has no water in it, it takes about a minute or more for the water to reach the open end after a tap is turned on, till then only air flows out of the pipe. So, unless air comes out of the nozzle when you start filling fuel - you have nothing to worry about. Lifting the pipe up etc. do not help you in any way. There is a valve at the end of the pipe (the lever in the gun) and what is behind that is not going to come out even if you lift the pipe sky high. The only additional fuel you can save is the bit in the nozzle - the bit that goes into your fuel filler / tank.

Cheers,

[Dr.Sumit Bhatti]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Question: Once they replace the dispenser back on its stand dosent the meter get reset? Technically the meter should have reset to 0 when he pulled it out to fill fuel. Does it need to be manually reset?
Odd thing but if that's the case its helping the attendants to fool more people.

An small object (such as a small stone or pebble) inserted or wedged between the nozzle handle and the pump meter reset lever can prevent the dispensing unit from shutting off even while the nozzle sits in its cradle. This also prevents the meter display from shutting off and it stays active at the previous meter reading. The pump meter reset to zero is triggered off only when the pump motor is switched off and re-started again.

Another major problem, especially with older pumping units is that there are actually two toggle switches (like you see in old trucks), one for the AC circuit and one for the DC circuit and both are actuated by a single slot in a rod attached to the lever in the nozzle stand. An imbalance in this setting was allowing many dispensing units to appear to be shut off with the nozzle securely in its cradle while actually the pump motor was running and the meter display was not being reset.

That is why the idling motor shut-off timer was introduced which is usually 40 seconds or more. But in India where there is usually a queue, even 40 seconds is a long time between unsuspecting victims.

Needless to say no pump attendant will report a 'helpful' malfunction and the attendant need not try to fool all customers. A few unsuspecting victims a day amounts to a large sum at the end of the day. And its pure profit: No investment, no losses, no expenses !

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Dr.Sumit Bhatti

And its pure profit: No investment, no losses, no expenses !

Thanks for the explanation.

[romeomidhun]

Nowadays I fill petrol from the Indian Oil pump opposite Sathyabhama University in OMR road after Sholinganallur, and I get an average of 10% extra mileage when compared to other pumps!

[Lord Lucan]

Originally Posted by kreddy

Please avoid this pump and one after Manipal Hospital (on the same side not the one opposite).

Please avoid the one opposite to Manipal Hospital too. They have multiple petrol dispensing units and one of them is dedicated for two wheelers. When ever I fill petrol there, my Fiero engine will stop during idling and low throttle. Looks like adulteration.

[marlinspike]

Reading through all the ways in which pumps and attendants can swipe out the moolah on fuel bills, I think its safer to me to stick to tank fills at shell and take that system -G every time to ensure that they don't mess up either.

Its just getting too complicated, trying to understand and remember and look out for all these various methods followed to siphon off money at the fule pumps.

[reveal_da_zeal]

Originally Posted by iraghava

The best tip a close friend who owns a petrol pump gave me was that if you ever have a problem with the pump insist on making an entry into their Complaint book! This is regularly inspected by company officials & the owners greatly fear any adverse entry.

99 times out of 100 they'll not give you the book & try & sort out your problem at their end only. So give it a shot, might help you someday.

Thanks for a worthy suggestion.
Here is my experience : till January 2008 i used to get my car fueled by a Pump where most of Government owned vehicles are refueled here in Chandigarh. I am a guy aged 22 which gives them a foul sense that I may not care for even if they fuel less. I am in habit to get bill for whatever quantity is filled (also all the government Vehicles get the bill after refueling) and my car carry a Government Official's Pass which made them feel as if the reimbursements are made.
As I was getting car refueled from that same pump for about a year I figured out that the quantity showed considerable variations. Now this happened on a Morning (I usually get car refueled in morning). As the guy started refueling I got off and asked him to go get the bill as the refueling is done, first he ignored and kept on till amount reached 250 just after that he made the move of starting and stopping for almost 8-9 times. This thing just got me all furious. I asked him why was he doing that and the reply was: the handle is old so it keeps slipping. My question to him was why it did not slip till 250/- and started only after that. He was in no manner listening to me. There was nobody at the pump and as i asked him for the bill again and kept yelling at him, he came up with it and said 'sahab is office ki sab gaadiya yahi se petrol bharwati hain koi problem nahi hoti bas aap hi bol rahe hain' then i came to know what they do with the Government owned cars. I was almost late for my tuition and so i just gave him a threatning look some really really provoking abuses and this was how I tried to cover up my Loss which was about a Liter per refueling.

Situation Now: I get car refueled by COCO pump and tell them strictly to
keep hands off and GET THE BILL TILL CAR FILLS. And now I can see there are no variations in fuel level.
Also now I have no tuitions

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

Some tips for filling fuel
Only buy or fill up your car or bike in the early morning when the gound temperature is still cold. remember that all the service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer the fuel expands. so buying in the afternoon or in the evening, your litre is not exactly a litre. in petroleum business, the specific gravity & the temperature play an important role. 1 degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
another most important tip is to fill up when your tank is HALF full. The reason for this is the more fuel you have in your tank, the less is the air occupying its empty space. fuel evaporates faster than you can imagine.
Another useful information is to avoid filling up if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy. Most likely the fuel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Hope this will help you get the most value for your hard earned money.

[kaushik_s]

As someone pointed out that the BP COCO bunk is there after Richmond road/Hosur Road junction (i.e Sholay Circle), I thought of giving it a try.
Yesterday I went there to fill-up, my fuel-gauge meter was in between half and quarter mark. I told the attendant to do a full tank. And at that moment I got a call and as I looked back they told me that the meter stopped after fueling and they are restarting the meter. The meter was showing 310 but there was no display for volume(i.e. how many litres). I knew these guys are for some mis-chief but I told, "fine, fill it up". They reset the meter and started filling. After filling up, the meter was showing approx 1.6k and that was reasonable as I was also expecting around 30-35 ltrs to be filled. But now the attended told me that I need to pay 310Rs more as they've filled up that much extra and due to computer problem it stopped there. I told him, "oh is it so? Let me check your computer". That guy quietly went inside and came back and told me that I need to pay 1.6k only as the computer now showing only 1.6k. I gave him a long hard look and came out.
So, be careful whenever/wherever you fill fuel, be it COCO or non-COCO, most of the time it'll be attended by cheats and better to be on guard.

[dushmish]

Originally Posted by SAHIR.KITTUR

Some tips for filling fuel
Only buy or fill up your car or bike in the early morning when the gound temperature is still cold. remember that all the service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer the fuel expands. so buying in the afternoon or in the evening, your litre is not exactly a litre. in petroleum business, the specific gravity & the temperature play an important role. 1 degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
another most important tip is to fill up when your tank is HALF full. The reason for this is the more fuel you have in your tank, the less is the air occupying its empty space. fuel evaporates faster than you can imagine.
Another useful information is to avoid filling up if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy. Most likely the fuel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Hope this will help you get the most value for your hard earned money.

Sahir, this post of your is a verbatim copy of another post / article. I will have to stress my memory to remember which one. Abd a google of a string from your post will tell that how many places on the net this has been posted earlier. This is called PLAGIARISM. Request you to please mention the source of such postings. Have a good time on TBHP.

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

Dushmish,
I am really sorry, was not aware that it has been posted early. I had received it by mail. I will mark your comments for future posts.
Thanks mate.

[Atlblkz06]

Well many of these posts sound the same and honestly I don't think any of these "tricks" even work anymore.

They really need to have self-fill stations in India. Swipe your card, fill, and go. Attendants are entirely unnecessary!

[johnda]

I've realized that being slow and watchful can avoid these 'tricks'
I've started to get out of my car, talk clearly to the attender, check the meter if set to zero, I always fill 40 liters or 20 liters and that is it. been fine since.