[MX6]

Originally Posted by aargee

Facing these guys working at fuel station is one thing that I hate the most. On contrary, I love to fuel in at Shell provided they bring down the price. To avoid all this hassles, I fill in only at a specific fuel station near my home. They know me very well, know my payment mode & know my needs. So when I go there, I still say "card payment, tank full" & open up only after I see the meter reset to 0 & payment to 0. The beauty is if the amount is 374.79, I'm charged for the same & all the more - no pumping business to round up.

Why do I say card payment first? - Sometimes these guys after filling in (frustrated that unable to cheat) give a lousy grin & say "credit card machine not working saar".

An interesting incident that happened at Salem in Dec 2009. I was returning from Kochi & was filling at this specific fuel pump. There were about 3 young lads (not sure if they were even 15) & fighting among themselves as who will fill my car & this is happening right in front of me waiting for a minute or so. Now I get down & ask is anyone going to fill in or shall I leave? And now one hasty young boy fills for Rs 1140; takes my card for payment & doesn't show up.

Now after 5 minutes or so I get an alert message in my mobile that a transaction worth of 11400 is being made; meanwhile one of these lad comes over & hands over me the card & bill. Upon this, I lock the car; take the card & bill & approach the incharge over the pump. He immediately admitted the mistake of overcharging & says he will refund 11400-1140 in cash. Now these credit cards have a policy of surcharge waiver only upto Rs 10000 per month & since it was already billed for 11400, I said I will accept 11400-1140+2.5% surcharge, this guy didn't know what to do more & says he'll call the owner for which I agree.

This guy goes in the pump comes out with another young man & he says he can reverse the payment. I was like "how is this possible?". This young man went ahead, reversed the payment & then charged for Rs 1140. Now I get a call from the bank asking "Sir is everything alright? We see too much of (confused) transaction in last 15-20 minutes". Now everything is being sorted out & I leave Salem. It was simple, straight forward things.


Very true; I was once cheated when I filled in for Rs 50 or so. That day I decided to go only to those pumps who accept CC & fill in only for full tank. Result - no cheat; and yes - I too never reply for credit or cash payment as I let the guy who's filling reply who already knows my payment mode.

Wow. I'd have got a shock if they added a zero to the total. Imagine filling your vehicle with 11400 bucks worth of petrol! then your fuel tank would comprise half your vehicle itself!
Incidentally, In one petrol pump in madurai, they took my card and came back and said, sir no current.
I walked in with him and saw the fan on in the room!
he then connected the adaptor on the plug and swiped the card in front of me.
Don't know what they were trying to pull off there.

[Ranjan Sharma]

Originally Posted by MX6

Wow. I'd have got a shock if they added a zero to the total. Imagine filling your vehicle with 11400 bucks worth of petrol! then your fuel tank would comprise half your vehicle itself!
Incidentally, In one petrol pump in madurai, they took my card and came back and said, sir no current.
I walked in with him and saw the fan on in the room!
he then connected the adaptor on the plug and swiped the card in front of me.
Don't know what they were trying to pull off there.

Moral of the story - Do not hand over the CC to anyone. Inform him, you are coming along, and would like to check what amount is being swiped.

Please remember : Most of us are very formal, for which these guys take advantage. We need to be good to good, bad to bad.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by alpha1

The plan is this: (thrwarted once by me - thanks to tbhp - higher levels of awareness + general paranoia)
You ask for 1000.
The guy stops at 400.
And then again stops at 600, saying 400 was filled earlier + 600 now = 1000.

Many ppl fall for this.

When the fuel dispenser machine has printer also attached to it, I don't think this is going to work. So, never accept hand written bills; instead ask for the print outs from the dispenser, if available.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Many ppl fall for this.

Bingo!! That's what they were trying for sure.

[MX6]

When will it become like in US? Drive in, insert your credit card in the machine. Pull out the nozzle and re-fuel it yourself. Stop, generate and pay the bill and drive out.
The moment you let some other moron re-fill for you, it's a cat and mouse game. I'm pretty sure that the bharat petroleum pump guy short filled me in Hubli.
I also get very nervous whenever those guys casually ask me while filling - "Kitna litre bhar sakta hai isme?". I tell them "thum bharo. Dekhte hai". I always feel that the moment I say it should take in 30 liters, they'd do some gimmick to show 30 litres in the meter.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by MX6

Don't know what they were trying to pull off there.

Simple - When a credit card (CC) is being used, the bank/CC company pays the merchant less, say 2.5% less than the actual amount being charged & that too after waiting for 1-2 weeks (the merchants can submit the CC receipt only twice in a month or so). So if you pay them cash, they realize the money immediately & that too in full, mean no deduction of 2.5% or whatsoever.

Next is, the money to be realized from oil companies; when the pumps order a tanker from the oil companies, they need to be paying the full amount through DD or by cash in advance. Now these pumps make money only when they sell the fuel; sooner the better; So the money is parked even there;

So on anyday people prefer cash over CC.

Originally Posted by Ranjan Sharma

Moral of the story - Do not hand over the CC to anyone. Inform him, you are coming along, and would like to check what amount is being swiped.

Please remember : Most of us are very formal, for which these guys take advantage. We need to be good to good, bad to bad.

I don't know what to say; probably when you come back you'll find a missing vehicle .
I mean, Ranjan you need to be more realist than good to good or bad to bad. This is one of a kind incident that happens by human error, what if you follow these guys & still make a mistake? Remember not everyone likes this; imagine your manager standing behind you at work, that's the perfect example that I can think of when you follow someone when he's swiping the card.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by MX6

When will it become like in US? Drive in, insert your credit card in the machine. Pull out the nozzle and re-fuel it yourself. Stop, generate and pay the bill and drive out.

It will never come in India, at least not in the PSU oil co pumps. Number one, they have an obligation for employment generation. Number two, there will be a fire accident every other day, with some morons filling petrol with one hand and talking on their mobile phone with the other!

[mooza]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Without uttering a word, I instinctively hit the attendant on the back of his head quite hard. He doesnt say a word and presses the nozzle again and continues

Ha ha ! That really raised a laugh, Spitfire

Well, even I believe in interacting with only one person while filling at a bunk where multiple number of attendants are falling all over you.
If the other chaps start asking questions, without leaving my gaze from the meter, I just tell them that I have given all the required details to this guy who is doing the filling, so please get lost!
Oh, and after the filling it's a sight to see these guys place the nozzle back ever so gingerly on the reset lever (so the old reading still shows) and eagerly scout around for the next victim!

[Sheel]

Was watching tv yesterday and came across a shocking news in UP
these buggers have managed to link the dispenser via remote and once they switch it on,
it approx jets out a mere ~0.8ml compared to 1ltr,

though the gang is busted, bunker being sealed and the license shall be cancelled pretty soon, but it is scary,

remote control-hell they have gone pretty hi-tech

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by mooza

Well, even I believe in interacting with only one person while filling at a bunk where multiple number of attendants are falling all over you.
If the other chaps start asking questions, without leaving my gaze from the meter, I just tell them that I have given all the required details to this guy who is doing the filling, so please get lost!

Originally Posted by MX6

I also get very nervous whenever those guys casually ask me while filling - "Kitna litre bhar sakta hai isme?". I tell them "thum bharo. Dekhte hai".

Whenever these guys approach me with talk (payment mode, capacity etc), I just don't bother to answer. My eyes will be riveted on the meter. Just because someone is asking me a question does not mean that I need to answer them. Since I am busy watching the meter, I would rather have them wait till my current task is done before turning my attention to them.

I may appear to be dumb, but all I am bothered is not getting cheated. Anyway I would have already informed about my requirements to the guy filling fuel at the beginning itself.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by aargee

Simple - When a credit card (CC) is being used, the bank/CC company pays the merchant less, say 2.5% less than the actual amount being charged & that too after waiting for 1-2 weeks (the merchants can submit the CC receipt only twice in a month or so).

AFAIK 2.5% is the max. It can be lower, depending on the merchant.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

AFAIK 2.5% is the max. It can be lower, depending on the merchant.

You're right; but usually these guys charge 2.5% atleast here in Chennai

[Ranjan Sharma]

Originally Posted by aargee

I don't know what to say; probably when you come back you'll find a missing vehicle .
I mean, Ranjan you need to be more realist than good to good or bad to bad. This is one of a kind incident that happens by human error, what if you follow these guys & still make a mistake? Remember not everyone likes this; imagine your manager standing behind you at work, that's the perfect example that I can think of when you follow someone when he's swiping the card.

Ha ha.. Manager example was a good one

Anyways, there is nothing wrong in watching your card being swipped, if it is not password protected. Ofcourse, none of them will like it but I wont like it either: my card being swiped in my absence. Yes, you are true. this won't work everywhere. Most of these petrol bunks have tamed "Gundas" for bad scenarios. I don't bother talking to them much, who wants to get punched by a hefty guy

[aargee]

Nah, I never get myself to fight & make a bad day; I just follow few steps & avoid hassles. Here's another incident where I was almost tricked but remained cautious

Once I'd to fill in petrol for my bike at a BPCL pump; so I tell this guy petrol+oil for Rs 200 & CC payment; Now there're 2 fuel dispensers on the same machine where the price at one end is 48.xx & other is 53.xx; he takes the dispenser from 48.xx & fills in for 180 Rs & asks me Rs 200; I ask this guy did you fill regular or premium for which he says he filled in regular; so I ask him where's the oil for which he says the oil is already mixed in the 48.xx (whoa!!! they started selling premix); so I ask him even after mixing the oil why didn't your pump show the oil+petrol price & simply shows the petrol price only? Now this guy starts balbbering some nonsense & says the prices are updated incorrectly; so I say now pls call the owner let me speak with him; now 3 of his pals comes running asking what happening; first thing I ask one of them was what's the difference between 48.x & 53.x fuels? Now his pal says 53.x is petrol+oil & 48.x is just petrol; now I tell him the actual situation; feeling cornered, 2 pals sneak away & this guy who came to rescue starts firing the guy who fueled; now they were ready to fill oil for Rs 20 for which I refused politely, paid Rs 180 through card & left the place.

There's one more factor, when paying through CC, one has to sign the merchant copy, otherwise these guys will never see the real money. So we can always make a point to check the amount before sign off; I check the two places after decimals too; I do this by asking the guy for what amount he's going to swipe when I hand over the card. I also hand over the card only after filling in the fuel.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by aargee

Simple - When a credit card (CC) is being used, the bank/CC company pays the merchant less, say 2.5% less than the actual amount being charged & that too after waiting for 1-2 weeks (the merchants can submit the CC receipt only twice in a month or so). So if you pay them cash, they realize the money immediately & that too in full, mean no deduction of 2.5% or whatsoever.

Next is, the money to be realized from oil companies; when the pumps order a tanker from the oil companies, they need to be paying the full amount through DD or by cash in advance. Now these pumps make money only when they sell the fuel; sooner the better; So the money is parked even there;

So on anyday people prefer cash over CC.

Sir I do not where you have obtained this information but most of it is false. Let me set The facts straight

When a card is used for any amount whatsoever at a pump the Pump gets the entire amount credited without any deduction whatsoever so if the card is swiped for 100rs The bank will credit 100rs.

Secondly The card transaction amount is credited to the pump within 24 hours of the pump closing the card batch on the swipe machine, so it does not take weeks as you have mentioned.

Thirdly Pumps prefer cards over cash anyday as there are better incentives associated with card sales and higher the card transaction amount higher the incentives.

Originally Posted by aargee

There's one more factor, when paying through CC, one has to sign the merchant copy, otherwise these guys will never see the real money.

Thats Not correct the sign on the slip has nothing to do with the merchant getting paid its refrerd to when the customer intimates Fraud usage and thats when the signature on the slips are referd to.

Originally Posted by MX6

When will it become like in US? Drive in, insert your credit card in the machine. Pull out the nozzle and re-fuel it yourself. Stop, generate and pay the bill and drive out.

There is a plan to have this system in place in select Metros by 2015 but honestly i dont think this concept will se light of day in near future, in a country where every ATM has a guard because the banks cant trust people with stuff that cant blow up, how can OMC's trust people with stuff that goes Kaboom!