Short Fueling Tricks At Petrol Stations

[Recompose]

Originally Posted by Gansan

@ Born 2 Be Wild

Thanks for that interesting info. So at what level of the sump do they display "out of stock" boards at fuel stations?

They seem to be 'out of stock' only on the days the cost of petrol is going to rise at midnight.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by Gansan

So at what level of the sump do they display "out of stock" boards at fuel stations?

(on a lighter note) as soon as the govt announces a price hike

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Gansan

@ Born 2 Be Wild

Thanks for that interesting info. So at what level of the sump do they display "out of stock" boards at fuel stations?

In genuine cases its at 1/10 of the tank capacity, coz if it runs dry its a Big Pain to get the pipeline primed again!

The other time they put those boards up is when the rates are about to go up.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

The volume of fuel dispensed is calculated not at the Nozzle it is done at the point of the Head assembly of each machine where the pipe line from the tank is connected to the Dispenser.

As a consumer when you go to refuel the entire line is Loaded till the nozzle hence whatever fuel passes through the head assembly ticks the metre over , all the theories of Atleast 2 litres in the hosepipe an all of that is Baloney. Whatever the meter reads is what has actually gone into your car.

Hey thanks for the clarification. I had asked the attendants at the pump about the same and they were not able to explain that.

Originally Posted by Born 2 Be Wild

The floating setup is the first that i have heard of! The tank always has a pipeline connected to a motor in the Dispensing unit and in the newer Dispensing units its a submersible motor in the tank itself so the Units are noise free.

I read somewhere here on this forum itself that they use a floating setup. Was that used earlier and has been replaced with better technologies?
And also if it is a submersible pump, then it is sucking in fuel from bottom I guess. So is the fuel now we get is better processed so that sludge now is a matter of past?

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by download2live

Hey thanks for the clarification. I had asked the attendants at the pump about the same and they were not able to explain that.



I read somewhere here on this forum itself that they use a floating setup. Was that used earlier and has been replaced with better technologies?
And also if it is a submersible pump, then it is sucking in fuel from bottom I guess. So is the fuel now we get is better processed so that sludge now is a matter of past?

Majority of the Attendants are only bothered about new and innovative ways to con the customers , getting fruitfull advice from them is like searching for a neddle in a haystack!

Well in the Psu bunks nobody uses floating setup, i have no clue about reliance or shell. All the tanks are sealed and just have 5 inlets/outlets. one is for the Dip road one for the Decantation the remaining 3 are connected to 3 dispensers maximum.

People are getting confused about the floatation setup, reason being in Pumps that are automated each tank has a Floating Buoy which relays info pertaining to the tank into the system in the office, stuff like density of the tank and the quantity in tank as well as the amount of Water in the tank.

Submersible Motors are never placed at the bottom of the tank they are atleast 2 feet above the bottom . and sludge wil never go into any consumer's car each Dispenser has a Filter installed which stops any sludge from going into the car, its cleaned every month.

Each and every tank has impurities at the bottom of the tank in minute quantities, majority pumps never go below 1/4th tank capacity in any case. And with petrol tanks everyone tries to minimise evaporation losses by keeping the tanks Full. So the sludge isnt that big an issue.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

A colleague had dropped in at the BPCL pump at Guindy (at the corner where the Velachery road meets Sardar Patel Road - opp old Concorde Motors) last Sunday to fuel up his Alto ....

What are the odds that another bunk tries to defraud the same person?

Same friend, but this time on his Splendour is at a bunk at Velachery and asks to fill in petrol for 300Rs. He remembers watching the meter till 90s worth of petrol when another attendant asks for credit-card (attention-diverting tactic). By the time he turns his attention back to the meter, the guy dispensing fuel says, "Filled for 300Rs saar". Actually what he did was to key in 300Rs in the meter manually so that it looks like petrol worth 300 has been dispensed.

But my friend is now enlightened post his earlier encounter with frauds at the BPCL pump. He notices that the LEDs on the dispenser are flashing - this happens only when the amount is entered prior to fuelling. It should not flash after the fuel has been filled. He disputes the transaction - pump guys deny they did anything wrong. He asks for complaint book - they say they dont have it. He goes into the office and says he wants the owner's number - they dont give. He finally says, he is not leaving till the issue is resolved and sits there.

Finally seeing that he is a tough cookie, they ask, "Till what reading did you see fuel being dispensed?" He replies that he remembers seeing Rs90-odd on the meter. They offer to pump the difference of 200 - he declines, saying "Either you fuel up for 300 (he wants them to learn a lesson and mend their way) or I take this up with your owner and the OilCo". Finally they fuel in 300 worth of petrol.

[mitrajdeep]

^^ Thanks for sharing this supremebaleno.

Something like this once happened to me. I was refilling my car for Rs.1000 worth of petrol , when the reading was somewhere like 800 this guy comes up to me to sell a car polishing kit. I just turn around to say " no thank you " and see that the reading is 1000. It looked strange to me but I did not know what to do.

I thought maybe it was right, but now I will be more vigilant as I know now that it is well practiced way of defrauding the customer.

[supremeBaleno]

Don't know how prevalent such fraud is at other cities/towns, but I have seen that this has been made into a fine art in Chennai petrol bunks. And this is not a new phenomenon either - I remember this from the early nineties when we had an old Bajaj150 scooter with a pathetic FE of 18kmpl (after reboring and engine work it came up to 30kmpl and I remember being estatic about the increase) and would fuel for Rs40 (2 litres + oil then) and sometimes be defrauded of 1litre as they would start filling from the last dispensed 1litre. With 2-wheelers it was easy to know you were cheated because the reserve would kick-in earlier than it should.

I have learnt to be vigilant ever since. Get out of car, ask him to key in the amount, ask him to do auto-fill, make them remove their hands from the nozzle and ignore anyone around asking for card/cash or selling stuff.

[gtonsing]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

One more trick i observed is that,
One dude keeps on asking you
whether you have change or not,
confirms 10 times the amount to
be filled, shows u a scratch on
fuel tank and the other dude
with the filler fills and stops at
some magical figure and
resets the meter by hand and
goes to the next customer.

This reminded me of an incident I had with a HP pump in OMBR Layout in Bangalore. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was returning home with my wife and daughter. We had been shopping and I remembered very well that I had bought something for 150 rs and had given 500 rs note to the shopkeeper and he had returned three 100 rupee notes as well as 5 10 rupee notes. This I remembered keeping in my wallet. So we went to the petrol bunk and asked the guy to put petrol for 200 rs. As it was afternoon plus I didnt have time to go to ATM, I thought I will fill just enough to get me home and to another more 'regularly used' bunk later. There were two attendants. One of them filled and petrol and the other guy was generally 'around' the area. So I gave the 'generally around' attendant two 100 rupees notes. Then they finished filling and closed the lid. I had stepped out to open the cover etc. But they both claimed that I had not given the money.
I kept looking at my wallet. There was only 150 rs in there. I was pretty sure I have given it to the other guy. He claimed I did not. Eventually I asked for the manager. he came. Asked the attendants if I have given money. They obviously replied "no". He said, they say you have not given so you must have not given Eventually I had to ask my wife to pull out two 100 rs notes from her purse and give it to them.
I will not lie for 200. I was sure I have given it to them. Till today, I dont know by what slight of hand they managed that. When driving off, I told the guy to enjoy your 200 rs tip "200 rs tip enjai maadi" - small pleasure.
From that day on, I make it a point to be very very careful and not go to that bunk anymore.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

So I gave the 'generally around' attendant two 100 rupees notes. Then they finished filling and closed the lid.

The cardinal rule: First fill up till the last drop then only pay.

[Jidousha]

Yes I agree with Spitfire on the above not only for petrol pumps but for any article that you buy.
One can see the change in attitude as soon as the money changes hands.
Another example is the road side parking attendants.
As soon as I park the car, these attendants come and ask for money.
I insist that I will pay them only when I return and take my car.
By this way, they will be alert and have a look at my car till I come back.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Same friend, but this time on his Splendour is at a bunk at Velachery and asks to fill in petrol for 300Rs....

Just so that members are aware, this was a BPCL pump on the Velachery-Tambaram road at Medavakkam, opposite Jeyachandra Nagar.

[u_chill]

Today I got shortchanged by the BP Petrol Bunk on Hosur Road, near Brigade Road end. Typical attention diversion tactic. I asked for Rs 1500 of fuel, the supervisor fellow asked some dumb questions about credit card (do you have a PIN Saar? How much to charge?) before heading off to swipe the card. Meanwhile pump attendant (fellow named Shankar) stopped counter at Rs 300, murmured something about lever getting stuck and swiped token to refuel for Rs 1200.

I let him complete the transaction and headed into the Manager's cabin. Was told that Manager is away at the Bank and the same supervisor fellow went in to confirm that Rs 1201 worth of petrol was filled. After acting busy for couple of mins, he said it was a mistake and asked me to reverse the car to fill in balance Rs 300.

He said that he would fine the attendant (likely story since it was he-the supervisor who diverted my attention in the first place)! Rather than take the offer up for a refill, I chose to walk out with my receipts and now will take up the issue with BPCL and a Central Govt. link that showed up on the BPCL website: http://pgportal.gov.in/Grievance.aspx. Any other links where I can raise the complaint?

Check out the supporting documentary evidence attached. Cheers!

[supremeBaleno]

If you paid Rs1500 for Rs1200 worth of fuel, you should have taken the refill offered for the Rs300 of fuel and then taken up the issue with BPCL etc.

[u_chill]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

If you paid Rs1500 for Rs1200 worth of fuel, you should have taken the refill offered for the Rs300 of fuel and then taken up the issue with BPCL etc.

It is not about the Rs 300 really. I have had experiences in the past at various bunks across Bangalore, never had enough documentary evidence to follow through. I do plan to ask BPCL in my complaint to compensate with a Rs 300 voucher for any fuel bunk which they believe is 'reliable'. More importantly, I want to use this case to make sure that oil company employees/reps perpetrating fraud are suitably dealt with.