Short Fueling Tricks At Petrol Stations

[marsbhp]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

Okay, I don't think this has anything to to with stop-start trick. It is plain cheating!!

This is how it works- for those in Bangalore, the incident happend at the IOC pump next to SAP in whitefield

I asked for 500 Rs fill. The guy stopped at 100Rs and went on to place the dispenser back in the holder. At that moment I called him and said I wanted for 500Rs. The guy filled for 400Rs in the counter and stopped. When I questioned, he said he had filled for 500Rs. his logic being 100Rs filled initially and 400 later. But, unlucky for him, I was damn sure he didn't reset the pump. When I raised my voice, he duly filled another 100rs worth petrol, without a word, proving that I was damn right

Was going over some old posts when I saw this and decided to resurrect it The same thing happened to me a t the IOC fuel pump at Pallikaranai, Chennai. Nowadays, I simply go to the Shell pump which is just a km away again here. Have faced no problems till now...their service is very good.

[gtonsing]

Sorry I am taking the easy way out. But my question is Who benefits if you are short changed? Do the pump attendants benefit? If so how? If not, why?

[Gadgetfreak]

Originally Posted by gtonsing

Sorry I am taking the easy way out. But my question is Who benefits if you are short changed? Do the pump attendants benefit? If so how? If not, why?

Yes the same attendant can take the difference amount and put it in his pocket counter reading is what managers/owners consider for calculating the total fuel dispensed.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight
Okay, I don't think this has anything to to with stop-start trick. It is plain cheating!!

This is how it works- for those in Bangalore, the incident happend at the IOC pump next to SAP in whitefield

I asked for 500 Rs fill. The guy stopped at 100Rs and went on to place the dispenser back in the holder. At that moment I called him and said I wanted for 500Rs. The guy filled for 400Rs in the counter and stopped. When I questioned, he said he had filled for 500Rs. his logic being 100Rs filled initially and 400 later. But, unlucky for him, I was damn sure he didn't reset the pump. When I raised my voice, he duly filled another 100rs worth petrol, without a word, proving that I was damn right

Sh!T I think I got conned exactly like this once at the IOC pump on left side after Hennur towards Hebbal.
Watch out for that one!

--Ragul

[Fordmanchau]

I think the best way to avoid getting cheated into short fuelling is to always get the tank full. You will get a hang of how much your car is being refilled and how much it consumes for a 'n' no. of kilometres over sometime.

I always refill to tankfull, be it on highway or in city. I kind'a now know how much my car takes in city or on highway. May be a litre here and there but I am mostly close. So even if the attender at pumps stop in between, you can easily catch if you have been cheated or not.

[Gadgetfreak]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

I think the best way to avoid getting cheated into short fuelling is to always get the tank full. You will get a hang of how much your car is being refilled and how much it consumes for a 'n' no. of kilometres over sometime.

I always refill to tankfull, be it on highway or in city. I kind'a now know how much my car takes in city or on highway. May be a litre here and there but I am mostly close. So even if the attender at pumps stop in between, you can easily catch if you have been cheated or not.

I totally agree with you. I always do that for my car and also I usually stick to 1-2 bunks and don't usually get my car filled up anywhere unless I'm running out of GAS. Also I usually never go beyond auto cut. This way I get almost accurate millage check.

[Fordmanchau]

Also, before the attendant starts filling the fuel, tell him you'll pay by credit card. He is most likely then not indulge in cheating until and unless the owner of the pump himself shares his loot with the attendants.

Removing cash from their hand will remove the quick incentive they get from cheating. Therefore, paying through card would probably save you from getting cheated.

Originally Posted by gtonsing

Sorry I am taking the easy way out. But my question is Who benefits if you are short changed? Do the pump attendants benefit? If so how? If not, why?

Originally Posted by DieselFan

In some petrol pumps owners will also be a big cheat. adulterating fuel and make money.

I agree with you, therefore , I edited my post and highlighted in BOLD, the last line above of my post.
I atleast pay full attention while the attender is filling the fuel. I come out and stand besides the attender, and I keep watching the big display screen for quantity. I know how much my tank takes in for the fuel gauge to move to full, so I am safe there.
Plus by paying through card, I add up points. Already have redeemed points for more than 5000/- bucks and now am again close to redeeming a tankful of petrol through points. So atleast I make up through points , if I had been cheated

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Also, before the attendant starts filling the fuel, tell him you'll pay by credit card. He is most likely then not indulge in cheating until and unless the owner of the pump himself shares his loot with the attendants.

Removing cash from their hand will remove the quick incentive they get from cheating. Therefore, paying through card would probably save you from getting cheated.

Credit card payment doesn't ensure you from not getting cheated. It doesn't stop the attendants from shortfuelling you and filling the balance fuel to the next bloke in the line and pocketing what he pays as cash into their pockets. Owner will never come to know of it.

In some petrol pumps owners will also be a big cheat. adulterating fuel and make money.

[zaks]

The best solution to not getting cheated at filling stations is to stick to one or two pumps and always get out of the car when filling. Get to know the guy a little, after a while you can ease up since they won't cheat a regular and known person.

[Blr_RK]

How about paying for what he is has filled?

For example, I ask the attendent to fill for Rs.500. He stops at Rs.200. Just pay Rs.200 and get out of the bunk. The look on the attendent's face would be priceless.

[ramv]

Hi,

Today morning, I went to the BP bunk next to Ampa Sky walk in Nelson Manickam road, Chennai. I asked the female attendant for full tank petrol. The attendant took the nozzle that is meant for premium petrol (Speed). When I mentioned to her that I wanted ordinary petrol, she did not replace the premium petrol nozzle and she took the nozzle meant for ordinary petrol. She then kept the premium nozzle back to its place. But even after the premium petrol nozzle was kept back in it's place, the unit price displayed in the meter still showed premium petrol price. Before she started filling the fuel, I pointed this mistake to her. She put back the regular nozzle in it's slot and lifted it to reset the meter. Now it displayed the regular petrol price.

All along she acted as if she is not paying attention to what she is doing. She looked like she was lost in her thoughts.

Had she not reset the unit price, I guess I would have been charged the premium petrol price. My gut feeling is that since the petrol price rise happened just last week, people would have failed to notice this trick and would blame increase in petrol price. The bunk attendants probably are using this to their advantage. Any thoughts?

[speedmiester]

Last Sunday, I was travelling from Bangalore to Mysore with my parents. I pulled in to the IOC fuel station on the left hand side after crossing Sri Rangapatna. I asked the attendant to fill for Rs.500/- as I would be filling up in Mysore. The attendant started filling fuel and another attendant tried to distract me asking about credit card. Then I saw the attendant pulling out the nozzle with meter reading 100/-. I raised my voice and started shouting at both of them and make them fill in for full 500/-.
I took the manager's number and voiced my displeasure with their cheating. Since my parents were with me in the car, I left without creating a scene.

On Monday, I raised a complaint on the IOC website complaining about the fraudulent practices. Today I received a call from the owner of the fuel station asking about the incident and he apologized for the incident. He also assured me that he will take necessary action against the attendants. He asked me visit the fuel station at my convenience and get compensated.

I am happy that the Fuel companies are following up with the complaints and ensure such malpractices are stopped.

[ptushar]

After having coughed up money a couple of times to the benevolent cause of the greedy, this is what I do these days. In the below order:

1. Calm nerves before entering the petrol station
2. Roll up windows
3. Stop at the pump
4. Switch off engine
5. Open door
6. Open petrol lid
7. Quickly go stand at the back of car near the petrol lid
8. and only then state how much I need with the eyes stuck on the pump display

You can ask all the questions you want and I can assure you that I shall not respond until the guy has stopped pumping fuel in the car. It would have cost me a few hundreds to reach this best practice. Money well spent, one might say!

[ghodlur]

One imp lesson I have learnt during the visit to petrol bunk is not to sit in the car when the tank is being topped up. Do get out of the car and inspect whether the fuel is being filled in your car tank or in some plastic can.
This was post an incident at Thane where an attendant was caught filling up a petrol can when the owner was comfortably sitting in the confines of the car with AC & music system on. The modus operandi was when a car pulls up at the dispensing pump, the attendant shows the owner the Zero on the display and starts filling the tank. One of the attendant's friend approaches/slides the petrol can and fills it instead of the tank. The owner is oblivious of this scam and continues to enjoy the music, Pays off the fuel cost and goes away. Later the petrol is sold to some gullible customer at a lower rate.
Its another story that the attendant got thrashed for the scam.

[_raVan_]

This post is to highlight the attempted cheating at BP petrol pump near Croma (Pune-Solapur Highway, enroute to Hadapsar) in Pune. The usual trick of "I didnt hear you right" was in play, and when I asked for a tank full, he filled in 50 rs worth of Petrol. Without resetting, he went ahead to fill up my Wego and around 250 rs worth of fuel went in. As expected he gave me a 300 rs bill. It was like watching a movie where you knew what was going to happen next. I couldnt help but smile at him and said, you didnt reset the counter and I saw it. He quietly gave me back my 50

Be careful at this pump.