[Mister_M]

In Known reliable pumps (like the HP company outlets, Lorry Owners Association Pumps, etc...), I normally ask for a "Tank Full" with my eyes stuck on the meter.

In unknown pumps, I ask them to fix "500 Rupees" or "1000 rupees" on the meter and then start filling. In this case, when the amount is already fixed on the meter, I beleive the attendant cant commit further foul-plays. (But one needs to be careful if he actually fixed the correct amount that you have asked for).

[singleton]

One of my friends had a bad experience in Chennai - His facebook message below:

"
Hello sir, good morning, my name is XXXX(Masked), we have spoke before regarding a fraud issue in one of the hp petrol pumps, you had given me a kind permission to call your mobile number if that happened again. But I have been to that particular pump after that, however today I faced another similar issue, I filled from lakshmi service centre - hp , near chrompet, I asked to fill for 100 reasonably loudly, there were two people near the machine, the guy with the uniform would fill petrol while the other middle aged person who usually sits in the office collects cash. Despite asking for 100; he set the meter for 50. Then I said I said it was 100 rs I told you clearly, why are you setting for 50. Then I said ok fill only for 50. Because I know the common trick at petrol pumps whereby they press 50 and cheat 50 by not resetting the metre the second time when we ask to fill for full amount. I tried to notice the name tag of the person, but it was not present in their uniforms. Thank you sir, I felt it is my duty to inform you, have a nice day"
EDIT: The above mail was written to the supervisor, HP. This is what my friend says -

"I had posted a complaint last time in the website, that time they took actiion and the kancheepuram area supervisor called me up and asked details and also asked to go there again and if the fraud repeats note his name and call him.. He had also asked the pump owner to call up all employees and inform that such guys will be 'thrown out' with immediate effect if found guilty"

I had asked him to post it here, but looks like he is not a member. Just spreading awareness.

[aargee]

Has anyone seen this news? Esp from Bangalore? How far this is true?

Trio’s attempt to prove that Harihara petrol bunk on Magadi Road was short-changing customers lands them in jail

Three friends who tried to prove that a petrol bunk on Magadi Road was short-changing customers found themselves in jail for two days after police charged them with vandalism. After being released on bail, Siddaraju, Ravikumar and Shekar found out that the advocate who helped them had been told to do so by the police.

Ravikumar, a journalist, said, “On January 23, Siddaraju had filled petrol worth Rs 500 in Harihara petrol bunk opposite Mohan cinema but the tank was dry within no time. We became suspicious.

On January 25, we emptied the vehicle’s fuel tank and filled petrol worth Rs 120. Then, we drew the fuel out and found that there was only half a litre of petrol. We demanded to speak to the bunk’s owner.

“When other customers realised that they were being cheated, they got into an argument with the staff. Someone among them broke a glass pane.

The police arrived. We told the police that we wanted to lodge a complaint against the bunk owner. We were taken to Kamakshipalya police station.

“However, instead of taking our complaint, the police filed a case against us and produced us before a magistrate. Since the following day was a holiday on account of Republic Day, we had to spend two days in judicial custody.”


MORE PAIN for complainants
Ravikumar insisted that neither he nor his friends had caused any damage to the property. “Among the people who had gathered in the bunk, the police took one person, named Satish, to the station for damaging the glass. But he was let off. They took away our mobile phones. An advocate charged Rs 1,000 from each of us to get us out.

“But when we wanted to lodge a complaint against the police, the advocate was unwilling to help us saying that the police had told him to handle our case. Now, we are looking for another advocate to file a complaint against the police and another against the petrol bunk,” says Ravikumar.

Inspector Nagesh Kumar of Kamakshipalya police station said that the trio had not mentioned anything about lodging a complaint against the petrol bunk for cheating. “They were taken into custody for causing trouble,” the inspector said.

Source - http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index...1323854b458acc

[bkishore_77]

I'm not sure if this new way of duping the customers have been shared earlier. I usually take my Safari to my neighborhood pump(HP) and always do a tankful. This time I took my In-law's brio and asked for Rs 1000 worth of fuel.

Here is their modus operandi. They vaguely point to one of the two meters of a dispenser unit and asks to check for zero. It will be indeed zero. But the dispenser they are holding is not the one they set it for zero. They deliberately show the wrong meter (this is a single unit which has two dispensers and 2 meters for each dispensers) and two persons just crisscross with their dispensers and the one which is not reset was used to fill my tank.

This is an excellent trick but what gave away was, in spite of he pressing lever that dispenses the fuel, the meter he showed me was still at zero. This required careful coordination from the other attendant who criss crossed(with the meter reset) to fill the other customer to start dispensing simultaneously. He was late by couple of seconds to start dispensing. By then I looked at the right meter and it was already at Rs 700. I don't know from what amount it started.

I asked him why he showed the wrong meter and by then my blood was boiling. I asked him to stop immediately and went to meet the owner who is an acquaintance of mine( met under the same circumstances some 18 months ago ). Unfortunately the owner was not there but a relative of the owner who is a mild mannered elderly gentleman who took control of the situation, viewed the CC video and reprimanded the attendant. If it was the owner, he would have got slapped badly.

As a punishment to the attendant, he was asked to fill the fuel worth Rs 1000 again and whatever differences that will be seen at the end of the day would be recovered from him. I feel that serves right for this mis adventure. In the end I got fuel more than Rs 1000 but I dont know by what quantity.

Why this method is fairly successful if executed properly
1. The fuel dispensing pipes are fairly long ones and it difficult to notice their origin. Also they will make sure the vehicles are parked at a considerable distance owing to the rush. I'm always the type of person who alights from the vehicle and stand next to them in the whole process. Still they almost hoodwinked me.

2. They make sure your gaze is stuck at the meter which is reset to zero. As if on cue the two attendants criss cross each other and start dispensing simulteneoulsy. By the time you realise some thing is amiss, both the meters are running. Their defence" Sir I showed you the other meter".

PS: I experienced the same trick some 18 months ago at the same petrol pump(for my palio) and they were caught. It was a different attendant then. That was when I spoke to the owner and became an acquaintance. This duping method cannot be employed for a tankfill which I usually do. Most of you may be wondering why I still persist with the same outlet. The reason is fuel quality is good and is in my neighborhood.


Hope this helps.

[vina]

It is a little confusing to me, how would they make money in this scheme? you would check the second reader (the one you checked for 0) later.

Originally Posted by bkishore_77

....Most of you may be wondering why I still persist with the same outlet. The reason is fuel quality is good and is in my neighborhood.


Hope this helps.

I guess you go back because the owner is a decent fellow, I would do the same.

[bkishore_77]

Originally Posted by vina

It is a little confusing to me, how would they make money in this scheme?

They would not have reset the meter they are using to fill my car since I was looking at the other reset meter. When I looked at the right meter, it was already Rs 700 odd. I dont know from what reading it started. The reset meter is being used to fill the other customer not mine.

At the end of the day, attendants only have to give the owner an amount equal to fuel dispensed.

[sindabad.sailor]

For people having cars with boot, why not keep a can of say 25-30 ltr size with calibration marks. Then whatever trick the pump man plays you can always check visibly.

Later on we can transfer to tank easily with hose and funnel.

My SX4 used to deliver anything between 9-15. But with this can thing, this time I did get 16.8 kmpl on about 400 km drive from kolhapur to nasarapur and back.

[harusadu]

Why don't we have self serve fuel facilities in India??? Is there any such facility in Chennai? I came home from vacation, I don't live in India constantly, and my father had a new car and I went to the gast station and asked for a full tank. After going home and showing him the bill, he was like, don't go back to this station, its a 40 liter tank that they've filled 55 liters for. You've been duped.

[Blr_RK]

I had this experience recently at the HP Pump on the Ring Road near Bangalore University/Ullal Road.

I asked the attendent to fill normal petrol for Rs. 1000. Normally I repeat the request twice and did the same. The attendent did not set the meter to Rs. 1000 (I guess they dont have an option there). He filled the petrol for Rs. 200 and removed the nozzle. I told, i had asked for Rs. 1000.

He tried to insert the nozzle again, but I told, Rs. 200 is good enough for me, paid Rs. 200 and drove off. Before driving off, I heard the cashier saying to the attendent, why cant you listen properly for what the customer asks.

Not sure if this was a plan for short fuelling, but this was my experience.

[abybabykcc]

Note from Team-BHP Support: Post moved. Please use the search feature before creating a new thread on a topic that might already exist. Please continue your discussion in this existing thread. This will keep all the relevant information in one place and make it easier for readers in the future.

This weekend, while driving from Wanowrie towards Swargate in Pune, I stopped to fill petrol at a pump that I'd never used before. I asked the attendant to put in Rs. 2000 worth of petrol. I was constantly looking at the dial on the pump while the petrol was being filled, which is something that I always do. While the petrol was being filled, there were no less than three attempts by three different attendants at the pump to distract my attention from the dial.

• First, there was a guy who asked me to take a look at the front right tyre, which he said looked punctured. I thought I'd take a look once the petrol is filled. So I continued looking at the dial.
• Next, another attendant walked up and asked me to take a look at the front left tyre, saying that it had less air. Again, I thought I'd take a look once the petrol is filled. So I continued looking at the dial.
• Finally, a third guy came up to me and asked for the money I was holding to pay for the fuel. I gave him the two 1000-rupee notes I was holding, but I continued looking at the pump dial. Only Rs. 700 worth of fuel had gone into the tank till now.

This guy, whom I'd paid the money, then came and stood between me and the pump, held the two notes up to the light, and told me he couldn't clearly make out the watermark in one of the notes. This is when I truned my attention away fron the pump and looked at the two notes held against the light. The watermarks were very clearly visible. I asked him what the problem was. He pretended as if he had somehow missed it earlier and took the money and put it in his bag. When I turned back to look at the pump dial, the filling was over. The dial showed 2000.

That is when I first got suspecious. I went around the front of the car to look at the tyres that the attendants had said looked punctured. Both tyres were absolutely perfect. Not only were they not punctured, they didn't even look like they had less air. In fact, they looked like they were perfectly topped up. I asked the attendants what the problem was with the tyres, and again, they pretended as if they'd mistakenly thought that the tyres looked deflated.

When I got inside the car, I noticed that the fuel indicator didn't show the required amount of movement for a 2000-rupee refill.

This is the first time I've had such an experience. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Is this a common scam at petrol pumps?

[Googleman]

I knew about this trick from a long time. However could not do anything in my recent visit to the petrol bunk

H.S.R Petrol bunk, I asked the attendant to fill for Rs. 500 in my bike. After 100 he stops. I knew he is going to trick me so I asked him to reset the meter completely as I know these tricks. He reset the meter and after another 0, he filled for 400. I was happy and left the bunk that he could not cheat me.

After few days when my Rs400 worth petrol got over, by the count of KMS run I realized that I was conned. Till now the issue was a week old and did not hurt me much. Blamed myself for being a fool and yet again promised I will never let it happen again Lets see..

[Gadgetfreak]

Hi,

I usually get my car tanked up at Shivam petrol pump near HPS school begumpet, hyderabad. I always prefer auto-cut and never go beyond that, this is done to check mileage of my car. Last time when I went for refueling of my car, there was a new guy standing at GAS station, I as usually opened the fuel lid, switched off the ignition, reset my meter and stepped out, I felt something fishy and checked with the guy filling diesel that meter is not set properly, he replied saying that the entire PUMP is under CCTV surveillance and no manipulation is possible. I got my car tanked up paid and left. When I started my car, i noticed that fuel gauge is showing little less than full, I though it could be some issue with gauge and will recheck so I left gas station. As my house is few meters from Gas station, once i reached home, i tried switching off and switching on the ignition twice to cross check and found that fuel was showing short. I called gas station manager, informed him about the entire incident and also told him he can visit my house for verification, Manager promised me that he will cross check and revert in 30 mins, I promptly got a call from him and he confirmed that there was a shot refilling done to the tune of approx Rs.500/-, the guy who cheated was fired (As informed by manager). After 2-3 days I revisited the gas station and Manager himself came out and got my car refueled for Rs.500/-. Had I not called, this issue would have gone unnoticed and probably few more such instances would have occurred. I really appreciate Gas Station Manager who promptly reacted and got the issue checked and resolved.

[PC77]

My Two cents here.

I am not saying one is better than the other, I felt shortchanged at HP and BP petrol pumps, especially the ones which I visited on a one off basis . However never faced any issues on IOCL outlets.

Think we should call out the pumps where we faced this issues.

[racer_m]

Originally Posted by Googleman

I knew about this trick from a long time. However could not do anything in my recent visit to the petrol bunk

H.S.R Petrol bunk, I asked the attendant to fill for Rs. 500 in my bike. After 100 he stops. I knew he is going to trick me so I asked him to reset the meter completely as I know these tricks. He reset the meter and after another 0, he filled for 400. I was happy and left the bunk that he could not cheat me.

After few days when my Rs400 worth petrol got over, by the count of KMS run I realized that I was conned. Till now the issue was a week old and did not hurt me much. Blamed myself for being a fool and yet again promised I will never let it happen again Lets see..

So how did he then cheat you. He filled for 100, then reset to 0 and filled for 400. so in all 500 worth petrol gone in. How were you short charged?

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by racer_m

So how did he then cheat you. He filled for 100, then reset to 0 and filled for 400. so in all 500 worth petrol gone in. How were you short charged?

I was not short charged, short-filled.

He showed me that he did reset the meter, which he did, but the initial 100 was not filled. Probably he filled a bike for Rs.80 and rest 20 was filled in my bike's tank.

When I reached the point, he showed em Zero and hurriedly started. Within few seconds, it was 100. I asked how come he filled for 100 so fast and he said that's how it is. Later on, he started arguing. I was with my Fiance so did not argue much and asked him to fill for 400.