Cheating / Short Fuelling Tricks at Petrol Pumps

[zengetz]

Re: Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

One more important suggestion here is something which I have experienced over and over (Atleast here in Hyderabad, Mod's if you feel this is inappropriate please move it)

The guys at petrol bunks are looking to make a fast buck by conning customers.I experienced this yesterday and had to thrash the young chap who filled fuel in my car.

Sequence of events:

1. I stop at bunk and ask the attendant to fill in Diesel worth Rs1000.
2. Guys sets the counter to zero (Good)
3. Second guy comes and asks Cash or card, partially blocking my view of the counter.(Thats ok)
4. The cashier is trying to talk some nonsense (Does this card need pin etc) and I am watching the counter.
5. Attendant stops at 200Rs and pulls the fuel gun out.
6. I ask him - dude "Its 1000 I asked for" (I've experienced this trick lots of times)
7. He says "Sorry, I'll fill in another 800" and goes back pretending to reset the machine. (I acted as if I am not watching carefully)
8. He DOES NOT reset it to Zero and continues from 200 - 800 and takes fuel gun out and closes my fuel cap.
9. I get down and give him a tight slap and took the attendant and the cashier to the manager and make them narrate the story.

So guys - Increasing fuel efficiency is one thing but are we getting the fuel we are paying for ? And this is not a rare occurence - TRUST ME!

Thanks
Avi

 

[shailinder]

Re: Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

You did the right thing but again the guy working there must be working under the supervision of that cashier or manager.

 

[TSIVipul]

Re: Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

Same as Zengetz,I have seen the filling station guys doing such practices,once I too felt the same:
I with my friends went to the filling station and asked him to get the tank of my Innova filled with a diesel of Rs 1700.The cashier guy tried to get me involved in gossip saying 1700 to the filling guy who was being noticed by me.
I didn't came out of the car and saw that just before us an Indica got the fuel tank of it filled with Rs 500 diesel and the guy who was filling,even before asking me put the fuel gun in the filling point of my Innova and started filling,I asked him to stop as I saw what he did because my car got a diesel of Rs 730 in just 5-6 seconds.
I:"Oye,tune mujhse poocha ki kitna daalna hai(Have you asked me)"?
He:"Apne unhe oth bataya na ki 1700 ka hai(you told the cashier that 1700)".
I:tune mujhe zero dikhaya?(have you shown me Zero)"?
He:"Maine kiya tha tune nahi dekha(I did,but you didn't saw)".
I caught his hairs and gave him an extremely tight slap with my friends also coming out and started giving him a body massage.Then came his friends and manager to rescue and manager said "I am calling police".
I:"Call right now,I'll see which policeman will arrest me,but this guy will be burnt alive today in diesel itself".
He:"Saahab galti ho gayi wo dhyaan nahi raha,mein dobara bharta hun.(Sir,it was a mistake,actually I lost my concentration,let me fill it again)".

Got the car's tank full and left the place but from the same day,till today the same guy fills in my car but never forgets to show me zero nor he fills without confirming from me..amazingly his concentration has also sharpened..

so what I want to say is that,be strict at the filling stations and if you find them at fault then never hesitate to punish them,even if you are alone then also other people will come for your help because everyone is disturbed from them everywhere in India.

Always park your car in a way at the fuel pumps that the machine's display is in front of your eyes and also keep a look at the filling guy or use your left ORVM to look if the fuel gun is there in the filler hole or not.BEST IS TO COME OUT OF THE CAR AND GET THE WORK DONE.

One more such instance which we faced at Haridwar(Uttarakhand):
We friends were on a trip to Mussoorie and were going in a Fiat Linea,so we decided to visit Haridwar too while returning.We stopped there for filling and what we saw was really a new and superb cheating method(this one is applied mostly by the pumps on highways where there is no long line for filling):
There was a Delhi registered Swift VDi carrying a family,they all were in the car and guys were filling the fuel,what we saw was a good 5 liters canister kept behind the Swift with a pipe connected to it and the diesel was being filled in the canister instead of the car's tank.As we entered the pump,the third guy standing there saw us,took the canister and started moving.We went on and stopped him saying "Give us half of that else we will tell the Swift driver".Suddenly one of our friends saw a good beautiful girl in the Swift and heck "He shouted..".
Result:Neither the girl was impressed nor we got 2.5 liters of free diesel...
so at the petrol pumps with very less vehicles or nobody seeing,just take care of this too.

 

[Zal]

Can't you fill your car by yourself or is that not allowed??

 

[jalex]

Can't you fill your car by yourself or is that not allowed??

Its not yet a practice here in India I believe. Will be a better thing though and the fuel pump owners can do away with the filling crew.

 

[Thetraveller]

The most important thing to remember at the fuel station is :-
A. Get out of the car and stand next to person filling the fuel
B. Always remember to not let your concentration drift while the fuel is starting to be filled or during it filling.
C. Don't pay until your fuel has been completely filled. Cashier can wait.

These points will not help when there is adulteration, which you can not judge anyway until you drive the vehicle

 

[Swiftian]

Also, it was revealed the more than required length of fuel dispenser pipe too contributes to saving on dealers part. Some of the fuel actually remains within the pipe and when they roll it in the excess is returned back. For next vehicle the pipe is again extended again creating some space.

It is shocking that length of the pipe plays major role in cheating. But almost all the petrol pumps are equipped with long U shaped pipes only. Also in other countries this is the method they use. I have seen in few HP pumps the pipes will be hanging at the roof and sales guy pulls it down to fill the fuel.

So the U shaped pipes were used every where and every time there will be some fuel left over after fuel stopped by sales guy. So in most of the pumps we were cheated with less quantity ?

 

[carfreak]

The most important thing to remember at the fuel station is :-
A. Get out of the car and stand next to person filling the fuel

Bang on ! This is the point I follow every time. No matter what, I get out of the car and be there till the fuelling is through and the car fuel lid is closed properly. Only after this process, I make the payment.

 

[TSIVipul]

@Friends:
Even I too have started following the same rule now a days,just get out of the car and stand next to the guy filling.Ask him to show you the ZERO reading of the machine and then and make the payment only after everything is completed.

One more:
You may not call this cheating by those people but their fault it is.

You people may have seen fuel sipping out of the filler hole of some cars,this is a fault made by the petrol pump guys during rush hours,they fill it but due to the work load and hurry they don't put the inner lid correctly,which results in fuel sipping out in the tanks filled to the top.Or in petrol cars it may result in even greater loss because your car may lose the fuel even when its parked by evaporation.

 

[cooldhaya]

I always switch OFF my car and get down and stand next to the fuel filler always. Only after the fuel is filled and the cap and lid are closed properly i give them the cash.

 

[Prads]

When I fill up I get out of the car & tell the amount in english & the local language which is kannada & keep the cash ready in hand & tell him to full lock as he fills & observe.I fill at a regular pump but in that pump the diesel pump auto lock keeps stopping & the attendant has to press it back to lock,am sure its done on purpose to cheat.
Once when I filled petrol on a highway pump I realized the car would not do well at high rpms,I was pretty sure the fuel was adulterated as this is when you notice it.Recently when I filled up my car for a night drive at an unfamiliar pump for 260 odd km of night highway driving I calculated I got 12 kmpl,that is the mileage figure I get in the city,I wonder how tampered that pump must be!
Guess I will start filling up at shell,there petrol prices are same as others at the moment.Seriously govt charges huge taxes on the fuel & then we get ripped off on the quality & quantity of fuel

 

[Vishwas]

It's very disheartening for being cheated with these petrol bunk guys and for that matter in Bangalore HP and BP bunks have some of the good dealers whereas most of the Indian Oil petrol bunks are worst and the one near my home is very mischievous,in fact i see many heated arguments between the employees of the bunk and the vehicle owners.

 

[Figoian]

Re: Improve Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency

Another cheap trick...

If you ask the attendent to fill Fuel for a round figure say 500, he still won't set the figure... Rather, use his own efforts to fill and stop. You know why, he can stop it exactly at 500, so may be at 499.90/93/95 or something. We are always in a hurry and never bother about these 10 or 5 Paises... Trust me, collection of such "Paises" are their Incentive for the day...

One of the times, I was literally fighting with that guy for this 10 paise and he was telling me, "Are you so cheap for this 10 paise?" I said to him, "even it's 10 paise, that's my damn money and I have all the rights to ask for it. Most importantly I don't you to celeberate on my money. With the ever increasing fuel prices, every paise has its own value"... He was off.

You did the right thing but again the guy working there must be working under the supervision of that cashier or manager.

The fact is, everyone in such pumps are aware and involved in such "Day Light Robberies". EOD, they all share the overall collection of the day.

We are always the victim, let it be rise in fuel price or being cheated.

 

[S Class]

Some things which one can do:-

> Fill at company run pumps. In Pune, there is a good BPCL one opp RTO,

> Use pumps where the system is centrally monitored & is completely computerized. You can find one at BPCL pump, Shastri road near Kaka Halwai Sweets,

> There are toll free nos. of oil cos, you can make a call to them. If not interested in disclosing identity, use telephone booth to report the matter to them. The nos are:-

BPCL :- 1800222725
HPCL :- 18002333999
IOC :- 18002333555

 

[ganfun]

Surcharge scam in petrol pumps busted

The Great Surcharge Scam, after we read how the petrol pumps makes money here is how the oil company charges you.

Surcharge scam in petrol pumps busted - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: A car owner unsuspectingly gifts a surcharge of 2.5% to a private bank on every purchase of petrol or diesel from a retail outlet just because the oil company insists that the dealer install that particular bank's credit card swipe machines at the petrol pump.

The customer pays this surcharge because the oil company enters into an agreement with the private bank and forces dealers to install credit card swipe machines of that bank and remove those of others.

The Competition Appellate Tribunal has now come to the rescue of consumers by quashing the agreement between Hindustan Petroleum and ICICI Bank, terming it as restrictive. The tribunal bench headed by Justice V S Sirpurkar also imposed a cost of Rs 2 lakh on the oil PSU and the private bank for entering into such an "unfair" agreement.


Pune-based Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association through advocate Neela Gokhale told the tribunal, "If the customer uses any other credit card, then he pays 2.5% more than the actual cost of petrol. This is because of Hindustan Petroleum's decision to monopolize the services of ICICI Bank at the retail outlets by removing from the field the competition by other banks."

After hearing parties, Justice Sirpurkar noted that HP had insisted on setting up only ICICI Bank terminals at retail outlets even if the dealer did not want to do so. "Insistence on the part of HP in giving exclusive status to ICICI Bank terminal is, in our opinion, completely unjustified," the tribunal said.

HP's counsel could not refute Gokhale's statement that if any other bank card, other than that of ICICI Bank, was used for purchase of petrol and diesel from an HP retail outlet, the customer had to give 2.5% as bank service charge.

The tribunal said, "The result of insistence on part of HP would therefore be an insistence vis-a-vis consumers to use ICICI Bank card only in order to escape the excess payment of 2.5%. That would deprive him a facility to use other credit card at any other terminal of other banks. This will also result in denying an opportunity to the outlet dealer to transact with any other bank even if such transaction is beneficial for him and therefore amounts to a restrictive trade practice."

The federation said it would be satisfied if the oil PSU did not insist on removal of credit card swipe machines of other banks from petrol pumps. But HP surprised the tribunal by refusing to accept this offer and insisted on finding some other solution.

The tribunal said, "The direction to remove all other terminals excepting the terminals of ICICI Bank and insisting on consumers to transact only with ICICI Bank would, apart from affecting the competition, impose unnecessary surcharge on the consumers using credit cards other than ICICI card in as much as they would have to shell out 2.5% of the actual cost on petrol or diesel.

"The direction clearly amounts to restrictive trade practices which under the MRTP Act would be deemed to be prejudicial to the public interest... HP shall cease and desist from insisting upon (dealers) to remove all other banking terminals at the site of retail outlets."