This scam (almost) happened with us (me and my brother), a while back and our experience is being shared so that more people do not fall prey to these thieves. This is a common tactic being used at petrol pumps by the filling staff to rip-off the hard earned money from us. I read about similar scams in the fraud section of Pakwheels and fortunately, it was the only reason why I was saved, even though I never expected one day I would have to face the same thing.
It was about 11 pm, me and my brother were out to fuel up our car. It was a government vehicle (which makes me realize now the confidence of the thieves when dealing with normal vehicles, DAMN!). We set a target of 2500 Rs worth of Petrol, I was driving. The petrol pump was empty except for two filling boys. I told them “2500 ka petrol daal do (2500 Rs worth petrol please)” and he nodded in affirmative.
Before the fueling process could start, I set my sight on the meter and did not let my eyes wander elsewhere. When the meter went to 500 Rs he stopped. The person said “Hogya (Done)”, I said I asked for 2500 man! And immediately I realized I will be victim of the same technique of scam that the petrol pump filling boys do. I tried not to look away from the meter but a loud knock on my screen forced me to turn my head. It was the other staff person (accomplice). Ignoring whatever he had to say, I once again turned back to the meter which had crossed about 800 Rs or so in a few seconds.
I came out of the vehicle and as I expected, the meter stopped at 2000.
Pausing my story here, let me tell the readers about the fraud here. For example you say 1500 Rs petrol. They will stop at let’s suppose 500 or any other value and ask for money. When u remind them the original value, another person will distract you by any means, like washing windscreen, asking for general information, etc. the meter will carry on from 500 like it did from the start, but afterwards, it will stop at 1000 Rs. And they will pretend and say “pehle 500 daal dia tha (we put 500 Rs worth petrol before), so in actual you will get 1000 Rs petrol only, and 500 Rs will be their profit. This is the fraud that gets many people. It is usually when a single driver comes to them but in my case, they did not spare two people as well, as tomorrow was EID and they wanted their Eidi desperately. Well NOT ME! coming back to my experience.
They said 2500 (as I expected), I said meter says 2000. They said that 500 was before and meter got reset. Luckily my brother was also watching the meter. I said I have been watching the meter all along. And I will only pay what I see on the meter! Not one Rs more. Things got heated up and I started threatening them with lodging a complaint, etc and on hearing this they backed down and took 2000 Rs.
Here I would urge the people to please; before filling up your vehicles, do check the meter if it is at 0 or not. And keep your eyesight on the meter at all times. It is preferable that you come out of your vehicle and stand directly in front of the meter and avoid distractions as much as possible. Even if someone tries to talk to you, your focus should be on the meter and afterwards, you can look at the distraction. By doing this we can save ourselves from the fraud that is becoming a common phenomenon at petrol pumps. Lodging a complain to the manager or at the company’s website is another way to stop these scumbags in the future.
The same happened with me once at PSO I-10/1 , Islamabad , I realized later that fraud has been committed , next time they tired once again this trick with me and I did not allowed to do so that this time.
I totally agreed with you brother. I faced this many times at petrol station all the employees including manager also involved
It has happened to me twice, but at that time I didn't realize. Later I thought and I go their scam. I'm sure it had have taken them just few hours to digest my money, but they will repay me for sure.
Yes, at that time the pass the pump guys pass the full amount to cashier, and later the settle it when we roll out..
Shell Liberty branch do this all the time…
happened with me at SHELL DRIGH ROAD , KHI.
Rerally? sabzi mandi wala pso?
The same situation happened with me and my brother on PSO Pump I-10/1 Islamabad. they are habitual .
its happened many times with me, cashier disturbed me, and when i see the meter its all completed, be carefull guys
Shah Mujtaba Ali
Asim Rauf
The same happened to me at Shell Liberty Lahore the other guy started telling me abt the shell mobile oil n suddenly the first one said "Ho gia sir" i gave my card n calculated the average which i usually do it after refill it came down to 10 instead of 12.5 while the car's meter was calculating 11.8 before refill. So i realized n lodged a complaint. After many apologies the owner n shell area manager called me n said we have thrown out those employees and there will b no next time etc etc.
Ehtesham Saleem FYI!
Umar Farooq Withra yes
Yar main tou petrol bharwata hi waheen sy hun ;(
Umar Farooq Withra see belkow Amjad khattak said " PSO Pump I-10/1 Islamabad. they are habitual ."
Matlab ankhain kholni parin gyn :p
ps thanks yar
I have a question.
can they fraud us by doing something with the position of the lever on nozzle.
same has happened with me at Total Dharampura lahore, the other person asks for the receipt and you turn to say Not.. and petrol is filled meanwhile and reading is reset !!
me experienced it too
Abbas Khan it is an unfortunate that everyone is not following the religion and for youtube why don't you critize them. you seem a desi liberal.:P
Reason this country is the shittiest of all . no one has time to for this headache everyday .
Tell them to refill in liters
instead of saying 'itnay (paison) ka daal do' …!!
I always get out of the car and stand near the meter before they start filling.
Same thing happened with me at TOTAL PETROL PUMP – Allama Iqbal Town Main Blvd (Near Phaiky Wala Mor)
Never happened to me cuz I have a prius and petrol is too darn expensive for me but buying an over priced car isn't ._.
This happened wid me at i-8 shell petrol, i had asked for 1500 and they filled for 1000..the car before me had filled in for 500 and so they distracted and didnt clear the meter reading n when it finished it showed 1500 whereas i had received only worth 1000. I went n i w saw the petrol meter is not where it shud be..i went back and he said we will empty ur tank and show and i said do it. They got abit confused as most ppl wud avoid gettin into such depth and avoid hastle. Then he filled the extra 500 and gave his stupid story tht u c if u feel u took extra 500 rupees worth petrol then return us the money!
it happened to me in mardan shell petrol station near army cantt, i became a victim and felt so upset after they hook me up with 400 ruppees scam, i asked for 2400 ruppees petrol and they stopped at 400 then i remind them 2400 and they started again from the same place another asshole distract me and i was so upset when i realised i hv been dogged by them la … now i stand right in front of the meter ,,,
Hi guys,,, im the owner of one of the fuel station and this is one of the most imp thing i wanna stop but i cant stand or monitor the meter myself every time unless i get a true trusty (emandar) salesman which is almost impossible to find,,, so u guys have to contribute to stop this frud, here are some points you should be aware of while refueling:
* check the 0 meter before starting of process
* note the figure which they type on dispenser screen, it should be same which you asked them
*make sure salesman dont put some fuel in any bottel or any can before filling in car
*keep your eye on meter from start to end
*suppose u asked them to refuel of Rs1000, they stop at Rs500 and within a sec they type 1000 on dispenser meter which appears to be refueling Rs 1000 have been done but actually its Rs500
*be careful when electricity fails, note meter reading and check for balance, this situation is the favourite for sales man
* always try to get out of the car and keep your eye on meter
hope this will help
Good Day Fellows, I had a different experience at Shell Johar Town Lahore couple of years back. Got Optra refuel having a tank of total capacity of 60L. It was almost dried tank. However they filled it with 73 L !!! on meter. On my claim , Station Supervisor said " Saab Aap nay jo dayna hai dey dain". Being apologetic, he charged only for 60 L. However I logged a complaint on shell help line. They followed it and few days later offered me to go again on same station and get 10 L free of charge.
my experience: never buy petrol worth more than a 1000 rs. Always safe!
Same thing happened with my younger brother at shell pump near Allah hu chowk near jinnah hospital Lahore. When confronted, manager blamed the employees. But later realized the manager is involved in the whole scam.
I have the old habit. I always get out of the car and stand infront of the meter, and dont give a shit what any one has to say while the meter is running.
Damn! I myself was twice a victim and yes they exactly did the same.
Same Station and Same Story Mate !! They are habitual.
yes shell liberty branch did this to me too.
I had said the filler to fill for rupees 3000. I was consistently looking at the meter which reaches 1000 rupees and heres comes a person consistently knocking at my window hardly as thers something v imp..n he just asked do u need cleanup,oil etc etc etc…and diverted my attention..It took about 10 -15 seconds to reach 1000 rupee petrol but just 10 -15 secs talk with him and the meter showed 3000 petrol
and after that I checked the guage as well as the milage of the car which normatly gives 10km /L and I expected a 300KM with this fuel but my fear came true when it did only 210.
So whats the system of ur prius? I really dont know abt the functionality of this car of term "hybrid"
it runs on battery under 60kmp and has a self-charging system making if fuel efficient. Like that is it or kuch be nai hai special