Petrol station pump wrong? What to do?

Premier_2

colino wrote: »

Premier, while I find your faith touching, you do know it takes about 30 seconds to recalibrate each pump don't you, it's incredibly easy to do and a lot of garages are still independent businesses, outwith the supermarket network, that while displaying multi-national logos, are locally managed businesses.

I have no idea how long it takes to recalibrate a fuel pump, so will take your word for it.
Not sure what that has to do with what I have posted though.
(But I would have thought it would take at least 30 seconds or thereabouts to dispense a measured amount to check the accuracy before any recalibration is required)

Neither do I understand what the ownership of a garage has to do with the requirements under the Weights & Measures Act and how TS enforce them. :huh:

Obukit

The Tesco one was an example of how weak the courts are. They overcharged by £150k and were only fined £18k. £18k to Tesco is nothing. Rubbish to the "we didn't check", they must of noticed they were selling 2% more fuel than they were buying over eight months and kept quiet about it thinking they wouldn't be caught.

Same as all the "misprices" in their stores, they don't bother to fix it because if TS take them to court they will be fined £5k, meanwhile they are raking in tens of thousands of pounds per day overcharging people who don't realise.

Premier_2

Obukit wrote: »

The Tesco one was an example of how weak the courts are. They overcharged by £150k and were only fined £18k. £18k to Tesco is nothing. Rubbish to the "we didn't check", they must of noticed they were selling 2% more fuel than they were buying over eight months and kept quiet about it thinking they wouldn't be caught.

Same as all the "misprices" in their stores, they don't bother to fix it because if TS take them to court they will be fined £5k, meanwhile they are raking in tens of thousands of pounds per day overcharging people who don't realise.

I wondered how long someone would suggest this.

There is no indication to suggest that Tesco deliberately did anything wrong, other than to ensure the accuarcy of their pumps were correct.

They were fined almost £25k (including costs) - that could have paid for an extra member of staff for a year.

As for the £150k involved, they not only returned this to those affected (or donated to charity) and doubled the amount by way of compensation. or approximately another 6 members of staff for a year.

pineapple

forgotmyname wrote: »

I am mystified why people must put every last drip into the tank until sometimes it actually overflows.

I've been tempted to overfill myself - the reason being you sometimes have a price in your head you are going to round it up to and when you are almost there it's tempting to keep on going.

pineapple

I often wonder about fuel pumps - especially when that display whizzes round suspiciously quickly! Though I'm thinking that if it was going to be tampered with, it would be best to have it so that it is only undersupplying by a fraction.

Obukit

Premier wrote: »

There is no indication to suggest that Tesco deliberately did anything wrong, other than to ensure the accuarcy of their pumps were correct.

Rubbish, that's their PR. I know people who work in petrol stations, even tiny ones using much older equipment than Tesco, and I can tell you that at the end of every day the fuel sold is reconciled against the fuel left in the tanks. If there is ANY difference, even a fraction of a percent, alarm bells would start ringing.

If you honestly believe that Tescos, who will have much better stocktaking procedures in place, didn't notice a 2% difference then you are very trusting! They refunded the money because they were caught by TS, I bet that if they hadn't been caught they would still have that money.

Wig

What you should have done..........

Complained to attendant and refused to pay or move your car until the pump was checked for calibration by the simple act of attendant getting 20 litre calibration vessel from the store room and filling it with fuel, takes all of 5 minutes to do this and you would then have been sure you were not fiddled, as I am sure you were not.

Think how small a 5 litre petrol can actually is -which actually holds close to 7 litres- now don't you think it's entirely possible that your manufacturers handbook is erring on the side of caution and under representing the true amount that you can actually get in there? Like the 5 litre cans do.... they call them 5 litre cans but you can get nearly 7 litres in them.

The volume of liquid in dispute here is only 7 litres it's not a very big volume to "lose" inside a petrol tank/pipes

Justicia

Premier wrote: »

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/03/31/tesco-fined-18-000-for-petrol-overcharging-91466-23276506/

"The loss to the customers has been estimated at 168,000 litres at a time when fuel was sometimes hitting the £1 a litre mark."

Those were the days...

claireyrosey

Go back to the pump you used with a one of those plastic jerry cans. Fill it up to the 5 litre mark, and see what the pump says.

I managed to get charged for almost 8 litres when my jerry can was still under the 5litre mark.

I complained, I got a refund for double the difference and I called trading standards who investigated it too.

Wig

claireyrosey wrote: »

Go back to the pump you used with a one of those plastic jerry cans. Fill it up to the 5 litre mark, and see what the pump says.

I managed to get charged for almost 8 litres when my jerry can was still under the 5litre mark.

I complained, I got a refund for double the difference and I called trading standards who investigated it too.

I've never seen one with a "5 litre mark"