Sainsburys petrol extra peny dropping

akkers

1p may be insignificant but could it amount a few thousand pounds in extra profits for Sainsburys, every week?

cono1717

They could be in cahoots with Epson!

If you're concerned about the price increasing by a penny as opposed to underfilling why don't you just pre-pay or pay at the pump?

peachyprice

akkers wrote: »

1p may be insignificant but could it amount a few thousand pounds in extra profits for Sainsburys, every week?

20,000-30,000 customers a week buying petrol, all of those having 1p added? I doubt it.

unholyangel

peachyprice wrote: »

20,000-30,000 customers a week buying petrol, all of those having 1p added? I doubt it.

That would only gain them £200-£300 extra profit in a week. They'd need to do it to 100,000 people in order to make even £1000 extra.

Just wondering if perhaps OP is squeezing the trigger a little by accident or whether there is a tiny remaining amount in the nozzle when he replaces it - causing it to go up that extra penny.

custardy

Been going on for years.
Video evidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWIz4eYj3fE

arcon5

Learn to use the pump properly. Fuel is priced to a tenth of a penny and distributed at god know what rate but it takes very little to overrun.

I find it hard to believe even a crook would see the benefit in risking an investigation having conned literally thousands of people to make quite an immaterial gain.

daytona0

unholyangel wrote: »

That would only gain them £200-£300 extra profit in a week. They'd need to do it to 100,000 people in order to make even £1000 extra.

Yep, and two points to add;

1. It potentially costs them more than it is worth if they get caught

2. Petrol pricing isn't usually competitive in regards to pennies (where, as demonstrated in my last post, you only gain approx 130 metres per penny difference). Most people will simply go to the nearest one, so the shops do not usually need to cheat people out of a penny.

Just wondering if perhaps OP is squeezing the trigger a little by accident or whether there is a tiny remaining amount in the nozzle when he replaces it - causing it to go up that extra penny.

Yep, a penny is about 9 ml which is potentially going to come out of the nozzle at the end. After all:



If fractional rounding happens then you are only technically overfilling by 4-5ml on average! It just depends if values below 0.5 round up or down as to whether you are paying 0.5p on average or if you are overpaying for a few ml.

ThumbRemote

arcon5 wrote: »

Learn to use the pump properly. Fuel is priced to a tenth of a penny and distributed at god know what rate but it takes very little to overrun.

OP says the extra penny goes on after they've replaced the pump and gone inside. Unless they are telepathically causing petrol to dispense, it's got nothing to do with them not using the pump properly.

robatwork

Are you sure you're not accidentally squeezing the trigger just as you re-holster the pump?

unholyangel

Found this reply on another forum. It seems plausible (not sure whether its right or not but its a reasonable explanation imo)

The valve which controls the flow of fuel is in the pump nozzle. The pump nozzle is connected to the pump motor by a flexible hose (which expands slightly if the contents are under pressure.)

Assume that (and I'm making up the figures; I've no idea what the delivery pressure is) the pressure in the hose (the pressure at the nozzle) is 17psi before you open the nozzle.

You put the nozzle in the tank, press the trigger, the valve in the nozzle begins to open. The pressure in the hose drops as fuel flows into the tank. The pump motor starts to turn to increase the pressure in the hose and pump more fuel. When the pump motor starts to turn, the dials showing the quantity of fuel dispensed and the cost start to turn.

As the pressure in the hose falls when the nozzle is opened, a few ccs of 'free' fuel will be dispensed before the pump motor starts to turn. (Petrol costs about 1 penny for 7cc.)

When you release the trigger on the nozzle, the flow of fuel from the nozzle stops - but the pressure in the hose is lower than it was when you first put the nozzle in the tank, so the pump motor keeps turning (and the counters keep turning) until sufficient fuel (apparently about about 14cc) has been pumped into the hose to bring the pressure back up to 17psi.

The fuel pump may charge you for a penny or two's worth of fuel after you close the nozzle, but it didn't charge you for the first penny or two's worth when you opened it.