Petrol Drive Off Notice - Incorrect payment taken

Dux77

Hello, 

I have received a debt collectors letter for £150.01 for a Drive of notice - No payment posted the 11th of October 2023. This is in reference to a VARS debt for the above issue from the 11th of July 2023.

This is the first notice I have had about this issue and this letter is a reminder notification.

The issue it seems is that the payment of fuel of £30.01 was not taken by the cashier. I do have a transaction on that date with a small amount only recorded rather than the fuel cost. I do recall going in to pay and bought a coffee as I tend to do and state that I have fuel and which number pump I have used.

But as with a lot of my transactions I simply present my card and ask if the transaction has been processed before walking out. The transaction had obviously been authorised. After I pay I do tend to think nothing of it and carry on.

I've contact DCBL who I gave basic details too but wouldn't give them my DoB etc as they were asking for and they advised I need to speak with VARS as they don't handle disputes. They did advise that they sent out a 1st notice on the 20th of September, but I don't have that or the VARS notice and I keep all named addressed mail for at least 6 months. 

I spoke with Shell who can't do anything as the forecourt is owned by an independent company. I've spoke with that company who can't do anything as they have passed it to VARS, except VARS only have an email address and not a customer facing contact number. I have to reach out to them. 

I do as stated have a credit card transaction that does at least prove that I went in to make payment for the fuel I drew. How can this be resolved other than paying £150.01 for something that happened over 3 months ago and wasn't my wholly my fault when the cashier obviously didn't action the full transaction.

Apologies if long winded on here but it is my first post, but any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

prettyandfluffy

You say you took fuel, do you know how much it was? You do need to pay for it irrespective of it being 3 months ago. 

KeithP

prettyandfluffy said:

You say you took fuel, do you know how much it was? You do need to pay for it irrespective of it being 3 months ago. 

The OP did say...

Dux77 said:

The issue it seems is that the payment of fuel of £30.01 was not taken by the cashier.

prettyandfluffy

KeithP said:

prettyandfluffy said:

You say you took fuel, do you know how much it was? You do need to pay for it irrespective of it being 3 months ago. 

The OP did say...

Dux77 said:

The issue it seems is that the payment of fuel of £30.01 was not taken by the cashier.

Yes, I read that. Whether the cashier didn’t hear/realise he had taken fuel or made some other mistake why should the OP not pay for the fuel?

la531983

prettyandfluffy said:

KeithP said:

prettyandfluffy said:

You say you took fuel, do you know how much it was? You do need to pay for it irrespective of it being 3 months ago. 

The OP did say...

Dux77 said:

The issue it seems is that the payment of fuel of £30.01 was not taken by the cashier.

Yes, I read that. Whether the cashier didn’t hear/realise he had taken fuel or made some other mistake why should the OP not pay for the fuel?

I suspect the OP is happy to pay the £30.01 only, and not the £120 on top.

Dux77

la531983 said:

prettyandfluffy said:

KeithP said:

prettyandfluffy said:

You say you took fuel, do you know how much it was? You do need to pay for it irrespective of it being 3 months ago. 

The OP did say...

Dux77 said:

The issue it seems is that the payment of fuel of £30.01 was not taken by the cashier.

Yes, I read that. Whether the cashier didn’t hear/realise he had taken fuel or made some other mistake why should the OP not pay for the fuel?

I suspect the OP is happy to pay the £30.01 only, and not the £120 on top.

Exactly, I have no issues whatsoever about paying for what I have used. I've even used that petrol station multiple times since the 11th of July and nothing has ever been flagged and I really don't pay too much attention to every single transaction other than if the payment has been approved via contactless. 

I'd still be annoyed at a £30 admin fee, but to save hassle and further brain space I would grudgingly pay it. 

Coupon-mad

Just respond to DCB and state what happened and ask why they've added £120 and how is this head of cost broken down?

Let us know the answer.

Dux77

Coupon-mad said:

Just respond to DCB and state what happened and ask why they've added £120 and how is this head of cost broken down?

Let us know the answer.

It's the £30.01 for fuel, plus the £30 admin cost from VARS (I am still waiting on a response from VARS to an email I sent on the 17th, they don't have a customer facing contact number) and then they have basically £30.01 for fuel,  and then £90 in admin fees of their own. They wouldn't go into any other detail and that they will keep adding on more until I pay, even though I am disputing the additional charges. 

SHELL have washed their hands of it as the forecourt in question is independently owned by Buttal petrol who unsurprisingly also don't have a customer facing number or contact staff. I've tried to go in and make payment and speak to management, but nothing has come of it as of yet.

It is very much I feel that these companies can make whatever mistakes they want and the consumer is left having to just pay whatever they all want to charge without any recourse or resolution other than pay up. Which after this length of time is a shocking position to be having to face, especially after I have used that particular petrol station since the 11th of July and nothing has ever been said, or flagged.

I am off the understanding though that this is a civil rather than legal matter, is this correct?

Coupon-mad

The DCB letter should tell you whether they intend to take this to Small Claims (that shows it's a civil breach of contract allegation).

Defending in court will be the best stance if it's small claims, not Magistrates court.

That added £90 appears to be totally made up.  Ask them for a detailed breakdown of, and justification for, the heads of cost and why two 'admin fees' have been added.

Dux77

Coupon-mad said:

The DCB letter should tell you whether they intend to take this to Small Claims (that shows it's a civil breach of contract allegation).

Defending in court will be the best stance if it's small claims, not Magistrates court.

That added £90 appears to be totally made up.  Ask them for a detailed breakdown of, and justification for, the heads of cost and why two 'admin fees' have been added.

DCBL have add £30 admin charges per letter they are saying they issued, I have only received a reminder letter which I responded to, The other £50 of charges I assume is from VARS for the same. 

On a separate note VARS responded saying that they sent 2 letters dated the 5th of August and also the 22nd of August and tried to make the point that they got my details from DVLA and if they aren't correct then I could be liable for a £1k fine for not updating my drivers licence. This company is obviously deflecting and trying to put the false notion that I maybe liable for a heavy financial fine and did not address my email about resolution etc. 

There was a very interesting development that happened by pure coincidence while I was gain at the petrol station trying to settle things. Firstly the manager / owner (I say this because she said she was the owner at 1 point) refused payment of the £30.01 as I pointed out that I would happily pay them as the admin charges, I am leaning towards are a civil and not criminal matter. They categorically said they couldn't take payment as that has been transferred to VARS and nothing to do with them any longer. They also confirmed that they don't have the CCTV footage as they sent it to VARS who took a screen shot of me taking fuel (the manager showed me the picture). A screen shot only confirms I drew fuel, which isn't in dispute. But the owners can't / won't do anything about the matter. Anecdotally she did say it happens a lot and they just send it to VARS within a day of the none payment. Which begs the questions, how many incidents? and also why it took VARS 3 weeks to issue their 1st letter? if indeed they did. I asked why there wasn't a refuse to serve me 

The development is that while I was talking with the manager / owner was that a customer who was in the queue pointed out that he too was having the exact same issue with the petrol station and that it took 3 months for him to get a debt collection letter and that he had tried to take it up with VARS, and the debt collection agency. He pointed out that the cashier did exactly the same and took part payment for fuel, alongside claiming for fuel above the fuel capacity of the vehicles fuel tank. This person as he says owns a small haulage company and is fighting them also, even with evidence of the vehicle fuel tank capacity provided. It seems that all they want is to force people into paying money and hide behind nothing they can do and process.

We swapped details as I think that this is a far more common issue that is going on and I'm wondering if it is possible to formally request how many incidents there are of this nature, because as I pointed out to them If I had made a full payment in cash and after 3 to 4 months even if I had got a receipt I wouldn't have kept it for a routine purchase as fuel that long and I would have had absolutely no chance of even proving I went into the station to make a purchase.

Dux77

Dux77 said:

Coupon-mad said:

The DCB letter should tell you whether they intend to take this to Small Claims (that shows it's a civil breach of contract allegation).

Defending in court will be the best stance if it's small claims, not Magistrates court.

That added £90 appears to be totally made up.  Ask them for a detailed breakdown of, and justification for, the heads of cost and why two 'admin fees' have been added.

DCBL have add £30 admin charges per letter they are saying they issued, I have only received a reminder letter which I responded to, The other £50 of charges I assume is from VARS for the same. 

On a separate note VARS responded saying that they sent 2 letters dated the 5th of August and also the 22nd of August and tried to make the point that they got my details from DVLA and if they aren't correct then I could be liable for a £1k fine for not updating my drivers licence. This company is obviously deflecting and trying to put the false notion that I maybe liable for a heavy financial fine and did not address my email about resolution etc. 

There was a very interesting development that happened by pure coincidence while I was gain at the petrol station trying to settle things. Firstly the manager / owner (I say this because she said she was the owner at 1 point) refused payment of the £30.01 as I pointed out that I would happily pay them as the admin charges, I am leaning towards are a civil and not criminal matter. They categorically said they couldn't take payment as that has been transferred to VARS and nothing to do with them any longer. They also confirmed that they don't have the CCTV footage as they sent it to VARS who took a screen shot of me taking fuel (the manager showed me the picture). A screen shot only confirms I drew fuel, which isn't in dispute. But the owners can't / won't do anything about the matter. Anecdotally she did say it happens a lot and they just send it to VARS within a day of the none payment. Which begs the questions, how many incidents? and also why it took VARS 3 weeks to issue their 1st letter? if indeed they did. I asked why there wasn't a refuse to serve me 

The development is that while I was talking with the manager / owner was that a customer who was in the queue pointed out that he too was having the exact same issue with the petrol station and that it took 3 months for him to get a debt collection letter and that he had tried to take it up with VARS, and the debt collection agency. He pointed out that the cashier did exactly the same and took part payment for fuel, alongside claiming for fuel above the fuel capacity of the vehicles fuel tank. This person as he says owns a small haulage company and is fighting them also, even with evidence of the vehicle fuel tank capacity provided. It seems that all they want is to force people into paying money and hide behind nothing they can do and process.

We swapped details as I think that this is a far more common issue that is going on and I'm wondering if it is possible to formally request how many incidents there are of this nature, because as I pointed out to them If I had made a full payment in cash and after 3 to 4 months even if I had got a receipt I wouldn't have kept it for a routine purchase as fuel that long and I would have had absolutely no chance of even proving I went into the station to make a purchase.

The exact information in the DCBL letter is as follows:

"We wrote to you previously regarding the unpaid amount of £15.01 due to our client VARS technology LTD. We are disappointed to have not received your payment and/or response to our previous letter.

We should point out that if our client decides to take further action to recover this debt, then the balance could increase as any potential legal costs could be added.

If you are unaware of this debt, or you do not recognise the name of our Client, then we ask that you contact us now. To ensure no further action is taken, you should make immediate payment and we have a number of options for you to be able to do this."

The rest is on how to make payment and contact number. I did respond as soon as I opened the letter which was on the 17th of October, the letter is dated the 11th of October.