Wrongly accused of not paying for fuel

HenrytheGreenTrain

Hello. On holiday this year, we stopped for fuel (Scotland). I'm the driver and my husband hopped out to put in the fuel and went to pay. He was ages. This was because the driver before had not paid for his fuel - it seemed to get sorted out and my husband paid for our fuel. However, we have now just received an enforcement notice saying we didn't pay, with a photo of husband fuelling the van. He has the bank statement to show we paid but the amount the other person didn't pay for could have also fitted in our tank...so he can't prove we didn't put two lots of fuel in... he's sent a screenshot of his bank statement to the company but doesn't expect them to reply... obviously he isn't going to pay it even though its not a huge sum (£54.90 including the £30 admin fee)... what's the best course of action? 

Nasqueron

What is the size of the tank and how much did you fuel? 

The argument they made makes no sense - you normally fill up, then pay before the next person comes up and they authorise the pump to come on. You filled up, went to pay, paid and left. Contact the fuel station or if they are a bigger chain, complain to them, complain on their socials etc

HenrytheGreenTrain

Can't remember the size of the tank off-hand but it takes over £100 to fill with Diesel. I don't know what we filled  - on hubby's bank statement - I've not been home yet since he told me we got the notice)... 
Great idea to complain on their socials... will do! Thanks

Grumpy_chap

Might be a bit premature to complain via public forums.

Why not simply respond to the garage stating that you were there and did pay, together with the evidence of the payment.  Even better if you still have the actual receipt.

eskbanker

Grumpy_chap said:

Why not simply respond to the garage stating that you were there and did pay, together with the evidence of the payment.

Already in hand according to OP:

HenrytheGreenTrain said:

he's sent a screenshot of his bank statement to the company

prowla

if the amount tallies with what's on the bank statement then that should be enough to put them straight.

I'm wondering whether the assistant, in their confusion, assigned the payment to the previous driver who hadn't paid?

XRS200

Wonder if he has actually paid for the one in front,  and therefore not actually paid his.

HenrytheGreenTrain

No, we definitely paid for our fuel (£84) as the issue was realised at the time. The guy in Fri t had paid for a different pumps fuel so that was the initial mistake, leaving his charge assigned to the pump we then fuelled at. It had been set back to zero. The staff seemed to have issues dealing with how to then sort out payment but did take payment. It’s an external company (VARS) that are trying to collect the money. Husband has written to them explaining what happened with a screenshot of his bank statement and they have come back saying this was partial payment… essentially they want us to pay the other guy’s fuel as well. It’s a Co-op petrol station - he has emailed coop but they won’t reply for 14 days. It’s just disgusting when this was supposedly sorted at the time and is entirely their mess and we absolutely paid our full amount of fuel at the time. 

HenrytheGreenTrain

I’m not on X (he is but it’s a work account) - I can’t seem to find a Facebook page…

user1977

If you’ve already disputed it there’s nothing else you need to do. I can’t see them pursuing it.

Nasqueron

Grumpy_chap said:

Might be a bit premature to complain via public forums.

Why not simply respond to the garage stating that you were there and did pay, together with the evidence of the payment.  Even better if you still have the actual receipt.

Why is it premature when a firm has wrongly sent debt collectors after a customer who paid their bill fair and square, causing considerable distress and potentially even a police action for bilking? Firms should not be allowed to be this blasé about checking basic facts