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There’s been a niggling suspicion in the back of my mind several times recently, when refuelling my car. At the petrol pump I fill up to, say, £15.00. But by the time I reach the cashier, it mysteriously costs me £15.01.
The first few times I let this go without a second thought. Fair enough, it’s easy to misjudge and not spot the pump ticking over that extra penny. But tonight my suspicions were raised. I caught a glimpse of the cashier’s screen, and every person who had refuelled had a total price of £XX.01.
Could petrol stations really be stealing 1 penny from every customer? Some may notice, but 1 penny isn’t worth complaining about.
But in the course of a day, if this speculation were to contain any truth, the petrolium companies would be stealing thousands of pounds straight from our wallets.
Has anybody had similar experiences? Please leave your comment at the bottom of the page.
AT LAST I brought this to the attention of the cashier at my local ASDA and told her that I was not going to pay the extra 1p just on the thought of 1p x 1000 customers per day equals £10 per day x 365days equals £3650 per year which is a fair amount of undeclaired revenue for an already high charging commodity,which is a modern form of highway robbery
Some pumps seem to drip or recalculate or *something* as you put them back on the hook. I’ve had this happen visibly before – as I’ve put the pump back I’ve watched the display click over – but never without my knowledge. And it’s only happened perhaps two or three times that I can remember.
It could be that a whole forecourt, fitted with the same batch of pumps, has the same problem throughout. Never ascribe to malice etc. etc. but raise a hoo-hah over it, definitely.
(The debate as to why we all aim for round-number amounts of petrol, regardless of payment method, is to be had another day, I think!
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the petrol pumps are wrongly caliberated and should be retested by customs & excise as it is wrong to operate with faulty pumps.even military pumps have to be checked on a regular basis if the books show a discrepancy there should and is an enquery so the argument that the pumps drip or leak or even distribute excess amounts don’t even enter the argument
Interesting theory, my local garage (ESSO) actually has a dish of coppers on the counter that you are free to use if you run over by a few pence.
I’m not sure if the garage owner puts them there or if other customers leave their spare penny change(I do) but it’s a nice gesture anyway.
I agree, it’s a problem.
It’s irritating, however I’m more concerned about feeling like a nerd at the counter… not knowing to question a penny or walk away feeling cheated.
Bugger!
A cool website that I used to use a lot is http://www.petrolprices.com they’re starting to pick up on areas of interest to do with petrol scams too.
petrol at over £1.09 a ltr what a rip off we were promised years ago when oil was discovered in Scotland that we would be one of the cheapest in europe I’ve never benefitted from it has any body out there? maybe just maybe it could have given the government a few extra bob as well as the filling stations .can you imagine running a business at a loss?if the owners of said forcourts are to be believed.no its too much coinsidence that the amount of pumps trickle the odd pence out of its captive customers.tackle the staff after all they would let you know if you paid short for your liquid gold.
I always fill to a value that ends in zero’s but my last three fills included those extra pennies… I even shook the nozzle to prove it was clear of drips, then when I returned it to the holder the penny added on! – At current prices 1p is equal to 10ml of fuel… you would definately notice two teaspoons of fuel dripping out? There’s something fishy going on!
Hear in the U.S. seems the pump will almost never land on the exact amount you want, aways seems to end up a penny or two over the amount I have offended wonder about this.They are so hard to regulate, the pump I mean. Looks like they are getting all they can from a person. Jerks.
If large petrol co’s are doing this it explains why the small retailers go out of business. This is why I did TWENTY-FOUR FORMER FILLING STATIONS as well as my own nostalgia. See my site http://www.frankeye.co.uk and check your impressions against the reality of my archive.
same experience happened twice did not take notice
but noted on second occasion
will be informing trading standards
I am so happy someone has brought it up it really annoys me. this happens everytime i fill up now!!! the screen b4 i pay says £30.00 then when i get to the cashier £30.01!!!
I’ve noticed a few times that if you jiggle the pump nozzle to get that extra bit out it pushes it up by a penny even though you’ve taken your hand off the handle bit.
Given the extortionate rise of fuel prices its probably gone up a penny in the time it takes you to cross the forecourt!!!
This has happened to me on several occasions and I’ve ignored it but it’s happened to me again today and I decided to work out my receipt…sure enough my local Tesco is charging me 1p more than I have dispensed into my tank. The gauge displayed £20.01p AFTER I replaced the nozzle. This is theft and I will contacting trading standards
I have noted this at asda stores eventualy stopped using asda (all a stores.)always check pump before you pay
I have noted this several times and have come to the same conclusion,as have several friends of mine. 1p extra from each customer adds up to a lot over a year. It makes me mad.
http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/business/tradingstandards/ts_consumers/petrol_pump_questions_answered.htm
That possibly explains it.
Thanks Jarvis!
In particular, this paragraph:
Happened today.You just know when you feel you have been screwed.Went to petrol station near in-laws.Not filled up for a couple of weeks.Put £49.94.The highest I have ever put in is £46,but it’s gone up a couple pence and I used a tad more petrol,and I recall the wife saying a few weeks ago she felt she had paid more than normal.
Not sure.Niggling doubt in my mind
Today I went to my local Morrisons Petrol station and was very careful in rounding it off to the pound (£27) yet when I put the nozzle back into the pump I saw that it clicked up 1p. When I questioned as to why at the till I was told that this happens. I stood my ground and got my 1p. back and the person who was behind me took a stance complaining that it had done the same with him yet at a different pump.
THIS IS DEFINATELY A FIDDLE and appears that it is the supermarket chains that are mainly involved in this scam. I am going to contact trading standards.
I’m glad you got the 1p back, but according to Leicester trading standards, the sudden jump of 1p IS within limits.
If you win, then all the best and well done.
I was in my local ASDA store today 28.01.10 and put £15 in but when I went to the cashier it was £15.01. when I told her the pump was faulty her reply well its serviced every 3 to 4 mths. I told her I would be complaining she just said ahh well you do that.
Do as I do when you finish topping up the tank you make a note mentally as to what is on the pump i.e £10-£20 just give the cashier the exact amount and if the pump has recorded any thing over tough that is the amount that was on the m/c thats all your getting.argue in court for a penny I doubt it.
@arty All the best, but apparently a 1p ‘jump’ can be due to meter to register the fuel flow/movement because of the flexing in the pipes as the nozzle is returned. It’s apparently within tolerances the -½% to +1% of the pump.
You are all ridiculous, this is not some sort of conspiracy! I work at a supermarket petrol station so I can tell you that you are completely wrong.
Do you think us employees would favour the earache we get over a system that would make it impossible for this ‘fiddle’ to happen? I can tell you that there wouldnt be a single petrol station attendant that thinks the abuse we get over it is justified!
‘Jarvis Kay’ is correct, there are explainations as to why this (rarely) happens but it seems 99% of the public dont want to hear it and when they do they just dismiss it!
Do you notice how when you put the nozzle in your tank you get (I would argue a fairly significant amount) the fuel thats already in the hose for free…certainly over 1 pence worth. Funny how nobody picks up on the fact that EVERY SINGLE fueller gets this for nothing, but are more than happy to argue the toss over the penny that ‘ticks over’.
As for informing trading standards; good luck with that, perhaps mention the free fuel that is dispensed from each pump before they are authorised for fuelling!
I’m all for causing the greedy b*stards aggro, I have nothing but negative things to say about the chief executive of the supermarket I work for but the problem is it isnt him that is given abuse, it is the staff who are just doing their jobs!
As an ex engineer i have seen this .. it is usually caused by hose dilation when people tap the nozzle to try and extract the one/millionth of a millilitre sat on the end whilst the fuel in the tank of your car is evaporating away.. or when people are a little harsh with the handle putting it back in the nozzle holder
to be honest it has always happened. the price of fuel today makes it really noticeable where as 3 – 5 years ago that difference would have only been a fraction of a penny and would have never shown up on the display
it is a problem that is only going to get worse as the price as fuel increases.. so maybe we should stop whining about it on a website and maybe petition the government into dropping fuel duty…
Good luck with trying to get the government to drop fuel duty..
All the best
Tigerpaws
Lucky we have laws to protect people. I would have liked to knock out the annoying cashier that tried to say I was wrong.