Cars need fuel and this means one has to make a trip every now and then to the fuel bunk. Thing is that no two fuel bunks are the same and finding one that dispenses fuels without adulteration and in the right quantity, is enough for you to jump up in joy screaming ‘achievement unlocked’. Only, most people tend to be ignorant about the car petrol pump that they’re filling at. This is especially true when you’re on a road trip or are beyond your usually frequented spots.
Truth be told, there’s a lot of instances citing petrol pump cheating tricks out there, and some among you might even be surprised at their ignorance of having been taken for a ride. One of the first habits to stick to, is arming yourself with a list of Company Owned Company Operated (COCO) pumps. These are owned by the Oil Marketing Companies themselves and usually tend to be honest on the quantity of fuel and its quality.
Even when it comes to a dealer-owned car petrol pump, look for one that is frequented by a lot of people through the day. By and large, fuel dispensing is a volumes game and if a pump is popular, then it is likely because they’re the honest type, without which, there would have been multiple voices claiming that they’ve been cheated.
One of the oldest petrol pump cheating tricks in the book is the part-fuel technique. It is usually carried out by two or more pump guys in cahoots with each other. One starts to fuel up your car and stops at a random amount. Upon questioning, they’ll then claim to have not heard you clearly & restart the fuelling process having apologized profusely. The key here is that the attendant didn’t reset the fuel counter the second time & consequently, ends up pocketing the difference between the two amounts.
Another common trick is played out occasionally at the older, mechanical type dispensing machines. Here too, an interruption-distraction based technique is used. Say you’ve asked the car petrol pump guy to fill up INR 1000 worth of fuel. He sets out earnestly, and things look to be in order. When suddenly the pump stops abruptly. The pump guy apologizes and restarts the fuelling process. Only this time, the fuel is being pumped much quicker than before.
A third trick is to short change the customer by a few paise. People tend to let this go, but over time & across thousands of customers daily, it does amount to a tidy sum being pocketed by the pump.
The best way is to keep a watchful eye on everything, and immediately protesting the moment you suspect things to be amiss.
