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Original poster

To not transfer money at petrol station

367 replies

Phugs · 02/08/2025 11:50

Yesterday I put fuel in the car and went in to the petrol station to pay. There were a couple of people in front of me in the queue. When I got to the front I said pump 7 please and the cashier informed me that someone had already paid for pump 7.

The man who had paid was just getting back in his car so the cashier gestured for him to come back in from his car and said he had paid for the wrong pump. Immediately he turned aggressive and started shouting at me to pay him the money back by bank transfer.

I refused, I wasn’t going to transfer money to a random person in the petrol station and it immediately felt like a scam.

I requested the cashier just refund the man his money so that I could pay my bill and he refused and started pressuring me to just “pay the man what I owe him”. The customer who had paid my fuel then started calling me a fucking bitch, saying I wasn’t fucking leaving with out paying him his money and he would “do me in” if I tried to leave. He had clearly been drinking, and his friend, who was originally a passenger drove the car away from the petrol station. At this point another customer stepped in and called the police.

The customer then got really aggressive with the man on the phone to the police and started pushing him around, it escalated really quickly and I was asking the cashier again and again to just refund the man his money so that I could pay for my fuel. I asked him to bring a manager out and he said he was manning the station on his own and there was no one else to assist.

Two female police officers arrived and the man was increasingly aggressive with them, calling them both fucking bitches and insulting their appearances. Eventually he was arrested, the cashier then could magically create me another bill and I paid.

When I was leaving the cashier told me I could have avoided the altercation if I’d just paid the man what I owed him and when I’ve tried to lodge a complaint with the petrol station manager, she’s said the same and that it was between me and the other customer to sort out, that the cashier had done nothing wrong by refusing the customer a refund.

Im fairly certain I’m not in the wrong here, would anyone transfer money to a random stranger in a petrol station and walk away without any proof of payment?

OP posts:
Unilaterallyinsane · 03/08/2025 15:36

AgentLisbon · 03/08/2025 15:19

What criminal offence would they arrest the cashier for??

Show quote history

Perverted the course of justice…. 😂

Ljs7 · 03/08/2025 15:35

Absolutely outrageous request from the cashier.

I would have said, well if my petrol at pump 7 has been paid for, i will leave and you can process angry man’s petrol as a drive off and involve the police.

Gingerbreadhouse1 · 03/08/2025 15:24

You did nothing wrong at all. I commend you for sticking to your guns and handling the situation well.

Would these ‘men’ insult you / police officers if you were also a man. I highly doubt it.

I wouldnt give the petrol station your custom again.

Sadcafe · 03/08/2025 15:23

AgentLisbon · 03/08/2025 15:19

What criminal offence would they arrest the cashier for??

Show quote history

Didn’t say they had committed an offence,just cashiers actions seem to have escalated the situation

AgentLisbon · 03/08/2025 15:19

Sadcafe · 03/08/2025 15:16

Think you were absolutely correct, maybe the police should arrest th3 cashier too for creating the problem

What criminal offence would they arrest the cashier for??

Sadcafe · 03/08/2025 15:16

Think you were absolutely correct, maybe the police should arrest th3 cashier too for creating the problem

MilkyWayMagicStars · 03/08/2025 15:14

this has really made me think because I probobly would have transferred… you didnt do anything wrong and Im glad you are ok.

thought provoking indeed!!! Glad he got arrested what an arsehole xx

WeCouldDoBetter · 03/08/2025 15:13

Petrol station is at fault. The whole thing could have been avoided if they'd refunded the man his money and then charged him for his own fuel.

Expecting you to make a bank transfer is utterly ridiculous.

BubblyBath178 · 03/08/2025 15:13

No way would I have transferred the money! Out of interest, I wonder what the petrol station/Police would have done if you’d have just said ‘cheers for paying for my fuel’ and walked off 😂

Blindfaithfails · 03/08/2025 15:10

Commenting here on the hope that you update this when you get a response. Because I’m nosy.

AgentLisbon · 03/08/2025 15:08

You were absolutely in the right and dealt with the situation admirably. I would be pushing this up the chain hard, however, as the attendant (ultimately supported by the manager) put you at genuine risk of harm by their response to the situation. That is unacceptable on every level.

I’m a lawyer and legally you would likely have been totally within your rights to simply leave if the attendant was essentially telling you they could not or would not take your payment.

I do understand people saying it feels like a scam but when you think it through there is no way in which this could be a scam that has even the potential to be successful or have a chance of making anyone more than a few quid. At the same time it would have an almost guaranteed chance of being found out. Can’t see it being some conspiracy between attendant and drunkard on that basis, even if they were total idiots.

Unilaterallyinsane · 03/08/2025 15:05

Very well @Phugs for standing your ground.

FlyingFox · 03/08/2025 15:03

WTF 😮its not your fault that he paid the wrong one it’s either him or the cashiers fault!! I wouldn’t have paid him either the cashier should have just refunded him ffs. Massive complaint. How ridiculous.

Ilovemyshed · 03/08/2025 15:00

Call me a cynic but I would suspect the petrol station attendant was in on what feels awfully like a scam.

You were in the right.

Goodadvice1980 · 03/08/2025 14:58

YANBU OP.

I wouldn’t have paid the other customer either. The garage employee is at fault. Garage manager sounds like an idiot.

The CEO of Shell UK is Wael Sawan. I would send an email in, especially if the garage is a franchise. [email protected]

BotterMon · 03/08/2025 14:54

Hope the police also do him for drunk driving as petrol station cctv will have it on record that he drove the car into the petrol station. What a vile piece of scum and defo sounds like a scam with staff in on it.

Viviennemary · 03/08/2025 14:51

No you shouldn't have paid this random man.

Biggles27 · 03/08/2025 14:47

How awful 😞.

There is no way on this planet would I have transferred the money - to then find out three weeks later a massive fine for driving off without paying for my fuel!!!!!! You did the right thing

YellowGuido · 03/08/2025 14:43

Agree with others - you did not purchase goods or services from Angry Man, therefore you did not owe any money to him. Petrol station & Angry Man must BOTH be at fault - PS for not charging correctly / issuing a refund when the mistake was identified - AM for not realising he had been overcharged! (Unless AM did not pay for his own fuel, effectively, in which case, it was even bigger fuck up by the PS…

Blueblell · 03/08/2025 14:39

Sounds like the cashier and manager maybe in on a scam? Make sure you put in your complaint to head office that the other guy did not pay for his petrol.

Nickynicks · 03/08/2025 14:36

Sounds a bit dodgy. Anyway who paid for the petrol at the pump he was at? Say he was on pump 9 and filled up and he paid for your fuel.

Also what was the amounts for yourself and him? I am guessing yours was a lot less - about £20 less than his.

C8H10N4O2 · 03/08/2025 14:36

I’ve also made this mistake, more than once - no drama involved, just an apology on my part and a quick refund/rebill by the cashier.

I would assume scam, possibly to get bank details, possibly a fiddle on the part of the station staff. If the manager backed them up I’d assume they were in on any scam.

The staff should have been the first to call the police if one customer was threatening others, not backing up the threatening customer and leaving it to other customers to call. If they were honest that is.

Lotsofsnacks · 03/08/2025 14:31

That petrol station cashier and the manager need sacking. How crap of Shell!!! Thought you were going to say it was a random, independent petrol station! Definitely get on to the CEO inbox immediately, I’m fuming for you, how incredibly dangerous, you could have been assaulted in there.

Mavvera · 03/08/2025 14:30

I see it was Shell, surely a company like that has the capability to refund someone, I thought at first it was a small independent.

Mavvera · 03/08/2025 14:26

You were in the right. I don't even have banking on my mobile phone, I have no need for it, I do it at home on my iPad, a lot of people don't have mobile banking. It does sound a bit scammy and weird as well like it may have been deliberate as he would have known that you were at that pump.

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