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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that the fault doesn't lie soley with my employees?

30 replies

WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 15:13

Basically we've had a spat of people being charged for the wrong things.

So you say you're on X pump
Employee says £X amount of petrol
You say yes and pay
We then see you go back to the car at Y pump and drive off Confused

So we've now started saying the make of car (and colour if more than one of the same car)/amount to be paid and confirming the pump number with the customer

You'd think it fool proof as you should know the make and colour of your car even if you don't know how much fuel you're paying for. Apparently it's not

Customer - fuel on A please
Cashier - the red Audi? That'll be £X please
Customer - yep that's the one
Cashier - wayward pump D is getting back into his car and hasn't paid

Queue me legging it to him and him furiously telling me he's paid and that I should hire staff with more than half a brain cell - he stormed back in and had a right go.

Cashier tells him that he's told Her the pump and had confirmed that he was in fact the red Audi so had been charged as such.

Thankfully it was easily fixed

But seriously how dare he try to blame our staff when he couldn't be bothered to listen to her confirm his car and amount. Seriously a red Audi and blue Nissan at different ends of the forecourt are not the same. It didn't even register to him that he was paying £20 more than he should have been

Please give cashiers your full attention or at the very least don't blame them when you fuck up

  • all identifying info (not that there is any ad this happens in petrol stations all over the country) had been changed
OP posts:
Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 15:15

It's been one of those wish the day never happened days :-(

OP posts:
DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease · 28/05/2015 15:36

The cashier sounds like they did more than enough in that transaction and the driver should have been thankful for saving themselves firstly the £20 they'd overpaid. Secondly, and more importantly, driver is lucky somebody chased up to them before they left the forecourt rather than them driving off and later finding themselves being pulled over by the police for driving off without paying!

HerRoyalNotness · 28/05/2015 15:56

No, they shouldn't have a go at staff and should have been thankful to save the 20quid they didn't owe!

But.... I've always been in a daze when lining up to pay for petrol at the counter. There was that time that I paid and drove off and was later called by the police to say I'd left without paying. I checked my receipt and it turned out the cashier had only charged me for the chocolate bar I'd also bought. It just didn't register with me. It was early morning, I was the only car in, parked at the pump, pumped my fuel, went in to pay, and the cashier thought it seemed sensible that I used my credit card to pay for a $0.76 bar of chocolate.

I am so happy to pay at pump these days, so happy.

Chattymummyhere · 28/05/2015 16:14

I hate petrol stations I always forget the pump number by the time it's my turn so I say it's that one pointing at the car should be around £X.

sparechange · 28/05/2015 16:24

YANBU

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 16:33

But chatty surely you know your cars make, colour or reg? So coukd use those to Id the car? We often have people say it's X amount then get annoyed when asked which pump as there are two or three others with the same amount lol

Pay at the pump would be brilliant but is not currently an option

OP posts:
RackofPeas · 28/05/2015 16:33

Ah customers. Working in retail would be great if it wasn't for customers! Grin
Yanbu. Sometimes people don't pay any attention, but rather than admit they've made a mistake they blame anyone and anything around them.
I'm rather a paranoid sort of person and have to admit double checking the pump number and the amount twice before going in! If the cashier confirmed the make and colour of my car when I was paying I wouldn't mind at all, I'd be happy to know they're also checking I'm paying for the right fuel.

ShadowFire · 28/05/2015 17:05

YANBU.

I had a similar experience a few months ago. In the queue to pay, one till open. The woman in front of me went to get served, and when asked which pump she was at, said "Pump 1" - which was where my car was. I could hear the assistant saying "£60 please" as I was looking to double check which pump my car was at (definitly Pump 1). The woman was about to enter her PIN when I said "But I'm at pump 1..." She was very disbelieving until she'd had a good look out the window herself. The really daft bit was that she'd only put £5 worth of fuel in her car. You'd think that being asked for more than 10 times as much money as she'd owed would have made her realise something was up..

Some people just don't pay attention.

IndridCold · 28/05/2015 18:03

I am completely Shock that people cannot even buy fuel for their own cars without someone else doing all the thinking for them!

Deemail · 28/05/2015 18:06

That's crazy but would it not be easier for the cashier to ask how much fuel then see which car coincides with it and confirm car type?

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 18:17

You'd think that Deemail but we've tried so many variations and still get someone either paying or almost paying for the wrong fuel every couple of months. The worst was 3 in one day. Thankfully they'd all put £20 give or take a few pennies in so no real loss for us or them.

It does make you wonder about some people though

OP posts:
Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 18:19

Or you get 'I don't know how much I've put it it's that one'

Or 'the missus filled it so how would I know'

Retail's hard work lol

OP posts:
LindyHemming · 28/05/2015 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 18:23

The best ones are the people who fill up then go to the loo or browse the shop. Forget they've bought fuel then leave. You get a lot of exercise running after them :-/

Or the ones who fill the can't pay and expect you to just let them leave on a promise to return later that day or week to pay - nope leave before you pay and its theft no matter how much you shout or cry

OP posts:
TedAndLola · 28/05/2015 18:23

If people can't even remember which car they're trying, the staff can't expect them to remember how much fuel they've put in!

I'm guilty of not paying attention to how much my fuel has come to, since I just fill up to the max each time and use a fuel card to pay. But I always get the pump number correct and I would be able to identify my car if asked - I have to give the registration with the fuel card anyway. People are thick.

TedAndLola · 28/05/2015 18:24

f people can't even remember which car they're driving*

NerrSnerr · 28/05/2015 18:27

A few weeks back I got petrol, went to pay and said 'pump 2 please' she said 'do you mean 3?' When I didn't. I had been browsing the shop and someone had already paid for pump 2 and driven off. The person who had driven off's bill was much more than mine and it was a small petrol station and the woman didn't know what to do about it. I was there for about half an hour with my baby in tow while they sorted it.

I don't know what my story adds to the thread but thought I would share.

FenellaFellorick · 28/05/2015 18:28

No, it's not the employee's fault. Some people are just off in their own world most of the time, I think they tune out the world around them. Possibly being a bit rude thinking the staff are making small talk or something and doing autoreply, iyswim. I don't know what else it could be.

You say the red audi, they are taking a small mental siesta, they hear the sound of a voice, the part of their brain that is holding down the fort and helping them put one foot in front of the other tells them You are at a checkout, the person will be saying isn't it a nice day or something, don't worry, I'll take care of it, I'll just say yes. Meanwhile, here's some music, la la la la la La la la....

Instead of saying is your car the whatever, why not ask them what make their car is? They are very unlikely to tell you it's a red audi if it's a blue nissan.

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 18:30

Nerr it is a lot harder to sort out if one person in a fuel mix up has already left.

Sorry you were stuck for so long. Did they at least offer you a free drink or snack?

OP posts:
DontOpenDeadInside · 28/05/2015 18:39

Nerr how did they sort it in the end?

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 18:39

I've asked someone what breed of dog they've got as the one in their car was gorgeous only to be told they don't have a dog - so what's it doing in your car? They didn't even have fuel and just went on auto pilot when asked - we had a good laugh about it, the joys of newborns and lack of sleep

As it happens the dog was a very unusual mix which led to its rather striking appearance :-)

OP posts:
nousernamesleft · 28/05/2015 19:02

Someone did it to me a few months back, I was in the queue to pay, he said "pump 1", I pointed out that I was at pump one, and was told to shut the fuck up.
He paid for my £70 worth of fuel, I paid for his £10 worth. Cashier (who is the garage owner) told me he'd sort it when the other bloke came back to complain. As far as I know, he never did (I live over the road from the garage, so they know where to find me, if they'd make their hoses a little longer I wouldn't even have to move my car to fill up!), so I gained £60 of petrol. Serves him right for being a twat.

DontOpenDeadInside · 28/05/2015 19:21

Score nousernamesleft! Serves him right.

Original poster
WaywardOn3 · 28/05/2015 20:46

Don't we'd have charged her for her own fuel (can find the price easily on the comp). Apologised for the delay and offered her a free tea or coffee

OP posts:
BallsforEarrings · 28/05/2015 21:53

YADNBU - I am all about customer service but it's a good job I don't have a shop if this is what can happen to staff.

What a rude man!! I would not entertain serving him again and tell my staff he was barred! Grin