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AIBU?

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Original poster

'Detained' at petrol station for not having my bank card

491 replies

Willowcat77 · 31/07/2019 07:39

Yesterday I stopped at my local village petrol station to refuel. I was on my way to pick up my DS for an important hospital appointment. I am a regular customer as it is the only petrol station/shop in the area and always get my car MOT'd there. My DP has been a customer/friend of the owners for over 20 years.

I went to the counter to pay but then realised that I'd left my bank card at home. The shop assistants knew me by sight so I said I'm really sorry but I'll need to go home to get my card, my house is only 5 minutes down the road. The assistant told me no, I would have to phone someone to pay for me and that I was forbidden to leave the premises!

I was very taken aback, but I phoned my DP. Unfortunately he wasn't answering his phone so I had to leave a voicemail. There was nobody else I could phone in the area. I was very worried about missing the hospital appointment, so I tried to reason with the shop assistants. I explained the situation and offered to leave my phone and £20 cash as security whilst I fetched my card. My petrol bill was £39. They knew I was local and my DP and I have spent 1000s of pounds there over the years.

They refused, saying if necessary I would have to stay there all day until my DP came to pay for me. They said this was "the rule". I wanted to speak to the owner but he wasn't in. I have ASD and am easily panicked. I was getting later and later for the hospital appointment and could feel I was having a proper ASD meltdown. I was getting so distressed I couldn't even redial my DPs number any more and had to ask them to do it. Eventually, after about 20 minutes, DP unexpectedly arrived and paid for me. I still feel very upset and that I can't ever go there again out of embarrassment.

My DP has since found out they did something similar to an older lady recently who was also local and a regular customer.

Aibu to feel I was treated badly and to make a complaint to the owner today? What were my rights in this situation? Could I have left to get the money?

OP posts:
GoodbyeRosie · 01/08/2019 08:46

If you think about it, you wouldn't expect to be able to take a trolly load of shopping home with you if you forgot your card , would you?

I think the bits about you being a regular customer, having ASD etc are not relevant. The relevant part is that the staff were just doing there job. Yes you could have left, but that is the same as theft isn't it?. In your situation, with a hospital appointment I wouyld have either left and taken the consequences, ore phoned the police.

The petrol station needs to revisit it's procedure here as well, as surely you could have left security, proof of I.D., They even have all your car details. Many people have stated chain petrol stations have forms and a detailed process due to the amount of times this happens.

Walkaround · 01/08/2019 08:52

GoodbyeRosie - sorry, but it's a bit stupid to compare taking home a trolley of shopping with this situation, given the obvious fact that you can leave the trolley behind when you go to get your bankcard, but cannot easily remove the petrol from your car once it is in there in order to go home and get your bankcard. And no - theft requires an intent to steal. Theft is never accidental. And a promise to return with the cash, asap, does not demonstrate an intent to steal.

Lweji · 01/08/2019 12:45

But you can leave the car behind and get a taxi or a lift.

helpmestaycalm · 01/08/2019 12:51

Ring the police next time

Mousetolioness · 01/08/2019 13:14

I'd have told them to siphon the bloody petrol out if they were going to 'detain' me. Then I would have picked up a magazine from the display and read it, telling them to let me know when they were done. But then I can be arsey like that when faced with a total tool of a jobsworth or poor customer service. Which this undoubtedly was. OP had no intent to steal.

OP should have given them her details and walked out. The cashier overstepped the bounds of commonsense and acted like a knob. 'Detain' the OP? LOL. Hope OP comes back to relay outcome of her husband's complaint.

Walkaround · 01/08/2019 13:50

Lweji - and why would anyone think that was preferable to leaving behind your driver's licence or mobile phone? If someone is thought to be that much of a risk for theft, why would a taxi driver be willing to drive them anywhere, knowing they were getting a lift because a petrol station was so convinced they were intent on theft that they would not let them take their own car off the forecourt in order to get their cash?!

Walkaround · 01/08/2019 13:53

Of course, if you want to leave all commonsense behind when you are dealing with regular customers known never to have left without paying before, then go ahead, but don't expect that regular customer ever to forgive or forget.

sonjadog · 01/08/2019 13:56

How are you going to pay for the taxi back home if you have forgotten your bank card? Or is the taxi driver going to have to hope you do indeed have a bank card to pay them when you get home? And if so, why should a taxi driver take the chance and not the petrol station?

PuppyMonkey · 01/08/2019 14:11

I got caught out with the £30 Apple Pay limit just last month OP, so be careful. I only had my phone and was all confident I could use it to pay for fuel (total was £42) as there was no limit on Apple Pay. Except there is at Tesco. Blush

Had to fill in the ‘form of shame’ and go back later with my purse. Thanks goodness I was passing by again later for the school run anyway.

StreetwiseHercules · 01/08/2019 16:30

Apple Pay itself is unlimited. ASDA and Tesco are two of only a few retailers who impose a £30 limit on it and, boy, how I resent them for it.

Lweji · 01/08/2019 17:15

@Walkaround

The OP had cash with her, just not enough for petrol

Pensionista · 01/08/2019 17:29

Whatever happened to common sense. I could understand their attitude if she wasn't known, but she was for gods sake. Good luck with future customers. Word and mouth travel fast.

MibsXX · 01/08/2019 17:29

where I worked until recently, the petrol station owner took all drive off amounts from the staff wages, which if a larger vehivcle could easily be your weeks pay

MombieMumbles · 01/08/2019 17:34

@lastqueenofscotland no criminal offence was committed. OP had every intention of paying despite not having the means to do so. She did not make off without making payment and even if she did it would have to be proven that she intended not to pay. Criminal law is funny like that!

NeverSayFreelance · 01/08/2019 17:35

My partner used to work retail and it's very much the norm to fill out the "I'll come back and pay" form. This treatment is shocking, especially if they know you and you were offering them money AND a phone?

Liketoshop · 01/08/2019 17:38

It's rubbish but they're running a business! Regardless of any health implications I can get anxious very quickly.... but I always put my debit card in my pocket before fuelling. You should do the same in future

Jeeperscreepers69 · 01/08/2019 17:38

They cant detain you. Go back and tell them your lucky you dont call the police. Normal protocol is fill in a form. Possibly leave phone as a good will gesture and return to pay. I worked in garage i no!!!!

Cosentyx · 01/08/2019 17:39

My dd has dyspraxia and often forgets stuff like this. For future reference, enable access to your account and ability to pay on your phone and/or smart watch, too, so that if you're ever without your bankcard you can still pay. Handy way to avoid this situation.

Sara107 · 01/08/2019 17:41

I think the petrol station acted poorly. Yes, you are supposed to check before you fill up that you can pay etc, etc but once in a blue moon it can happen to anyone that you can’t for some reason - you have your wallet but completely forgot that you put your card in your coat pocket the other day while in a rush or some such scenario. Someone who is deliberately stealing petrol will probably just drive off, not go into the shop in obvious distress. The shop should have a policy on how to handle the situation- taking someone’s details such as car reg seems reasonable as the police can then trace them and pursue for theft if not paid. In this case the OP was offering to pay half the bill in cash and leave her phone as surety. Small independents can’t compete with the giants like Tesco and BP on price but they can on customer service. If I was the OP I would take my petrol, emergency pint of milk purchases and MOT custom elsewhere even if I had to drive further in future!

RoisinXena · 01/08/2019 17:42

The details required are so that the garage could pursue the matter in the civil court to recover the debt. You only commit a criminal offence if you take something with no intention to pay.

ReanimatedSGB · 01/08/2019 17:49

The employee was either new/nervous (perhaps had been given a recent bollocking because someone did pull a fast one - or has a new manager who regularly screams at staff that any unpaid fuel or other discrepancy in the till will come out of their wages)... or a cunty little jobsworth who knew that you were an easy target, more likely to cry then to give them a v-sign and walk off.

You should definitely complain to the manager, because the employee had no right to detain and bully you like that.

Winterlife · 01/08/2019 17:55

Is there another station you can use in the future? I wouldn't want to support a business that treated me in this manner.

ButterscupsRevenge · 01/08/2019 17:59

Complain about what? They no doubt were doing there job as per the management/head office.

userxx · 01/08/2019 18:00

@StreetwiseHercules it's stupid isn't it! I emailed Asda and they told me they were looking into increasing the limit at some point.

Goodomens23 · 01/08/2019 18:10

I work in a fuel station. Standard practice. Can't let people leave with goods without paying. However, if it's someone local, I usually trust them. It's backfired on me multiple times mind. But nothing to complain about I'm afraid

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