Undercharged petrol - now being fined

[ToPaytheFine]

Hi - I was undercharged for fuel and didnt notice, just tapped and left. I have received a letter and cctv footage which shows me paying. On checking bank statement it turns out I only paid 1p. I didnt check the amount and am 100% OK with paying the full amount, but don't see why I should pay the debt collectors "admin fee" which stood at £30.

I have rung them and they've offered to drop the fine to £10. But should I even pay that? Anyone know consumer law and if it's different for garages as they have told me?

Before I get told, yes I will certainly be more careful checking amounts in future!

How does that even happen? Surely it was a fault with the machine their end.

YANBU and I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable will be able to advise you!

Their fault. Tell them to fuck off.

This happened to us once and the police turned up 😲 was very embarrassing. I'd gone into the shop to get a coffee and pay, my husband had put in the petrol. I told them the pump number and paid and we left. However the police told us that the person before us on that pump hadn't paid so we paid for theirs apparently. Which was less than ours. We had to go back and pay, was v awkward 😐

I am really happy to pay what I owe, not a problem, just really don't see why I should pay the fine.
Debt collector mentioned the police on the phone, I said I'd take legal advice. As I don't actually know any solicitors thought I'd ask on here 😊

He said he understood forecourt law was different from consumer law and it was 50/50 my fault for not checking the amount.

This also happened to me. I paid for someone else’s fuel that had just gone without paying. It was £15 less than my fuel and I got in trouble. I ended up having to pay a collection fee like the OP and iirc it was about £60!!

@CalpolDependant maybe I should just take their offer of a £10 fine then for a quiet life

Sounds as though the issue is their equipment malfunctioning. Just pay for the petrol and be assertive that it's their fault not yours.

Don't pay the £10. Just pay what you owe.

Why should you pay for their mistake? Absolutely do not do that.

I would never notice either and I would just pay what is owed. Let them take you to court for the admin fee if they want. The judge would throw it out as it won't pass any reasonableness test

It's their mistake!

Phone the garage up and pay the remaining balance over the phone. Make it clear that THEY undercharged YOU.

I would also record the phone call and make it clear in the phone call you are paying £X amount, so that they don't try and add the £30 charge on!!

You might find that your house insurance includes legal advice- worth checking.

Also worth checking with Trading Standards, if their equipment is faulty they could Benin some trouble.

Have to admit I’m baffled by the people getting into trouble because the previous customers did not pay - how is that your fault?

My Nan had this happen to her recently! She was mortified as they only charged her for her paper and then 10p for the fuel. She's mid 80's and was so upset at the wording of the letter along with her photo added to it.

I emailed the fuel company directly, initially their customer service then found the ceo email so I could get it resolved ASAP. They ended up 'recalling' the debt as it's sold and managed by a third party forecourt company and then we paid for the fuel she used. It appears to be more common than ever especially when you're buying something other than fuel or they ring in the wrong pump when you go in and pay. My Nan will only use pay at pump now

There is quite detailed legal stuff around the selling of petrol and garage forecourts as a result of so many people filling up their cars and running off without paying.

https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/underage-sales/selling-petrol-and-diesel-from-forecourts#Retailersresponsibilities

I suspect that the 1p you paid was charged to your card before you filled up, to ensure that your card was valid. I suspect that you appeared to behave just like most people who steal petrol. I can't think of a single time I've filled up any of my vehicles over the last 40 years and not taken notice of how much I'd spent. I suspect you'd have a hard time persuading a court that you filled up your vehicle and didn't, despite the read-out in front of you on the pump and the payment window on the card element, notice that you'd only been charged 1p. You appear, under the relevant law, to have some responsibility to ensure you pay for what you've taken and that will mean you have a duty to check the figures on the pump. But I'm not a lawyer.

If you want to fight it, get specialist legal advice. If I were you I'd pay up, including the £30, and get it over and done with — because I value my time and peace of mind.

To add they resolved the matter within 48 hours of emailing including sending a letter of apology to my Nan directly as I was dealing with them over email and wanted her to have something tangible.

I've presumed you paid at the pump: inserted your card before filling up, then tapped when you'd finished. Obviously if you went into the shop to pay and someone there wrongly entered the amount of petrol then that wasn't your fault — but you didn't spell that out in your OP.

Happened to dh. He paid for items from the shop not realising they had not included the petrol. Went back, paid the difference, no fine. How long has it been?

Send the fuel station an admin fee for the error of their cashier, make it identical to their charges

I suspect you'd have a hard time persuading a court that you filled up your vehicle and didn't, despite the read-out in front of you on the pump and the payment window on the card element, notice that you'd only been charged 1p

Not unreasonable but the Tap and Go method of payment these days has taken out a lot of the engagement in the process of paying for goods. If I think about it, despite being very aware of budget and balancing my bank account and checking debits/credits daily, I’m still guilty of wavy wavy paying without even looking tbh.

Oh wow! I am following this and when I get back in will be researching more. I never ever check the pump, just fill up, press no receipt and go. I just trust it will be accurate. I get the argument we should take responsibility and check but I just trust it will work and if there is a mistake, then it is that, a simple mistake and no fine should be charged just an adjustment in the payment surely?! It sounds completely unreasonable.
When a shop over charges you and you go back you don't fine them, nor do they fine you When you realise you've not been charged for something, quite often they just let you take it as a freebie when you offer to pay the difference. I get petrol is more expensive but you've offered to pay!??!?!

Contact the garage rather than the debt collection company. You need to get them to cancel the debt. Offer to pay them but they need to cancel the arrangement with the company

I don't think you'd have any trouble persuading a court to throw it out, especially onc eyiu have paid what you owed. I paid using the pre authorised tap and pay thing at Tesco the other day and it was really difficult to tell what her or not I had paid. It also didnt zero from the rpevious persons until after I'd started filling up, so I was worried about having paid the previous persons bill, so much so that I took a picture in case. There was no acknowledgement that payment for the amount I had put in had been taken either as the receipt thing was out of order. The only way I could tell I had paid, I think, was that the receipt error message came up.

What pumps are you using in the UK that require a 2nd card input step at the end?
Any i've ever come across - insert cards & pin (it puts a £99 or £120 hold on your card, remove card, dispense desired amount of fuel, replace nozzle (at which point the transaction is finalised, correct amount charged and remainder of hold amount released ), press button for receipt if desired then be on your way.

I've used a pump recently that initially charges 1pm but cannot remember where!

That does sound very confusing and I've actually, in that circumstance, been into the shop and asked them to check that I've paid only for my own petrol and not someone else's too. But the OP hasn't mentioned any of that. In fact we don't know whether she used the pay at pump facility or paid in the shop.