To not transfer money at petrol station

[Phugs]

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?

No you shouldn't have paid this random man.

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.

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]

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.

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.

Very well @Phugs for standing your ground.

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.

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

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 😂

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.

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

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??

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

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.

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.

Perverted the course of justice…. 😂

YANBU- obviously the biggest fault lies with the aggressive, disgusting men but for the police officers to blame you is also outrageous. I would complain about their conduct too.

Twice in the last week a different aggressive man has had a go at me. It’s always men having a go at a woman.

OMG no you did the right thing. Almost feels like he cashier was in on the scam. It would have been so much easier to refund the guy and you just pay for your petrol!

No way would I have bank transferred money to a random under pressure like that!

For it to escalate so quickly something odd must have been going on. Hope you’re ok OP.

I don’t think the police said anything to the OP or about blame? It only seemed to be the cashier and then later on the manager to said she was at fault.

I’m not expecting anything a reply until their offices open tomorrow, and I’ll give them a day or so before escalating, but I’ll be sure to update with any response 😊

@Phugs OP, if you receive a reply and it isn't acceptable, then keep escalating this further and further until you get the right response. I think everyone in this thread unanimously agrees that it's wrong for a business to try to instruct you to transfer money to another customer.

No-one paid for the fuel at the pump he filled up at - he was carted off by the police and his passenger drove off!
OP's already told us that her bill on pump 7 was £55 and she has no idea how much shouty man's was.

Is there any proof that drink man had even got petrol for his own car he could have been in cahoots with petrol attendant and just said her fuel was paid for. That's why noone mentioned the payment for drunk man's fuel.