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?

That's what makes me wonder if it was a scam of some sort.

It is WILD the manager suggested this.

Is it some sort of scam they are both in on.
Reversing and refunding a transaction takes seconds.

Totally bizarre and what an unpleasant experience.

As part of your compliant - I'd also be looking for shell to compensate for my wasted time and well as their shitty customer service.

I wouldn't have transferred him money either. Did he pay for his own fuel?

That's what's so weird about this OP. When I fill up my car I know exactly how much I'm going to be asked for in the kiosk when I leave the pump. Before now, having given the correct pump number when I was expecting to pay £20.01, the cashier said "that'll be £50 please" and I said "Er, no it won't, you must be looking at the wrong pump" (they were, they'd misheard me). Why would anyone (this oik included) not know how much they were going to have to pay?

Then surely neither the cashier or the twatty bloke want the police around so why let it escalate that far?

It's all so strange!

absolutely ridiculous of coujrse you shoulnt pay random man with a bt

id go on social media with this tag in shell see what they say-the manager needs to retrain

its nothing to do with you that the man paid the wrong amount and he probably knew it aswell as they say the amoutn to you before you pay

When I worked in retail any refund had to be authorised by a manager so whilst it was mechanically a quick process it was literally impossible if a manger didn't come and approve it

It could be that the cashier wasnt able to refund which is a problem that Shell needs to resolve

That's an excellent idea.

If it's a scam, they could be trying it on at petrol stations all over the place.

So you transfer the money then a couple of months later get a letter saying you left without paying so now owe for the petrol plus legal costs. You will have no proof of purchase so will be unable to prove your case. Definite scam.

Eh?

where did I assume everyone puts in £20? I was quoting a real life example that happened to me.

OP didn’t say whether the amounts were the same or different, so it really wasn’t a “ridiculous” suggestion.

OP has since clarified the amounts were not the same in which case no, you wouldn’t pay the other persons fuel.

All sounds really weird. It happened to my mum a few months ago too, without all the aggression and threats. She eventually got to pay for her own petrol.

The staff in the petrol station in your case were completely wrong. The mistake was between the man and them, not between you and the man. He's paid for the wrong pump number so they should have refunded that and recharged him for the right one.

Might have been a scam and in any event I'd definitely be complaining to the HQ. It will be interesting to see what Shell come back with.

Indeed. And not the OP's to resolve.

I worked at a petrol station for years, I would never and have never expected a customer to transfer the other customer money. Paying for the wrong fuel happens regularly. There are.. or should be anyway.. systems in place such as refunds or paying the extra. This isn't on you. Asides from the man being a massive c*, the staffs attitudes are out of order and completely wrong.

We only pay at pump so luckily never have any of these issues. It's even contactless at asda so I can use apple.pay

Well clearly nobody is saying you should pay for someone’s fuel if they put in more than you did….. what a bizarre take.

😆 maybe because not everyone fills up with £20 each time…

You did nothing wrong OP. When I worked in retail years ago something similar happened. I simply fixed it by apologising, refunding the first customer and dealt with it.

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.

I'm flabbergasted that they believed this.

I hope you receive a full apology and some compensation for distress and wasted time.

Surely this is also not how the legal process of paying for a service or product works? The buyer pays the seller, not some middleman via bank transfer! I’d go to the local press to warn others.

If that's the case, I'd hope it would all come out while pisshead man is enjoying the hospitality at the local nick.

Hopefully, OP would get to hear about it, what with being a witness and all, and can come back and update us.

I wouldn't actually be that surprised, tbh. Criminals come up with very creative ways of getting money illegally.

Yep. I know.

But in the heat of the moment and with all the pressure I wouldn’t have thought of that.

Hence why I said OP was 100% right. My point was that some people - myself included - would have caved and regretted it later.

I think OP did bloody well to stand her ground and also all credit to the random bystander who stepped in and called the police.

I should think it's pretty rare to pay for someone else's petrol, tbh.

It's never happened to me, and I've been driving for nearly 50 years. I'd never heard of it happening to anyone else, either, until today.

Oh my God 🤦‍♀️.

So sorry you had to suffer that! The guy sounds awful and the petrol station staff handled it very badly and completely wrong - of course you don't pay another customer for your fuel! You pay the petrol station for your own fuel not swap bank details with some one else (especially a crazy!)

Well done for standing your ground and also reporting them. Sounds like the police turning up was the right thing.