Fine for driving off without paying for fuel

[Sparklesea]

I filled my car up with fuel (£50) in July, went into the shop and used my phone to pay. It didn't go through but neither I nor the attendant noticed and I drove away.

I have received a letter from a company called VARS technology asking for £90, then a few weeks later another letter asking for £120. Now I've received a letter from a different company called Direct Collection Bailiffs Ltd asking for £200. I was away from home and so didn't receive these letters until recently.

While I fully accept it is my responsibility to ensure payment is made properly, I did attempt to pay and assumed that I had. Obviously I didn't intend to drive away on purpose. I have been into the garage, spoken with the manager and offered to make the payment. He said he wasn't able to take any money because the fuel had gone from their log and the matter had been passed on to VARS.

It seems such a huge amount for one tank of fuel. Can I challenge the amount that DCBL is asking for, and should I do this with them directly, or with VARS? I can't afford to pay £200 but I don't want the heavies coming round and ending up with a CCJ against me. What can I do?

can you prove you were away for weeks (months even)? It seems crucial to whether or not you received the letters.

Did you bother to read the post?

Sounds a but suspect to me OP. How long were you away that you have missed 3 separate contacts? Surely the garage have footage of you going in to pay and the bank of your payment failing/being declined?

I had this and just paid.
Now I check each time and get a paper receipt.
Just pay and do that.

If you paid by phone you should have seen that the payment did not go through and you have had plenty of time (and at least one reminder) since

That’s mad. When I worked in a fuel station police did nothing for unpaid fuel. Most of the time we just asked them to pay if they ever came back.

sorry no advice but hope you get things sorted

I don't think you can do anything but pay it, if it goes to court they can prove they contacted you multiple times.

I work in retail and we have people tap and go on the self scan thinking it has gone through when it hasn't. I am sure a lot do not realise. How many people actually check.

Was this at a supermarket?

I read a few weeks ago about what was essentially a sophisticated scam, the employees were implying the payments had gone through and I think the implication was some kind of cash backhander for each case passed to the collection firm. Details a bit hazy but it was along those lines.

Agree. I might notice if it was an unusual amount or retailer but not otherwise.

Only you have mentioned the police.

She went into the shop and paid at the time of purchasing the fuel. Neither she nor the checkout attendant noticed that the payment had been declined, so assumed all was normal and she left. It was accidental, and that much comes across clearly in the OP. It shouldn't need explaining really.

That's why the police wouldn't have been called. There would have been no reason to assume they were needed. The garage could possibly have tried contacting OP when they went through their accounts and noticed that the payment had in fact not been successful, rather than passing it on to debt collectors straight away.

OP, if this was all being done in paper in the snail mail, it does still beg the question of how long you were away for. It would take several weeks to build up to this, I would have thought.

My phone alerts me to every payment, although I appreciate that not everyone has that set up

@Sparklesea

Does the letter say it's a "Debt Collection Notice" or a "Statutory Notice of Enforcement."

If the first, DCBL is acting as a standard debt collection agency. They are trying to scare you into paying.

If the latter, it means the petrol station took you to court without your knowledge and obtained a CCJ. This is highly unlikely for a fuel mistake.

DO NOT ignore either way.

Check your app and take a screenshot showing either a "Declined" status, a "Pending" charge that later dropped off, or simply the lack of a successful charge despite you being there.

This proves your intent to pay, establishing that you went to the counter and did not commit theft.

Then contact Head office or customer services of the firm you bought the petrol from (not DCBL initially) showing your proof and asking them to withdraw the account back from DCBL and to waive the debt collection fees due to a an administrative oversight at the till, between you and the cashier.

After that's resolved, contact DCBL complaint portal or send an email to [email protected] acknowledging the £50 debt but disputing the full admin fees they've tacked on. (you may have to pay something for their fees though)

Good luck!

I would notice if my fuel never came out of my account, do people not look at their accounts?

Thanks. DCBLs letter is a ‘notice of debt recovery’ and says not subject to high court/bailiff action, but if I don’t make contact they’ll recommend to their client (VARS) to commence legal action.

I asked the store manager to see the footage of me going in to pay but he said he couldn’t show it to me, but that it would have been passed on to VARS. The letter from VARS only shows a photo of me filling up. I have nothing to show that a transaction was declined and nothing to prove I was away.

DH had a weird one of these. He got the first letter and decided just to pay up after some googling. Basically he had purchased a snack with the fuel but only the snack went through. He had just waved card and not noticed amount.

His conclusion was it is a real thing but a bit of a scam where the underpayment is almost done on purpose to generate the fine.

Our postal service is non existent. I could be living at home and still not get post for months on end. I can well believe the letters didn’t get to you.

Do you not get a notification when a transaction fails?