Scams - Be Warned

[aguy30]

Recent posts on another topic about phone cards mentioned an old scam that been here for a number of years and ccontinues today.

The Pattaya Tai Shell Station has been stealing money for years. I was there a few years ago to fill up, when I observed an older worker filling a motorcycle and not resetting the pump and before filling the next vehicle. He saw me and said "what you looking-you have some problem?" I sent e-mail to the Shell Oil Company Thailand. They did not respond. Maybe they don't care at Shell Oil Thailand.

Perhaps the gas station rip off can happen anywhere. The point is that is that happens on an apparently frequent basis at the Shell station located next to the CAT Telephone office on Pattaya South Road.

I only go there when I don't have another choice. Of course you are correct to say to get out and check the pump reading. My point is why buy from the thieves and then have to always distrust them and protect yourself. There are other places to get gas and I have never seen this rip off done at any other Pattaya gas station. I think most other stations have pumps that require resetting once the hose is returned and before an additional amount of gas can be pumped. I wonder if this feature has been disabled at Shell. What would a wise man do? Would he buy at Shell or find another vendor?

Edited December 22, 2007 by aguy30

[Jareddiving]

Go to another gas-station.

I dont use that Shell station any longer.. Ripped me off a few times (well they tried to rip me of).

But i had the same one day at the gasstation on Thepprasit road. The one with all the used cars in front.

Just keep an eye on the pump.

Btw they dont reset automatic. I believe none of them do.

[aguy30]

I believe you are correct that pumps do not auto reset. The point was they can not be restarted without first resetting back to zero after the hose has been seated. That prevent doubling up on the charges.

[soundman]

Another petrol scam to watch out for is when the pump owner or manager or cashier opens the cover & adjusts the calibration screw on the pump to deliver 900mls per litre measured. Quite easy to do.

Biggest giveaway for this is being able to fill sixty-five litres into a sixty litre tank.

[pkspeaker]

I use that shell station all the time, i never noticed sucha thing, or anything improper. .I think aguy-you just saw something wrong..how would you not notice that you just got charged to fill up 2 tanks? I mean when I fill my motorbike it's around 100B if the attendent said 200 I would want to know why so much this time? there no scamming being done at that station..

[Phil Conners]

pkspeaker, just because YOU haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I've seen it happen many times too. They only got away with it once though, I usually make a point out of looking at the meter so they reset it, but once I forgot. I asked for 100 baht which usually fills it up but this time the meter was only on half. What would you do? Start arguing with them? Pour the content of the tank out to measure how much you got? You must either be naive or a Pattaya newbie. Your post count suggest the latter.

[aguy30]

PKspeaker I think you need to re read my comment. Perhaps you miss understood my use of motorcycle vs. vehicle to mean a car or truck. The older attendant's comment of "what you looking-you have some problem?" eliminated any possible question of what I saw.

I watched them fill a motorcycle and then they did NOT reset the pump before putting gas in a vehicle (car). Most vehicle owners would not notice an added 100 baht amount shorted on a fill up or on a fixed amount purchase. Perhaps it has even happened to you and you did not catch it.

[aguy30]

Carrefour: I guess they don't know about TARE weight adjustments.

Bad enough that they always do it on meat, fish and veggies but they take pre-weighed, at the factory, specialty items like smoked salmon and then re-weigh them without adjusting for the packaging. A 260 gram pk becomes 290 grams on the price sticker. At 990 baht/kg, that adds about 30 baht to the correct price. That sure helps to get the profits up.

[pointofview]

I use that shell station all the time, i never noticed sucha thing, or anything improper. .I think aguy-you just saw something wrong..how would you not notice that you just got charged to fill up 2 tanks? I mean when I fill my motorbike it's around 100B if the attendent said 200 I would want to know why so much this time? there no scamming being done at that station..

Yes there is mate - on 2 occassions i was ripped of there, and i know a lot of people who will only go there if they are stuck. The word is out !

[Bagwan]

I use that shell station all the time, i never noticed sucha thing, or anything improper. .I think aguy-you just saw something wrong..how would you not notice that you just got charged to fill up 2 tanks? I mean when I fill my motorbike it's around 100B if the attendent said 200 I would want to know why so much this time? there no scamming being done at that station..

This petrol station had been notorious for at least 7 years. Suggest you search other Thai forums for more information. Police have been called there several times - and fined, well money changed hands. Reports have appeared in the local press a couple of times too.

I'm not too keen on the petrol station on 2nd Road between Big C and the Dolphin statue either. Filled up there once and what they put in wasn't 95 benzine.

[timekeeper]

I use that shell station all the time, i never noticed sucha thing, or anything improper. .I think aguy-you just saw something wrong..how would you not notice that you just got charged to fill up 2 tanks? I mean when I fill my motorbike it's around 100B if the attendent said 200 I would want to know why so much this time? there no scamming being done at that station..

scamming? they perform miracles there, they managed to squeeze in 1300 baht worth of fuel into a 900 baht capacity fuel tank. after checking there were no leaks on the tank, offering the 900 baht and then having very harsh words with the pump attendant, my friend decided to make a stand and the police were called, the story was told, the operator offered no argument with the policeman in his defence and became very genial

the policeman instructed my friend to pay the 900 baht he felt he owed for the fuel he had and to leave it that. he did and left, never to return.

[bobbin]

Yes, they pulled that scam on me as well. 4 years ago. Never been back since.

An absolute disgrace for a company like Shell, even if a franchise.

The owner has to be in on it for it to continue so long.

Merry Christmas everyone!

[sweetchariot]

Heard loads about this, and because of that I have always checked the pump is zeroed before I tell them what I want. Not saying you are all wrong, but after probably 100 visits I have never seen this happen.

Maybe a case of 'I read it on TV so it must be true'?

It takes less than a second to glance at the pump before you ask for 91 or 95, which I do out of paranoia from reading threads like this.

[Jareddiving]

So we are lying now then..

[naka]

I use that shell station all the time, i never noticed sucha thing, or anything improper. .I think aguy-you just saw something wrong..how would you not notice that you just got charged to fill up 2 tanks? I mean when I fill my motorbike it's around 100B if the attendent said 200 I would want to know why so much this time? there no scamming being done at that station..

Sounds like you're a newbie !

This has been reported many times over the years at this same place.

But then you were not here.

Naka.

[pointofview]

Heard loads about this, and because of that I have always checked the pump is zeroed before I tell them what I want. Not saying you are all wrong, but after probably 100 visits I have never seen this happen.

Maybe a case of 'I read it on TV so it must be true'?

It takes less than a second to glance at the pump before you ask for 91 or 95, which I do out of paranoia from reading threads like this.

This happens a lot mate - it is an annoyance and it is real. Maybe your only half awake or a bit on the slow side!

[basjke]

Heard loads about this, and because of that I have always checked the pump is zeroed before I tell them what I want. Not saying you are all wrong, but after probably 100 visits I have never seen this happen.

Maybe a case of 'I read it on TV so it must be true'?

It takes less than a second to glance at the pump before you ask for 91 or 95, which I do out of paranoia from reading threads like this.

Can you explain please how to zero a pump before taking out the required hose.

[Spaniel]

here is another rip off that happened to me. You tell the attendant to fill it up and normally they will round it off to and even figure like 900, 1050 etc. How this scam works is they make sure it isn't a rounded off number and then tell you 615 bhat. You give them 700 bhat and they give you lots of coin in change. They assume you arn't going to count it but the couple of times they did this I did count it and was always short by 15 or 20 bhat. This was at a Jet station in Chaochensao.

[sweetchariot]

So we are lying now then..

This happens a lot mate - it is an annoyance and it is real. Maybe your only half awake or a bit on the slow side!

I never said anyone was lying, I was purely quoting my own experience. I am definitely not 'slow' I just check the pump before they start filling the car - how hard is that?

[Rudy47]

here is another rip off that happened to me. You tell the attendant to fill it up and normally they will round it off to and even figure like 900, 1050 etc. How this scam works is they make sure it isn't a rounded off number and then tell you 615 bhat. You give them 700 bhat and they give you lots of coin in change. They assume you arn't going to count it but the couple of times they did this I did count it and was always short by 15 or 20 bhat. This was at a Jet station in Chaochensao.

You are assuming they know to count?

[hiromj]

Recent posts on another topic about phone cards mentioned an old scam that been here for a number of years and ccontinues today.

The Pattaya Tai Shell Station has been stealing money for years. I was there a few years ago to fill up, when I observed an older worker filling a motorcycle and not resetting the pump and before filling the next vehicle. He saw me and said "what you looking-you have some problem?" I sent e-mail to the Shell Oil Company Thailand. They did not respond. Maybe they don't care at Shell Oil Thailand.

Perhaps the gas station rip off can happen anywhere. The point is that is that happens on an apparently frequent basis at the Shell station located next to the CAT Telephone office on Pattaya South Road.

I only go there when I don't have another choice. Of course you are correct to say to get out and check the pump reading. My point is why buy from the thieves and then have to always distrust them and protect yourself. There are other places to get gas and I have never seen this rip off done at any other Pattaya gas station. I think most other stations have pumps that require resetting once the hose is returned and before an additional amount of gas can be pumped. I wonder if this feature has been disabled at Shell. What would a wise man do? Would he buy at Shell or find another vendor?

It's called "hanging the pumps". Been happening for years, and not just in Thailand. A long time ago (late "70's), a couple of my friends worked a gas stations and did it all the time. A nice bonus to their incomes and tax free.

[barryofthailand]

I can't see how they can operate the pump without actually clearing it. The only way is to not shut it off from the previous customer.

Maybe that's why it's called hanging the pump.

Barry

[Rudy47]

I can't see how they can operate the pump without actually clearing it. The only way is to not shut it off from the previous customer.

Maybe that's why it's called hanging the pump.

Barry

I've seen them do it (although I caught them and yelled at the attendant that she was a "lazy thief" (Kamoy Kee Geeat). The attendant basically hangs the hose's head on the pump's holster so the head appears on the holster but the pump has not been reset or closed.

[hiromj]

The scam works best in an environment with more motorcycles because they use far less gas. If a motorcycle only puts in 100 Baht and then a car comes behind it and fills up, the car's driver will probably not notice the extra 100 Baht they are being charged. If an attendant does this enough times during the day (and it happens more that you may think), it adds up quite nicely. It is very possible to pump gas without resetting the dial.

Edited December 27, 2007 by hiromj

[Jareddiving]

The pumps in Thailand dont reset when you hang the hose back.

You will have to reset it by pushing a button..

[Rudy47]

The pumps in Thailand dont reset when you hang the hose back.

You will have to reset it by pushing a button..

You know too much...

Have you ever worked at the Shell station on South Pattaya Road by any chance?

[kopite]

im 28.

the reason i mention my age is that many thai's just assume that i am on holiday and do not live here. i have nearly been done at both the shell petrol stations. pattaya tai and north pattaya on lots of occasions.

the fat lad always tries it on. yet its always my fault when i catch them.

gits

[Jareddiving]

The pumps in Thailand dont reset when you hang the hose back.

You will have to reset it by pushing a button..

You know too much...

Have you ever worked at the Shell station on South Pattaya Road by any chance?

Why?

[Ungabunga]

There motive is clear - these little robbing buggers can potentially earn a small fortune by scamming 100 Baht here and there on the petrol pump thing.

What about other scams ?

Has anyone been approached to buy 'Jewels/diamonds'? I know of one guys who was duped and ended up paying 40,000 THB for 3 pieces of glass!

Recently there were a team of Nigerians scamsters in Pattaya who actually had a suitcase full of money, but the bills were marked with a dye, or stamped 'UN' as it was stolen from the United Nations in Africa (or something like that). They needed to 'borrow' money from the 'victim' so that they could go to Bangkok and get a special cleaning solution which would remove the dye from the banknotes. In return, the 'victim' would be given a share of the money. To most of you this would seem far fetched and you wouldn't entertain them, however I am told that there were two cases of people (both foreigners) who fell for the trick and lost 20,000 Baht!

[Tolley]

Petrol scams are not just restricted to Thailand.

In Australia they are a littlel more sophisticated and are done by the owners rather than the employees.

Most petrol stations in a survery not long ago short fill by varying margins and others even mix their petrol with other additives making a nice bonus for the station owner.