Petrol Scam

[Old Croc]

A couple of days ago, while out and about, I ran the car quite low on fuel to the point the gauge was flashing at me.

I made it to the fuel station on the main road coming down the hill into Patong and bought 500 bahts worth.

The place was very busy, the guy put the nozzle in the tank and spent the next few minutes running around serving others. I couldn't see the fuel pump gauges from my seat and didn't get out. He came back removed the hose, screwed the cap back on, I paid him and drove out.

I thought the gauge was a little slow registering the added fuel , but didn't worry too much as I had had a hire car that did the same.

Today, before heading out, I found the gauge to be still indicating empty! Obviously the little prick didn't put any in!

I know any complaint would fall on deaf ears and I couldn't identify the bugger that robbed me, so not much I can do this time. The gaulling bit is, I'm so low on fuel I will have to go back to the same place!

Is this an old, obvious scam and I'm a complete nong for allowing it to happen, or is it something new?

Feel free to tell me how stupid I am. I usually tip these guys, never again!

I suggest all boycott this station and their theiving staff.

[LivinginKata]

That Esso place is renowned for short delivery and short changing. They have tried the short change on me but I had already been warned about that place. I try to avoid that place, but if I am forced to buy gas there I make sure the attendant knows I checking the pump gauge and checking my change.

[transam]

If it is a Toyota truck then some of us have had false readings after refill, no scam.

[LivinLOS]

That esso is so bad for under filling theres even noticed up in english saying 'make sure the server rests to zero' usually its not that they dont put any in, they just dont reset it down, so person before you gets a tankful, they dont reset and keep filling you up, and then get to full you with of course the tankful double charge which goes in the servers pocket.

Always check for a reset first.. and the idea of driving away without checking it was put in ?? Really ??

Edited January 11, 2011 by LivinLOS

[merijn]

For this reason ( and some more ) i go now to the new Shell station between Kathu and Lotus.

Very big station without any problems.

[rodcourt49]

..could be quite innocent too.

the attendant could have legitimately keyed in the amount and put the nozzle in your inlet and the pump not turned on for whatever reason!

What with being busy on the forecourt he may have thought it had dispensed the fuel.

Surely, being a regular customer and the fact your gauge is still showing empty..go back and explain.

Also, I would be requesting they check their fuel tank levels in relation to their till being over 500 baht.

(Worth a try mate).

[Boater]

i had the same problem with Caltex in Samui, i believe they only filled half of what i paid for ( and yes i did check the pump to ensure they had put the 1,000 THB i paid for ) but the petrol gage only registered around 500 THB in the tank.....

som na na, i wont be going there again,

[beano2274]

I go to a Petrol Station where I fill up, also it is 0.20baht per liter cheaper if you do it yourself.

This is in Nonthaburi

Edited January 12, 2011 by beano2274

[hkt83100]

Whenever I come to a petrol station I get out of the car, take a look at the meter and THEN I tell the guy how much of what I want. I spend a little time watching the meter run to the correct amount and I am rewarded with a proper service. A few minutes in the heat are well worth it.

[tartempion]

I suggest you open your eyes at ANY petrol station.

Edited January 12, 2011 by LivinginKata
Suggestion removed

[kirk0233]

I go to a Petrol Station where I fill up, also it is 0.20baht per liter cheaper if you do it yourself.

This is in Nonthaburi

I live in Nonthaburi as well. What station do you go to that allows you to fill it yourself? Thanks in advance.

[beano2274]

Along Sammakhi heading towards Prachachuen, after ISB on the left (Green Leaf), first pay the attendant then pump yourself.

[chiang mai]

I buy most of my petrol from that station and I've never had a problem with being short changed/short delivery, but there again, I always stand next to the pump from start to finish, I think it's inviting problems not to. On a slightly lighter note: there's a katoey who works at that station who has a serious attitude problem with farangs and Thai/English language usage. Ask for "Gow nung, nung pan baht" and this will be met with, "ninety what and how much do you want", in exasperated tones - repeat the order in English and he/she/it will glare and point out in a huff that it's "gow nung, nung pan baht", the humorous part of this being that he/she/it will repeat this process every time you visit, in my case for the past twenty visits or so, it's really quite entertaining and sad.

[LivinLOS]

..could be quite innocent too.

the attendant could have legitimately keyed in the amount and put the nozzle in your inlet and the pump not turned on for whatever reason!

What with being busy on the forecourt he may have thought it had dispensed the fuel.

Surely, being a regular customer and the fact your gauge is still showing empty..go back and explain.

Please !! Its a known scam garage they constantly try it on in there !!

Go and ask for your 500 back !! And please video it for youtube, I could do with a laugh!!

Also, I would be requesting they check their fuel tank levels in relation to their till being over 500 baht.

(Worth a try mate).

The attendant pockets it.. So the till and the dispensed amounts match up.

[Old Croc]

Thankyou all for the replies.

For those that were helpful or entertaining with stories of their own, special thanks.

To those who saw it as an oportunity to call me names, I did ask for it.

An explaination, I call myself Old Croc because I suffer from arthritus, among other things, and it is painful for me to climb in and out of the car. When I moved here and discovered there were pump attendants, just like we used to have in Oz decades ago, I was pleased to be able to sit in the vehicle while someone did the work for me. For this reason I used to tip the attendants.

Obviously, after this lesson I will be watching the pumps and operators very carefully.

I've been ripped off two or three times since coming here and have adjusted my behaviour, and thoughts about the locals, each time.

The loss of the money hasn't hurt nearly as much as the disappoinment with some people I have had to deal with.

Edited January 12, 2011 by Old Croc

[keestha]

Quoting chiangmai: "I buy most of my petrol from that station and I've never had a problem with being short changed/short delivery, but there again, I always stand next to the pump from start to finish, I think it's inviting problems not to. On a slightly lighter note: there's a katoey who works at that station who has a serious attitude problem with farangs and Thai/English language usage. Ask for "Gow nung, nung pan baht" and this will be met with, "ninety what and how much do you want", in exasperated tones - repeat the order in English and he/she/it will glare and point out in a huff that it's "gow nung, nung pan baht", the humorous part of this being that he/she/it will repeat this process every time you visit, in my case for the past twenty visits or so, it's really quite entertaining and sad."

Maybe Esso has a policy of hiring people like that. At the Esso station on the left close to the turnoff to the airport (when you are coming from the bridge), lately when I delivered my familiar line "puhm nam man nung pan baht" for the 1200th time, the lady working reacted like I was speaking John the Baptist's native language.

Only real problem I have ever had with a gasstation, was them filling up my tank with a mixture of diesel and lamp oil, and that was a long time ago.

[katabeachbum]

Thankyou all for the replies.

For those that were helpful or entertaining with stories of their own, special thanks.

To those who saw it as an oportunity to call me names, I did ask for it.

An explaination, I call myself Old Croc because I suffer from arthritus, among other things, and it is painful for me to climb in and out of the car. When I moved here and discovered there were pump attendants, just like we used to have in Oz decades ago, I was pleased to be able to sit in the vehicle while someone did the work for me. For this reason I used to tip the attendants.

Obviously, after this lesson I will be watching the pumps and operators very carefully.

I've been ripped off two or three times since coming here and have adjusted my behaviour, and thoughts about the locals, each time.

The loss of the money hasn't hurt nearly as much as the disappoinment with some people I have had to deal with.

With my filler cap on left side, I usually open left side rearwindow, to be able to see pump is on zero when start pumping, and how much they have delivered. If they know you focus, they usually dont cheat

My 2003 Honda CRV had an annoying small 50 litres gas tank, and Patong is one of the few places I have taken delivery of more than 60 litres for this car. At least I learned something

As this particular pump/station for years have been putting up signs to make customers aware staff may fool the customers by not resetting pumps to zero before filling, I do not consider this thread naming and shaming of this business or its owners. Its a warning of awareness according to the signs in the station.

[Atmos]

Re OP - this happened to us at the gas station near Phuket airport, put 1000 baht in (well, paid for 1000 baht) got to Chalong before I looked at the gauge.

Bugger!

Maybe put in zero, 10 or 100.

Fools like me must make a pump attendant's job quite profitable.

[mikeinkamala]

Maybe Esso has a policy of hiring people like that. At the Esso station on the left close to the turnoff to the airport (when you are coming from the bridge), lately when I delivered my familiar line "puhm nam man nung pan baht" for the 1200th time, the lady working reacted like I was speaking John the Baptist's native language.

Only real problem I have ever had with a gasstation, was them filling up my tank with a mixture of diesel and lamp oil, and that was a long time ago.

Hi keestha,

I am not surprised if the lady serving petrol has a strange reaction to what you say. "Phum nam man" means a Petrol or Gas Station, so you are saying in Thai "Petrol Station 1000 Bhat ". What does that mean?, not surprising she thinks you are speaking some weird language.

If you want a more positive reaction from her, next time I suggest you say " Kor ( please ) namman nung parn bhat, krap

Mike

[katabeachbum]

Maybe Esso has a policy of hiring people like that. At the Esso station on the left close to the turnoff to the airport (when you are coming from the bridge), lately when I delivered my familiar line "puhm nam man nung pan baht" for the 1200th time, the lady working reacted like I was speaking John the Baptist's native language.

Only real problem I have ever had with a gasstation, was them filling up my tank with a mixture of diesel and lamp oil, and that was a long time ago.

Hi keestha,

I am not surprised if the lady serving petrol has a strange reaction to what you say. "Phum nam man" means a Petrol or Gas Station, so you are saying in Thai "Petrol Station 1000 Bhat ". What does that mean?, not surprising she thinks you are speaking some weird language.

If you want a more positive reaction from her, next time I suggest you say " Kor ( please ) namman nung parn bhat, krap

Mike

hmmm

I find it more efficient to say what kind of fuel I want.

Each pump/station has at least 91 petrol, 95 Gasohol E10, 95 Gasohol E20, B5, diesel

in addition Shell has Diesel VPower. even more confusing (for us and for staff), Shell doesnt call their 95 VPower "Gasohol" even though it contains 10% Ethanol (E10)

E85 is introduced, but all dont seel it yet, 91 Gasohol E10 and E20 is available some places

10 different fuels above. more easy for staff if you say what you want

Edit Forgot, in addition to the above mentioned diesel qualitys, Diesel Euro IV will be introduced this year as Euro IV emissions will be required

asking 1000 baht of fuel doesnt make confusion less, they dont know what your car needs

and as for being scammed, I always ask for full tank, and by resetting trip on each full tank I also know how many litres I will need, and filling up a car I always pay with Thai creditcard

Fortunately I havent been scammed since 2003

[naiharn]

Maybe Esso has a policy of hiring people like that. At the Esso station on the left close to the turnoff to the airport (when you are coming from the bridge), lately when I delivered my familiar line "puhm nam man nung pan baht" for the 1200th time, the lady working reacted like I was speaking John the Baptist's native language.

Only real problem I have ever had with a gasstation, was them filling up my tank with a mixture of diesel and lamp oil, and that was a long time ago.

Hi keestha,

I am not surprised if the lady serving petrol has a strange reaction to what you say. "Phum nam man" means a Petrol or Gas Station, so you are saying in Thai "Petrol Station 1000 Bhat ". What does that mean?, not surprising she thinks you are speaking some weird language.

If you want a more positive reaction from her, next time I suggest you say " Kor ( please ) namman nung parn bhat, krap

Mike

This shows the danger of writing Thai sounds in English :-)

I think keestha was saying: เพิ่ม น้ำมัน

which approximates to "perm num mun"

which does (kind of) mean "increase my petrol"

but the normal expression for this is "dteum num mun" เติมน้ำมัน

[katabeachbum]

Maybe Esso has a policy of hiring people like that. At the Esso station on the left close to the turnoff to the airport (when you are coming from the bridge), lately when I delivered my familiar line "puhm nam man nung pan baht" for the 1200th time, the lady working reacted like I was speaking John the Baptist's native language.

Only real problem I have ever had with a gasstation, was them filling up my tank with a mixture of diesel and lamp oil, and that was a long time ago.

Hi keestha,

I am not surprised if the lady serving petrol has a strange reaction to what you say. "Phum nam man" means a Petrol or Gas Station, so you are saying in Thai "Petrol Station 1000 Bhat ". What does that mean?, not surprising she thinks you are speaking some weird language.

If you want a more positive reaction from her, next time I suggest you say " Kor ( please ) namman nung parn bhat, krap

Mike

This shows the danger of writing Thai sounds in English :-)

I think keestha was saying: เพิ่ม น้ำมัน

which approximates to "perm num mun"

which does (kind of) mean "increase my petrol"

but the normal expression for this is "dteum num mun" เติมน้ำมัน

the interesting thing with thai language at the pump is that the new fuels are all called by their English names

B5 could have been called beeha, but its called beefive

and gasohol is called gasohol

95 is still gaosibha tho

and these days you will get a glare back if you say "increase my petrol/fuel". You need to state what fuel you want, gasohol gaosibha krab

[chiang mai]

the interesting thing with thai language at the pump is that the new fuels are all called by their English names

B5 could have been called beeha, but its called beefive

and gasohol is called gasohol

95 is still gaosibha tho

and these days you will get a glare back if you say "increase my petrol/fuel". You need to state what fuel you want, gasohol gaosibha krab

Since we drive the same make, model and year of vehicle, what do you ask for at Shell stations? Every time I've tried to buy petrol at Shell stations it's always been unclear which product fits and as a result I usually buy emergency rations of what's offered and that's all. PS: I'm a slow learner.

[LivinLOS]

in addition Shell has Diesel VPower. even more confusing (for us and for staff), Shell doesnt call their 95 VPower "Gasohol" even though it contains 10% Ethanol (E10)

Just had this debate on 2 forum in the last month.. Shell still has english language signage up on their V Power gasohol saying gasoline. But its deffo gasohol based on pricing.

To compound that problem the Shell in Kathu lie, if asked it its benzine they say yes, even when told (in Thai) that gasohol is no good for that vehicle they still lie and say its not gasohol. When challenged at how it says it in Thai script that it is and is priced at the gasohol price they then just dont answer and slink away. Considering the expensive damage that it can do they really should be hassled bout it.

[LivinLOS]

95 is still gaosibha tho

Do you find most Thais actually use the 'sibp' in the petrol station context ?? I agree its the 'correct' way perhaps but I tend to find them refer to gaow haa or goew nung in stations, and I copy that use in that context.

[kenny999]

Why do so many people complain about so called scams and being ripped off, if you do can not be bothered to get out of your car and check the pump and total price to pay then what do you expect!! I have never been ripped off or scammed when re-fueling because I get off my bike or out of the car to look at the pump before he starts to fill and obviously there to check amount and price, stop being lazy,get out of the car..

Old Croc just saw your reply regarding health problems so appoligise for the stop being lazy, but anyway if anyone who is filling up stays in the car then unfortunately there will be problems that is life and that is Thailand..

Edited January 15, 2011 by kenny999

[LivinLOS]

Why do so many people complain about so called scams and being ripped off, if you do can not be bothered to get out of your car and check the pump and total price to pay then what do you expect!! I have never been ripped off or scammed when re-fueling because I get off my bike or out of the car to look at the pump before he starts to fill and obviously there to check amount and price, stop being lazy,get out of the car..

Old Croc just saw your reply regarding health problems so appoligise for the stop being lazy, but anyway if anyone who is filling up stays in the car then unfortunately there will be problems that is life and that is Thailand..

Yes why complain about being cheated.. Its obviously your own fault when someone steals from you !!

[kenny999]

Why do so many people complain about so called scams and being ripped off, if you do can not be bothered to get out of your car and check the pump and total price to pay then what do you expect!! I have never been ripped off or scammed when re-fueling because I get off my bike or out of the car to look at the pump before he starts to fill and obviously there to check amount and price, stop being lazy,get out of the car..

Old Croc just saw your reply regarding health problems so appoligise for the stop being lazy, but anyway if anyone who is filling up stays in the car then unfortunately there will be problems that is life and that is Thailand..

Yes why complain about being cheated.. Its obviously your own fault when someone steals from you !!

Yes if you stay in your car and do not check what is happening then yes it is your fault, if your house is burgled then it is not your fault.

[katabeachbum]

95 is still gaosibha tho

Do you find most Thais actually use the 'sibp' in the petrol station context ?? I agree its the 'correct' way perhaps but I tend to find them refer to gaow haa or goew nung in stations, and I copy that use in that context.

both works

thais always like to short their own language, as we do with our languages I guess

[katabeachbum]

in addition Shell has Diesel VPower. even more confusing (for us and for staff), Shell doesnt call their 95 VPower "Gasohol" even though it contains 10% Ethanol (E10)

Just had this debate on 2 forum in the last month.. Shell still has english language signage up on their V Power gasohol saying gasoline. But its deffo gasohol based on pricing.

To compound that problem the Shell in Kathu lie, if asked it its benzine they say yes, even when told (in Thai) that gasohol is no good for that vehicle they still lie and say its not gasohol. When challenged at how it says it in Thai script that it is and is priced at the gasohol price they then just dont answer and slink away. Considering the expensive damage that it can do they really should be hassled bout it.

for all these staffs, it is just names, they have no idea 10% Ethanol is gasohol. For them V-Power is V-Power and gasohol is gasohol.

Shell LOS had my respect and business while they where selling V-Power 95 petrol, then blended it with 6% ethanol without informing and now 10% Ethanol and keeping the name.

Shell should be ashamed trying to push 95 Gasohol E10 as V-Power without informing clearly product is E10 and thus gasohol