TRICK 5: The faulty meter
Some petrol pumps have rigged meters that start ticking even before petrol starts to flow from the hose. Have you ever gone to a filling station to buy fuel and it takes lesser time to fill your tank, compared to other places? This is as a result of the meters that have been tampered with, the attendant will make you believe the particular fuel dispenser is faster or slower than normal, depending on how the meters were manipulated.
Nigeria’s petroleum regulator, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) saddled with the responsibility of regulating, monitoring and enforcing the laws in the sector, used the Seraphin Can to expose filling stations involved in the nefarious act in Lagos recently.
The ten-liter Seraphin Can is used by the DPR to ascertain the exact dispensing meter measurement of filling stations. When filled to the level of ten liters, dispensing meters that have been adjusted will show above ten liters on the display board. When this occurs, the filling station is shut by DPR officials.
DPR said over 500 filling stations had been shut for under-dispensing and other related offences.
TRICK 6: Using Unnecessarily Longer Dispenser Pipe
Pumps save on a lot of petrol when they use long pipes.
A perfectly good meter will show that a certain amount of petrol has been pumped out, but that amount hasn’t reached your tank — some of it is still in the pipe, and it goes back into the pump. Through the day, the number of litres that stations save can be enormous, making the attendant accumulate surplus cash from undispensed fuel.
TRICK 7: Get friendly, distract and cheat
How many times have you visited the filling station and you notice that the fuel attendant is trying to chat you up. If he is not talking about the government, religion or politics, he is most likely to dive into football, especially if he noticed you are a fan of a particular club.
‘Oga mi up Arsenal o, me i be Barcelona fan, we go beat Arsenal all the time’
The trick is to make you get very comfortable, argue with him and take your eyes off the fuel meter.
Sometimes the attendant can even get his colleague to distract you, so he can focus on fuel pump to cheat you.
He can ask you questions like..
‘Sir/madam do you need engine oil’ or ‘Sir you need to balance your wheels’
TRICK 8: Pretend not to hear you, fake ignorance, smile, apologize
This is another trick used by fuel attendants, when you request to fill up your car or
jerrycan for a particular amount, for example ₦4000, the attendant will sell only ₦1000 worth of fuel, when you ask him why he didn’t fill up for ₦4000, the attendant will apologize and smile innocently and say that he/she heard you say you wanted to buy ₦1000 worth of fuel, and thus pretend to continue filling the remaining ₦3000, by pretending to reset the meter and fill up your ₦4000 worth of petrol and so you pay ₦4000
But the attendant just cheated you, and this is how…
He did not reset the meter to ₦0.00 , he continued from the ₦1000 point till he got to ₦3000, so in reality you only get the petrol worth ₦3000, but pay ₦4000
Click on NEXT PAGE to continue with the list >>
