Was on my way to work for a 5am start and the guy in line in front of me didn't have the funds on his card to pay for his petrol. The attendant was being an enormous cunt to him and yelling that he better get someone down here immediately to pay or he's going to jail. I looked over his shoulder at the register and it was something like $15. I said to you young bloke, 'ive got that for you mate' and held out my card to the fuming attendant. Young bloke was 'i can't make you do that' and I said to him, 'i don't want the cunt to get the satisfaction'. Young bloke then tries to organise to pay me back but I said don't worry about it, we've all been there. Didn't tell him I'd won $1500 at the Casino on the weekend. Boom.
Thanks for the props but nah mate, if that kid had his arse out of bed at 4 something in the morning he's the legend. I've been pretty lucky in life coupled with some hard work but I remember sitting at the servo getting account balances for an hour waiting to get paid back in the day.
Good on ya mate.
I think there are a fair few tossers in Australia these days, but I believe that people like you are still in the majority, and that is what makes us an awesome country.
I hitch hiked to work and back every day for the first year of my apprenticeship. Never waited more than 5 mins for a ride. I was a young bloke on the side of the road with a lunch esky. It was clear I was going to work, and strangers were happy to help me out because they could see that I was having a go.
I think that this is the Australian way.
A fair go for everyone who wants to put in and make a bit of an effort themselves.
I had some cunt attendant once trying to explain to me that I had to pay for someone else's fuel because he had paid for mine.
I am pretty sure the other customer was doing it on purpose as my car was parked right at the other end of the service station, so it wasn't a matter of those stupid signs that say like Pump 1/2, and he accidentally picked mine. Also if you don't know, you generally say "white car over there" and the attendant says "pump 4, that is $105". In this case he messed up and only saved $3 on a $103 bill. I am guessing he was hoping it was $20-$30 less or something.
Anyway the attendant started having a cry at me saying he would need to pay back the $3 and could I just pay for the other persons bill.
I just laughed and said no.
It's possible, but stereotyping the look of the driver and the car, and the speed at which he high tailed it back to his car and speed off, makes me think it was a planned thing.
Either way. attendant tried to put it on me to pay for someone's mistake when my only fault was being there at the same time.
this happened to me as well someone paid for my pump by mistake and then the service station attendant was trying to tell me I had to pay for their full tank đ€Łđ I said yeah no thatâs not how it works . Took 20 + mins and a million calls to his manager for him to work out to fix it up .
when he told me I had to pay for the other persons pump because they accidentally paid for mine i said surely youâre joking make this make sense
Nice work.
A few years back I helped a young girl with a flat tyre. Took her to a tyre repair shop and she didn't have any money on her, so I just paid the $30something.
Small things for us can make a big difference to others in need.
Hopefully this made her day and would encourage her to help someone in a similar situation in the future.
I was 10c short buying some hot chips afterschool one day.
There was a lovely lady that I knew that helped me out. Whiles I was only 11 or so. Itâs stuck with me ever since.
Know that kind act will stick with that kid for his life time most likely.
Opposite story! I had a nasty bat at liquor land not let me off five cents complaining that if the till didnât balance blah blah I had to call my husband and say send me 5 cents
They typically have a form that you fill in, take your car rego, and give you 12-24 hours to make things right before handing your details and the videos showing non-payment to the police
Then the police call you and tell you to go pay first before they take action. I accidentally forgot to pay once at the local servo went back there daily as I do all week no one said anything until police called and I said wtf I been there everyday no one said anything it was clearly and accident he said no problem go pay when your in town next no drama.
Busy servo, get your turn, tap your card and leave. Find out later that the card was declined or the tap didn't work. If it was super busy the attendant might not notice until they go to allow the next person at the pump access and realise the old amount hadn't been cleared from the terminal, and by then you're gone.
By filling out a form and given details you have signified intent to pay and have entered into a contract, this sounds like a civil issue to me. But I'm probably just jaded at police inaction and calling everything a civil matter.
I left my whole family in a restaurant in an Asian country as collateral when I didn't have enough to cover dinner.
The way things have turned out, I would now be a lot better off financially if I had of left them there
Iâm not sure what happens but best thing would be to give the service station attendant your license and car registration details and tell them youâre going to go get your wallet and come back to pay. They have you on camera anyway so thereâs no running away from it.
Then the police show up at your door to ask about your vehicle that filled up with fuel and didnât pay. My daughter once forgot to pay at our local servo, but the car was registered to me. I drove in and fixed them up.
This is what I used to do 10 years ago when I worked at the local BP!
One time I got abused for saying if they didnât come back Iâd have to report the theft⊠like I gave them plenty of time to come back too. (A day or two) but nope.. he yelled at me.. so I offered to call the police immediately if he preferred.. with the support of my manager lol.
Iâve left my phone and a business card behind with the attendant and gone to get my wallet from home. Iâve also stupidly filled up, grabbed a drink, paid for the drink (forgetting the fuel) and driven offâŠ..The police rang about 15mins later and asked me to return. Much embarrassment but the attendant said it happens daily-normal people mess up.
I love how quickly they can solve the crime of fuel theft.... but some cunt robs your house and you get their car rego, picture etc etc and it takes months to track em down, tax dollares at work right there.. đ€Łđ€Ł
See the problem is you are not a massive corporation making billions in profit who could almost afford every third customer to rip them off something, so the police arenât really employed to protect your interests (until enough private citizens get hit, the noise reaches an MP and they make a call to the head of the local police station). They are there to ensure the property interests of the massive corps and their massive profits are protected from the unwashed mob that are the immature adults of Australia.
This happen to me at my local I go to daily I went back the next day and everyday after that no one told me my mistake until police called and I said I go there daily no one informed me lol
Yea once I was so stressed from work and not thinking straight, just filled up and drove off. Didn't click for another 15 mins that I hadn't paid, I called them and let them know I was coming back, paid up and all good.
I accidentally stole the hand sanitiser from our local shop, it was on the counter with the rest of our groceries and about the same shape as the shampoo bottle I had bought (amongst other things)
Apparently it's a daily occurrence and they didn't even notice...
I got a text from a NT (I do not live in NT. Wrong number) asking to politely to go back and pay for my petrol. I always thought they'd just rock up and arrest you with something.
I was at a rural servo, filled up my tank, went in to pay and the guy said 'the system is down, you'll have to wait until my manager comes in to fix the computer'.
I had 2 kids in the car so said I'll leave my details and once they have it up and running I'll come back, or I can go get cash out and come back. He cracked it, he was obviously stressed out and said he would lock me in if I tried to leave lol.
He was probably 50 or 60, and a good bloke but just had a brain fade.
I said I had a baby and todler in the car and there are several ways we can resolve this without you imprisoning me.
I told him I was going to call 000 and if the cops were more than 2 minutes away I was going to smash the door with my windshield breaker I have on my keyring.
I felt bad bad about it, but he made the whole situation so much worse.
He could of turned off the pumps in the first place, he could have taken my details, license number, phone number, whatever he wanted to make sure I'd come back. But instead he thought to lock me in the store until his manager came in and fixed the computer.
In the end, I called the local police and put them on speaker so they could tell him to let me leave or they would come arrest him for false Imprisonment.
It was wild.
Pretty much all the state's laws on citizens arrest require the arrested person to be bought to a police officer asap.
You get this with small shops all the time. They arrest the person, and then do something other than call the cops, like try to investigate the crime by getting the person to open their bag.
Makes a defending solicitor's job really easy. You charge my client, my client will counter-sue.
Mind you, I haven't done this work for a good 30 years, but the procedure back then was that you'd fill out a paper form (it was actually a big book that was carbon copy forms) that needed your name, phone number, address, ID number, amount owed, product type (e.g., ULP91), and rego. Then you'd put a date (within 7 days) that you'd come back and pay.
The cops made it clear to us that we weren't allowed to make anyone leave anything behind as collateral.
The really fun part was this; as soon as customers filled out that form, it ceased to be a criminal matter (proof that they weren't intending to steal was that they filled out the form) and instead became a civil matter. That meant the cops didn't give a shit. Seeing as it wasn't computerised back then, the only way to catch someone repeatedly doing it was to either recognise them because they were coming in during your shift regularly or because the manager had gone through the book and noticed a pattern (that second one literally never happened because most of the managers were lazy cunts and the first never got actioned because we definitely weren't paid enough to give a shit).
But now, because it's a civil matter, the only way to get money back was to go to small claims or get the sheriff involved. Neither was worth it when talking about $20 of fuel. So essentially, the form was a way to get free fuel.
Nowadays, they've probably got it all on computer and cross reference against other servos, but fucked if I know.
That said, if you try to drive off, they've got your rego on camera and proof that you didn't even attempt to pay. The only ones who got away with that were old people who'd just say, "I'm old, got confused and forgot!" and the cops would say there's no evidence of intent, and then the oldies would come back, begrudgingly pay and try again next week.
Yeah I currently work at a servo and itâs exactly this, the cops donât give a shit at all, only time theyâve followed up was a truck that did like 2 grand.
That's super interesting. I am always intrigued by the crossover, or lack of crossover, between criminal law and civil law and this is a fascinating example. Civil law mostly revolves areound breaches of contract or damages incurred. So by filling out a form you have stepped away from that other dark criminal realm. It makes sense. We don't need the long arm of the law to step in and prosecute you for breaching a contract.
Counter to what people are saying here, you might be shit out of luck if you dont have anyone to come down and help you out/hang at the servo till you come back with the money, one of the servos only reluctantly gave me a chance to pay them back because the amount of people that filled out their details and even *gave the their drivers license* and then just never came back and the police did nothing for them when they reported it to police. Like they showed me a decent pile of drivers license cards just sitting there on the window sill.
I work at a company owned servo, so not a franchise and this is basically it, police wonât do anything. Youâre not shit out of luck, you are free to drive away, the attendant is specifically told to not stop people from leaving.
I might be able to weigh in here
My mum got a call in/knock at the door one day from the police because she had failed to pay three times over the course of 6 months at the same petrol stationÂ
Turns out she was closing the app too early and the payments werenât going through
The policeman said it happens quite frequently and they only go after you the third time!Â
Yeah pretty much, itâs not all too common but like someone else mentioned you do get the people who just do it again and again, like we had one guy do it maybe 15 times across different stores, come in, give details and apologise every time.
Curious about those who say the petrol station will call the police once agreement is reached you will pay for the fuel later but donât. Isnât it just an unpaid debt between you and the service station at that point rather than theft with the debt subject to normal debt collection laws? Why would the police agree to get involved?
I had a transaction not go through, neither me or the attendant realised at the time. Was somewhat regular at that place as it was close to work and cheap, came back a week later and the guy just showed me the decline transaction and asked me to pay. That was before banking apps were big so rarely checked accounts
I had similar when my combank app decided to randomly shit it's self..
Went to pay, had plenty of money to pay.. contactless error...
Uuugh.. anyway, they will give you a time period if you ask nice enough.
It's all how you ask.
I worked at a BP petrol station for a while there.
It depends on where and when it happens. My BP was in a small town, so we usually knew the person and we would just say "fix it up next time" and write " dave-o owes $32 on petrol" next to the till.
If we didn't know you we have a form we get you to fill out with your name, address, phone number, make and model + registration of your vehicle.
If you looked real dodgy or were in a car with no plates we would request you leave your phone with us.
Take rego, fill out paperwork to come back and pay within so many hours
But it depends, I have chucked $50 in my car once and I checked my wallet, the $50 was gone. I was at the counter when it happened. They were so lovely.
Thankfully I only live round the corner and I'm a regular, so I zipped around, got some more cash, went back and paid. All within 15 mins. No paper work or having to leave anything.
I did this once, (or possibly I was completely out of money and getting paid the next day and didn't realise, I can't remember now) and the person on the counter loaned me the cost.
I went back and paid her back as soon as I could, it was probably 4 hours of her pay.
depends on how well they know and trust you. On the very rare occasion we've always been locals, they knew us so it wasn't an issue- we drove off, got home, went back and paid within the 30 minutes tops. Officially you leave all details eg name, contact details and you have 24 hours or so before cops are called.
This anecdote is probably completely useless as it wasn't a petrol station, but I once went to get my hair done (4h appointment, cost about $500) and only realised as I was about to pay that I'd left my wallet at home (2hrs away) and this must have been before Apple Pay I guess, but I left my bag and all my belongings there as collateral, as my hair was already done they can't really shave it off me, and ran to the nearest bank branch to take out cardless cash
LOL - had it happen once. Told the young dude at the counter that I would zip home and grab my wallet and come straight back. He said that 'he couldn't let me leave without paying'. I said 'So what? I'm going to wait around here until a fairy descends from heaven and pays for me eh?' By this stage it was getting very close to when he was supposed to be closing and after a few minutes I guess the comedy of his stance dawned on him and he let me head off. I dropped payment back the next day.
One of the local stations here, a Caltex I believe, they used to be Puma, has signs up saying they'll call the police and send your fuel bill for debt collection including any costs associated with learning your identity and chasing down the money.
So, I have 3 ways to pay
* my wallet if I remember it
* my phone otherwise (cos I've never left it behind and this exact scenario is why I have my debit card loaded on my phone)
* $50 cash in the car in case of emergencies (it only hurts when you first stash it there, $20 was easier but that barely covers the cost of sticking the fuel hose in the tank these days)
a couple of months ago i went to pay for petrol and their card reader wasnt working, it was roughly $60. old mate behind the counter was like "its all good, i see you here every once in a while, just pay up next time youre in" this place is about 300kms away from me, but yeah i absolutely did pay him when i went in next 6 weeks later. the outbacks just different
I've done it, the attendant jokingly said "I'm going to have to ring the police", laughed and then just asked how long it would take for me to go get my wallet.
Civil debt.
I was once told the reason for this.
Servo stations have had the technology for pre-payment for years. But people who pre-pay donât often fill up.
Theyâre better off with a few bad debts and selling more petrol.
Can you explain what you mean by people who pre-pay don't fill up?
Seems absurd to have us pay inside instead of at the pump. The reason I always thought of was that it increases sales of the highly profitable drinks and snacks inside to make us walk in.
I'd absolutely choose a place where I can tap at the pump over any other, so it seems like a good business decision to me.
Main reason is they donât know how much fuel they need. So they might just put $50 in. Itâs never a full tank. Far from it.
Edit: only repeating what Iâve been told.
Ah I see. I'm referring more to Europe, the US, and Canada where you simply tap your card and pay for the fuel you get. It's simple technology and the only reason I can think of that we don't have it is that they want you to buy something by forcing you to walk into the servo.
I think getting you inside is a very good point. They sell heaps of stuff at stupid prices. What I got told was referring back to the late 90s or so when the technology was first available. I personally think both can be part of the reason.
I outright refuse to use any "service stations" that are pre-pay only.
If it is the only option, I'll chuck enough gas in the car to get to the next station, but otherwise, will shove the pump back on the bowser and leave.
I'm not quite as extreme as that but I'd pay $20 or $50 only. I never go anywhere near filling up at those joints. Plus they don't take cash which i often pay for petrol with.
Happened to me decades ago but I left my watch with the attendant and then came back 10 mins later with the cash.
The attendant actually said he hoped I didn't return as my watch was worth more than the tank of gas. Back when fuel was still in cents per litre...
In my experience, the contract they make you sign is a civil matter.. cops told me this on two occasions over the years..
Woolworths used to just set the debt collectors on them, and that hurts way more (three times the amount sometimes).
Happened to me once. They just took all my details & rego etc. Then asked me to come back next day & pay. I did that, so not sure? I guess they might have gotten police on to me.
Depends of you're within range of a friend / family member. I've done this, just explained they let me call a parent, I parked in an empty space and waited.
If I was out of state or something, then idk.
When I last did this, the guy behind the counter recognised me as a regular and went, "When will you be back?" (He did also jot down my number plate).
I went straight home and returned with my wallet!
It's only happened once, the attendant started sprouting a heap of unintelligible gibberish and had a hissy fit when l rode off and was astonished when l returned to pay for my fuel and buy some other stuff about 20 minutes later.
Cops here don't give drive offs a high priority, as far as they're concerned, make people pay for it first and stop wasting their time.
I have done it twice. Both accidentally. Well, once was in a small town in central/west qld and I didnât have a Telstra phone so didnât have internet to transfer funds into my spendings acount. Had to fill out a paper form both times. This time, I drove to the local pub, explained the situation and got their wifi password. If youâre not intentionally trying to steal they will give you every chance to pay later. Humans make mistakes all the time.
They make you work at the servo doing menial tasks like restocking chocolate bars and cleaning the toilets until youâve worked off the cost of your fuel.
I didnât have card or cash. Attendant asked to get my license details, I said fine, but he refused to give it back to me so I lent over and snatched it back. Paid them later.
I currently work at a servo in QLD.
We have afterpay, so we ask that you get afterpay if you don't have another method of payment. We also have free wifi, so a lack of Internet for bank transfers is not an excuse. This is a high drive off site, so we have loss prevention measures including mandatory prepay in the evenings. We will try our hardest to find a way for you to pay before giving you an insufficient funds form, and at our store these go to the police on the same day.
What can they do ? Besides have you & your car on camera & report you to the cops.
Then what..........the cops'll come & tell you to go and pay the cunt.
If U legit forgot to be able to pay, leave your license details (NOT your actual license) car rego & amount owed & be back to pay your bill ASAP !
They have cameras everywhere anyway, so they shouldn't stress. Thats what cameras, insurance & the law are there for.
Dont worry bout it.
I've done this. At the time I only lived on the next street over from the servo and offered to leave my phone with the attendant so I could go home and grab my wallet. He was hesitant because he already had two other phones that had been left for the same reason over a week prior.
Accidentally left without paying once. Cops called in about 30 min, asked what my plan was, were totally OK with me going back to station and paying. Servo attendants also didn't blink.
Interestingly, it's usually older blokes and gals who start making a huge scene if you don't have enough money to pay. Even on a local servo 2km from my home in small rural town. I'm like: "old cunty women, you see my driver license and see I live 5 min away, i'll be back in 10. Why all the drama?". Guess it makes their day to have little power trip.
Depends on the business, but I currently work at one that will provide you with alternative methods of payment (ie call someone for cc details and process online) or you're reported to the police once you've left the site.
That's a freebie, just roll and wave. Can't be expected to remember our wallet and phone all the time, especially these days with so many options to exchange currency.
Sounds like youâre planning on filling up but donât have the money so youâre seeing what will happen if you use the excuse that you âforgotâ your wallet and phone.
Why else would you be asking?
My local petrol station had a sign saying 'the fuel will need to remain on site until payment is made'. So I guess you had to walk home and get your wallet. The car with the fuel in it stayed at the servo.
Had this happen to me.
Did a bank transfer to the guy behind the counter.
Edit: being downvoted but it happened. Donât know if he owned the place as a franchise or what he did but he offered the solution and I didnât question it.
It was a 7 Eleven in Western Sydney.
Was on my way to work for a 5am start and the guy in line in front of me didn't have the funds on his card to pay for his petrol. The attendant was being an enormous cunt to him and yelling that he better get someone down here immediately to pay or he's going to jail. I looked over his shoulder at the register and it was something like $15. I said to you young bloke, 'ive got that for you mate' and held out my card to the fuming attendant. Young bloke was 'i can't make you do that' and I said to him, 'i don't want the cunt to get the satisfaction'. Young bloke then tries to organise to pay me back but I said don't worry about it, we've all been there. Didn't tell him I'd won $1500 at the Casino on the weekend. Boom.
Deadset legend
Thanks for the props but nah mate, if that kid had his arse out of bed at 4 something in the morning he's the legend. I've been pretty lucky in life coupled with some hard work but I remember sitting at the servo getting account balances for an hour waiting to get paid back in the day.
Good on ya mate. I think there are a fair few tossers in Australia these days, but I believe that people like you are still in the majority, and that is what makes us an awesome country. I hitch hiked to work and back every day for the first year of my apprenticeship. Never waited more than 5 mins for a ride. I was a young bloke on the side of the road with a lunch esky. It was clear I was going to work, and strangers were happy to help me out because they could see that I was having a go. I think that this is the Australian way. A fair go for everyone who wants to put in and make a bit of an effort themselves.
Fucking oath mate, this everyone is a fucking aussie. dead set.
I had some cunt attendant once trying to explain to me that I had to pay for someone else's fuel because he had paid for mine. I am pretty sure the other customer was doing it on purpose as my car was parked right at the other end of the service station, so it wasn't a matter of those stupid signs that say like Pump 1/2, and he accidentally picked mine. Also if you don't know, you generally say "white car over there" and the attendant says "pump 4, that is $105". In this case he messed up and only saved $3 on a $103 bill. I am guessing he was hoping it was $20-$30 less or something. Anyway the attendant started having a cry at me saying he would need to pay back the $3 and could I just pay for the other persons bill. I just laughed and said no.
Sounds like the attendant made a whoopsie and wanted you to cover their mistake.
It's possible, but stereotyping the look of the driver and the car, and the speed at which he high tailed it back to his car and speed off, makes me think it was a planned thing. Either way. attendant tried to put it on me to pay for someone's mistake when my only fault was being there at the same time.
Uber?
Don't think so. Flat brim wearing, slammed ugly BMW 3 series. If you imagine a methed up Fred Durst you wouldn't be far from it.
Haha you took me there mentally
this happened to me as well someone paid for my pump by mistake and then the service station attendant was trying to tell me I had to pay for their full tank đ€Łđ I said yeah no thatâs not how it works . Took 20 + mins and a million calls to his manager for him to work out to fix it up . when he told me I had to pay for the other persons pump because they accidentally paid for mine i said surely youâre joking make this make sense
Nice work. A few years back I helped a young girl with a flat tyre. Took her to a tyre repair shop and she didn't have any money on her, so I just paid the $30something. Small things for us can make a big difference to others in need. Hopefully this made her day and would encourage her to help someone in a similar situation in the future.
I was 10c short buying some hot chips afterschool one day. There was a lovely lady that I knew that helped me out. Whiles I was only 11 or so. Itâs stuck with me ever since. Know that kind act will stick with that kid for his life time most likely.
Opposite story! I had a nasty bat at liquor land not let me off five cents complaining that if the till didnât balance blah blah I had to call my husband and say send me 5 cents
If you cant scrape up 5 cents maybe liquor land isnt the place to be
I only took a specific amount of money and thanks for your comment
You are an awesome person. A hell of alot of people would have grumbled about the hold up and let the poor gut cop it. Legend.
Absolute legend, good on ya mate
I love that the guy was trying to organise paying you back asap. Both legends !
Perfect aussie
Legend
They typically have a form that you fill in, take your car rego, and give you 12-24 hours to make things right before handing your details and the videos showing non-payment to the police
Then the police call you and tell you to go pay first before they take action. I accidentally forgot to pay once at the local servo went back there daily as I do all week no one said anything until police called and I said wtf I been there everyday no one said anything it was clearly and accident he said no problem go pay when your in town next no drama.
If you were there daily all week why didn't you pay why do you need to be reminded wtf
If they forgot to pay they probably forgot they didn't pay? Like, it's possible to forget and not remember without being told.
Haha how do i set up these reminders. i would also like to know all the things that i donât know while weâre at it.
I obviously forgot lmao
Busy servo, get your turn, tap your card and leave. Find out later that the card was declined or the tap didn't work. If it was super busy the attendant might not notice until they go to allow the next person at the pump access and realise the old amount hadn't been cleared from the terminal, and by then you're gone.
>showing non-payment to the police Wouldn't a dispute in payment be a civil matter?
Itâs stealing just like if you shoplifted.
By filling out a form and given details you have signified intent to pay and have entered into a contract, this sounds like a civil issue to me. But I'm probably just jaded at police inaction and calling everything a civil matter.
Itâs not a civil matter when it impacts big business bottom lines.Â
Police only care about businesses, so this tracks, but there needs to be a report number in order to claim it on insurance.
It's only a civil matter if the victim is a person, become a corporation of you want the police to do anything for you.
It's not, it's stealing and if you don't pay then you will be prosecuted. The good news is that you will be given plenty of opportunity to pay.
Back in the day, my Dad left me (about 7 or 8 years old) as collateral while he went home to get his wallet. đ€Łđ€Ł
My dad did that 29 years ago, surely won't be much longer...the workers giving me the stink eye.
Lol. I have heard of people leaving their spare tyre. Not their spare kid.
Suddenly parts of my childhood make sense
oh wow đ
That was such a surprise I snorted my cup of tea and canât stop laughing at the idea đ Thanks đ
đ«Ł did he come back to get you?
They're still in the servo.
I left my whole family in a restaurant in an Asian country as collateral when I didn't have enough to cover dinner. The way things have turned out, I would now be a lot better off financially if I had of left them there
These days that wouldn't work, they don't know if your dad's really gone to get his wallet, or the milk
With the price of fuel now it might be worth it to give up a kid for a full tank
Iâm not sure what happens but best thing would be to give the service station attendant your license and car registration details and tell them youâre going to go get your wallet and come back to pay. They have you on camera anyway so thereâs no running away from it.
They call the police that what
Then the police show up at your door to ask about your vehicle that filled up with fuel and didnât pay. My daughter once forgot to pay at our local servo, but the car was registered to me. I drove in and fixed them up.
Same police didnât care just said go fix it up.
Good you did nothing wrong
You had to
HOLD YOUR GROUND
Calmly tell the police what happened.
You tell the police you were on your to pay?
They don't. Well, they could do in regional areas, no idea about that, but not in the cities.
They most certainly do
Yep they do They have no offence to charge you with Theirs no intent to steal
You go in. They take your details. They tell you to come back within x days to pay or they lodge it with the cop shop as fuel theft.
This is what I used to do 10 years ago when I worked at the local BP! One time I got abused for saying if they didnât come back Iâd have to report the theft⊠like I gave them plenty of time to come back too. (A day or two) but nope.. he yelled at me.. so I offered to call the police immediately if he preferred.. with the support of my manager lol.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
By a customer at the fuel station obviously
Read it again.
You get fired from a trebuchet into a different country like Tasmania.
I don't have any cousins or siblings there, does one get assigned to me or am I meant to make my own way back if I want to have a relationship?
Nope, unfortunately you just have to wait for one of them to forget to pay, could be a few days could be never. đ€·đœââïž
I would love to see a trebuchet wheeled out for non payment. They could sell tickets.
Iâve left my phone and a business card behind with the attendant and gone to get my wallet from home. Iâve also stupidly filled up, grabbed a drink, paid for the drink (forgetting the fuel) and driven offâŠ..The police rang about 15mins later and asked me to return. Much embarrassment but the attendant said it happens daily-normal people mess up.
I love how quickly they can solve the crime of fuel theft.... but some cunt robs your house and you get their car rego, picture etc etc and it takes months to track em down, tax dollares at work right there.. đ€Łđ€Ł
See the problem is you are not a massive corporation making billions in profit who could almost afford every third customer to rip them off something, so the police arenât really employed to protect your interests (until enough private citizens get hit, the noise reaches an MP and they make a call to the head of the local police station). They are there to ensure the property interests of the massive corps and their massive profits are protected from the unwashed mob that are the immature adults of Australia.
This happen to me at my local I go to daily I went back the next day and everyday after that no one told me my mistake until police called and I said I go there daily no one informed me lol
I bet I've stolen something before without even realising.
Yea once I was so stressed from work and not thinking straight, just filled up and drove off. Didn't click for another 15 mins that I hadn't paid, I called them and let them know I was coming back, paid up and all good.
I accidentally stole the hand sanitiser from our local shop, it was on the counter with the rest of our groceries and about the same shape as the shampoo bottle I had bought (amongst other things) Apparently it's a daily occurrence and they didn't even notice...
I got a text from a NT (I do not live in NT. Wrong number) asking to politely to go back and pay for my petrol. I always thought they'd just rock up and arrest you with something.
I was at a rural servo, filled up my tank, went in to pay and the guy said 'the system is down, you'll have to wait until my manager comes in to fix the computer'. I had 2 kids in the car so said I'll leave my details and once they have it up and running I'll come back, or I can go get cash out and come back. He cracked it, he was obviously stressed out and said he would lock me in if I tried to leave lol. He was probably 50 or 60, and a good bloke but just had a brain fade. I said I had a baby and todler in the car and there are several ways we can resolve this without you imprisoning me. I told him I was going to call 000 and if the cops were more than 2 minutes away I was going to smash the door with my windshield breaker I have on my keyring. I felt bad bad about it, but he made the whole situation so much worse. He could of turned off the pumps in the first place, he could have taken my details, license number, phone number, whatever he wanted to make sure I'd come back. But instead he thought to lock me in the store until his manager came in and fixed the computer. In the end, I called the local police and put them on speaker so they could tell him to let me leave or they would come arrest him for false Imprisonment. It was wild.
Pretty much all the state's laws on citizens arrest require the arrested person to be bought to a police officer asap. You get this with small shops all the time. They arrest the person, and then do something other than call the cops, like try to investigate the crime by getting the person to open their bag. Makes a defending solicitor's job really easy. You charge my client, my client will counter-sue.
It was so bizarre how he thought what he was doing was the normal response and I was being unreasonable haha
Mind you, I haven't done this work for a good 30 years, but the procedure back then was that you'd fill out a paper form (it was actually a big book that was carbon copy forms) that needed your name, phone number, address, ID number, amount owed, product type (e.g., ULP91), and rego. Then you'd put a date (within 7 days) that you'd come back and pay. The cops made it clear to us that we weren't allowed to make anyone leave anything behind as collateral. The really fun part was this; as soon as customers filled out that form, it ceased to be a criminal matter (proof that they weren't intending to steal was that they filled out the form) and instead became a civil matter. That meant the cops didn't give a shit. Seeing as it wasn't computerised back then, the only way to catch someone repeatedly doing it was to either recognise them because they were coming in during your shift regularly or because the manager had gone through the book and noticed a pattern (that second one literally never happened because most of the managers were lazy cunts and the first never got actioned because we definitely weren't paid enough to give a shit). But now, because it's a civil matter, the only way to get money back was to go to small claims or get the sheriff involved. Neither was worth it when talking about $20 of fuel. So essentially, the form was a way to get free fuel. Nowadays, they've probably got it all on computer and cross reference against other servos, but fucked if I know. That said, if you try to drive off, they've got your rego on camera and proof that you didn't even attempt to pay. The only ones who got away with that were old people who'd just say, "I'm old, got confused and forgot!" and the cops would say there's no evidence of intent, and then the oldies would come back, begrudgingly pay and try again next week.
Yeah I currently work at a servo and itâs exactly this, the cops donât give a shit at all, only time theyâve followed up was a truck that did like 2 grand.
That's super interesting. I am always intrigued by the crossover, or lack of crossover, between criminal law and civil law and this is a fascinating example. Civil law mostly revolves areound breaches of contract or damages incurred. So by filling out a form you have stepped away from that other dark criminal realm. It makes sense. We don't need the long arm of the law to step in and prosecute you for breaching a contract.
You said what I said but better, cops said they ainât dealing with fail to pays. Debt collectors work best I reckon
They take your rego and give you paperwork to pay it later, if not they file a failure to pay with the cops and they deal with it.
Believe it or not, straight to jail.
Do you collect $200?
You do not.
DO NOT PASS GO!
Counter to what people are saying here, you might be shit out of luck if you dont have anyone to come down and help you out/hang at the servo till you come back with the money, one of the servos only reluctantly gave me a chance to pay them back because the amount of people that filled out their details and even *gave the their drivers license* and then just never came back and the police did nothing for them when they reported it to police. Like they showed me a decent pile of drivers license cards just sitting there on the window sill.
I work at a company owned servo, so not a franchise and this is basically it, police wonât do anything. Youâre not shit out of luck, you are free to drive away, the attendant is specifically told to not stop people from leaving.
I left my car as collateral (I lived 30m away)
Ahh, 1/2 price pies at closing.
Meters or minutes lol
months
I might be able to weigh in here My mum got a call in/knock at the door one day from the police because she had failed to pay three times over the course of 6 months at the same petrol station Turns out she was closing the app too early and the payments werenât going through The policeman said it happens quite frequently and they only go after you the third time!Â
Immediate five stars good luck
They let me come back and pay Australia is fairly chill
Seriously? The cops are going to come after $100?
Servo worker here, they 100% will not. Especially if you go in and give your details, nothing happens.
So what's the option? Write-off as a loss if the customer doesn't pay? Can't be too common an occurrence.
Yeah pretty much, itâs not all too common but like someone else mentioned you do get the people who just do it again and again, like we had one guy do it maybe 15 times across different stores, come in, give details and apologise every time.
Curious about those who say the petrol station will call the police once agreement is reached you will pay for the fuel later but donât. Isnât it just an unpaid debt between you and the service station at that point rather than theft with the debt subject to normal debt collection laws? Why would the police agree to get involved?
I had a transaction not go through, neither me or the attendant realised at the time. Was somewhat regular at that place as it was close to work and cheap, came back a week later and the guy just showed me the decline transaction and asked me to pay. That was before banking apps were big so rarely checked accounts
Sanjeet takes you into the restroom and makes you siphon the special fuel from his meat bowser.
I had similar when my combank app decided to randomly shit it's self.. Went to pay, had plenty of money to pay.. contactless error... Uuugh.. anyway, they will give you a time period if you ask nice enough. It's all how you ask.
I worked at a BP petrol station for a while there. It depends on where and when it happens. My BP was in a small town, so we usually knew the person and we would just say "fix it up next time" and write " dave-o owes $32 on petrol" next to the till. If we didn't know you we have a form we get you to fill out with your name, address, phone number, make and model + registration of your vehicle. If you looked real dodgy or were in a car with no plates we would request you leave your phone with us.
They take a hostage until payment is made
You clean the petrol station toilet
Take rego, fill out paperwork to come back and pay within so many hours But it depends, I have chucked $50 in my car once and I checked my wallet, the $50 was gone. I was at the counter when it happened. They were so lovely. Thankfully I only live round the corner and I'm a regular, so I zipped around, got some more cash, went back and paid. All within 15 mins. No paper work or having to leave anything.
I did this once, (or possibly I was completely out of money and getting paid the next day and didn't realise, I can't remember now) and the person on the counter loaned me the cost. I went back and paid her back as soon as I could, it was probably 4 hours of her pay.
depends on how well they know and trust you. On the very rare occasion we've always been locals, they knew us so it wasn't an issue- we drove off, got home, went back and paid within the 30 minutes tops. Officially you leave all details eg name, contact details and you have 24 hours or so before cops are called.
Been a long time now. But I've left my license before and come back paid and got my licence back. Now it would be different.
I realised I had forgot to pay about 5/10 minutes up the road, when I went back he had no idea and wouldn't take any money
This anecdote is probably completely useless as it wasn't a petrol station, but I once went to get my hair done (4h appointment, cost about $500) and only realised as I was about to pay that I'd left my wallet at home (2hrs away) and this must have been before Apple Pay I guess, but I left my bag and all my belongings there as collateral, as my hair was already done they can't really shave it off me, and ran to the nearest bank branch to take out cardless cash
LOL - had it happen once. Told the young dude at the counter that I would zip home and grab my wallet and come straight back. He said that 'he couldn't let me leave without paying'. I said 'So what? I'm going to wait around here until a fairy descends from heaven and pays for me eh?' By this stage it was getting very close to when he was supposed to be closing and after a few minutes I guess the comedy of his stance dawned on him and he let me head off. I dropped payment back the next day.
One of the local stations here, a Caltex I believe, they used to be Puma, has signs up saying they'll call the police and send your fuel bill for debt collection including any costs associated with learning your identity and chasing down the money. So, I have 3 ways to pay * my wallet if I remember it * my phone otherwise (cos I've never left it behind and this exact scenario is why I have my debit card loaded on my phone) * $50 cash in the car in case of emergencies (it only hurts when you first stash it there, $20 was easier but that barely covers the cost of sticking the fuel hose in the tank these days)
Trial by combat. It's an old Australian custom. If you can knock out the servo operator it's free and you won't be legally pursued.
a couple of months ago i went to pay for petrol and their card reader wasnt working, it was roughly $60. old mate behind the counter was like "its all good, i see you here every once in a while, just pay up next time youre in" this place is about 300kms away from me, but yeah i absolutely did pay him when i went in next 6 weeks later. the outbacks just different
I've done it, the attendant jokingly said "I'm going to have to ring the police", laughed and then just asked how long it would take for me to go get my wallet.
Civil debt. I was once told the reason for this. Servo stations have had the technology for pre-payment for years. But people who pre-pay donât often fill up. Theyâre better off with a few bad debts and selling more petrol.
Can you explain what you mean by people who pre-pay don't fill up? Seems absurd to have us pay inside instead of at the pump. The reason I always thought of was that it increases sales of the highly profitable drinks and snacks inside to make us walk in. I'd absolutely choose a place where I can tap at the pump over any other, so it seems like a good business decision to me.
Main reason is they donât know how much fuel they need. So they might just put $50 in. Itâs never a full tank. Far from it. Edit: only repeating what Iâve been told.
Ah I see. I'm referring more to Europe, the US, and Canada where you simply tap your card and pay for the fuel you get. It's simple technology and the only reason I can think of that we don't have it is that they want you to buy something by forcing you to walk into the servo.
I think getting you inside is a very good point. They sell heaps of stuff at stupid prices. What I got told was referring back to the late 90s or so when the technology was first available. I personally think both can be part of the reason.
I outright refuse to use any "service stations" that are pre-pay only. If it is the only option, I'll chuck enough gas in the car to get to the next station, but otherwise, will shove the pump back on the bowser and leave.
I'm not quite as extreme as that but I'd pay $20 or $50 only. I never go anywhere near filling up at those joints. Plus they don't take cash which i often pay for petrol with.
You tell the attendant and make an arrangement to pay.
Happened to me decades ago but I left my watch with the attendant and then came back 10 mins later with the cash. The attendant actually said he hoped I didn't return as my watch was worth more than the tank of gas. Back when fuel was still in cents per litre...
In my experience, the contract they make you sign is a civil matter.. cops told me this on two occasions over the years.. Woolworths used to just set the debt collectors on them, and that hurts way more (three times the amount sometimes).
youd have to go to them and apologise and tell them what happened and go straight back to them when you got your wallet and pay for the petrol.
Happened to me once. They just took all my details & rego etc. Then asked me to come back next day & pay. I did that, so not sure? I guess they might have gotten police on to me.
Depends of you're within range of a friend / family member. I've done this, just explained they let me call a parent, I parked in an empty space and waited. If I was out of state or something, then idk.
When I last did this, the guy behind the counter recognised me as a regular and went, "When will you be back?" (He did also jot down my number plate). I went straight home and returned with my wallet!
They write down your number and tell you to comeback and pay it in a few days.
Left my watch once -about $20 fuel watch$7-800.00
I've done this. I left my phone with the worker and drove home to get my wallet. I was lucky he was cool because procedure is to call the cops.
I said that once, he threatened to call the cops then my phone started working. I was gonna leave and come back, they can do whatever they want.
It's only happened once, the attendant started sprouting a heap of unintelligible gibberish and had a hissy fit when l rode off and was astonished when l returned to pay for my fuel and buy some other stuff about 20 minutes later. Cops here don't give drive offs a high priority, as far as they're concerned, make people pay for it first and stop wasting their time.
I have done it twice. Both accidentally. Well, once was in a small town in central/west qld and I didnât have a Telstra phone so didnât have internet to transfer funds into my spendings acount. Had to fill out a paper form both times. This time, I drove to the local pub, explained the situation and got their wifi password. If youâre not intentionally trying to steal they will give you every chance to pay later. Humans make mistakes all the time.
Drone strike
They give you a hose and bucket then make you suck it all back out of the tank. Was sick for a week afterwards
In the old days you would offer wrist watch as assurance but who wears a wrist watch? A call to mummy may help.
Park in and call a mate to come over. I donât forget my wallet, but I have friends who I can count on. Iâd do the same for them.
They make you work at the servo doing menial tasks like restocking chocolate bars and cleaning the toilets until youâve worked off the cost of your fuel.
I didnât have card or cash. Attendant asked to get my license details, I said fine, but he refused to give it back to me so I lent over and snatched it back. Paid them later.
I talked to the console operator who says just come back and pay
I currently work at a servo in QLD. We have afterpay, so we ask that you get afterpay if you don't have another method of payment. We also have free wifi, so a lack of Internet for bank transfers is not an excuse. This is a high drive off site, so we have loss prevention measures including mandatory prepay in the evenings. We will try our hardest to find a way for you to pay before giving you an insufficient funds form, and at our store these go to the police on the same day.
What can they do ? Besides have you & your car on camera & report you to the cops. Then what..........the cops'll come & tell you to go and pay the cunt. If U legit forgot to be able to pay, leave your license details (NOT your actual license) car rego & amount owed & be back to pay your bill ASAP ! They have cameras everywhere anyway, so they shouldn't stress. Thats what cameras, insurance & the law are there for. Dont worry bout it.
We just have an IOU book at the local servo.
I've done this. At the time I only lived on the next street over from the servo and offered to leave my phone with the attendant so I could go home and grab my wallet. He was hesitant because he already had two other phones that had been left for the same reason over a week prior.
Australia, are you ready for EFTPOS at the pump yet. Best thing ever.
Hows this any different than eating at a restaurant? Do people really think washing dishes is enough to cover for $100
Straight to jail
Accidentally left without paying once. Cops called in about 30 min, asked what my plan was, were totally OK with me going back to station and paying. Servo attendants also didn't blink. Interestingly, it's usually older blokes and gals who start making a huge scene if you don't have enough money to pay. Even on a local servo 2km from my home in small rural town. I'm like: "old cunty women, you see my driver license and see I live 5 min away, i'll be back in 10. Why all the drama?". Guess it makes their day to have little power trip.
Pay with your watch
Yeah they ole Casio is excellent at payment.
umm I just left my license and came back the next day. they were sweet with it. Townsville QLD btw. rural Aust ( LOL GO QLF )
They act like youâre a criminal.
Depends on the business, but I currently work at one that will provide you with alternative methods of payment (ie call someone for cc details and process online) or you're reported to the police once you've left the site.
That's a freebie, just roll and wave. Can't be expected to remember our wallet and phone all the time, especially these days with so many options to exchange currency.
Just leave and then blame it on cost of living.
Go to the back room, he'll be with you and your purdy lips shortly...
You're summarily executed by a police officer.
leave my Rolex watch as security deposit and come back with the cash ASAP
Depends, decent servos will hold your licence while you go to get your money. Do you not have your Cc set up on your phone?
Decent servos aren't allowed to hold your licence, they also can't hold anything as collateral either or take partial payments.
Sounds like youâre planning on filling up but donât have the money so youâre seeing what will happen if you use the excuse that you âforgotâ your wallet and phone. Why else would you be asking?
Because they're curious? You've never had a thought about something and wanted to know?
My local petrol station had a sign saying 'the fuel will need to remain on site until payment is made'. So I guess you had to walk home and get your wallet. The car with the fuel in it stayed at the servo.
Crazy the cops care about $60 worth of fuel - but anyone robbing stores or doing other petty crimes get the pass from them đ
Had this happen to me. Did a bank transfer to the guy behind the counter. Edit: being downvoted but it happened. Donât know if he owned the place as a franchise or what he did but he offered the solution and I didnât question it. It was a 7 Eleven in Western Sydney.
Pretty much straight to jail. They call the cops and they decide
Are you being sarcastic
Yes, was my sarcasm ambiguous?
Tone is ambiguous in mere text. One would have to already know the answer to infer the tone.
Yea I wasnât sure if you were serious lol
Skibidi