Petrol Scams...don't get caught in one!

Have you ever filled up your car at a petrol station and left wondering…that’s funny, how come the petrol gauge is not showing as much petrol as you would expect?

I had the unfortunate experience first hand, of probably one of the most common petrol scams in Sri Lanka. Here’s my story.

I drive a Toyota Vitz, a car that normally holds maximum 42 litres of petrol. My tank was about 90% empty when I drove into a Ceypetco petrol station along Galle Road, Wellawatte. As usual, I rolled down the front passenger window and asked for a full tank refill. A couple of minutes later, the service attendant told me the tank is filled and that the bill is Rs. 4,000. I had a suspicion that the tank was not full because it usually costs me over Rs. 5,500 to fill a full tank, so I started the engine. Sure enough, the petrol gauge only showed the tank to be just above three-quarters full. At that moment, I had a sneaky suspicion that they had scammed me, however the only way to prove it was to ask the guy to fill the tank until the gauge indicated the tank was full. So I told the service attendant, the tank was indeed not full and I asked him to continue filling the tank. This time, I heard the nozzle click indicating the tank was full, and the second bill came to Rs. 2,850.

Aha. So I added the two bills, which came to Rs. 6,850, and at Rs. 149 per litre, that would have meant 46 litres had gone into my fuel tank. Impossible! How could a car with only a 42 litre tank, take 45 litres of petrol, when the tank also wasn't 100% empty? After paying the bills with my credit card, I decided to remain composed and take the matter up with the service station manager. I calmly asked him to explain how 45L could fit into a 42L tank. Funnily enough, the manager did not look surprised. He proceeded to call in all the guys that were involved in filling up my car, and questioned them. No one wanted to own up, so I proceeded to say that I would file an official complaint with Ceypetco’s head office, and then I started taking photos of the whole scene, including my car, the petrol pump, etc. This must have freaked the petrol attendant that served me, because when I was in the midst of collecting my evidence, he approached me and handed me Rs. 1,300 cash. Nothing said, and he walked away.

So here’s the gist of the scam – after filling up small amounts of petrol into say three-wheelers, or motorbikes, the attendants don’t place the nozzle back into the holder (to zero out the volume) before filling your tank.  This means that when they started filling your tank, the starting point was not 0.00 litres. So you are, in effect, paying for more petrol than what actually went into your tank. At 2-3 litres extra (which translates to approx. Rs. 300-400), they are hoping that you probably won’t notice, and most of the time they get away with it. In my case they clearly thought they could sneak away Rs. 1350!

For tips on how you can avoid being caught up in a petrol scam, check out the rest of my blog on iFind.lk.

JJ