Paying for the Wrong Pump

[clowninasack]

Back when I worked at the gas station this would happen alot:

SC: Stupid Customer
IB: Innocent Bystander

*customer walks up to the till*

SC: Pump 4.
Me: (Astounded they know what pump they were on) Ok, your total is $x.
*SC Pays and walks out*

*time passes*

*another customer comes up*

IB: Pump 4.
Me: Uh.. There's no gas rung up on that pump. Are you sure you didn't pay at the pump?
IB: Positive.
Me: Well how much was it?
IB: $x.
Me: There aren't any pumps with near that amount on them... But there was one earlier that someone paid for.

*manually charges him for the gas and leaves a note for the manager that some idiot paid for the wrong pump again*

This has hapened when there was a difference of like $60 between what the guy actually pumped and what he paid for. WTF? How do you not notice an extra $60 on your bill?!

[princess4life]

I went to pre=pay for gas on a pump on time and the person before he hadn't used the full amount of what they pe-paid then drove off. When I went to pay for gas the cashier insisted that the change was mine. I had to demand to pay for my gas.

[LewisLegion]

Our gas station has a design flaw that I'm surprised hasn't bit me in the butt yet. Its the gas station closest to work so I end up using it when I have no other choice.

Anyway, the pumps are designed to be used on either side, but you can't pay at the pump itself...you have to pay at a kiosk or go inside. I can easily see this happening:

Customer A pulls up on the right side of the pump, goes to the kiosk to pay for that pump. Customer B pulls up to the left side of the pump, takes out the hose and puts it in his car, and as soon as the pump is authorized (by customer A over at the kiosk), customer B then starts pumping on Customer A's dime.

Suckiness ensues.

[Tanasi]

Customer A pulls up on the right side of the pump, goes to the kiosk to pay for that pump. Customer B pulls up to the left side of the pump, takes out the hose and puts it in his car, and as soon as the pump is authorized (by customer A over at the kiosk), customer B then starts pumping on Customer A's dime.

Suckiness ensues.

I've seen that happen, it resulted to two old men whacking each other with their canes.

[edible_hat]

People who give the wrong number or say "the one out there" (or similar) can be a problem. My solution is to say "OK that's the $60 then?" (or whatever the highest amount is). Despite not knowing what pump they're on, they always know the amount.

The other one I get is people giving pump numbers that don't exist, e.g. they're on pump 3 but they don't look until they get into the store, then say they're on pump 34 (since 3 and 4 are close together at my store). We only have 18 pumps but customers keep wanting to pay for numbers 34, 56, 78, 910 and 1112.

[mattm04]

Since I usually pat at the pump with Credit it is not an isuse. One day I stopped for gas at a newley renovated station and the official numbers hadn't come it yet so they had hand written signs near the pumps. I had a gift card and you had to pay with the GC inside. I went to the clerk, told her the balance of the card on "I believe Pump #3" She looked ou the window and said "Grey Jeep" I told her yes. The next day the real signs came in and fixed that problem.

[iviles]

happened to me a couple of times and the superviser was a real jerk so for the short time I was there I made people point out their cars.

[myswtghst]

I like it when the clerk verifies the car with me, as most gas stations can see all the pumps well enough to at least say "the red car" or "the blue SUV." And if they don't, I'll give the pump number and prolly point and say, "you know, the red Jetta o'er there" just to be sure. And I usually pay good attention to the total...but I'm more aware than most people, it seems.

Gas is too darn expensive these days not to pay attention.

[edible_hat]

The ones I really love (not) are the people who buy something in the shop and conveniently forget to mention that they got some fuel. I can spot them by their disappointed looking body language when I ask if they had any.

There's a belief that it's legal to steal fuel if you buy something else at the same time, don't mention the fuel and the CSR doesn't ask. Like most SC beliefs it's bullshit. So my boss checks the surveillance tapes and reports the ones were we can get a number plate, every single time they ring us and say they forgot to pay and want to be good citizens... funnily enough it's only the ones we report who do that.

So I ask every customer if they got any fuel, it gets me a few "no you idiot I obviously walked here since I don't even own a car" type comments but it saves the larger hassle.