How much more do I need to fill up?

[aurelemsrealm]

I had a customer prepay for gas last night. I set her pump, and told her she was ready to go. She said okay, and then continued to stand there with a blank look on her face.

I asked her if she needed something else, thinking maybe she was expecting a receipt. Receipts for cash purchases don't print automatically from our system, but I can print one on request, no problem. You just have to ask me.

Anyway, the woman asks how much more it would take to fill her tank. I explain that I don't know her tank's capacity, and I would also need to know how much fuel is currently in her tank. She gives me a confused look. So, I explain that I would need to subtract the amount of fuel currently in her tank from the stated fuel capacity to determine how much fuel would be required to fill her tank. I think the idea blew her mind. She just went blank, said okay, and wandered out to her car.

I always love when customers expect me to solve their problems, but are not capable of providing sufficient information to fill in the blanks.

[Falor]

I always love when customers expect me to solve their problems, but are not capable of providing sufficient information to fill in the blanks.

It's like they think we're speaking a foreign tongue when we try to ask for the information we need. Then again, good/common sense and logic do seem to be foreign concepts to most of these people. . .

[infinitemonkies]

Did she get her gas before leaving? Or did she prepay and drive off? Seems like she was far out of it enough to have done just that.

[aurelemsrealm]

Yes, she got her gas before leaving. She was smart enough to manage that, thankfully.

However, I have seen people prepay for gas time and again, then drive off without pumping it. On average, it takes them 10-20 minutes to realize they forgot to get their gas.

Whenever someone forgets to pump the gas they prepaid, I stop the pump, cash out the reserve, and run a receipt with the message, "Unclaimed prepay." Like I said, it usually only takes the customer a few minutes to realize they forgot something. If the unclaimed prepay has not been claimed by shift close, I pull the corresponding amount of money out of my cash drawer, and put it in a drop envelope and paperclip the "unclaimed prepay" receipt.

Then, I leave a note for the other clerks about the outstanding unclaimed fuel prepay just in case the customer would return. As I said, it's rare that it takes that long for the customer to claim their prepaid fuel they forgot to pump. I used to just leave the money in an envelope with the next clerk. However, we had to modify that practice after one former clerk was caught on camera pocketing the money after I left. Now, the envelope containing the money and original receipt gets dropped in the safe. It will look like a cash shortage to the clerk when he/she does the shift paperwork, but the money to cover it is tucked safely in the safe with the cash drops, so that portion will balance. Of course, all you have to do is add a line below the cash O/S to add the unclaimed prepay amount with a note stating that you honored unclaimed fuel prepay from a previous shift.