I was in Pune recently – my post on solo bike trip is available here – and decided to fill petrol at the Bharat Petroleum fuel station just outside the main entrance of the Magarpatta City. The bike already had some fuel in it, however, as I was traveling to Chincholi Morachi next morning and from there to Mumbai, I wanted to be safe than sorry and hence decided to completely fill up the tank. The below is the conversation between me and the fuel station attendant:
Me: Fill up the tank pls
Petrol attendant: ok
At Rs. 200, the attendant suddenly stops filling the tank
Me: What happened? The tank is not full yet.
Attendant: Sir, there is already petrol in it and it is full now.
Me: It is not full yet as I know how much capacity my fuel tank has, so pls fill it up.
Attendant: OK.
As the meter neared Rs. 500, I asked him to round it up at Rs. 500 and stop. I handover my credit card to him for payment. He swipes the card for Rs. 700 and comes back. I look at the receipt and was lost. I asked him:
Me: How come you have swiped the card for Rs. 700, while I have only filled the tank for Rs. 500?
Attendant: No sir, we filled the tank for Rs. 700 only, earlier we stopped at Rs. 200 and then we added Rs. 500 worth more of petrol.
Me: No, we filled total Rs. 500 worth of fuel and not Rs. 700. I asked you to stop at Rs. 500 and then handed you the credit card.
At this point, he reiterated the same sentence written a couple of lines above. At this point, I was really angry and raised my voice.
Me: I am not paying you Rs. 700 and need to speak with your supervisor.
Attendant: Sir, I am saying it was Rs. 700 only.
Me: Sorry, pls call your supervisor.
The man reluctantly calls his supervisor. I explain him what has transpired and he calmly asks the attendant to handover Rs. 200 in cash, post which I signed the receipt and left.
I came home and mentioned the incident to my friend. He told me this is very common in Pune and most likely the guy ahead of you must have filled fuel worth Rs. 200 and this guy was trying to earn extra by passing that charge also on to you. I then realized the guy ahead of me had actually filled fuel worth Rs. 200. It was a good thing that I was alert else those guys would have cheated me. I am surprised people don’t pay attention to such things while filling up the cars or bikes. Well next time when I am in Pune, I am going to be extra careful while fueling up and mostly pay cash to avoid such issues.
My thoughts...My story 