"I was made to feel like a criminal!"

[Lace Neil Singer]

Honestly, I'm getting sick and tired of people who get caught by the police after driving off without paying saying this when they're forced to come in and pay. The latest person also tried to blame me, saying I hadn't put her petrol on her bill. Bullshit. Big, steaming, pile of it. I always double check, and in any case, she paid by cash so she would have noticed her total was less her petrol. Big fat liar. She decided she'd just drive off and steal her petrol; I don't really see why she feels she has to tell big lies when it's obvious.

Weirdly, it's always the women who put on this act; the guys that come in are usually "Whoopsie, I forgot to pay, silly me," even if they're bang to rights; like the guy who was seen on camera looking at the total, getting into his car and leaving rubber on the road as he left the petrol station. But I'd still prefer hearing a porkie like that rather than some bitch of an SC trying to put the blame on the cashier.

"I was made to feel like a criminal! Whine moan complain!"

That's cuz you are one, moron. Bitch please.

[chainedbarista]

like a criminal? babe, you ARE a criminal, for theft. want symapthy? enter the door you came in and keep going.

oh, how nice it would be to remind these wenches that, yes indeed, sweetcheeks, you did commit a criminal act and therefore are a criminal. suck it up, don't rinse, lather and repeat and drive on.

[Automan Empire]

"I was treated like a criminal!"
"I was treated like I was an idiot!"
"I was treated like a child!"


Favorite line of mine: Act like one, get treated like one!

Slices right through the B.S.

[mikoyan29]

I don't know what the laws in the UK are like but here if you are caught driving off, you will lose your license. Not that it really matters in the scheme of things as people will still drive anyway.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Not the law here, as far as I know; the culprits get one last chance to come in and pay; if they refuse, they get hit with a charge of theft.

[EricKei]

They won't take your license here for a drive-off, but they will for DUI..not that it stops anyone from driving anyway...

[XCashier]

"I was made to feel like a criminal! Whine moan complain!"

"You were expecting the red carpet treatment after stealing from us? Dumbass."

[Iris Kojiro]

I once had a moment where I had the manager rushing after me as soon as I got done pumping gas. The machine acted like it ran my sale at the pump, but it printed a receipt instructing me to see the cashier inside. While I had indeed noticed this, apparently this poor manager has had some people drive off without paying, thinking that everything went through okay when it really did not (or they could have stolen intentionally, who knows).

I went in, paid my bill, expressed my sympathies to the manager, and continued on my adventure...

[TTAZ]

"I was treated like a criminal!"
"I was treated like I was an idiot!"
"I was treated like a child!"


Favorite line of mine: Act like one, get treated like one!

Slices right through the B.S.

My favorite thing is to say in a situation like this is: "You are what you eat."

If nothing else it gives you enough of a pause to run for it.

[Jack T. Chance]

Okay, time for me to play Devil's Advocate... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

In My (Not So) Humble Opinion, ANY owner of a gas station (or "petrol station", as you Brits insist on calling them) that has not joined the rest of us in the 21st Century with pumps programmed for the "Pay BEFORE you pump" policy DESERVES to be stolen from!

I'm sorry, but here in Maryland, in the United States of America, EVERY gas station I've gone to in the last 20 YEARS (from the time I first learned to drive, until now) has been a "Pay BEFORE you pump" station. So, when I hear that these things are still going on in 2009, all I can do is LAUGH at the sheer STUPIDITY of the owner(s) of the gas station(s) in question.

And the argument that they usually drag out to defend their actions, "I'll lose business if I make people pay first", is complete and utter RUBBISH! Gasoline is a NECESSITY for anyone that owns a motor vehicle. Their vehicle WILL NOT run without it! As a gas station owner, you have one of the most captive customer bases in the WORLD. You will NOT lose business by switching over to the "Pay BEFORE you pump" business model... this has already been conclusively proven here in MD, and anywhere else where the majority of stations have adopted the "Pay BEFORE you pump" policy. And you'll stop the thieves dead in their tracks.

[cinema guy]

That's 99% of the ones in the UK. In fact the only one I know that does it, it is voluntary.

[DeltaSierra]

Okay, time for me to play Devil's Advocate... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

In My (Not So) Humble Opinion, ANY owner of a gas station (or "petrol station", as you Brits insist on calling them) that has not joined the rest of us in the 21st Century with pumps programmed for the "Pay BEFORE you pump" policy DESERVES to be stolen from!

I'm sorry, but here in Maryland, in the United States of America, EVERY gas station I've gone to in the last 20 YEARS (from the time I first learned to drive, until now) has been a "Pay BEFORE you pump" station. So, when I hear that these things are still going on in 2009, all I can do is LAUGH at the sheer STUPIDITY of the owner(s) of the gas station(s) in question.

And the argument that they usually drag out to defend their actions, "I'll lose business if I make people pay first", is complete and utter RUBBISH! Gasoline is a NECESSITY for anyone that owns a motor vehicle. Their vehicle WILL NOT run without it! As a gas station owner, you have one of the most captive customer bases in the WORLD. You will NOT lose business by switching over to the "Pay BEFORE you pump" business model... this has already been conclusively proven here in MD, and anywhere else where the majority of stations have adopted the "Pay BEFORE you pump" policy. And you'll stop the thieves dead in their tracks.

British Columbia only recently went to "pay before you pump." I understand the reasoning behind it (a kid was killed trying to stop a gas-and-dash) but a LOT of people whined and moaned when the law came into effect.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Not to mention the fact that a lot, let me repeat that, A LOT, of the profits from the petrol station come from the shop. So, if it was prepay, then we'd lose out on impulse buys. That, boys and girls, is how Orange Bag, Blue Stripy, Green And Yellow and Bum Slappers manage to keep their petrol prices so low in comparison to generic petrol stations. Also, judging by how few people bother to read the instructions we already have on the pumps (akin to instructions on bags of pretzels to open the bag, remove pretzels, eat pretzels) I can see suddenly switching over to prepay would produce a lot of SCs.

Also, I heard about how a Blue Stripy supermarket switched to prepay, but got so much negative reaction from doing so, and lost so much profit, they were forced to switch back. Finally, the attitude of "You don't have prepay so you deserve to be stolen from" is just what I'd expect from an SC, to be honest. It's like people saying, "You make so much profit, you should expect to be stolen from!" Er, no. Stealing is wrong and last time I checked, it was against the law. Doesn't make it right, no matter how easy you feel it is to do.

[Zombi]

Also, the prepay pumps won't accept my debit card, so I don't really have much choice.

[protege]

Most of the time, I have to scan my credit card before pumping gas anyway. However, there are a few stations that I *refuse* to do business with. Why? Well, what's the point of having the credit card thing on the pump...when I have to go inside the shop to "prepay" anyway? It's inconvenient and annoying--I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to fill my tank...and go. I don't want to have to wait in line because some dipshit can't decide which lottery ticket to buy