That is no excuse for stealing

[Gibbo]

For the past few days we have been insanely busy, and there has been a few people who took adavantage of it and did a drive off. On the plus side the police did catch up with a couple of them, including this one...

We were called by the police and told to epect someoe who had driven off earlier in the day to come back ad pay, and to let them know if he didn't. He came back and said that he doesn't had a debit card or any money to pay for it. Now, if he hadn't have driven off and had come in and explained this we would have got his details and then he would have had a week to come back and pay but as he had driven off instead, then that wasn't going to happen. The CW who was dealing with him said that she would have to go back to the police. Fuel thief then started protesting and explained why he did it...

"After I had filled up I realised that I didn't have my debit card or any money, so I drove off because I was too embarrassed to come into the shop and say so."

CW replied by saying that it is more embarrassing now that the police were making him come back to pay, and he actually said that it wasn't.

CW then reiterated that she would have to call the police and let them know that he didn't pay, and fuel thief left the store, not at all bothered that he was about to get another visit from the boys in blue.

The next day our security guard told us a couple of lads that been arrested for driving off, but whether it was about this one or another one I don't know.

[Raveni]

Wait, he came back, and STILL didn't pay?

[Moirae]

People are such slime balls.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Wait, he came back, and STILL didn't pay?

He was expecting the OP to cut him a break.

Which, of course, didn't happen.

[Dave1982]

Yeeeeeahh.....defying the orders of the police is an excellent way to piss them off in a hurry....idiot....

[BroSCFischer]

Here in the US (at least in PA, but I'm pretty sure the other states have similar laws) if you drive off, you can get fined and/or lose your license. There are stickers and signs at all the pumps.

I once did a drive off, accidentally. I was so used to pre-paying, that when I went to a place that you paid after pumping, I didn't realize that I still had the money in my hand until I was a little ways down the road. I promptly turned around and went back to pay. Lucky for me, the place was busy and the attendant hadn't had a chance to call the police yet.

And I always check to see how much money I have BEFORE I start pumping, and monitor the pump so I don't go over.

SC

[Racket_Man]

Here in the US (at least in PA, but I'm pretty sure the other states have similar laws) if you drive off, you can get fined and/or lose your license. There are stickers and signs at all the pumps.

Most states DO indeed have laws on the books for that situation. BUT they are rarely enforced for one BIG reason. It is a big hassel for the cops AND the cops really do not want to become a gas station's collection/enforcement agency even though the action would be considered theft of product just like if you went into a store and stole say an Ipad.

[taxguykarl]

Sounds like the theif in the OP will lose a license, though....among other things.

[barainga]

Pretty much everything around here is now pre-pay only.

[Mr Hero]

Hasn't that SC learned anything from that guy who gives sermons at church? Captain Whatshisname? We live in a society of law? Why do you think he went to see those Police Academy movies? For fun? Well, I didn't hear anybody laughing!

[Argabarga]

I always get a receipt when I pump gas, just to double-check myself before driving off.... once I'm a block or so away, I toss it.

[Anakah]

Where I live you can't get any gas unless you pay first. I'm kind of wondering why do they let you get something and then pay after? Isn't that just asking for trouble?

[mhkohne]

Where I live you can't get any gas unless you pay first. I'm kind of wondering why do they let you get something and then pay after? Isn't that just asking for trouble?

Convenience. If you're paying with cash, then it's only one trip inside if you can pay after you pump (pump gas, go in, pay, done). Also habit - the retail fueling industry isn't exactly known for quickly picking up on things.

[PepperElf]

I always get a receipt when I pump gas, just to double-check myself before driving off.... once I'm a block or so away, I toss it.

one of my former coworkers warned me to start doing that after what happened to him.

He normally DIDN'T get the receipt and one day for some odd reason his card didn't accept the charge. Next thing he knew he was getting a phone call to "come back in or you'll talk to the police"

He came in, paid, and discussed what had happened with the clerk. They said "If your card comes up with two charges let us know and we'll fix it."


After that though he said he always makes sure to get a receipt just in case... and to verify that his card went through too.

[mhkohne]

After that though he said he always makes sure to get a receipt just in case... and to verify that his card went through too.

This is good advice. If the prompting and setup on the store system is setup wrong, then it can be possible for something called an 'accidental drive-off' to happen. Usually it happens when pumps are setup to allow for 'pump-first, pay inside later'.
The customer shows up, swipes card.
Card fails for some stupid reason, but customer isn't looking at screen, but grabbing hose and lifting handle.
When the 'card declined' prompt times out, the pump goes back to idle, where it finds the handle is up and initiates a 'pay inside later' transaction.
Customer finally looks over at pump and sees a 'go ahead and and pump fuel' message.
Customer pumps.
Customer doesn't look again at screen because customer doesn't look for receipt.
Customer drives off.

Gas station gets pissed and calls officer friendly, who then has to take time out of his day of catching actual traffic offenders and real criminals to inform customer to get self back to gas station and pay for fuel. This is an annoying waste of everyone's time, sadly.

This can EASILY be avoided by the gas station configuring it's pumps such that they can't start without payment being processed, but a lot of places still like to support pay-after-pumping. When I worked in retail fueling, we in engineering often bitched about stations setting up like this, but no one really listened to us.

So yea, always get your receipt when you pay at pump.