Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Incident at the gas station
- Thread starter Gorn
- Start date
- Status
The onus is on THEM to make sure the pump stops, not you. If they want to have a pre pay policy, tough cookies. That's the cost of doing business when they want to assume every customer that pulls onto the lot is a shady crook that just wants to swindle their gas. I'm already primed to explode at the whole concept of pre pay gas service stations, so the only "problem" we're going to have is him figuring out how he's going to retrieve his $7 worth of gas from my tank. I'd be happy to have the New Jersey system here in NY. I'm upstate and its all pre pay here too except for the Stewart's chain of gas stations, so I make it a point to get my gas there whenever possible, where they actually respect their customers. This world and its "eff you, pay me" mentality...
On assault? (Not that I admit to assaulting anyone). No idea. But if he called the cops soon after the incident id be in the local precinct by now.
I don't think I owed him seven but would've been happy to give it to him if he'd have asked nicely.
Yeah! And our pumps have those big glass bottles on top. We have two grades of fuel. Regular and Ethel.
When our attendants come running out, it's to check the oil, tires, washer fluid and clean the windows.
We can trust our car to the man who wears the star.
Last edited:
The cops in NYC are too busy for petty crap like this. I called them once and they never showed.
And the clerks story is the guy refused to pay the extra that was pumped into his car.
Your best bet is that the clerk has broken parole and won't want the cops coming around.
In addition to getting majorly t-bagged, he'll probably have to make up the seven bucks shortage that happened on his watch.
Hopefully nothing more than lessons learned for everyone involved.
You mean like a Little Debbi or a Clark Bar
Danm spell fixers!-edit- AAACKK! Damn spell fixers.
Not true..........
Many times, if the "perp" is already gone the complaint gets followed up by the Detective Squad (uniforms only do very short term follow ups). It may take days for them to "get in touch".
Statute of limitations on a Petit Larceny is I believe between 1 and 3 years.
*If* they decide that the force and injury to the clerk constitute you trying to escape/retain the property without paying then it may be considered a Robbery which carries a much longer statute of limitations.
Then again, nothing may happen at all. Just don't fool yourself into believing that if they don't come to you today that it is all over.
Back in the dark ages (70's) I managed a string of self-service gas stations in Hartford and surrounding towns. We always reported drive-offs to the police, just to get a report that would clear the clerk of responsibility for shortages on the shift report. Not once was anything done by the police to apprehend the thief. I get it, there's bigger fish to fry. I suspect the kid will do just that, file a report that the cops will ignore so he doesn't have to cough up $7 out of his pocket. I'd have paid the $7, but wouldn't have been happy about it. I certainly would not have gotten physical ... I might have called the cops when he grabbed on the door handle to keep from leaving, or simply waited until he HAD to go inside to take care of other customers. In any case, I don't there's a Law & Order or Cold Case episode here ...
But not an episode of COPS please. They don't end well in these parts.Back in the dark ages (70's) I managed a string of self-service gas stations in Hartford and surrounding towns. We always reported drive-offs to the police, just to get a report that would clear the clerk of responsibility for shortages on the shift report. Not once was anything done by the police to apprehend the thief. I get it, there's bigger fish to fry. I suspect the kid will do just that, file a report that the cops will ignore so he doesn't have to cough up $7 out of his pocket. I'd have paid the $7, but wouldn't have been happy about it. I certainly would not have gotten physical ... I might have called the cops when he grabbed on the door handle to keep from leaving, or simply waited until he HAD to go inside to take care of other customers. In any case, I don't there's a Law & Order or Cold Case episode here ...
-edit- Speaking of TV shows, the attendant didn't look like Ashton Kucher, did he?
I dunno, man. I want to side with you, but I have to say that I think you're the one in the wrong here. Bottom line is that you paid for $20 worth of gas and drove away with $27 worth. I realize it was an honest mistake, that the guy had a bad attitude, and that the pump "should have" clicked off to prevent this, but I don't think any of those things are relevant.
As for him being a jerk: I think that's perfectly understandable because he had no way of knowing that it was an honest mistake when he first came out; as far as he knew, you were deliberately trying to rip him off. And I don't think the fact that you didn't like his attitude changes anything anyway: None of us is allowed to break laws simply because we don't like other people's attitudes.
As for the pump not clicking off: Gas stations put governers (or whatever they're called) on their pumps to minimize both deliberate and inadvertent over-pumping, but I don't think the existence of this technology absolves you of responsibility for over-pumping. The attendant might have made an error, or the system might not have worked properly, but either way I think it is ultimately your responsibility to only pump the amount you paid for. The purpose of the technology is not to create some kind of game in which the driver is entitled to as much gas as he can squeeze after having paid a given amount.
Here's another way to think about it: Suppose the attendant had made a different mistake, or there was some other kind of mechanical/electrical glitch, that caused the pump to turn off after you had pumped only $13 worth. You would demand either more gas or a refund of what you prepaid, right?
Personally, I would go back to the station at my earliest convenience, give the guy his 7 bucks, and apologize. I would also do so in hopes that he would then also apologize for his behavior as well, but if he didn't I'd be satisfied to walk away and feel like I did the right thing.
Just my $0.02. I trust you started the thread with the expectation that people would express their honest opinions, so that's what I'm doing.
As for him being a jerk: I think that's perfectly understandable because he had no way of knowing that it was an honest mistake when he first came out; as far as he knew, you were deliberately trying to rip him off. And I don't think the fact that you didn't like his attitude changes anything anyway: None of us is allowed to break laws simply because we don't like other people's attitudes.
As for the pump not clicking off: Gas stations put governers (or whatever they're called) on their pumps to minimize both deliberate and inadvertent over-pumping, but I don't think the existence of this technology absolves you of responsibility for over-pumping. The attendant might have made an error, or the system might not have worked properly, but either way I think it is ultimately your responsibility to only pump the amount you paid for. The purpose of the technology is not to create some kind of game in which the driver is entitled to as much gas as he can squeeze after having paid a given amount.
Here's another way to think about it: Suppose the attendant had made a different mistake, or there was some other kind of mechanical/electrical glitch, that caused the pump to turn off after you had pumped only $13 worth. You would demand either more gas or a refund of what you prepaid, right?
Personally, I would go back to the station at my earliest convenience, give the guy his 7 bucks, and apologize. I would also do so in hopes that he would then also apologize for his behavior as well, but if he didn't I'd be satisfied to walk away and feel like I did the right thing.
Just my $0.02. I trust you started the thread with the expectation that people would express their honest opinions, so that's what I'm doing.
Interesting comments. I posted what happened. On the off chance the fuzz comes after me, I'll tell the same story, which should be corroborated by the gas station cameras if they were in fact recording and I'm confident they were. In all likelihood nothing will come of this. If it does then it does. I'll keep everyone apprised.
Anybody who posts here and doesn't expect honest opinions... brutally honest opinions... hasn't been around here very long.Just my $0.02. I trust you started the thread with the expectation that people would express their honest opinions, so that's what I'm doing.
C'mon man. Fess up. You t-bagged Ashton Kucher.
So if you suddenly drop off of TB for a while, and someone starts taking contributions for bail, we'll know we weren't being Punk'd?
- Status
