Driver gets away with paying only $27 for full tank of petrol, alleges netizen

Remember the $10 petrol dispute involving a BMW driver at a Caltex station? 

A Facebook user has alleged that yet another similar case has surfaced, this time involving the driver of a Mitsubishi Lancer at an Esso station.

In a post on Oct 15, Tengku Azreena Herdawati claimed that one man got away with paying $27 for a full tank of petrol.

Here's what happened:

Azreena witnessed a dispute between a man and staff at Esso's Telok Blangah station. 

The man denied paying for the full tank of petrol amounting to $90, claiming he only asked for $30 worth of petrol. 

However, the cashier at the convenience store within the station told Azreena that the pump attendant had "repeatedly asked him how much he wanted to pump and he said full tank".

More suspiciously, said Azreena, when the cashier asked him to speak to a manager, he refused. 

"Why would a person who claims he is right not want to speak to the higher authority?" she wrote.

Azreena added that the "poor pump attendant will have the $60 deducted off his pay, I'm told".

Netizens were eager to draw a comparison between this case and the BMW incident earlier this year, where the driver had insisted on paying $10 after pumping $135 worth of petrol at a Caltex station in Tampines. He had claimed that he was on the way to trade in his car.

A Facebook post by a witness swiftly went viral, culminating in the driver filing a police report after netizens exposed his identity.

When Shin Min Daily News visited the petrol station on Tuesday (Oct 16), the pump attendant was not on duty.

A joint statement by ExxonMobil and FairPrice to the paper stated that following investigations, the pump attendant was not made to pay the close to $60 difference. They added that such payment disputes are rare, and incidents would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

According to a driver interviewed by the Chinese language daily, one way to prevent similar occurrences is for the driver to input the exact amount that he's willing to pay at the kiosk, either that or the company may consider allowing pump attendants to collect payment before filling up the tank.

candicec@sph.com.sg