another thing that is making this issue worse is the up and down price of fuel price and which they maipulate to their favour.the fuel stations most times dont care to align the current fuel price with their meters.i think the authorities in charge should look into these ugly developments.

happened to me n ma bro at igando. there is this conoil fuel station some minutes drive from the main park, sold to a bike and keg and went ahead to dispense fuel in the vehicle but thought we were carried away cos we talking but we told him what he did and he began to plead. don't know what people in naija are turning to.

Looks like its Mobil 4rm now on

It doesn't matter whether its Mobil, Oando, Texaco or Divine oil, , this is a trick that works for them. My precautions are as follows but not limited to these.

1. When you drive into a filling station beware of unusually friendly attendants,
2. If your car fuel tank cover is locked via ignition or you have to release via switch, step out of the vehicle before you release the lock. Give a few seconds delay and don't allow the attendant open it before you and probably insert the fuel spout, they will not clear the meter before refilling.
3. Beware of attendants who try to sell you products at the pump as soon as you arrive, they might be trying to distract you from the last pump reading.
4. Watch out if motorbike (Okada) just bought fuel before you, you may have N100 or up to N300 added to your fuel bill, the attendants may not clear their pump reading.
5. Watch out for attendants who ask you to park on the opposite side to the reading pump meter, they may not tell you what they are doing till they are through and make you pay more. Always ask which meter is recording on the pump you are filling from, and see that the meter is cleared before you okay the attendant to serve you.
6. watch out for meters that read lesser digits for more. e.g. 10.00 meaning N1000. if you are buying below N1000 they may just make you pay N700 for N70 fuel.
7. Always try to make your gauge a reference to what has been filled in your tank and check before you pay or drive off. (ignore those horn crazy drivers behind you).

One of the problems with our fuel system is the fact that it is still a cash system. Some big stations should begin to have separate pumps with electronic card system, it could be special cards offered by the marketers themselves and used in their stations. This will save motorists a lot of money from lost change and also reduce fraud.
Its is clear that station mangers only read the pumps and ask the attendants to account for the sales per liter, in this case all left over change is the attendant's pocket juice. This is the root of all pump evil.

I had such painful experience twice, both at different TOTAL stations. The first was at Kaduna, this guy just sold to few motorcycles and when he turned to me, he pointed at my door and said 'welcome sir'. I looked at the door nd quickly looked back at him when I culdn't find any link btwn d door nd what he said. I read d meter, it was on 14 litres in less dan 7 seconds, I smiled inside me, nd made sure he filled up my tank. Then I made him realise that it was evil to take your fellow human for a fool, I did this by not paying a kobo. He culdn't deny, nd wasn't sorry for the act. I actualy created a scene. What pissed me off d most was d fact that dis attendant ws an Igbo boy - trying to play on my inteligence in KADUNA. (Inaaa!) My second experince was almost same trick by a female TOTAL attendant this was in Kwara state. After ensuring that my tank was full, I made her realise wat she did, she started insulting me, I walked straight to d manager, she actualy ran to me nd fell on her knees apologising. I felt sorry for her returned to d car, paid her & zoomed off. Why do most Nigerian beleive in making it by cheating?

wow!!, good thread.but u guys 4got the simplest n oldest trick of all, bad dispensing meter.the only way to catch them is 2 buy with a gerry can, cos once u pump straight into ur car, u wont notice it, [unless u hv a new model bmw that has a digital fuel meter, wonder y all car makers wudnt switch 2 digital??!!]
there is an AP STATION near my place, they sell at N65 but the guage is way off, a 10ltr can is filled up at 17ltrs!!!, so at the end of the day its beta u buy at the independent marketer that sell N85 but with good guage that that AP hwere 10lts = 17ltrs,
God save us all

1

Thanx for the info ut it is not new,

I am always a step ahead of those attendants. I always make sure they have the meter reset to zeros b4 they dispense.

i discovered it happens in all filling stations. a filling station (oando)in mokola cele area of ibadan is an exception.anybody dat lives around dat area can testify to this.a station worth emulating.almost every motorist in ibadan knows this particular station.

the free for all pricing of fuel is actually playing into the hands of these shylock fuel attendants

There's a fuel attendant staying in a friends BQ, who could easyly pass for a high profile white collar job consultant from the looks of his apartment, I now know how. If you buy in Jerries for your generator, say 10 liters, ask for 12 and pay for 12 instead of asking them to fill it up, they will charge u for 2 extra liters which u don't get.

To be very frank, the black marketers of fuel are the only people that will give you the actual amount of fuel that you asked for, since it is measured in visible jerry cans.

you'll be surprised that even the black market guys have a way of fleecing unsuspecting customers too.

I sincerely hope that naija would improve one day. Here in Malaysia u fill ur tank ur self after paying the amount u want to the cashiers. So the fuel attendants don't even collect money and they don't need to fill up ur tank, u can do it ur self. This way, cheating is reduced.

nice thread!we all have been cheated but DPR is out now to stop short dispencing and other vices. i believe in nigeria.

pritypeety, honestly i can't wait for the day when we can drive into any filling station here in naija and just fill up by ourselves! 

after reading this post yesterday i promised myself that no 1 wil fall my hand again. then 2day after queueing for like 4hrs 2get my tank filled i drov into a filing st.
i saw a bike man already behind me arguing with the attendant. b4 i could adjust my car they started filling my tank because they know i buy full tank every satday.the way i jumped to the meter got all the attendants startled and they started xplainin 2me that they actually wiped the meter and i watched and saw it my self including customers confirmed that they wiped the meter because i cant take any more shit from this attendants and they saw it in my eyes too.

I'm actually tired of this country.

Well mine was this, i told d attendant i needed 3500 NAIRA fuel she pumped till she got 2 five hundred n b4 i culd talk she had wiped off d meter n was askin 4 her money. i then told her i never asked 4 five hundred NAIRA fuel by then she knew i understood her trick for short amount of fuel a lot of air gets in b4 d fuel starts goin in by d time we had argued she gave me d 3thousand bal m sure she took out 3hundred NAIRA cos d fuel i got wasn't more than 3200 NAIRA

@santakris, Cameroun isnt too far.

My 2 cents. Anytime you want to buy fuel at the station. Dont open your fuel tank until you have placed your order. The attendants are just like your average policeman. they are after what they can get off you.

^^^^^^

Re: Beware Of This Fuel Sales Attendants Tricks
« #31 on: February 19, 2010, 10:06 PM » 

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This is really serious oh . . . .  how come the gas stations aint doing anything about this.

Because all at the gas stations are involved. They collaborate towards this cheating. When you
complain to the duty manager, he will come up with what he knows you want to hear but the truth
is that he collects his share of the loot at closing time. As such the attendant acts with confidence knowing
that if they are caught they are not liable to disciplinary measures. Corruption in Nigeria is everywhere.

ADVICE,

When buying fuel, never tell the attendant the actual amount or liter you intent buying.
Tell him/her to keep selling or fill up. When you get to the actual liter, tell him/her to stop or stop at XXXX amount or XXXX liter.
If you tell them the actual liter or amount, like N500. they just input like N300 or N400 and start selling, at a point, the nozzle will sound , n and they tell you that's N500. It's a lie,
PLS BEWARE, especially oando, and this independent marketers.

The bottomline is to step out of your car and observe the gauge. Chikena!

that corruption reigns in these filling stations is an understatement. don't be surprised that those skimpy clad girls may also have found various ways to rip off their employers themselves by inflating sales and keeping the change for themselves!

Please who can tell me how much exactly I am expected to pay or tip the pump attendant if i am buying petrol in jerrycan for my generator. per size of can. Because you usually are expected to pay the attendant first before he makes the actual sale no matter the pump price.

4 ltrs ======
10 ltrs======
20 ltrs======
25 ltrs======


etc etc

?

How come this issue is just coming up I have had this experience since 2006 when I dey naija. . . . Just pay attention to the attendant and the pump when you get to the station he or she would try to distract you by telling you stories or asking after your day just be sure u dont flinch a bit. . .  and make sure the attendant doesnt start dispensing until u get outta your car and you are by your gas tank. . . . The funny thing is that some of the station managers are even in on the runs. . . .

Well expect them to come up with a new trick once they know everyone is aware of this though. . . .

conoil filling station at college road attendants are fraudsters they are ripping motorist off by cheating with the gauge, then they tell you it is not working, Conoil College road Ogba Managers take note!!

this is very bad.
most attendant are cheats. one should be careful.