Friday, February 12, 2010

Drive-Offs

I don't know why people feel the need to steal gas. If you need to drive that badly, get a job. If you can't find a job, then you shouldn't own a car or be driving. It's that simple. What? You still need to be able to drive your kids around? Hmm, maybe you shouldn't have any kids since you can't afford to pay for your own gas.

We used to have tons of drive-offs back in the day. This was before the whole 'pay before you pump' mantra was invented. Even today, people still get pissed off that they have to pay the cashier inside first before they pump their gas.

One time, I turned the pump on for this guy early on a Sunday morning, around 7am. I figured no one would steal on a Sunday in the morning, too easy to get caught. Well, after awhile, the register binged to let me know the person was done pumping. I look up and see the guy pumping jump into the passenger window just as the car starts to speed off. And with the direction they took to drive off, it was on an angle where I couldn't see their license plate. All I could do was stare and watch as these assholes drove away taking $30.00 in gas. I was so pissed that I didn't sleep that night.

So now, we have rules for turning on the pumps. You have to be a regular customer and if you aren't, you sure as hell better be old and wrinkly enough for me to feel bad and turn the pump on.

If you don't have a front license plate, then you're screwed. If you are wearing a hood and I can't see your face, then pay inside.

The worst is when they take advantage of our mistakes. One time we had a customer come in and give us $10 for gas. We turned on the pump without presetting it. By the time we realized what had happened, he had driven off pumping over $40 in gas. Never came in, never said a word. Just took that good fortune and ran with it.

Yeah, everyone thinks it's a big corporation and they can write it off or something. But you are forgetting that many owners are independent and pay for the use of a big gas name company. So really, you are stealing from the little guy.

4 comments:

  1. I would imagine this would be more prevalent in today's economy. I always use my debit card at the pump so I don't have to go inside. I can see how people would be able to job the system. I was at a pump about a month ago when someone took off without paying. I assumed they just used their card like me, until the attendant came outside upset.

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  2. Yeah, sometimes a lot of people try to fool the system and swipe their drivers license at the pump so they can pretend to pay at the pump. If a cashier isn't paying attention and turns on the pump, if they are busy and that person drives away, looking it up on the security cameras will make it seem like that person tried a card so that if they get caught by the police it won't look like they deliberately tried to get free gas.

    There are so many ways that people try to get free gas.

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  3. I love the idea of this blog, getting your perspective. :) Keep it up!

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