Bowser Price Change Woe

dani1ada on 08/03/2022 - 23:19

Due to reasons and essentially running down to $20 cash for the week (long story, payroll correction). I stopped at a servo to fill exactly $20.

I literally had a $20 note to make me to the end of the week until I get another proper pay. I planned to fill $20.

I start to pump and it runs for a few seconds. The pump stops itself and I look to the operator. He calls out ti hang the pump up and wait. I see big letters on the pump PRICE UPDATE.

I hang it up and wait for a thumbs up about 40 seconds later.

I put it pump back in the car and start to pump again, going on slow mode to creep up to $20 and hit it on the mark. Not even 0.02 rounding in my favour.

I go to pay and it’s $27.50! Apparently the hang up reset the counter but still charges!

Why push out and update resetting the pump so I can’t see the two ‘sessions’ charge?

I argued a little as I literally had $20 and $2 on my card. I told him report it as a fail to pay…

He proceeds to pay the $7.50 himself which makes me feel terrible but there’s nothing I can do!

I will go back to balance him, but it seems very confusing! The pump said $20 as I walked away but his screen had two sessions.

He said I should know it ‘resets’ but I had no idea. How can I pay a charge if that bowser doesn’t tell me both ‘sessions’ added up!

Automotive Fuel

Comments

  • Hybroid on 08/03/2022 - 23:45
    -2

    Not sure if you're new to driving but no fuel pump bowser aggregates multiple fills. Soon as you hang up the nozzle and take it out again it resets. Even if you do 2 fill-ups yourself normally one after the other straight away.

    • Chandler on 09/03/2022 - 08:50

      In my experience they usually ask if you had multiple fills (when they see there's multiple fills on the pump), but in OP's case the staff at the servo likely just added both fillings as they knew they were both theirs.

  • AdosHouse on 08/03/2022 - 23:47
    +10

    Had any fuel started coming out before the price update.

    Legally I have no idea, but as far as I'm concerned, the price per litre when I pick up the handle is an offer, and me physically transferring the fuel is acceptance.

    • Chandler on 09/03/2022 - 08:43
      +4

      Unless things have changed since I worked at a servo (which tbf was 15+ years ago) they cannot increase the price at the pump on you. At the very least it's false advertising.

      Protocol when I was working a servo was to update the signage first, and once all cars or at least all cars that had come in prior to the updated signage had cleared the yard I could update pricing at the pumps. So you could have some customers that pull in at an advertised price but actually get it cheaper because the pumps hadn't been updated yet, but never having pumps higher than the advertised price. Inverse protocol for decreasing price: update pumps then signage. Pumps couldn't be updated whilst in use, and we never updated pumps that had been used but not paid for (not sure if we even could).

      Again, this was an independent servo ages ago, so things have likely changed (especially the software side) but I imagine the protocols are the same, as they shouldn't be charging you more than the advertised price (pretty sure FairTrading and the ACCC would have some words for the servo if they did). If you pulled in with signage at 104.5 cpl then you pay that or less.

      • shoppe on 09/03/2022 - 10:20

        OP didn't say if the price went up or down. I guess an offer price is for a limited time and/or amount. I guess the time is until the price changes.
        I've heard that a console operator is made to pay if someone doesn't pay for their fuel. How is that legal?

        • AdosHouse on 09/03/2022 - 13:25

          It's not legal and I'm sure that head office would not look too kindly upon in. But I wouldn't be surprised if it happens because a lot of servos are franchises.

      • Zeph101 on 09/03/2022 - 17:54

        When i was working at Woolies servo many years ago, we would update the boards about an hour before the bowser was updated.

        Was a bit chaotic when it was 1 person on duty and 15+ cars on the forecourt waiting to either pay or start pumping.

        The amount of times I got abused for doing so for
        A) the wait;
        B) putting the price up when they couldn't change their mind.

        they usually calmed down when i said the price on the pump hadn't changed and won't for about an hour

  • dani1ada on 08/03/2022 - 23:50

    Yeah, because that pump ran for about 3 seconds and stopped. Updated and must have resumed from zero.

    • AustriaBargain on 09/03/2022 - 01:14
      -1

      $7.50 worth of fuel in 3 seconds? That's like 1.5 litres a second or whatever. Are you sure you didn't actually pump it for at least 8 seconds, giving you more like 0.5 litres a second.

      • Keplaffintech on 09/03/2022 - 09:50
        +1

        I can't stand bowsers that are that slow. If I happen to fill at one I make a note to never use it again. My local servo is cheap and fills at probably around 1.5L/s

  • avoidfullprice on 08/03/2022 - 23:54

    He said I should know it ‘resets’ but I had no idea. How can I pay a charge if that bowser doesn’t tell me both ‘sessions’ added up!

    Look he paid for you, acknowledged you had no idea.

    I think the stress you under with no rainy day buffer is affecting your pride in this matter. Because you would have just fill up the tank anyway and move on with your life.

    This really have nothing to do with Bowser update resets being common knowledge or not.

  • ozhunter on 09/03/2022 - 00:14

    I told him report it as a fail to pay…

    Let them know you don't have the money on you and they allow you to pay on another day.

    • Chandler on 09/03/2022 - 08:48
      +3

      That's not the issue.

      It's like going to the fruit shop / supermarket to buy a kg of apples and at the register they weigh 1/4 of them, price them at $x per kg, then weigh the other 3/4 of them and price them at $x+y per kg, because they changed the price of apples whilst they were in the process of weighing them at the register.

      Not sure what the servo's protocol is, but IMO it shouldn't include making customers stop fuelling so that they can charge them more for petrol - because I'd be happy to bet you they weren't decreasing the price (they would have waited for OP to finish fueling for that!)

      • Muzeeb on 09/03/2022 - 09:24
        +1

        That's like comparing apples to oranges petrol

      • shoppe on 09/03/2022 - 10:24

        How do you know they didn't reduce the price? Chances are the console operator doesn't own the petrol station, so why not lower the price ASAP. Makes customers happy.

    • Zeph101 on 09/03/2022 - 17:57

      Most cashiers don't have an issue with somebody coming in to the shop and admitting that they can't pay.

      you generally fill out some forms, etc.

      its the drive offs that most cashiers get the shits with

  • gmail92 on 09/03/2022 - 00:24
    +5

    Seems like a pretty numpty thing to price change on you half fill lol.

  • Diji1 on 09/03/2022 - 01:00
    +3

    I think it's reasonable that he paid, you came in expecting a price and it was changed mid-transaction.

  • AustriaBargain on 09/03/2022 - 01:16
    +1

    You should consider a credit card too for things like this. Pay your credit card balance each month and you won't be charged any interest, and if you ever need to carry a balance for an extra month then the interest will be only small anyway. Better than going hungry or stressing about not having enough to pay for fuel if you pump too much.

  • Iwantthebestprice on 09/03/2022 - 01:24
    +10

    I worked at a servo a long time ago when Quix Mobile was still a thing, and I can assure you he paid because you were in the right.
    You pay the price you see when you arrive at the pump, this is as per ACCC rules. At Quix when there was a price change, and it went up, we had to always change the price but there was steps:
    Change the outside boards and signs
    Then change price internally on the register
    Anyone filling up pays the old price and the new price only takes affect when the pump is picked up new
    I would of left the $20 and drove of and said if you don’t like it call the 👮‍♀️ because you have done nothing wrong

    • RockyRaccoon on 09/03/2022 - 07:42
      +3

      Likewise when I did time at Coles Express exactly the same process.

      I am sure Quix would have also been the same, when price went down, then it was in reverse. Change pump price, then change sign. No one will complain if they pay less.

      While my service at Coles was some time ago, changing prices wasnt done while people were pumping. Which is why the operator had to stop the pumps from working.

      Also when the price went up on the boards, the patronage dropped quite quickly so it was easy to wait to make the change.

      Technically they can change the price at anytime. Like in the middle of a fill. They do this, like what happened here. By stopping the fill and asking the customer to put the hose back on the pump. Then they reset the price and the customer can continue to purchase at this new price if they so desire.

      The problem is that not everyone, as in the ops case will realise that these are now 2 seperate transactions. Ideally the operator should advise that this is the case. Not everyone will understand this. Thats why the price cant be changed while the pump is operating.

      Obviously not an issue, unless like in the op's case they are filling to $ figure. An odd issue.

      As for operator taking money out of their pocket, that seems a little strange. I wouldn't work for a company that forced you do do this. I wouldnt be surprised if the operator was just trying to con op into feeling guilty. (then takes money back out of till and just notes that it was a change price issue) Of course some smaller operators might make staff believe they are responsible, but that's not the OP's responsibility.

    • Chandler on 09/03/2022 - 08:54
      +1

      You pay the price you see when you arrive at the pump, this is as per ACCC rules.

      When I worked at a servo (like you, a long time ago) it was the lower of the two (signage or pump) that was the price customers paid - signage price could never be higher than pump price. We used the same process as you, but if was backwards for price decreases (pumps first then signage) so that customers never had a higher price at the pump than on the sign.

    • JimmyF on 09/03/2022 - 09:49
      +2

      I worked at a servo a long time ago

      and it shows.

      You pay the price you see when you arrive at the pump, this is as per ACCC rules.

      Errr no, You pay the lowest price either the sign out the front or the pump. Whichever is lowest.

      Change the outside boards and signs
      Then change price internally on the register

      Depends, if the price is going up, you have to change the sign first, then wait for all the cars to cycle who entered at the lower price, THEN change the pump price.

      For prices going down, you change the pumps first, then the sign.

  • Iwantthebestprice on 09/03/2022 - 01:31
    +7

    The first line from the ACCC pricing webpage:

    Displaying prices
    Prices displayed by a business must be clear, accurate and not misleading to consumers.

    I don’t think changing price after you have arrived at the bowser and started filling is very fair or legal

    • Chandler on 09/03/2022 - 09:03

      Perfectly fine if the price decreased.

      But annoying for OP as they missed the fact that they still have to pay for the petrol they'd already taken. Although IMO they should have noticed the pump started at zero again and wondered what happened to the $x they'd already put in the car (because with prices at the moment even 3 seconds of pumping is probably ~$5 worth of petrol!)

      • donga100 on 09/03/2022 - 10:38
        +1

        If a customer complained about paying a decreased price the cashier would have just gladly charged them the higher price and pocketed the $7.50 for themselves.

  • Almost Banned on 09/03/2022 - 12:44
    +2

    Here's one thing WA does well.
    Petrol prices are advertised in advance, and fixed for 24 hours.

  • Domingo on 09/03/2022 - 13:42
    +1

    Re: multiple fill sessions, this is actually a useful feature when it is busy. You can fill up, make a note of the volume and total price, move your car forward to one of the car parks and then go inside to pay, to allow a person waiting behind you to fill at that pump. I believe this used to be the norm back in the day. A very courteous thing to do that minimises how long people have to wait at the serveo.

    You then tell the operator the pump number and the amount of fuel to ensure they charge you for the right amount.

  • dani1ada on 09/03/2022 - 13:45
    +3

    Funny thing with this is both transactions had the same cents/L price! I guess maybe he was updating different fuel?

    Either way, this petrol station was dead at the time. Why force an update through whilst I’m pumping?

    When I said I was confused as I walked away from a bowser that says $20 and not $27 he carried on with the story ‘what do you think we make on petrol?’ / ‘who you think you are and can not pay it all’.

    As I stated, I did not notice it wound back to zero as he said. I was in a rush on the way home topping up to cover reserve until my pay gets sorted tomorrow.

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