Are you getting all the petrol you pay for?

Petrol retailers are required by law to ensure a relatively small margin of error at the pump, but some drivers may find they get significantly less than they paid for. Confused.com’s Stephen Jones explains all...

When filling up at the pump, you probably assume that the amount of fuel you pay for is exactly the amount you’re getting. In fact, this isn’t always the case.

Petrol stations in the UK are legally required to dispense fuel within a certain margin of that advertised. Each pump should be calibrated and regularly tested to dispense up to 10ml extra per litre and a maximum of 5ml less (amounting to around a teaspoon).

While this margin is perhaps nothing to lose sleep over, it is not unknown for pumps to occasionally deliver outside this tolerance by as much as 10 per cent, and even a small variance can see you losing out big time when filling up a whole tank.

So how do you know if you’re being ripped off at the pumps? This is the hard bit, and don’t they know it.

One thing you could do is measure out exactly 10 litres by pouring it into canisters first. The price should be exactly 10 times that advertised on the pump – if the cost is more than 0.5 per cent (5ml per 1000ml (1 litre) = 0.5 per cent) over that then you’re legally entitled to be compensated.

However, this method is an awful lot of bother, with plenty of scope for human error. So I’m opening it up to you – can you think of a better way of catching the petrol stations out? Call me paranoid, but it bothers me that maybe, just maybe, petrol giants all over the country are getting away with ripping us off without our knowledge.

If you have any ideas, let us know about them - we and lots of others would be interested in your thoughts.

And if you can prove you’re being done at the pumps, then you can take the complaint to the Trading Standards Institute which  is in charge of monitoring petrol calibration. Any queries or complaints can be directed to it via the Consumer Direct hotline on 08454 04 05 06.

Have you ever lost out at the petrol pump? Got any ideas for beating the petrol giants? We want to hear from you. Comment below and share your views.

Comments

[Clive Mercer]

Who does the calibration of the petrol pumps? Trading Standards? If the pumps are calibrated regular then a calibration certificate should be raised or some form or records kept. I feel this should be posted in the petrol station for all to see how the pumps are performing and dispensing. Then if anyone wishes to check then do so. Sounds a simple way to me. Also if you feel you are being short changed then go to Trading Standards and they have measure to check what is being dispensed etc and if wrong then they will let you know and possibly take the relevant Station to a prosecution.
Thats my thoughts on this matter
All the best

Clive

[Phil]

What a waste of space of an article :/

[Alex]

I used to own a filling station and heartily agree that there are some unscrupulous businesses out there, after saying that..all filling stations are required by law to have their pumps checked at least bi-annually by the trading standards weights and measures dept, so they should be reasonably accurate. If you think for a second that you've been shortchanged contact their local office and they'll send an inspector to measure the pump output. There are stiff fines and a spot in the press for offenders.

[Ads]

Its all very well saying let anyone test this, and I am more for getting compensation or ensuring we get the petrol we pay for, but if everyone starts measuring their petrol the queues will be even bigger and this will likely to cause much grief between customers.

[Thomas Sharman]

Yes I agree, I have often thought that when I have put 10 Litres in at certain garages it has not gone as far as other garages that I have done the same. Also I have for some time, and would go as far as to say, some years. wondered what that Point Nine?? is at the end of the price IE- £1.15.9. And it always appers as and when there is a price increase, or price decrease. Although it does not seem much but by the end of the day if you add up the amount of motorist's that have visited that or any other garage, mounts up quite significantly!!!

Thomas

[mr trend]

i heard that tempreture can have an effect on the ammount of fuel you get at the pump,ie cold fuel takes up less space, and the .9 should be done away with it,s gone on for far to long.

[Graham]

Thomas - The distance you travel on 10 litres of fuel can vary due to the quality of the fuel, which is not uniform. The supermarket fuels do not necessarily have the same additives as branded fuel. (Of course that all assume that you can really drive in a uniform manner and the car is in the same state for the comparison.)

[Hay Jay]

A guy was telling my mom how he knew he had been ripped off for fuel because he knew he had a 30l tank and the tank had a quarter or so left in it, when he filled up it was reading he put 30 litres in, he complained about it and the guy in the petrol sation implied he didn't knew nothing, however when they guy said i'm going to call trading standards the guy in the petrol sation said just go (without paying!) just goes to show that it definatly is happening! the point 9 is very odd, i noticed in Spain and probably other countries, they have point 3 and things like that, never always point 9! it's trickery to make you think it is cheaper than it is, like items at 99 pence, it's to make you think it's cheaper but it is still really £1!!!

[keith]

i for one know it to be true.simple way is fill up,reset mileage clock,drive till fuel light comes on.repeat the said method,alternating petrol stations with same price and bingo,there is a tenner difference.one might say this is rare,a one off but i assure you it is not.i have tried this method for three years.thus i go to one garage only,still reset my mileage clock

[Barry Giles]

I stopped at a Texaco recently, Just as I pulled the trigger the display read £1.39!!
there was no way that over 1 litre of fuel had entered my tank, the attendant was not interested in my complaint, he just said that his pumps worked very fast. I was not going to argue with him for the sake of £1.39p so I left and will never go there again. The pump station won this time, its far too easy for this to happen every so often, I wish I could make that amount of profit for nothing!!

[Caveat Emptor]

I once noticed at a petrol station whereby the prices for premium and standard grade were reversed. Most cost concious consumers automatically go for the standard grade but in this case they were being charged a premium rate... needless to say i filled up with premium. Caveat Emptor... buyer beware

[Jan]

I would not rely on the fuel gauge of a car to be that accurate but it is ok as a rough guide. Weights and measures will attend at a site if a complaint is made but if the site requests the pump check then they have to pay per grade and per pump, so when you complain to weights and measures most genuine sites are happy to have the pumps checked for free. The aggravating part is that all the tested fuel has to be returned to the originating tank and plenty of paperwork done. Most pump engineers will try to set the pump up at what they call STRIKE which is near enough dead on or just below depending on how many cups of tea you make them. If the meter in a pump is changed it has to be checked by W&M before it is open to the public. Temperature can make a difference to the amount of fuel but this does not normally cause a problem as it is stored underground and therefore cool so in theory when gets into your tank on a nice warm sunny day it would in fact expand slightly and therefore you have more in your tank. Meters can go wrong in pumps and can give a short measure and they can also I have known them to give too much. One note to add, always take the nozzle out and wait for the pump motor to run before you squeeze the trigger, this way you know that the pump has started at zero, its very easy to just pull out the nozzle and squeeze then look round seconds later to see several pounds on the clock.

[Digby]

Get a life folks, use the cheapest mainstream supplier, BP, Shell Esso and Jet, forget the cheap supermarkets, they are just putting the little garages out of business, like they have the local butcher, baker and fishmonger.

If you want to get further on a litre of fuel, drive at night in fog or mist, fill the tank early in the morning when the temperature of the fuel is low and avoid a fuel station that has just been filled up as you may get condensation. and the most important thing of all is to check your tyre pressures are correct.

[Colin]

In 40 years of motoring and over one million miles driven in the UK, I've never once seen a trading standards person checking a petrol (or diesel) pump. I also have to assume that someone who knows their way around a fuel pump woud be able to calibrate it to show more fuel than it actually pumps.

[Katrina Conn]

My tank was virtually empty but the warning light had not been activated. I put £5 fuel in at a local supermarket. As I drove away the warning light came on! I didn't think it was worth complaining, but I'll certainly think about it if it happens again.

[Stephen Boraston]

We all know what our tanks capacity is but when you fill up with 5ltrs more than your tank has capacity for and you did'nt push your car into the forecourt it makes you think????? this is very much like having a pint of beer, when poured and left to settle you can be short changed by quite a considerable amount! One thing for sure we as customers never win! When the price of barrels of oil drops there is a very slow time weeks sometimes until the pumps lower their prices but when it goes up they display their new prices almost instantly having paid for the fuel in their underground tanks at a reduced price, simple...We get totally ripped off all the time....Think I'm going to be sick now!!!!

[Mrs Margaret Watson]

Has any one found a pump that starts at 1p or 2p or three pence yet. When you press tricker very slowly it jumps to a preset figure. The best pump I found has starting point 5p most start at 8p up to 12p. Next time you fill up look carefully and press the filler tricker very slowly for first figure and let us all know where the pumps are that start at 1p if you fine any.

[Kenneth Fontana.]

My wife used to work for the weights and measures department of the county authority and she would go out on a regular basis with the weights and measures officer to check virtually everything including petrol pumps. They would check for a fast delivery and a slow delivery and sometimes there would be a difference. Added to this, I do not think it is possible for a garage proprietor to fix modern pumps. These, I think are set and sealed by the engineers.

What does irritate me a little is that at a local Esso station it is virtually impossible to fill up with an even amount of money without the pump moving up 1p. I have noticed that the price moves up 2p at a time on occasions and I know that with the ruinously high rate of fuel tax, you have to be quick on the trigger but sometimes after I have released the handle, the price goes up by another 1p. I have pointed this out but the management is not interested.

On another note, it is virtually impossible to check mpg accurately during ordinary motoring. Just think of the variables, wind direction and strength, road surface and condition, tyre pressures wear and makes, engine condition and temperature, weight of passengers and boot contents, car condition, eg wheel bearings and brakes, amount of petrol in the fuel tank, driving technique, outside air temperature, hills, traffic conditions and hold ups, fuel gauge variations, driving speed, length of journey and I am sure there are more.

Generally, we can only get a rough idea of mpg in order to compare fuels and I wonder if it is worth the effort unless we spot a sudden big variation.

More importantly, I feel we should press for a reduction in fuel tax which is about 70p per litre! I understand that petrol retailers work on margins of only a few pence per gallon that is why there are so few about outside the supermarkets.

There seems to be an attitude among the Great and the Good that somehow "The Motorist" is an anti social animal (except for them of course) and should be hampered at every turn. This is not true. The "motorist" went out many years ago. He was a man, with or without his lady, who enjoyed the sheer exhilaration of driving along the countryside with little or no impedance. Today we have travellers in cars who want to get from a to b as quickly as possible and without hassle.

The last government was moving us towards a society where we were expected to stay put or walk or wait hours for a bus or train. The idea of being an independent traveller was anathema to them.

As Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." And although I do not identify our politicians with evil, I do think they are selfish, ignorant of the real world and real life, unhelpful and self centred monsters, in the main I should add.

The A.A. and the R.A.C. and other motoring organisations should wake up and defend those whose requirement is to travel by car around and about this country.

[alan]

there is only one party that does the ripping off -- THE GOVERNMENT just add up the taxes

[deborah dunne]

lol i cant believe this i think yea we might be ripped of a little but like its said we might be best looking at how many time we can be taxed i mean were taxed whn we get our pay then there is vat thats a tax on everthing i mean how many times are they allowed to tax us bet if it is worked out we pay more taxes than we buy maybe someone should be talking and doing something about this good look

[Brett]

Run your car as close to empty as you dare and then fill it up. Inside your owners manual will be tank capacity. How close are you?
Here in Canada it was especially handy when I was in the united states - we use litres only not gallons - and I was asked how many gallons I needed.
Anyway, as for the comment above about putting in £5 and having the gas light turn on, of course it did. You put in a miniscule amount of petrol in the tank! Be thankful, I can put in 20 litres on my American work van and it won't go off. Even if you have thirty five mpg from your car £5 only goes another thirty or so miles, and therefore you're still low.
Anyway. I filled up the tank on my Volvo from near dead empty and I had a problem. The attendant was helpful but couldn't do much. The gas station company was apologetic later after I brought it to their attention. That pump was off and my reward was a $100 gas card. It happens. It's not always unscrupulous merchants.

[Roger Ranson]

I live and work in the heart of the country so have no choice but to use a car or some other motor vehicle as I have to travel 22 miles each way to work, and there is no public transport especially at night (when I go to work). My main gripe is WHY is petrol different prices through out the country. They can very as much as 3 t 5 pence per ltr. for the same brand, within a 20 mile radius so why is this??? shortly petrol should cost the same through out the mainland at least. It can't cost more to transport or produce twenty mile apart. You can't say independent retailers as most pump prices are dictated by the petrol company, and it also varies as much town to town with the super markets, and in large towns from area to area.Like Bournemouth, here on the south cost.Anyone got the answer? other than making more money where they can!!!

[Malcolm Ross]

The comment that " Supermarket fuels do not have the same additives " is incorrect. When the large oil companies tried to fight off the supermarkets at the pumps by saying that the fuel did not carry the additives the delivery tanker drivers metered in additives at the delivery point.
One supermarket did once have an issue in the southeast when contaminated fuel was dispensed and customers were compensated accordingly.
What they don't pay for is the research & development etc that the oil companies undertake at their labs.

However, some supermarkets are also the oil companies largest customers.

[Matt]

My Word, we are a paranoid lot aren't we?

If it's completely evident your being ripped off, sure, file a complaint, but if you think you may be being overcharged by 50p, for goodness sake, get a life!

I'm all for consumer power, but I'm massively against this countries 'culture of complaining' for the sake of it. Get the facts verified first, before sending people off into yet another panic about something which more than likely is an *exceptionally* rare occurrence.

Has it ever occurred to you that Petrol stations struggle to make a living?

Yep, the big fuel giants get the lions share of all profits. Your local petrol station certainly doesn't.

If you think your being ripped off, vote with your feet, simply don't visit the petrol station again and use word of mouth to tell your family and friends.

It's not rocket science folks...

The sad fact is, *true* consumer power - the kind that hits at the real perpetrators of fraud (in this case, the fuel giants & government tax on fuel) - requires massive public outcry, something this country seems to have stopped doing.

[Stephen Murray]

My vehicle has a 42L Fuel Tank Capacity.I filled my tank with petrol from Morrisons,Stoke. In order to fill the tank the pump continued until 48.07Litres was dispensed. I had already put 4.27L in at Tesco,Kidsgrove earlier that morning and then travelled approximately 16 miles before arriving at Morrisons,Stoke to fill up. The vehicle tends to perform at an average of around 8.8 miles per litre. From these figures, I would expect to have used around 2L of fuel during the day. Therefore, assuming the tank was completely empty on that morning, 4.27L and 48.07L went into the tank and around 2L was used, resulting in around 50.3L in the 42L tank following the fill up at Morrisons,Stoke. I do generally let the car run to almost empty then fill it up and therefore have a good idea of how much the tank actually holds. For example,I filled up a couple of weeks before at Morrisons in Knutton and the amount required to fill the tank then was 40.39L.
Having contacted the Petrol Manager at Morrisons, Stoke, he suggested that I contact Trading Standards, who would come out and have the pump checked over. He seemed to think that the last required annual check was carried out around October/November 2009, but Trading Standards would have the records anyway.
One point I did notice on filling the car at Morrisons,Stoke was that when I brought the nozzle to the car, an unusual amount of petrol came out of the nozzle. Having spoken to Petrol Manager, he said it was likely to be residue in the nozzle from the previous customer. Although this was more significant than an odd drip that I may have noticed before, this amount could still not have been more than about 100ml. Also at this point the nozzle trigger had not been touched and the pump had not started and the amount delivered was still showing Zero on the pump. As there was no visible leakage or signs of petrol on the floor and my car is still running fine, I have serious doubts as to the operation of this pump.
With this discrepancy of around 8L, this has left me around £9 out of pocket. I have written to consumer direct who said they would pass the information to trading standard and I have also written to Morrisons over 1 month ago and still received no reply from any.