Rising fuel prices: More and more drivers are leaving petrol stations without paying – Réunion la 1ère
Fuel prices at gas stations in Reunion are still increasing. More and more drivers do not hesitate to leave without paying. They have a sophisticated technique that the stations are trying to fight.
“One, okay”. Upon confirmation from the cashier into a microphone, the gas station attendant can let his customer go. In this Saint-Denis station, as in other stations on Réunion, surveillance is being stepped up.
“I watch the customer from start to finish, explains Jean-Cédric, pump attendant for 23 years. I check that he regulates his fuel well and not just a pack of cigarettes. It’s a team effort because there are people who play smart.”
Reunion’s gas stations are redoubling their vigilance. With the constant rise in fuel prices, pump fraud is on the rise. Motorists do not hesitate to leave without paying. A technique seems to be widespread and established.
Check out the report from Réunion La 1ère:
Rising fuel prices are suffocating motorists. Some do not hesitate to refuel without paying. The technology is well established and worries petrol station managers
While the gas station attendant fills up the car, the customer pretends to go to the checkout to pay the bill. In reality, he just buys a pack of cakes, cigarettes, or some other inexpensive item before quietly heading to his car.
Gas stations are looking for solutions to combat these scams. “It’s teamwork between the gas station attendants outside and the cashiers inside, we communicate, we make signs,” explains Jonathan, a gas station attendant. Sometimes it is more complicated when the number of visitors is higher.
“We are vigilant at the gas station and set up controls explains Jean-Thierry Le Gros, vice-president of the Syndicat des Gérants de Stations-Services. For example, customers must present their payment receipt to the attendant to prove they have paid their full amount.”. according to him “It is also the vigilance of the pump attendants that will make it possible to contain this phenomenon”.
A phenomenon that is not from yesterday, according to Jean-Thierry Le Gros, deputy chairman of the Union of petrol station managers.
“Lack of purchasing power and difficult situations for everyone are not a new problem”believes Jean-Thierry Le Gros.
