It can happen to anyone to have a misunderstanding with the owner of the petrol station, especially when this unpleasant situation arises. Luckily, there is a process for getting your money back.
When you go to the distributor, you do it for to spend moneyoften very much given the prices of petrol and diesel which have only recently seen a progressive and timid decline. However, there is a case in which it is the gas station attendant who has to give you your money back, especially if you know the law well and know how to assert your rights. Don’t be caught unprepared, read our guide on how to get your money back from the distributor.
It can happen…
To refuel to your caras long as it isn’t an electric car or hybrid, it is the most common thing in the world and millions of Italians pull up to the petrol pump every day to fill up with diesel. Sometimes, however, unpleasant situations can occur which, especially in this case, can lead you to have a heated discussion with the person in charge of the place, if you have not been careful and far-sighted.
We will not talk today about the scams that some gas stations – a minority of dishonest people – implement to screw you and with the precise intention of harming you: in this case, we are talking about a misunderstanding that is very easy to encounter if you don’t know that this thing can happen normally and that there are ways to prove the problem and immediately receive a refund that evens things out with the petrol pump.
And the petrol?
This can happen especially at a self-service gas station that you create a discrepancy between the money you paid and the amount of fuel you actually managed to put in the tank: there are many circumstances that can lead to this unpleasant situation. The most frequent is a fault with the pump or the delivery system, the least common is that the petrol has actually run out.
In these cases, what should you do? At the moment unfortunately there is not much you can do if the petrol pump is empty and there is no one member of staff to turn to, especially if it is night time and you have stopped for a moonlight refueling: one thing you must do immediately is to collect the receipt certifying the payment. We’ll need it shortly.
If they don’t pay you, they risk big
Once the tax ticket has been collected, you simply have to return to the petrol station with it and talk to the owner, showing evidence of what you say. If the receipt is not issued, a very unpleasant situation is created and you will have to have another way to prove that the correct amount of petrol has not been paid for the money spent. Having a witness or photos from the gas attendant’s monitor might help.
Now in normal conditions the manager of the petrol pump will proceed with the refund or simply will provide you with a voucher equivalent to the excess expenditure you have made shortly before valid for a new supply and everything will be fine. However, it could rarely happen that a petrol station owner refuses to believe you or worse still does not want to proceed with the refund. What to do in these cases?
Don’t worry, the law protects you, as long as you can prove what happened to you with photos, receipts or witnesses. Or maybe with a combination of these three things together. Article 646 of the Penal Code is very clear on this: “Anyone who appropriates the money or property of others for personal gain risks a fine of up to 3,000 euros and imprisonment of up to 5 years”. Do not, you know how to do it if you are bullied at the distributor.
