Filled with wrong fuel

Street

Street

Street

Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2005
Posts
8,780
Location
Liverpool
I had a problem with my car at the weekend, I was low on fuel so stopped at the pump and put what I thought was diesel in, from the diesel pump. Pulled away and within a few minutes it started juddering and misfiring, then went in to limp mode.

My first thought was that I had put the wrong fuel in, so I checked the receipt and it confirmed I hadn't and that I had used the right stuff so I called the AA and they towed me to the garage.

This morning I got a call from the garage saying I've put petrol in even though my receipt says diesel! Is this possible? Some sort of contamination of the tanks? What are my chances of any comeback on Tesco to pay the £400 bill I've got to sort it out?! I've still got the receipt as evidence.
 
I imagine you'll have no chance unless they've had multiple complaints, but it's worth getting in contact with them ASAP before the CCTV is wiped as that should give a clear view of which nozzle you used but again you're going to struggle to prove you didn't then stick unleaded in it somewhere else.
 
If it was indeed Tesco to blame, you won't be the only person to have done this, and they will know that. I suspect, if it was them, you should get a decent outcome reasonably easy. The hard bit, I guess, will be finding the other people who this happened to, to put your cases together. Short of popping something in the local paper.
 
Street said:
I had a problem with my car at the weekend, I was low on fuel so stopped at the pump and put what I thought was diesel in, from the diesel pump. Pulled away and within a few minutes it started juddering and misfiring, then went in to limp mode.

My first thought was that I had put the wrong fuel in, so I checked the receipt and it confirmed I hadn't and that I had used the right stuff so I called the AA and they towed me to the garage.

This morning I got a call from the garage saying I've put petrol in even though my receipt says diesel! Is this possible? Some sort of contamination of the tanks? What are my chances of any comeback on Tesco to pay the £400 bill I've got to sort it out?! I've still got the receipt as evidence.
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Go into that petrol station, ask to see manager. Show him/her receipt and then show them what pump you used. Then show them the bill. see what happens
 
I've been trying to phone them this morning but it just goes through to voicemail.

tom_e said:
I imagine you'll have no chance unless they've had multiple complaints, but it's worth getting in contact with them ASAP before the CCTV is wiped as that should give a clear view of which nozzle you used but again you're going to struggle to prove you didn't then stick unleaded in it somewhere else.
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That's what I thought, but I do have a time stamped receipt, then the AA can provide the time I broke down which was about 5 minutes later.

Seems this isn't the only Tesco to have had problems!
Link
 
Was just going to post...seems ASDA had the same problem also!

They recommend calling their customer service team.
 
I spoke to the main customer service and they said they keep CCTV for 14 days so should be able to prove it, just need to get in contact with the actual store which seems impossible at the moment.
 
Only reason I don't is because I have collected an absolute ton of points at Tesco which have actually added up to a fair bit. But, if they can mess up so bad, then maybe it isn't worth getting points. Do Shell do some sort of clubcard/points thing?
 
This is no more likely to happen at Shell, Tesco, Asda or anywhere else. The pipes are connected to the tanks by the drivers, the drivers are the same human being that deliver expensive fuel as cheap fuel
 
iaind said:
This is no more likely to happen at Shell, Tesco, Asda or anywhere else. The pipes are connected to the tanks by the drivers, the drivers are the same human being that deliver expensive fuel as cheap fuel
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True.

I'm surprised the diesel connector fits the petrol one, would have thought they'd make them different to avoid this type of thing.
 
Well I got through to the store manager, he checked the CCTV and I've definitely picked up the diesel pump and put diesel in. He said they've not had any other complaints about it so not much they can do.
 
Craig321 said:
Only reason I don't is because I have collected an absolute ton of points at Tesco which have actually added up to a fair bit. But, if they can mess up so bad, then maybe it isn't worth getting points. Do Shell do some sort of clubcard/points thing?
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Yep they've got the Shell card.
 
Street said:
Well I got through to the store manager, he checked the CCTV and I've definitely picked up the diesel pump and put diesel in. He said they've not had any other complaints about it so not much they can do.
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But surely with the AA report, CCTV + receipt proving you didn't, that's enough for them to at least pay for the repair cost?
 
Street said:
Well I got through to the store manager, he checked the CCTV and I've definitely picked up the diesel pump and put diesel in. He said they've not had any other complaints about it so not much they can do.
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Don't let them fob you off like that. If it's clear you put the correct fuel in then they're in the wrong.
 
Craig321 said:
True.

I'm surprised the diesel connector fits the petrol one, would have thought they'd make them different to avoid this type of thing.
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The pipes are the same - the tanks and pumps can be changed.

Its been a while since I worked at a petrol station but I used to supervise deliveries - the staff are supposed to check the paperwork to make sure the right tank on the lorry is being connected to the right tank at the station... I think I was the only one who actually bothered double checking, most of the other guys used it as an excuse to go out for a cigarette (seriously).

The funniest is when they have the right fuel, but the wrong tank and there's not enough space - trying to dump 2000L into a tank thats only got 1000L space is interesting... there's hundreds of litres in the hose so you cant just disconnect it, you've got to leave the tanker connected until you sell enough fuel to empty it :D
 
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