A BMW Driver Walked Away With A Full Tank Of Petrol For SGD10. Here's All You Need To Know
Caltex Singapore announced that they are also investigating the incident.
By Jia Vern Tham — 16 Apr 2018, 02:41 PM
On 14 April, an elderly pump attendant working at a Caltex petrol kiosk in Tampines, Singapore was accused by a customer for mistakenly refilling a full tank of petrol for his BMW
A witness to the incident wrote in a Facebook post that the customer insisted he told the pump attendant to only refill SGD10 (approximately RM30) worth of petrol instead of a full tank.
A full tank of petrol costs about SGD135, which is almost RM400.
Although the pump attendant had agreed to pay for the outstanding SGD125, the witness pleaded to Caltex Singapore to "alleviate the financial obligation" off the attendant.
The elderly pump attendant, believed to be in his 60s, agreed to absorb the remaining SGD125 without arguing with the customer
According to the witness, the attendant calmly informed the cashier to receive only SGD10 from the customer.
The witness also alleged that the customer left the petrol kiosk "smugly" after paying only SGD10 for a full tank of petrol for his BMW Series 5.
China Press reported that the attendant heard the customer asking for a "full tank", but the customer insisted that he said "fuel ten"
According to the report, netizens revealed that this wasn't the first time the customer had used the same tactic at petrol kiosks to get full tanks of petrol for SGD10.
One netizen wrote that he had seen the customer using the same trick at other petrol kiosks, while another netizen alleged that the customer has been paying only SGD10 for petrol by making "fuel ten" sound like "full tank".
In response to the incident, Caltex Singapore released a statement and announced that the elderly attendant will not be charged with the outstanding SGD125
In the statement, Caltex also wrote that they are investigating the incident together with the manager of the station involved.
The company also encouraged netizens to refrain from attacking the BMW driver.
The attendant was back on duty at the petrol kiosk the day after the incident happened
Mothership reported that a visitor to the Tampines station said the elderly attendant is "happy and well".
The incident happened two weeks after a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) feature on the plight of another elderly pump attendant in Singapore
77-year-old Mohamed Yasin warned that lorries might drive off after filling up SGD200 worth of petrol.
Image via Channel NewsAsiaThe feature revealed that an elderly pump attendant gets just over SGD1,000 per month in salary, even with benefits included.
The 77-year-old attendant in the CNA video stated that "oil thieves" in Singapore drive off after filling up SGD200 worth of petrol.
The witness who reported the incident to Caltex Singapore also wrote that the salary of a pump attendant in Singapore is about SGD1,600 per month.
Paying SGD125 to cover for the customer's tank of petrol would have taken 8% away from the elderly attendant's pay.