Is this at all possible?

My brother went to the Shell in Petrol pump in Barking to fuel up...His bike can take 18L of fuel.. and filled up with 19L he paid for near 1.5L of fuel that can not possibly fit into the tank!


Shurley there is something wrong here as he had some fuel in the tank before he got to the pump...

 

perhaps the extra litre is the pipe that runs from the opening to the tank??

 

isnt there a reserve on bikes?

 

fishy

 

Yes but it does not exceed the amount of Fuel a Tank can hold.

 

i see



well then hes been ripped off then, or maybe the tanks capacity is right, i know my blobeye tanks isnt entierly correct, it holds about 2.5 ltrs more.

That was from bone dry, it actually ran out on the forecort

 

There are rules about weights and measures. If he's not happy then he should speak to trading standards, they may check the accuracy of the pump. I think it is a serious offence if the pump is charging for more fuel than it actually delivers so would expect they are checked and calibrated regularly.

 

Never owned a bike yet that had more capacity than was claimed for it. Whilst it's possible for the tank to be bigger than stated I think it's more likely there was something wrong with the pump.

 

Makes you wonder if they are all like that. How would we know? I just pump fuel in until it's full and take the reading as correct.

If it is going on, I wonder if the Government know about it? Knowing Labour, they probably suggested it to get more tax money off us.

 

and there must have been some left in the bottom of his tank, unless he ran out and rolled on to the forecourt

 

There must be some tolerance when manufacturing the tank ie +/- a certain %age. Any manufactured product has a tolerance when it is built. Say that was 10% then the tank could hold 18 + 1.8 = 19.8 litres? A litre is only a bottle of milk so isn't that big. Some tanks could also be smaller ie -10%?

 

+/- 10% ? I would seriously hope that manufaturers of bikes/tanks work to much tighter tolerances!

 

Fuel tax is paid at source. Fraud would be FAR too tempting otherwise.

 

If it is a scam that would be highly likely from that garage, I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole

 

No he was in the reserve...so can say there was still near 0.5L in the tank. so he paid for over 1.5L of fuel that the tank cant take...

4L is the reserve however where 18L is the full capacity of the tank (which includes the reserve)

 

Its possible...though this is one thing people never notice nor check...

 

perhaps it has something to do with the density of the fuel, is fuel more dense at lower temps so theoretically you could put more fuel in the same amount of space if its colder?

 

Being shortchanged is one common and well known prob with that garage, I was also handed a packet of Duty free cigs and charged full UK rate, they were handed back.

I wish I had contacted customs now

 

If it has a reputation, just tell trading standards. The garage isn't allowed to rip off punters after all!

Note - can a bike really still be moving on a fuel level that equates to half a bottle of milk?!!!

TX.

 

happened to me on my bike had a 10 ltr tank on bike and the pump said 13 ltrs, went in and complained and they just said the pumps are flow meters so they cant lie???????

 

will check with my brother, i think he called Shell direct and they were not very helpfull....said its a Franchise and will have to write to the owner of the pump in question...

 

I hope he has a translator

 

Why not just go and fill up a 5 litre can and see what the pump reads?

 

Pretty simple Sam. You get a verified measure of ten litres or whatever and fill it.
Alternatively, ask trading standards to do a check because of your concerns.

Chances are that the tank is 18 litres or whatever plus a reserve. Guessing the accuracy of a fuel pump based on the amount you or your brother think should go in a motor bike fuel tank is not very scientific or accurate and could be potentially very embarrassing.

 

I use to be involved in the running of a few petrol stations.

Petrol pumps cost up to £20k each, the designed is approved by UK Trading Standards.

The flow meters are sealed by the local Trading Standards when the pumps are installed, and then approx. once a year Trading Standards arrive without warning and take 5, 10 and 20l from each nozzle into special measured containers, they also check the seals are all intact.

Petrol pumps are allowed by law to give very slightly over measure but not under measure.

I would be 99% certain that your tank holds more than the manufacturers state, why would anyone complain to a manufacturer that their petrol tank is bigger than they expected - it would only be an advantage.

If in doubt contact your local trading standards, they will normally visit the site, inspect / test the pumps and advise you of your findings.

E.

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/overcharge...l-t540836.html

 

this is correct fill up late at night when its cooler and you will get about 50p more fuel(watched this on tv some time ago)

 

I reckon that's bull. The fuel is stored underground and I doubt the temperature changes much down there. Even if it does change by a couple of degrees, the change in volume would be tiny.

 

I know last year when I filled up at a couple of garages, the number of litres x the litre cost added up to less then what Iwas charged. (one was a shell and the other was a Sinsburys)

i.e. it was as if the garages had set their tills to a higher pence per litre than the pump was delivering or the pump wasn't counting correctly.

Only thing was, it was a few weeks after when I noticed so thought it was too late to do anything about it.

Now when filling up I always, when possible, use the same garage I know is OK and I also always stop at multiples of 10 to check that 10 x litre p is what is shown on the pump.

Cheers