misfueling
Fuel price increase = misfuel increase
As if higher fuel prices were not bad enough…
I have notice a bit of a pattern over the last week, there was a higher than usual number of misfuels just before the big price hike, at the pumps, then it went very quiet for a couple of days – most people seemed to be avoiding the pumps.
Then Friday and today the phone has been ringing non-stop, lots of cases of people looking at the price before choosing a nozzle but since petrol is now as expensive as diesel used to be it is causing a muddle.
If you find you have misfueld at a pump do not start your engine and inform the garage, they will put a cone behind your car to stop people waiting behind you and they will normally be able to recommend a local company that can do a fuel drain, or you could call us on 07514409700 and if we are not in your area – we will know who is
Hopefully things will settle down over the next few days
AA & RAC Wrong fuel & Fuel Drain Service & Misfuelling Costs
Most people who fill up with the wrong fuel first turn to the AA & RAC.
It is widely thought that membership would cover fuel drains…….. dun dun dun dun!
Here’s some facts; the AA offers a mobile fuel draining service, called “fuel assist” The AA charge £209.34 for AA Members and £246.29 for non members as of January 2011, being the AA of course the work they do is of high standard, in some areas they can attend with a mobile fuel van, but this is not everywhere, if they cannot attend they may tow you home or to a garage that can perform a drain, you will have to pay the garage for this as the AA’s job ends when they get you there.
The RAC are fairly new to the fuel drain business and they are still in the pilot stages, therefore they don’t actually have fixed prices on there website, clients of mine have been qouted between 200 and 250. The RAC with the 6 vans they have operating out of the Bristol area or pass it on to approved and vetted fuel drain co’s, again technically the RAC also offer a good service and are a good company, along with the AA they are not the fastest to attend and they often price match the AA, they offer a £15 discount to members whereas the AA offers a £36 pound discount to members.
If you need a fuel drain, don’t take my word for it, call the RAC or the AA and see what they charge and how quick they can attend, then call me – you will get a better price and faster response.
I have been asked how I feel about the AA & RAC investing heavily into fuel drains and whether or not it will decrease my business, In fact I have seen it INCREASE my business, I’m faster, cheaper and answer my phone within 3 rings, I do the fuel drains myself and I know what my workload is, that way I can tell you exactly how long I will be. technically we use the same kit as the majors and we all do the same thing, but big companies sometimes cannot be as quick and nimble as the small local ones.
If you need a fuel drain, or have put petrol in diesel we are here 24 hours a day 7 days a week and we dont charge extra for weekends or nights,
call us for wrong fuel rectification
Misfueling Excuses
I see this sort of thing all the time, occasionally I take pictures, have a look at this below.
look closely, and compare both pictures, unless you had misfueld at this pump you probably wouldnt have noticed what my last customer had. so lets begin.
just another pump island… now look at this one
the next pu
these are 2 islands in the same station, right next to each other, my customer was filling at one of them, his van was tight against the pump and he couldnt see his own pump island very well, so he looked at the one that was next to him and “drew his pistol” , this is where it went wrong.
The diesel on the top pump is on the right of the pump island
the diesel on the second pump is in the middle of the pump island
on the top island, both petrol pumps have green hose endings on the nozzles, the diesel pump has a black hose end
on the bottom pump the high octane pump on the right – petrol (which is where the diesel is on the top pump) – has a black hose ending
The high octane pumps colour flash, is grey, but it could also be faded black.
I took these pictures to send to the employer of the man who called me, he worked for a small transport company and was driving a brand new van (less than 1200 miles), that was the new pride of the fleet, he was genuinely worried that he might be laid off for what he had done, and opted to pay for it out of his own pocket to appease his transport manager, needless to say the wrong fuel was taken out and the fuel drainage was complete in 30 mins and he was on his way, I e-mailed these pictures to his transport manager and also pointed it out to the station owner.
The adverts on nozzles are a whole subject unto themselves, volkswagon ran a campaign recently on petrol pumps and in the text of the ad it said “diesel” this was on petrol pumps!
to prevent misfuelling; you cannot rely on old rules of thumb with hose colours, pump placements or even nozzle colours, now that every pump has an advert on it and every petrol station has branded fuel (excellium/premium/momentum etc) you have to be very carefull, it might seem a tad twee but if you follow these simple instructions, you should never suffer from misfuelling, if you need a fuel drain contact us
1) read the fuel type on your car/vans filler neck flap
2) look at all the nozzles and find the one that read ”Diesel”, – or petrol if your driving petrol
3) check to see that THE SPOUT END OF THE DIESEL PISTOL HOSE IS LARGER THAN THE SPOUT ENDS OF THE PETROL PETROL PISTOL. THIS IS THE ONLY FAILSAFE method, or if you are driving a petrol make sure it is smaller than the diesel.
4) if you do this, you will never misfuel, and if you do it will only be because some joker has changed the actual pump handles over.
if you have put the wrong fuel in your car and need a fuel drain becuase you have unleaded in your diesel car or petrol in your diesel tank, then feel free to call us, we are here 24 hours a day 7 days a week on 07514409700