Gas station scams

[bigbird]

Scam Artists are plentiful in rep dom

This country is so full of scam artists for foreigners it is almost funny. Twice today I rode in a publico and because I am a foreigner the driver tells me 20 pesos. Next few passengers to get in hand over 15 pesos and not a word was said.

The other day I returned a car rental with a flat tire. The tire was punctured on the sidewall. The Alamo/National agent on Independencia tells me the cost of replacing the tire is 3000 pesos and I MUST pay in cash. I asked for the car keys back. I drove less than a block and purchased a used tire for 950 pesos. Yes, I know I probably paid the foreigner price but it was still cheaper than the scam the rental agency was playing on me.

Last trip I went to check into a hotel. Desk clerk quotes me $50 USD a night. I had email confirmation for $43 plus the rate was posted on the wall. I handed over $43 and pointed to the sign.

Really, you just have to laugh. Dominicans are out to get you every where you turn.

 

[RacerX]

This country is so full of scam artists for foreigners it is almost funny. Twice today I rode in a publico and because I am a foreigner the driver tells me 20 pesos. Next few passengers to get in hand over 15 pesos and not a word was said.

The other day I returned a car rental with a flat tire. The tire was punctured on the sidewall. The Alamo/National agent on Independencia tells me the cost of replacing the tire is 3000 pesos and I MUST pay in cash. I asked for the car keys back. I drove less than a block and purchased a used tire for 950 pesos. Yes, I know I probably paid the foreigner price but it was still cheaper than the scam the rental agency was playing on me.

Last trip I went to check into a hotel. Desk clerk quotes me $50 USD a night. I had email confirmation for $43 plus the rate was posted on the wall. I handed over $43 and pointed to the sign.

Really, you just have to laugh. Dominicans are out to get you every where you turn.

What do you do when you find out you re getting or about to get fleeced?
I stay silent for an excruciatingly long time(which is only like 10 seconds) and look down my nose at them with my head cocked with the beady eye treatment and then I give them the ol' Larry from the 3 stooges "why I oughta... what are you trying to do? make a monkey out of me? I ll show you.." but I do it in english with all the hand gestures in an Archie Bunker accent. They say this American is crazy give him the same deal.
Try it sometime if you got the cajones. The deal with the fleece is that you not object. You object and now you insult the integrity of the man who wants to do business with YOU.

 

[bigbird]

What do you do when you find out you re getting or about to get fleeced?
I stay silent for an excruciatingly long time(which is only like 10 seconds) and look down my nose at them with my head cocked with the beady eye treatment and then I give them the ol' Larry from the 3 stooges "why I oughta... what are you trying to do? make a monkey out of me? I ll show you.." but I do it in english with all the hand gestures in an Archie Bunker accent. They say this American is crazy give him the same deal.
Try it sometime if you got the cajones. The deal with the fleece is that you not object. You object and now you insult the integrity of the man who wants to do business with YOU.

A lot depends on how I feel at that moment. Today the second 5 pesos rip off with the publico I just got out the car and slammed the door shut. The driver is screaming at me while I cross the street, something about the puerta. I just say No hablo espanol and go on my merry way.

 

[RUBIO4U]

Just wiggle your nose the same way they do when they do not understand you. Than wag your finger at them, this is the Dominican standard, "No, I am not going to deal with this sh*t today". Pay the standard Dominican rate and that's it. However, since this thread was about getting ripped off at the pump. Do what I suggested before, check the pump to make sure it is reset.

 

[Celt202]

Always get out of the car and check the pump.

After a while you'll also get a feel for the stations with dodgy pumps that give less gas than the pump says.

When using publicos carry exact change and you won't get ripped off.

 

[blackrainbow]

I love the story about the publico , haha.

This has happened to me a few times - "50 pesos" i always seem the word or noise "pssssshhht" seems to work then get off,then you hear it "my freng, my freng"

my reply is "de nada" with another "pssssht" this always works and magically most of the time the price goes straight from "50 peso" to "15 peso" - maybe there was a translation or speech impedament error, who knows?

oh and they also allow me to smoke out the window after this ordeal "tranquillo my freng, you loco"


;-) i only take advantage when they do.

BR

 

[beeza]

I wonder who actually buys Premium at the pumps?

Chances are that it came from the same tanker that delivered the Regular!

 

[NV_]

I wonder who actually buys Premium at the pumps?

Chances are that it came from the same tanker that delivered the Regular!

Usually premium is premium, usually... The other day a friend put in 1000 of premium but we noticed his engine was knocking like crazy. After driving around for a good hour we came to the conclusion that the premium tanks at that gas station were filled with regular. First time in 12 years living here that ive come across that specific scam...

Always have to have your guard up in this "country"....

 

[Chirimoya]

Well, more or less from the horses mouth - someone I know was offered the management of a petrol station and the owner told her that regular was to be sold as premium.

 

[dv8]

my father in law used to own few gas stations: premium was always premium and all scams he noticed were punished. a lot will depend on the owner, i guess.

 

[DannyS]

personally i don't see this as a big deal. 95% of gas attendants will show you the pump is on zero before they start. then you know what you're getting.

thats all there is to it.

Im on the North Coast and I always by gas at Costal by Dr. Bobs. EVERY SINGLE attendent makes a point of showing me zero and will even call attention to that if I am not looking. Never had problem with credit card either. The only place I use a credit card is there and I have a card that I only us in DR.

 

[PeterInBrat]

Yes, I've heard they can skim by volume as well. They have people who go around in the US who do just that(check with a measured can) and then seal the controls to adjust the flow with a state issued sticker. Franchises are also suppose to check the amount of gas bought vs sold to make sure they are not buying a cheaper brand from someone else and then reselling it at a premium franchise price, but who knows what is going on down in the DR. I would be very suprized if you are actually getting superpremium out of the superpremium hose at most stations.

 

[Mocamike]

Somewhat of a test.

One way to see if you are really getting premium is to bring a couple clear or glass jars and put a little regular gas in one and a little premium in the other. They should be very different in color. The colors of the fuels vary by the distributor, but they all dye the premium and the regular a easily noticeable different color. I also recommend Windeguy's idea and you could also buy a one gallon tank with the one gallon line clearly marked on the tank (usually less than the full capacity of the tank) and put one gallon of the fuel (measured by the gas pump) into the container and see if it touches the one gallon line on the tank that you have.

In reference to an earlier post, most of the modern gas pumps have a programmable stop function that will freeze the display of the pump after a certain time if no fuel is pumped. For example, if the attendant starts the pump, but does not start pumping fuel, after this programmed time has elapsed, the pump will not continue but must be restarted again. Older pumps do not have this feature.

 

[Mocamike]

Another interesting note.

The refinery in the Capital actually is more of a depot as it does very little refining of fuels. Most gas suppliers receive their fuel already refined and the refinery simply handles the filling of the tank trucks. One of the biggest scams now is the mixing of kerosene with diesel to sell as diesel. Bad news for generators and diesel vehicles. So if you are offered a heavy discount on your diesel fuel, it is probably mixed with kerosene or some of the tax exempt diesel being sold illegally.

 

[Mocamike]

Just to clarify.

To clarify my previous post, I did not mean to insinuate that the refinery mixes kerosene and diesel, quite the opposite. The refinery is very good on quality control of the fuel that they dispense and are very concerned to do their job correctly. Also the distributors work very hard make their stations sell the correct fuel and correctly measured. The scams come down to the individual stations who take it upon themselves to rip-off their customers. If you every feel a particular station has wronged you and they will not work with you to get it right, it would pay you to contact their distributor directly and complain as the distributors hate these practices as much as we do.