Don't like to think I'm being cynical but...

[Tealady]

... Not sure if I was really helping somebody in need or being ripped off.

Got collared in a car park by a woman, who basically ended up asking me for money for petrol.

There was a bit to her story but basically her and her Fiancee had gone to get petrol and realised they had left their purses/wallets at home. They lived 18 miles away and the car fuel gauge was on the light. Offered to show me but the car was in the part of the car park without any lights so wasn't going to go over. She did seem in a state and I was in a quandary as this is a common story for ripping people off but if she really was in need I'd have hated not to help.

So I told her I only had a fiver (they only had a small car so that should have been enough) and gave her that. She said she'd send it back but I said not to bother as I didn't want to give my details to a stranger and if the money never came then I'd know for sure she'd ripped me off.

Her fiancee thanked me as they drove past me on the way out of the car park and I did see them turn into the petrol station on my way home so I'm hoping they were genuine.

I just think it's such a shame that you have to think like this

[singingcactus]

If they drove straight off after you gave them the money, I would guess they were genuine. Otherwise they'd have found an excuse to hang around to get money of other people.

[boxtree7]

You can fill up in the garage with no money ... the garage will give you a receipt to come back and pay if you don't they inform the police. It happened to me i filled up and had no back card with me - I went back and paid.

[Tink]

That's the trouble with our world today, you just never know.
Glad your safe though and hopefully helped a couple in genuine need

[miffy]

I must be cynical because I find it hard to believe both of them had forgotten their money!

Still I would be happy to be proved wrong and I'm glad you didn't go over to the car and stayed safe.

Miffy xx

[Kiddleywinks]

Oh Miffy, it's not so hard to do, trust me

[PixiePetal]

I would be cynical too but have also given someone money - a lady for her bus ticket.

She was disabled (local and seen her about before) not got her free pass on her and driver wanted her to pay - I paid and thought of it as my good deed for the day. She said she would give it to me when she saw me again - never did but I wasn't expecting it anyway

The couple may have been doing a scam but you can hold your head high as a nice person even if they can't. If if was genuine you are still nice

[Pipsqueak]

Do you know what good for you


Yes I find it hard to believe BOTH of them forget their wallets however it can and does happen! And how nice of you to help out - too many people in this world ignore someone in need.

I hope you haven't been taken for a ride but even if you have you done something lovely in good faith and that is what this world needs.

[Mamma4Ya]

I can believe they both had no money, as I had left my handbag at home on sunday, as I never take it when out with hubby, and when we got to the supermarket my hubby realised he had forgotten his wallet.

It is possilbe that they didnt have money, however i would have pointed out that they should speak to someone at the petrol station to get petrol to get them home.

[Mouse]

I'm afraid I'm too cynical to believe it's true, though I would love to be proved wrong

If they had enough petrol to drive to the garage, why didn't they go there and ask for money? I'm sure the petrol station must have measures in place for people filling up with petrol then realising they didn't have any money on them.

If I'd really wanted to help, I think I'd have offered to follow them to the petrol station, see what the garage could do, then pay if there really was no other way.

Well done to you for not giving out your details though. That could have been the whole point of any scam.

[Tealady]

Thanks for your responses. She reckoned they'd been to both the nearest garages (both Esso/Tesco) and they reckoned they couldn't help.

Oh Well, I'll never know.

[Zoomie]

Having managed a petrol station in my other life, I would say that the petrol station would not have given fuel to the vehicle if they knew in advance that the people couldn't pay.

However, if you fill up and then discover you have no means to pay, some petrol stations (and I fear the no. of these are decreasing) will allow you to fill in a form and come back and pay later.

But if you came to my petrol station, I would have made you leave your car and go and find the payment. I had to be harsh, because we had so many people give false info, and senior managements used to rake us over the coals.

To be honest, I may have got a lot of flak from the 'customer' but every single one of them managed to find the money. Often a 'friend' came down and paid, but an amazingly large number mysteriously found their lost / stolen card / wallet

[Maza]

When I was a teenager I went into town and lost my bus fair home (10p in those days, LOL). It was much to far for me to walk and so I had no choice but to ask someone else for the bus fair. I was so stressed about it as I wouldn't normally have said boo to a goose. Thank goodness he believed me and gave me the 10p. So you never know! God Bless him wherever he is!

[Pinkrose]

Something similar happened to me once, although this is not to say that these people were not genuine
a man told me he had locked his keys in his car and needed some money to get home, he told me a long story about how he was a fireman and he had a sports car, anyway I did not feel comfortable and just got in my car and went. When I got home I reported it to the police, and turns out this man had been telling the same story and conning money out of people, some people even felt so sorry for him they took him home with them where he had talked them into investing money into a none existent business!!
On the other hand I once filled up at a petrol station and realised I had not got any money (I have also done this at asda and morrisons!!) luckily the petrol station let me ring my husband and he paid using his card over the phone.

[wendywu]

If you fill up and cannot pay then leave the garage your tax disc as proof that you will be back