I’d like to see something like this where I live. Up until about a year ago I ran a large gas station/truck stop. Drive offs didn’t happen very often, maybe 15-20 times a year. However, even if you got a plate number and called the police all they wanted to do was give you the persons information and suggest you deal with it yourself. They didn’t think it was worth their time to investigate a $30 dollar theft. I had to badger them on several different drive offs until they finally understood I would go to court to get my money.
OTOH, when a homeless guy stole a spare change jar for a charity that I had on the counter, they sent out two officers at once. They found the guy the same day, with the jar, which had about $4 in it. They had no problem with me pressing charges against that guy.
All of these stories are good, presenting useful anecdotal information. I do believe that many people may drive off accidentally; this may have even been what the guy in my incident did (he didn’t seem all that hurried to me).
However, my question was more specific: what, mentally, would drive a person to take off without paying when they’re otherwise not lacking money? We know that it happens. We know that it can be accidental. Why would someone, otherwise well off, do it?
Incidentally, we do have pay-at-the-pump (and SpeedPass et al) in Canada, but it’s less common in rural areas. I have yet to see a gas station requre pre-payment except during the graveyard shift, and that infrequently.
In the Dallas area, you can’t find any that allow you to pump first, but if you go about 25 miles east most stations allow you to pump first until dark. Having to pay first seems to be a big city thing.
A simple answer, I think, covers at least some of these well-off folks. Some of these folks have become well-off by engaging in petty and not-so-petty white-collar crimes. Some may even have become rich in other, more ‘street’ ways, such as drug dealing. This ‘gas ‘n’ go’ behaviour is just a continuation of their anti-social, ‘everybody’s doing it, why not me’ amoral attitude.
Don’t assume that the person is not lacking money just because of the car they drive. There have been a lot of job losses lately among people used to making a lot of money and immediately spending all of it on toys, leaving themselves illiquid. To get back into that life, it doesn’t help on a job interview trip to be driving a clunker and wearing old clothes.
But we’re still talking about someone who thinks a BMW is a vital status symbol in life, so t’ellwiddem.
I have to pay first and I don’t live in a big city. Is it just in California? The pumps will not pump unless you pay first, or at least what I’ve encountered. Its not really a hassle to me either, since I’ve been doing it this way since I got my license 6 years ago.
Interestingly, a friend of mine was at a full serve. Paid for a full tank. About a block down the road, they noticed that their fuel gauge was still on empty and they knew the gauge was working properly. I don’t know what he was thinking, but the gas attendant had just mimed filling the tank.
When they returned to the gas station with their receipt, both gas station attendants pretended they didn’t speak any English. Only Russian.
Fortunately, my friend speaks Russian and doesn’t stand for BS. They were mortified. They filled her tank properly the second time. I don’t know how they thought they’d actually get away with something so stupid.
That gas station has since been shut down for diluting their gas.
Just a little insight from someone who had to deal with this for a while… During my college days, I worked at a gas station for about 4 years. Our company’s policy was this: if you had the make/model etc AND the license plate #, you could turn in paperwork to report the incident. If you were not able to get this information, you were just out of luck…your drawer would be short that shift, with any shortage over $10 leading to a write-up, and three write-ups to termination. Our station was right off of the interstate, so we had several of these a week. It was very easy for someone to be back on the interstate before anyone even noticed.
As for people innocently forgetting…maybe or maybe not. We actually had repeat offenders who knew which pumps weren’t visible on the camera, as well as what time of day we were slammed and couldn’t pay close attention. We could see them go, but they had dirty tags that weren’t readable or would back out so we couldn’t see their plate.
Just as a note, this time of year was always especially bad!
I live in Tennessee and there are plenty of gas stations that let you pump then pay. I usually only go to stations that allow pay at the pump, however, because I don’t want to have to go in, stand in line and pay. I did once drive off, simply because I forgot I hadn’t paid at the pump. I turned around less than half a block later and came in and apologized. The clerks were gracious and a little amused. BTW - TN is one of the states that has the signs that you can lose your license if you drive off.