Complaint against Wm Morrison supermarkets

[joa44n]

I recently got a letter from the Police saying I has 'made off without paying' for petrol at a Morrisons forecourt in Halifax. It turns out the lady in the kiosk had only charged a bottle of water to my card without the petrol dispite the fact I was the only car on the forecourt and I told her I was Pump 2 when she asked! The Police said it happened alot so I rang Morrisons and was told 'if you come in and pay it that will be the end of the matter' The manager of the Petrol Station told me the lady who served me said I answered 'No' when asked if I had petrol! Thats strange seen as I remember it was Pump 2 and I have been buying petrol for over 20 years and never once felt the need to not pay for it!
I have no problem paying what I owe but I think I am owed some kind of apology from Morrisons for accusing me of committing a crime when it was their mistake! Any suggestions and has anyone else come across this?

[jno]

go in, pay, and tell them what you think. No doubt they will apologise, even if it's only beginning a sentence 'I'm sorry, but...' Then you'll all be happy.

[dh001]

joa44a, the situation you describe is so common that it is an annoying problem for the police in many ways. Forecourt crime is massive, however, the majority of reported Making off-Without Payment (MOWP) offences are infact usually errors made by cashiers working for understaffed garages with shoddy security policies (if any at all) and hence a civil matter.

Such situations are then reported to the police and made out to sound as if it was a deliberate and intented act by the customer. The police will obviously enquire what exactly happened and it is common for the complainant to state they asked the customer whether they had any fuel and was told no. Garages know that if they can persuade the police that it was a crime then they have to investigate it and will recover the money at no cost to them. (In summary, garages can actually request registered keeper details etc from DVLA, but this means they will have to fill out application forms and pay a small fee).

If such a report as you describe gets recorded as a crime with the police then they will do all relevant intelliegent checks and if not considered a criminal act then they send out a letter to the registered keeper of the identified vehicle suggesting you go and pay if it was an error etc. Once paid, the garage is happy that they have recovered their money and do not wish to take any further action. The police then write the report off as a civil matter which has been resolved (still takes a fair amount of paperwork and time).

I suggest if you wish an explanation and apology then write to WM.

(PS I had to rush writing this answer, just wished to highlight to you that this is a very common issue)