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A family who were loyal users of the BPMe fuel app stopped using the service after both father and daughter were charged twice for petrol because of a system error.
An Auckland woman, who wants to be referred to only by her surname McSweeney, said she was made to feel “like a criminal” after she was sent a CCTV photo and demand for payment last month, despite paying through the app.
“It was really confronting getting the photo of myself and the letter saying I hadn’t paid, because I knew I had,” she said.
“I go to the same petrol station on the same day every week and use the app every time.”
BPMe, which launched in 2016, allows customers to pay for their petrol from their car before they use the pump.
Before McSweeney had a chance to address the error she went to fill up again and said she was not allowed to leave until she had paid her supposedly outstanding bill along with that day’s bill.
“It was really intimidating and they were making me out like I had stolen something from them,” she said.
“I was crying to my dad thinking I had lost another $40. I am flatting and I don’t have a lot of money so it was lucky I had enough that week to pay twice.”
The woman later used bank statements to show she had paid for the petrol via the app and then in person, but wondered if other people had the same experience.
The woman said it felt confronting to receive the demand from BP after years of being a loyal customer. Image / Supplied
“It happened to me and it also happened to my dad, so there are probably other people who have been charged twice but just paid it, thinking they had made a mistake.”
The woman’s father complained to BP and said he was concerned the problem might be more widespread.
The same thing had happened to him a year earlier, he said.
“If this has happened twice to my family in a year, how many of these letters are being sent out around the country?
“My daughter was in tears because she is on a strict budget and here she was losing $80 that week.”
He said the letter gave options for payment but no way to challenge the charge apart from an 0800 number which he said meant a lengthy wait on the phone.
“What they are doing is sending out demands based on their own internal errors.
“They put you through an awful lot of trouble to prove you have already done it, which is not an easy thing to do for some people.”
He said the BP “had given themselves an out” by saying in the letter that the issue might be a “system or process error”.
A BP spokesperson said the most recent issue was not widespread and described it as “an input issue on-site” that had been resolved.
“We’re very sorry to hear one of our frequent customers had a poor experience. We will investigate this further and would welcome a conversation with the customer about their experience.”
Following an email to BP from the Herald, McSweeney said there had been a phone call from the company apologising for the error.
Abbey Damen, of Consumer NZ, said it had not received any complaints about the BPMe app but urged consumers to double-check any letter demanding payment.
“While we haven’t had any complaints about the BPMe app to date, consumers should always check whether any claims about non-payment are accurate before stumping up with the money.
“If you dispute that you owe the amount in question, let them know straight away, and provide evidence of payment.”
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