Within a day after it was reported that a BMW driver had allegedly refused to pay for his full tank of fuel at Caltex Tampines, Singaporeans have found the vehicle, along with a host of other information about it.
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1. Hotly searched
Within several hours on April 15, 2018, typing “SLT” — the first three letters in the license plate prefix belonging to the BMW — would cause Google Search to autocomplete the entire alpha numeral string:
2. New license plate
“SLT” license plate prefix was out in August 2017:
But…
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3. Forum users have come to the conclusion that the vehicle is an old model, likely 10 years old
This is due to the car’s make and worn out look.
Therefore, old car but new license plate.
The guess is that it is bought second-hand.
4. Managed to dig up the vehicle’s road tax details
Other users point to the road tax details publicly available online.
5. Car was discovered to have been parked illegally in the central western part of Singapore
This was a day after the incident.
There was apparently a parking ticket visible on the windshield.
However, forum users claimed the decal has been removed from the windscreen, so the residential address the car is registered with is not revealed.
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6. Online details reveal the car purchases season parking in Tampines
7. Chinese newspaper reported someone tried to pay the outstanding bill after the incident
Translation of last paragraph: “When the reporter went to the petrol kiosk, the staff present did not want to be interviewed. The staff involved in the incident was on off that morning. But based on what another colleague said, someone came back after the incident and paid off the outstanding bill.”
Caltex has said the staff involved did not pay anything.
It is not clear if the person who allegedly returned to pay the bill is the BMW driver.
8. One forum user gave an Einstein explanation as to how the instruction of the BMW driver might have been unclear
“Pump fuel ten” means pump 10 dollars worth of fuel, but sounds like “pump full tank”.
Cool story bro.
Reliability of information
All the information presented above are publicly available and can be found via search engines and government portals open for public access.
Other information found on forums and across social media either making unsubstantiated claims and allegations or second-guessing the possible motive of the driver, have not been reproduced here.
Other details that have not been reproduced include the exact locations where the BMW was last seen.
Caltex response:
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SINGAPORE: The incident at a Caltex petrol station involving a BMW driver and an elderly pump attendant was "a case of miscommunication", said the police on Monday (Apr 16).
They added that the driver had been due to trade in his car on Saturday, and had not required more fuel than necessary.
"We have looked into the matter and established that no offence was disclosed," said the police in response to Channel NewsAsia's queries.
"It was a case of miscommunication between the pump attendant and the vehicle owner on the amount of petrol to be pumped. We have verified that the vehicle owner was due to trade in his vehicle on the same day and would not require more than necessary fuel.
"Both parties have been advised to settle the matter amicably.”
The BMW driver has filed a police report, however, worried for his safety after netizens identified him and posted his personal details online.
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The incident went viral over the weekend after Facebook user Kelly Yeo posted an account of what happened at the Tampines Avenue 8 petrol station. According to her, the driver of a BMW Series 5 vehicle had refused to pay S$135 for his petrol because he said he had only asked for S$10 worth.
The elderly pump attendant calmly informed the cashier to let the customer pay S$10 and he would personally absorb the rest of the cost, she said in her Facebook post.
Many netizens slammed the driver, with some volunteering to pay the S$125 on behalf of the elderly worker. Others questioned why the driver would pump only S$10 worth of petrol.
According to a Shin Min Daily News report, the driver said he had specifically gone to top up just S$10 worth of petrol as the journey from Tampines to Jurong, where he was going to trade in the BMW, was "fairly far".
He told the Straits Times that after reading some of the comments about the incident, he decided to file a police report as he was "afraid that these people will come to my house". The driver was also quoted saying he had received "many nuisance calls, SMSes and WhatsApp messages".
Caltex Singapore had earlier taken to Facebook to assure online users that the elderly attendant "did not bear any financial obligation" due to the incident.
In an update on Monday, the company said it was aware that a police report had been lodged.
"This is now a police matter and we will work closely with authorities in that respect," Caltex said.
"In the meantime, we would respectfully request the community's cooperation in refraining from any personal or group responses towards those involved and leave the matter to appropriate authorities."
SINGAPORE - The BMW driver involved in a furore over a fuel tank top-up at a Caltex petrol kiosk in Tampines has filed a police report, worried for the safety of his family after netizens identified him online.
The police confirmed with The Straits Times on Monday (April 16) that a police report was filed.
"We have looked into the matter and established that no offence was disclosed," said the police. "It was a case of miscommunication between the pump attendant and the vehicle owner on the amount of petrol to be pumped. We have verified that the vehicle owner was due to trade in his vehicle on the same day, and would not require more than necessary fuel."
The police said both parties have been advised to settle the matter amicably.
The driver told ST on Monday that he had received "many nuisance calls, SMSes and WhatsApp messages".
The incident had occurred at the Caltex petrol kiosk in Tampines Avenue 8 on Saturday.
The driver claimed he asked to pump only $10 worth of petrol, while the pump attendant thought he had wanted a full tank and so pumped $135 worth.
Facebook user Kelly Yeo wrote to Caltex Singapore about the incident, saying that the attendant offered to pay $125 for the driver while the driver paid only $10.
The post went viral over the weekend. Since then, netizens have plastered the man's personal details online, including his purported name and occupation.
According to a copy of the police report seen by ST, the driver had filed the report on Sunday.
He explained in his report that the pump attendant had heard him saying "full tank", which he disputes. He said he had told him only "10 dollars".
"The pump attendant then raised his voice and told the cashier to tell me to pay $10 and he will pay the remaining amount," the driver said in the report.
The driver said he left the place after making payment and went to an automotive trader to trade in his vehicle on Saturday.
Related Story Caltex Singapore investigating incident involving Tampines petrol kiosk attendant and BMW driver
According to the police report, the driver was later informed by a friend that the incident had gone viral on Facebook.
"After reading some of the comments on the Facebook post, I decided to lodge a report as I am afraid that these people will come to my house," he said in the report.
He also wrote that "the reason I top up only $10 for my petrol is because I am going to trade in my car".
A spokesman for Chevron Singapore, which markets the Caltex brand, told ST on Monday that it was aware that a police report had been filed over the incident.
"This is now a police matter and we will work closely with the authorities in that respect," said the spokesman, "In the meantime, we would respectfully request the community to refrain from any personal or group responses towards those involved and leave the matter to the appropriate authorities."
Caltex Singapore had made a statement about the incident on Saturday, assuring the public that the Caltex attendant "did not bear any financial obligation from the events that occurred on April 14".
The BMW driver and the car he was driving at the time of the incident. Kelly Yeo Facebook page
Public sentiment can take on a life of its own in the age of social media.
One man, who allegedly refused to pay for the full cost of petrol mistakenly pumped into the car he was driving, is now facing the heat caused by his actions.
According to Facebook user Kelly Yeo, the driver of a BMW Series 5 had claimed that a petrol station attendant had misheard request to pump just S$10 worth of petrol into the car.
As a result, he refused to pay the full S$135 price of a full tank of petrol at the Caltex station in Tampines on Saturday (Apr 14).
“Instead of creating a scene by engaging in an argument with the customer, the elderly pump attendant calmly informed the cashier to let the customer pay $10 and he would personally absorb the rest of the cost.
“As a result, the customer walked away smugly paying a mere $10 payment for a full tank of petrol for his BMW Series 5 vehicle,” Kelly Yeo wrote on Caltex Singapore’s Facebook page.
She also said she was highlighting the issue because she was concerned that the pump attendant, who is in his 60s, would have to fork out a sum of money despite earning a “meager salary”.
“I am concerned that if no effective standard operating systems are defined, such practices of having pump attendants to bear the price discrepancies can lead to abuse (sic),” she wrote.
Ms Yeo’s post has so far been shared close to 1,500 times.
As a full-time employee, the elderly attendant would be drawing an average monthly salary of around S$1,300, Shin Min Daily News reported on Sunday (Apr 15).
The report added that some members of the public who read about the incident later showed up offering to help the attendant with the cost.
Although Caltex Singapore has since responded to clarify that the pump attendant was not made to pay the cost of the petrol, social media users who read about the incident were already riled up to the point of no return.
And as we all know by now, the internet never forgives and certainly does not forget.
By Sunday afternoon, a Facebook page dedicated to “hunting” the BMW driver down had already been set up.
And by Monday morning, there were already six contributions to the page, each with either a photo of the alleged driver, or information about his occupation, workplace and car registration details.
Branding him as “SG Caltex Bully”, an administrator of the page said that the page was set up to “expose this idiot”.
“Do not bring harm to the family or expose the innocent. We just want him to remember we should make the world better, not to cheat or make people suffer,” the administrator added.
Some users on online forums even went so far as to track down the registration, season parking and road tax details of the BMW, even coming to the conclusion that it was an old car with a new license plate.
The car was even photographed with a ticket on its windscreen for being illegally parked at an HDB estate.
One of the forum threads on Hardware Zone has garnered so much interest, it received 2,710 replies in less than two days.
