I fell for a Tesco £1 pay at the pump petrol ‘bargain’ – but it was a MASSIVE mistake

A DRIVER thought he had nabbed a huge bargain when filling up his car at a Tesco petrol pump – seeing just £1 appear on his account.

With petrol prices continuing to soar, it’s no wonder he was excited to stock up on the apparently cheap fuel – but the initial price wasn’t what it seemed.

Mike J Ind visited a Tesco petrol station expecting to put £10 worth of fuel in his vehicle.

After checking his bank account, he saw only £1 had been taken out, leading him to believe he had found a massive bargain.

Making sure not to miss out on the supposed offer, Mike took another three trips to the petrol pump, filling up multiple vehicles.

And each time he filled up, his account appeared to be debited for just £1.

Taking to Facebook to share the “bargain” with others, he said: “It was my lucky day today as I put a tenner of fuel in and noticed it only took £1 on my card, so I went back round and filled it right up, again just £1 taken.

“Went home and swapped cars over and filled that up and another £1, so I filled the last car up and another £1.

“Three cars full for £4 so I put it on a couple of chats, I am letting people know.”

But it didn’t take long for fellow Facebook users to spot the mistake, and he soon realised it wasn’t the great deal he initially thought it was after all.

Regular fuel customers may be familiar with the error Mike made if they use the pay at pump option.

When filling up a fee is taken out of accounts as a pre-authorisation check.

This ringfences cash to cover the cost of the fuel and then the actual amount is taken later.

The checks are in place at several supermarkets and are there to make sure customers have sufficient funds in their accounts to cover the cost of the petrol.

In Mikes case the £1 fee was taken – before he was eventually charged the £40 he owed for his four separate trips.

Seeing the humour in the situation, Mike said: “Thought it was too good to be true. Never get anything in life for free and I don’t know how I managed to get this far in life.”

And others did too with his money-saving “tip” racking up thousands of likes and comments on Facebook.

Some commenters noted that they have been caught out by the charge before.

Mike added: “Glad my moment has made people laugh a bit, even if it was at my expense which I don’t mind, as life is short so sometimes we need to remember to laugh and have fun.”

Mike’s not the only onw to get caught out. The pay at pump fee has caused confusion for many drivers in recent months.

While some locations charge £1 others can ring-fence as much as £100 – leaving shoppers short.

Shoppers wanting to avoid a pay at pump charge should pay at the petrol station cashier.

Plus, petrol prices are still rising despite wholesale costs dropping.

And prices have risen so high that there is a record number of fuel thieves at stations.