Ever wondered how many a times we get cheated while purchasing the groceries, fueling the car tank or paying the bill. It would be nice to share the thoughts or real incident we faced in our daily life.
For me there are situation when I could not control it or I was helpless to even take any steps. The cheating could be related to losing your own money or trapped in a situation where one get manhandled or you get trapped in between criminal group. You become helpless and loose control of the situation.
The common places when a person is vulnerable to get trapped or get cheated could be:
1.Fueling the car
2.Paying for the groceries
3.waiting at the traffic signal signal particularly at night
4.while waiting at the railway platform or boarding the railway seat
5.Paying for the rented car at night after arrival at the destination.
6.looking for a Auto or taxi near a airport or railway station but away from the government approved booth
7.Crossing the railway platform or going from one railway platform to another platform.
8.Paying for the insurance bill
9. Getting treated in a hospital.
10.Buying the bus ticket.
11.In a situation where you give higher denomination for payment and ask the person to get the change.
Let us start going thru the real situation,described above, which I have faced or someone I know has faced.
1.Fueling for the car:
a.These are the common cheating method applied by the petrol bunk employee to cheat their customer and sometime we are too slow to find out the real cheating stuff.
The situation which I faced was, went for fueling my car for Rupee 500. The employee stopped the fuelling process at Rupee 100 and looked at me. When I told the guy that I asked for 500 , he resumed the fueling process and stopped again at Rupee 400. I told again that he has not reset the fueling meter , he was forced to fuel until Rupee 500. The catch is stopping the meter at Rs 100 and at 400 without resetting the meter. This way he will be able to cheat me Rupee 100. Because if you forget to remember that it was not resetted , you will loose money. That particular petrol bunk tried that trick 3 times on me and I was able to catch . I stopped going to that station afterward.
b. The 2nd common trick applied is related to diverting the attention of main driver. The employee starts the fueling process leaving his/her colleagues near the main switch. The person will come to the driver from the other side so that driver get diverted and loose the fueling process sight. In a moment the other guy will stop the fuelling , saying it is done. If you have not seen the meter , you can not say anything. This method is applied during the night. So the best method of fueling is to come out of car and ask for the fueling. The car main door should be locked to avoid any theft. I felt , got cheated in one of the above situation.
c.There is another indirect method of cheating. I went for fueling my car. did the mistake of paying Rupee 2000 first without completing the fueling. The fueling got completed and I forgot to ask the remaining money. So they don't pay you until ask and they wait for you to forget the situation.
This happens also in public buses . When you pay for the bus ticket and the conductor says he does not have change to pay you back. He will probably say same thing to next 50 guys in bus. So even if 20 people forget to ask their money before the destination arrives, the conductor will still make lots of money.
Helping yourselves:
a. So come out of the car and ask for fueling . Don't pay for in advance.
b. Don't give higher denomination and give only exact amount.
c. Don't take old currency.
d. Don't give any note for which he/she has to go for getting the change. He may replace the true currency with the false and later back and say that this is counterfeit currency. You will be helpless.
2.Paying for the groceries:
a.For the the groceries before the transaction closure is a suicide. This is very bad decision. I was staying in different country and bad habit of paying for the stuff before I got the goods.
I paid for it and came back to apartment . The lady called me from the store and said I have not paid for the groceries. Unfortunately, had to pay back by going to store and come back to apartment. You can not prove that you have paid for the stuff. So the best thing is to finish the billing and pay later. This is safe play. Remember , if you are paying with larger denomination than show each and every currency note and let the shopkeeper feel each and every note and keep a gap of 2 or 3 second gap before handing over the next currency. Don't give all the amount in one go. Many shopkeeper will simply deny that you have paid the entire amount.
b. Another cheating method could be related to weighing of the good.
c. The 3rd method could be related to the billing counter activities. The counter guy does the billing process . But the guy who packs the thing can play the trick of stealing the smaller good and not packing inside the bag. Since you are busy at the counter, you will never notice the trick.This things happens even the reputed big malls also. So do not get impressed that this will not happen at the bigger places. We are the same people.
Helping yourselves:
Helping yourselves:
a. So come out of the car and ask for fueling . Don't pay for in advance.
b. Don't give higher denomination and give only exact amount.
c. Don't take old currency.
d. Don't give any note for which he/she has to go for getting the change. He may replace the true currency with the false and later back and say that this is counterfeit currency. You will be helpless.
2.Paying for the groceries:
a.For the the groceries before the transaction closure is a suicide. This is very bad decision. I was staying in different country and bad habit of paying for the stuff before I got the goods.
I paid for it and came back to apartment . The lady called me from the store and said I have not paid for the groceries. Unfortunately, had to pay back by going to store and come back to apartment. You can not prove that you have paid for the stuff. So the best thing is to finish the billing and pay later. This is safe play. Remember , if you are paying with larger denomination than show each and every currency note and let the shopkeeper feel each and every note and keep a gap of 2 or 3 second gap before handing over the next currency. Don't give all the amount in one go. Many shopkeeper will simply deny that you have paid the entire amount.
b. Another cheating method could be related to weighing of the good.
c. The 3rd method could be related to the billing counter activities. The counter guy does the billing process . But the guy who packs the thing can play the trick of stealing the smaller good and not packing inside the bag. Since you are busy at the counter, you will never notice the trick.This things happens even the reputed big malls also. So do not get impressed that this will not happen at the bigger places. We are the same people.
Helping yourselves:
3.Waiting at the traffic signal signal particularly at night
This situation is little scary and could turn out to be life threatening also. Be aware of the beggars and road side sellers. Close the mirror. Do not open it under any situation.Anyone asking for any help should be ignored. Keep any glass breaking heavy metal near your side.
Helping yourselves:
Helping yourselves:
4.While waiting at the railway platform or boarding the railway seat
"If you want to steal or cheat anyone, first steal his/her emotions and he or she will automatically fall into the trap."
This is the most vulnerable situation where you are waiting or boarding the train. While waiting at the platform, you will be tagged by the criminal for next level of action by them or their fellow team members. Best thing is to not to expose yourself by showing anything , such as your phone or costly stuff. They will try to rob you while you board the train. If they could not, you will be sold to their partners. If you are costly party and could not be afford to loose, "you" will be split into many parts.
a. The next attempt could be , someone from the criminal group many come and join you and pretend to be your fellow traveller. Try to steal when you are off guard.
b. Some tea seller could ell you tea mixed with sleeping pills. This happens in many part of the country. My friend has a very dangerous story about it. This is used by your enemies to give you over doze of sleeping thru some tea seller and kill you. Mainly used by people who know you already. But thieves use this tricks for stealing.
c.Last attempt could be at the destination, where a group of people pretending to be local traveller, will try to put you in a situation where you are forced to loose sight of your luggage and final steal your things. This generally happens to ladies travelling alone or with kids. This happened to my wife and she lost the valuables.
Helping yourselves:
If you are already tagged , there is no escape from this.
5.Paying for the rented car at night after arrival at the destination.
This is not a difficult situation to handle. It depends upon when this happens, mostly at night.
I lost some money and felt cheated by the taxi driver. The situation generally happens at night .
You took a taxi from airport and arrived at your home at around anytime during night You very sincere and wanted to pay the driver before you open the car door. Paid the money and come out to get your luggage from trunk. Suddenly , the driver comes out of car and complains that you have paid him less money. You were very sure that you paid him the exact amount and he takes you for a ride. You wanted to avoid last minute argument and just paid him again and got out of his face.
The above particular situation happened to me two times and some of my close relatives.
The trick is used by the auto driver to cheat money by saying you have paid them less money then the amount.
One of the funniest incident happened to me in a foreign country. We had a group of colleagues arrived at the apartment and I gave a bigger amount. So expecting the change. The taxi driver started turning the car and said he will pay the change after finish the turning. In a moment he was out of my sight. My foreign colleagues and other guys started laughing.So those were the days when there was no cell phone. And you can not read foreign language so forget about police complain.
sometime , it may happen that the taxi/auto driver sensing you to be alone in that area, may speed up his vehicle and run away with your luggage . So alway come out with your costly hand bag.
Helping yourselves:
Can we save ourselves ? The catch here is to pay the amount only when you and the driver are in the line of sight and not any other way. Finish all the transaction , settle and slow down and call him to pay the money. Show him all the denomination and start handing him the currency one by one. Keep repeating the amount loudly. Don't allow him to turn back or pretending that he is getting phone call. If he try to do that get all the money back.
Let him attend "his" important call and come back.
6.Looking for a Auto or taxi near a airport or railway station but away from the government approved booth
7.Crossing the railway platform or going from one railway platform to another platform.
"If you want to steal or cheat anyone, first steal his/her emotions and he or she will automatically fall into the trap."
This is the most vulnerable situation where you are waiting or boarding the train. While waiting at the platform, you will be tagged by the criminal for next level of action by them or their fellow team members. Best thing is to not to expose yourself by showing anything , such as your phone or costly stuff. They will try to rob you while you board the train. If they could not, you will be sold to their partners. If you are costly party and could not be afford to loose, "you" will be split into many parts.
a. The next attempt could be , someone from the criminal group many come and join you and pretend to be your fellow traveller. Try to steal when you are off guard.
b. Some tea seller could ell you tea mixed with sleeping pills. This happens in many part of the country. My friend has a very dangerous story about it. This is used by your enemies to give you over doze of sleeping thru some tea seller and kill you. Mainly used by people who know you already. But thieves use this tricks for stealing.
c.Last attempt could be at the destination, where a group of people pretending to be local traveller, will try to put you in a situation where you are forced to loose sight of your luggage and final steal your things. This generally happens to ladies travelling alone or with kids. This happened to my wife and she lost the valuables.
Helping yourselves:
If you are already tagged , there is no escape from this.
- So don't travel with costly stuff.
- If forced to carry costly stuff, split it into multiple bags.
- Don't eat or drink anything offered by fellow traveller.
- Don't by any tea if travelling alone
- Don't provide any information to your fellow travellers. No one is your friend.
5.Paying for the rented car at night after arrival at the destination.
This is not a difficult situation to handle. It depends upon when this happens, mostly at night.
I lost some money and felt cheated by the taxi driver. The situation generally happens at night .
You took a taxi from airport and arrived at your home at around anytime during night You very sincere and wanted to pay the driver before you open the car door. Paid the money and come out to get your luggage from trunk. Suddenly , the driver comes out of car and complains that you have paid him less money. You were very sure that you paid him the exact amount and he takes you for a ride. You wanted to avoid last minute argument and just paid him again and got out of his face.
The above particular situation happened to me two times and some of my close relatives.
The trick is used by the auto driver to cheat money by saying you have paid them less money then the amount.
One of the funniest incident happened to me in a foreign country. We had a group of colleagues arrived at the apartment and I gave a bigger amount. So expecting the change. The taxi driver started turning the car and said he will pay the change after finish the turning. In a moment he was out of my sight. My foreign colleagues and other guys started laughing.So those were the days when there was no cell phone. And you can not read foreign language so forget about police complain.
sometime , it may happen that the taxi/auto driver sensing you to be alone in that area, may speed up his vehicle and run away with your luggage . So alway come out with your costly hand bag.
Helping yourselves:
Can we save ourselves ? The catch here is to pay the amount only when you and the driver are in the line of sight and not any other way. Finish all the transaction , settle and slow down and call him to pay the money. Show him all the denomination and start handing him the currency one by one. Keep repeating the amount loudly. Don't allow him to turn back or pretending that he is getting phone call. If he try to do that get all the money back.
Let him attend "his" important call and come back.
6.Looking for a Auto or taxi near a airport or railway station but away from the government approved booth
This will happen when we pretend to be smarter than the street taxi or auto driver. Some culprit wait outside of the booth pretending to be the taxi/auto driver and they can take you to your destination in less fare. Later while to your destination, they may threaten you to give them money or probably harm you.
Some cases they will agree for less money and later they will ask for money money then the promised amount.
a. Always take the auto/taxi from the government booth.
7.Crossing the railway platform or going from one railway platform to another platform.
