What an eventful weekend...

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 09:46 AM

As some of you may know I work in a service station. On Saturday morning at about 9:30 Michael (an older workmate) was standing there serving and keeping an eye out on the foreourt, as you do. There was a guy filling up his VH-K Commodore (what else...) with $5 gas. He gets his girlfriend to come in and pay and she walks out. A few minutes later the guy walks in and yells at Michael "You were eyeballing me, why were you eyeballing me?" which of course Michael denied, the guy then snapped; stating that he was "a manic depressant". He trashed half the store, chips, sunglasses, bags of lollies all over the place. Michael was on the phone to the cops at this stage, but the guy had already left, or had he..
A few minutes later he pulled up right outside the console window a threw a jack through it. Michael saw this in time and managed to turn, copping a neck full of glass and a jack in the back, surrounded by shattered glass (windows are about 5" x 4"). Cops turn up, take statements, # plates, security tape etc etc. Hopefully something will be done about this nutter.

During this some 'innocent bystander' thought it was the perfect oppurtunity to nick off without paying for fuel. Ditto for the guy who did the same thing yesterday when I was dealing with some 60yr old wog lady who wasn't sure wether she was coming or going (no offence to any 60yr old wog ladies here)

Also of interest, a girl almost biting my head off when asking for ID for cigarettes, she was 18 1/2. I couldn't see P plates on her car so I asked her about that "No, it's just there, where you going to tell the cops?!?!" ... "umm no, I found out the hard way, there's a fine involved" ".... oh..."
& The underage kid who tried to buy "Winfield gold 30's", it's always such a cruel thing to get the cigarattes, scan them, and then ask for ID.. should see the look on their face, classic everytime.

But wait, there's more...
My dad works as a security guard for a private firm. The boss has just split with his wife, who he in turn started stalking. The wife had a restraining order taken out on him, and due to this he is not allowed any firearms. He holds about 8 for the business, and they were all taken. Leaving my dad carting around $$$ without a gun... I'm sure he'll be right tho..

Anyways, I hope the rest of you young guys/girls did well in your mid semester exams (uni and/or H.S) I had 4, fairly confident I passed all of them, now time to enjoy some time off.
Later.
-James

crannersEL · 03-07-2006, 10:24 AM

As for the weekend mate you've had it all, i dont even like making eye contact with people anywere, the trains are the worst because you can still see people in the reflection of the windows at night.

When the people, if the people who drive off with your petrol get caught do they have to pay yous back the money? probibly a stupid question, but ive always wanted to know what happends.

Good luck for next weekend man

Cranners

LTDHO · 03-07-2006, 10:44 AM

You make everyone elses weekends look very boring...

falcon91 · 03-07-2006, 10:54 AM

Jeez! You guys should get 'Danger Money'. What ever happened to manners and responsibility! God I must be getting old!

deesun · 03-07-2006, 11:06 AM

Why did he ring the police instead of useing the panic alarm? If you don't have one then ask for one. Faster and less conspicuous, lets you move out of harms way instead of being tied up on the phone and gets better response from police. Thats what it is there for.
Glad you are all ok though.

max · 03-07-2006, 11:13 AM

I must say I have a lot of regard for you guys at servos. I think armor glass is called for all round. Plus pop-up screens, remote control capsicum spray canisters, etc. Its getting worse out there.....

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 11:15 AM

CrannersEL: Depending on where and who you work for, it will be taken out of your pay. Same for the till being down (funny thing is, if the till is up, you don't get the extra). My boss is understanding, these things happen & he just puts them down as a tax write off.

LTDHO: Yeah but everyone else gets a weekend off, and this is just a few minutes in a realllly long 8 hour shift.

Deesun: Yes we have a panic button, he called the police because all he'd done at the time was being abusive and trashed the store. There is no "out of harms way" just the back office. The panic button is there for hold ups, and you press it AFTER they have left. You don't want a gunman standing there while cops rock up do you? Only takes 30seconds - 1 minute.

deesun · 03-07-2006, 12:12 PM

The panic button is for any threatening situation. If you think the police will be annoyed at you presssing the button because he wasnt holding you up you are mistaken. Secondly you really didnt know if he had a weapon or not or he could have used some other impliment. If a gunman is pointing a gun at you then you dont press the alarm till after hes gone but this bloke was really just skitzo. He wouldnt know youve pressed it as it doesn't set off an audible sound. Any hoo I would have set it off no question.
On the paying for drive off front theres not many who ask for the attendant to pay but if you have to you get a reciept from your employer and claim it as a loss against your tax. Same can be done if you do damage to your bosses truck if you hit something and he asks you to pay for the damage or in some cases you offer cos you feel liable.

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deesun

The panic button is for any threatening situation. If you think the police will be annoyed at you presssing the button because he wasnt holding you up you are mistaken. Secondly you really didnt know if he had a weapon or not or he could have used some other impliment. If a gunman is pointing a gun at you then you dont press the alarm till after hes gone but this bloke was really just skitzo. He wouldnt know youve pressed it as it doesn't set off an audible sound. Any hoo I would have set it off no question.

LOL @ teaching me about the panic button, I've only been working there for 3 years.... :gren:

deesun · 03-07-2006, 12:19 PM

And I worked for a servo for 12 and in that time during threatening situations cops are only too glad to help.

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deesun

And I worked for a servo for 12 and in that time during threatening situations cops are only too glad to help.

Told. You did it for 12 yrs? damnnn.
I wans't there, I probably would've hit the button with him in the store, get him locked up in a home.
It's been hit a few times accidentally, even if you manage to call up in time and quote the code they still send the cops down "just to be sure".
Who did you work for and what do you do now?

**Sorted** · 03-07-2006, 12:32 PM

deesun we need a panic button on Ford Forums, your acting very Irrational.

FordFan86 all I can say is that there are some crazy nut bags out there and all they want to do is start fights.............hope this tool gets caught and locked up........more like a mental case.

Imagine Road Rage with this guy......i am pretty sure some one has had a run in with this guy before

PH47 · 03-07-2006, 01:44 PM

I would've pressed the button then pulled the baseball bat out from under the counter and chased the bastard.

People get away with too much these days, because the victims are scared of counter-attacking due to lawsuits n all that.

Then the police and generally not willing to do anything unless someone was majorly hurt or weapons were involved.

I have major respect for people who do the night shifts at servo's.. heard so many crazy stories and even seen a few psycho's have goes at people over things like thinking they put $20 in but they put 20L in, then refusing to pay the difference and start throwing stuff at the employee..

BA_Turbs · 03-07-2006, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deesun

The panic button is for any threatening situation. If you think the police will be annoyed at you presssing the button because he wasnt holding you up you are mistaken. Secondly you really didnt know if he had a weapon or not or he could have used some other impliment. If a gunman is pointing a gun at you then you dont press the alarm till after hes gone but this bloke was really just skitzo. He wouldnt know youve pressed it as it doesn't set off an audible sound. Any hoo I would have set it off no question.
On the paying for drive off front theres not many who ask for the attendant to pay but if you have to you get a reciept from your employer and claim it as a loss against your tax. Same can be done if you do damage to your bosses truck if you hit something and he asks you to pay for the damage or in some cases you offer cos you feel liable.

Its a hold up alarm, not a panic button. The servo wasn't getting held up. He did the right thing by ringing the police.

Imagine if you hit the hold alarm in this situation and the coppers went through a red light and a car cleaned them up. Dead people (police or civilian) for the sake of some broken sunnies. Its there for a reason, which is not just to be hit if you are feeling a little bit scared.

XRchic · 03-07-2006, 02:36 PM

Gee James, you did have a big weekend! I reckon the guys and gals who work in petrol stations at any time, let alone at night are doing it tough. I bet generally the working conditions are average, the pay is **** and there seems to be a fairly significant danger factor! There would be so many nutters coming through a petrol station on a Saturday night, I can just imagine! Probably not much different to the nutters who come in to the Emergency Dept at a ****hole of a place like the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on a Saturday night, out at lovely Woodville!

On another note James, best of luck with your exams and lets hope this sort of stuff doesnt create too much distraction for your studies! Good luck with your results!

Jac

Miss_XR6 · 03-07-2006, 02:47 PM

people who work in petrol stations dont have it easy... i sure wouldnt be able to work in a petrol station especially at night with all those crazy people out there

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 04:10 PM

Thanks for the kind words Jac.

Work doesn't affect my study, if anything it gives me a place away from home (computer, internet, distractions) that I can actually sit down and study, re-read my notes etc. Tho, 5 days uni and 3 days work = 8 days a week....
There's a Big W opening up nearby (5 mins walk) that I'd love to work at, same retail stuff, except a lot closer to home (saving on fuel) and getting to mingle and get to know some locals. Just need to wait till the next lot of applications.
The pay? let's say it's one thing keeping me there, I take home somewhere between $400-550 dollars for 3 x 8 hour shifts. Not bad for an 'unskilled' job but the amount of responisbilty I have, should something go wrong & I'm on my own, is quite large. It's not just a "stand there 8 hours pressing buttons" job. Pay ins/outs, wages, deal with customers, computer going down etc etc.

As for the cops being a help thing? I guess that depends on which cop you get, I had a 40 yr old guy abusing me one night because I'd just about closed up and was leaving. His brother called me on the phone and said I better start the kero pump up (out of alcohol I suppose..) I called the police and told them I felt threatened and didn't want to lock the shop up and walk to my car, all I wanted was a patrol. They said nothing had happened so they can't do anything, call them if "something happens"...like what, I get beat over the head? how do I get to the phone then?
As for the cops running red lights, I work on a connecting road between 2 major roads with a hospital just off one side, I see atleast 3 ambulances a day go past and through the intersection, utmost care is normally taken and drivers are generally corteous.

FordFan86 · 03-07-2006, 04:32 PM

I'd like to add that it's not all bad.
I see some customers 3-4 times a day, cigarettes, paper, milk, wife wants chocolate. Some regulars come in half ****ed and chat for ~15 minutes. You slowly get to know the people around the area.

deesun · 03-07-2006, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRHEMI

deesun we need a panic button on Ford Forums, your acting very Irrational.

No I think irrational would have been like the bloke trashing the servo. I just asked why as an innocent consol operator didn't he use a more effective method of getting assistence. If the answer had been " because he didn't feel personaly threatened as the offender was not actually near the consol" I would have understood. And although he was "trashing half the store" there still may not have been a physical threat. Seeing the operator calling the police could have set him off more who knows. Also in this instance the police presence having come quicker may have averted the secondary incident (a bit like a safety triangle). Nutcases are prone to return for a second go. Every situation like this needs to be discussed and learnt from. I have the utmost respect for consol operators as they take more s**t than they deserve. They deal with derros,druggos and thieves and just the general publics anger over fuel prices far more than the average salesperson and only recently since Coles has expanded into the market with so many more workers being represented by the SDA has the renumeration finally been somewhat near what they deserve. But thats for another thread. Have a good one.

FordFan86 · 04-07-2006, 06:34 PM

Seems all is not over.
Yesterday morning the same guy came back, at 630am just after opening at 6. Michael was out at the price board putting the numbers up, he heard the footsteps, they stopped. He turned around and there's this guy standing there with an iron bar.
Michael high tailed it inside and locked the door, the guy took to his drivers side window/door with the pole, and politely left.
Michaels gone on holidays 3 days early to get away from it all, the boss called me and asked me to work Thursday morning. I'll be meeting him just down the road from the servo and we'll be going to open together. Ditto goes for closing, in pairs, and at 8pm, as opposed to 10pm, until this guy is caught.
He is known to police, he suffers from bipolar disorder stopped taking his meds as he thought he was ok (as is common with some people with mental illnesses I beleive), he's beaten his girlfriend, crashed their car and trashed the house he was living at.
An amazing world we live in, don't you think?
Worried? Not really, I've had my fair share of high school brawls, more than capable of dealing with anything coming my way (being 6'4" helps) & if there's 2 of us he's not likely to want to approach. If he does show up, the button will be pressed and the cops there in a flash to get rid of him.
Good day.

Black XR6 · 04-07-2006, 07:08 PM

I think the panic button is not just there for robbery. It would be there I think for any situation where the staff feel physically threatened as well. If I had the button there and this guy was trashing the store. Id push the button in a flash. What if he left and came back with a gun? Push the button all you like your still dead.

eb_5litre · 04-07-2006, 07:10 PM

I dont really complain about petrol prices, I'm more worried about the prices of things inside the store..... $3.30 for a 600ml Coke !!!!! Sorry... did I stray off topic....

Ultimate · 04-07-2006, 07:45 PM

Well has he ever thought of just having something there and beating the **** out of the guy. That might of saved half the problems i would guess. Where you sure the guy wasnt on any type of drugs, i would suggest maybe some like ice or base. Anyway bad luck mate

Jeff

BA_Turbs · 04-07-2006, 08:20 PM

It was suggested that he was bi-polar. Is beating the **** out of him appropriate?

Is it his fault that in most states of Australia the mental health service consists of parents who look after sufferers when they are "stable", police when they are violent, and paramedics after Stage 2? His behaviour is NOT acceptable, however if he suffers a mental illness, niether is dishing out summary justice. Why the hell should someone who has these tendancies towards violence and being irrational be self medicating?

Austrlia's mental health system is in crisis and this shows it effects everyone, not just the sufferers themselves.

Black XR6 · 04-07-2006, 09:18 PM

BA Turbs, I doubt Jeff read the whole thread before making that post.

EB 5 litre. A big here here to that 600ml coke price. I keep looking for my gold nugget to fall out of it.

eb_5litre · 04-07-2006, 10:10 PM

Maybe he didnt have a mental problem..... maybe he just got rejected for a loan from the bank to buy a Mars Bar & Coke??

deesun · 05-07-2006, 09:00 AM

Good to see you can work something out with opening and closing.6'4 or not you don't need that sort of 5h1t. Good luck.

mcflux · 05-07-2006, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black XR6

BA Turbs, I doubt Jeff read the whole thread before making that post.

EB 5 litre. A big here here to that 600ml coke price. I keep looking for my gold nugget to fall out of it.

Oh, there certainly is a nugget that falls out of those bottles... but it's not gold.

qwigybo · 05-07-2006, 03:54 PM

sounds like a fun weekend, i went out for tea and read the forums myself.
dads a manager at a bank when i was about 8 i was in there with him, leant back on a chair and knocked the panic button, should've seen the reaction when 30 cops showed up haha

normxb · 05-07-2006, 04:11 PM

I know this might be a bit O/T & old but......
When we were running our Auction Centre in Blacktown (1988-90) we'd be working till 2am sometimes and it was located "in a back lane near the railway line" & guess where one of the "gangs" used to meet ... Yep , at the end of our warehouse. Bit daunting when you went to go home , 40-50 , 15 & 16 y/olds with lumps of wood ,bottles & steel bars confronting you.

So we'd give the Police a call & they'd drive up to the door & wait till we'd locked up & driven out of the carpark. Got to know the Blacktown Police well & have to give them Full Points for their service , not once did they fail to appear or complain.

I don't envy you guys running the servo's in Sydney night's or W/ends. Also , as to the cost of goods in the servo's , yep , they're a bit more expensive but that's "for the convenience" would cost a lot more driving around looking for a cheaper price And most times it's the goods sold in the shops that keep the servo's open , if they relied on petrol sales Only , they'd be broke in no time....