French service station petrol-diesel error costs customers dear

Around 40 drivers in Charente have been affected by the error of a fuel supplier, which filled petrol tanks with diesel and diesel tanks with petrol at a Géant Casino petrol station.

By the time that the error was discovered, several customers at the Champniers petrol station had already filled up their cars, which had then broken down.

One customer, Laëtitia, thought she was buying E10, but was actually putting diesel in her car.

“I was able to take my daughter to Ruffec, around 40km away, but after that the car didn’t want to run anymore,” she told Charente Libre.

The Géant Casino branch closed the pumps as soon as it was informed by customers of the breakdowns.

Read more: Petrol prices in France: Will they continue to rise? Expert gives view

The petrol station’s fuel tanks were also cleaned the next day before being reopened the day after.

Anyone affected by the mistake should contact their insurer, but also Casino, using the email address: casinoRc@s2hgroup.com citing the file number CA2022400785.

They should attach an image of their receipt or bank statement reflecting their fuel purchase.

Customers can also call 05 45 22 44 00 for further assistance.

A local mechanic added that putting the wrong fuel in a car can: “blow the spark plugs and very seriously damage the engine.”

It will generally cost someone “€300-€400” to drain the fuel tank, but a lot more if the engine has also been damaged.

Géant Casino stressed that this type of error is “extremely rare” and that it “apologi[sed]” for the inconvenience caused to customers, who are invited to visit the shop to “benefit from a commercial gesture”.

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