By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

A FAITH Avenue gas station operator said an incident that sparked allegations of attempted theft on social media was the result of an honest mistake rather than employee misconduct.

The controversy began after a customer shared a Facebook post alleging that an attendant at an Esso service station on Faith Avenue attempted to short change her $10 worth of fuel from a $20 cash purchase. The customer said the issue was discovered before she left the station, and was corrected after she questioned the cashier.

Following an internal review, Paul Hepburn, operator of the Esso service station on Faith Avenue and Carmichael Road, said management found the incident resulted from an employee juggling multiple fuel transactions at once.

“Our investigation found that the pump attendant had more than one pump that he was putting money in for, and he made a mistake,” Mr Hepburn said. “He put $10 on her pump, and it was an honest mistake. People make mistakes. We’re human.”

Mr Hepburn said the matter was corrected immediately once it was brought to the cashier’s attention, and maintained there was never any intention to deprive the customer of fuel. “There was no intent to steal,” he said. “He’s not that kind of person.”

Mr Hepburn added that he and the customer later communicated, and he offered a complimentary fuel voucher in an effort to make amends. “We’re not crooks,” he said. “We don’t encourage that. It’s a bad look on us, but that was never the intent.”

The Facebook post generated many reactions and comments, with several users claiming to have experienced similar situations at service stations across New Providence.

Mr Hepburn said while customers have every right to raise concerns, he believes social media often amplifies negative narratives before businesses have an opportunity to investigate. “I’ve got over 30 employees there,” he said. “They have families and they need to eat, and they’re not trying to rob anybody that comes into Carmichael.”

According to Peter Roker, operator of Roker’s Gas Station, an Esso service station also in the Faith Avenue area, the incident highlighted the issue of reputational damage, which he said businesses have become constantly subject to in the age of social media.

Because the original Facebook post referred only to “an Esso gas station on Faith Avenue” without identifying a specific location, other operators along that street could have received unfair backlash.

Mr Roker stressed that any employee intentionally dispensing less fuel than a customer paid for would be committing theft. However, he argued that customers should first seek to resolve concerns directly with management before taking it to social media.

“If I go somewhere and I don’t get the right service, I’ll ask if there’s a manager or somebody I can call,” he said. “My number, my manager’s number, and at least two other numbers are posted in every possible place for observation at the gas station. If anyone ever has complaints, they have our direct number.”

Mr Roker acknowledged that mistakes can occur in any business, but said management should be given an opportunity to investigate and resolve complaints. “It’s impossible to prevent something from happening, but our mentality is that if something happens and it comes to our attention, we will deal with it straight away,” he added.

He also warned that, once false allegations are widely circulated online, correcting it can be difficult and harm the business, costing large amounts of money.

“I think that people have a responsibility for looking into facts a little more before they take any public action, because once you make a statement, it’s hard to go out there and correct it,” Mr Roker said.

“You go to an establishment and you make a statement on social media. Twenty thousand people will see that statement that cost that business $100,000. But then when there's a retraction and only 5,000 people see it, you got 15,000 people who didn't see the correction.”

Mr Roker further cautioned that defamatory social media posts can carry significant legal consequences.

“The fact that Bahamians can say whatever they want to say on social media doesn’t mean that they are entitled to say it,” he said. “There’s too much defamatory foolishness happening. The general public does not realise that they can be doing something they could be sued for thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars for.”