Reducing Business Crime
Bilking
Bilking is often used to describe a customer 'making off without paying' for goods or a service. Bilking can be committed against restaurants, service stations, taxi drivers/companies or in a number of other situations.
If a customer makes off without paying you should report to the police giving as much of the following information as possible:
- a detailed description of the person/people involved
- a detailed description of any vehicle involved, including, make and model, colour and registration number
- their direction of travel
- the monetary value of the goods or service
- whether the person/people involved made any attempt to pay.
If there is a dispute over service or cost where the customer won’t pay but leaves their details after you accept their offer to do so, then this is a civil, not police, matter. However if a person leaves false details with the intention of not paying they may have committed a criminal offence.
To guard against forecourt thefts, retailers can contact their local crime reduction officer and consider setting up a Forecourt Watch scheme. In addition you could:
- look at the garage layout
- ensure the kiosk operator has a clear view of the pumps
- look at how the entrance and exit would help or hinder criminals
- consider installing speed humps
- installing Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and/or automatic number plate recognition.
If this is done, it’s important that:
- the cameras have a clear view of each pump
- the kiosk attendant has access to the equipment and knows how to work it
- a CCTV management system is in place
- CCTV footage is recorded in a format that courts can view (especially important in the case of digital systems)
- the CCTV is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 - and there are signs telling people that the cameras are in use.
You could also consider whether you need:
- an active policy of prosecuting non-payers
- signs telling people that you prosecute non-payers
- a pump management system, for example one that turns off outside pumps at quieter times of the day
- online authorisation facilities for payments by card
- to examine drive-off figures for patterns in the times and frequencies of drive-offs, and to act on them
- procedures to vet your staff
- crime reduction/prevention training for staff
- a reward system for staff preventing crime.