DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - A sign on the front door of the Big River Service Centre has been garnering a lot of attention lately.

The typed sign outlines the business' policy against people who drive away without paying for their gas, warning potential offenders that they, like those who tried it in the last three months, will be charged with theft.

Dave Wilkes, general manager of the Big River Service Centre, is enforcing a new policy to combat people who fill up and leave without paying for their gas. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"Are you sure you want to try me?" Dave Wilkes wrote on the sign.

Wilkes, general manager of the business located just outside of Fort Providence, implemented the policy soon after starting the job at the end of April. The policy was necessary, he said.

"We were getting stung pretty good there for awhile," Wilkes said.

In May the station had six drive aways, a number that doubled in June. A day's gas profits are lost if there are two non-payments that day, he said.

"We lost a lot," said Wilkes.

Before the policy was posted, staff members were trying to be vigilant but it's difficult when 10 or 12 vehicles arrive at once off of the ferry, he said. The offenders, who have been both local and visitors, take advantage of the busy periods to drive away without paying.

Staff members have watched people come onto the lot, drive around slowly and leave if it's not busy. They'll come back later and get in line when the traffic has picked up hoping there are enough people that no one will notice if they leave, said Wilkes.

In some cases, staff members go out and say hi to returning drivers just to let them know they've been noticed.

"It really cramps their style," he said.

Those who do succeed in driving away haven't chosen the best spot for the crime, said Wilkes. Using a newly-installed camera system, he takes down a description of the driver and the vehicle and forwards it to the appropriate RCMP detachment. The drivers are on the road for three hours before they reach a community to the north and they can also be picked up in Enterprise or Fort Simpson, he said.

"It's so easy to get a cop car waiting for them to get in," Wilkes said.

Wilkes posted the sign informing customers about the policy at the end of June. He credits the policy and the sign for the fact that there hasn't been a drive away since early July.

"People are noticing," he said.

The policy is just one of the changes that Wilkes has made over the past three months at Big River. He reopened the restaurant at the service station that had been closed for the last approximately six months. He also reinvented the bar.

With the addition of a new coat of paint, a big screen television, a pool table and some dartboards, the adjoining bar is now a sports bar.

Other changes have included stocking Shell silver gasoline, which hadn't been offered in over a year, and cleaning up the lot.

"I want this place to feel like you're still in downtown Edmonton pulling into a gas station," he said.