Reply to: UK Petrol Stations

[Sysman]

The reason they do not like pay at pump is because it decreases sales of other goods, if you pay at the pump you are unlikely to make any spontanious purchases

That's true. I remember my local newsagent stopping home deliveries, and far from losing trade, his turnover went up due to the same effect.

[Support Monkey]

My local Sainsbury's has just moved the petrol station to be nearer the main road yet the didn't install any pay at the pumps, I asked why and was told their customers prefer to pay at the kiosk.

I now use Morrisons.

The reason they do not like pay at pump is because it decreases sales of other goods, if you pay at the pump you are unlikely to make any spontanious purchases

[Spacecadet]

- if you are not buying anything in the shop why don't people use the pay @ the pump? Instead they prefer to go inside and queue thus holding everything up!

I sometimes pay in the kiosk for the hell of it. Usually depends how attractive the girl working the till appears when viewed from the forecourt

[Sysman]

My local Sainsbury's has just moved the petrol station to be nearer the main road yet the didn't install any pay at the pumps, I asked why and was told their customers prefer to pay at the kiosk.

I now use Morrisons.

Odd thing that. When I was at college there were pay pumps which took cash and that was handy for spontaneous trips to the coast to see dawn, but they disappeared shortly after.

I next came across them in Switzerland and was struggling to fathom out how they worked. The kind chap who helped me told me I was an idiot for not knowing how they worked, for every country has them. "Not in the UK" I informed him. I'm taliking cash here, not plastic.

[Sysman]

When I was a kid I worked on a garage forecourt using the petrol pumps doing that (err...approx 35 years ago...). Used to have to check the oil, water and tyres as well (cars were less reliable then). We had the locks on the pumps to keep them pumping as well. I used to be able to stop the pump dead on exactly the right price or number of gallons. Sadly these days the prices move too fast.

I did a stint of that straight after college when I was looking for a proper job, and got to drive some nice cars as well. You are right about the pumps and it was easy to serve several customers at a time, especially when a couple of trucks wanting 60 odd gallons apeice pulled onto the diesel section.

It changed in the 80s and 90s though. The oil companies were screwing the small garage owners so much that there wasn't much money in it unless you put a supermarket and bakery on the premises. One local chap was under such pressure from the bank in the recession of the early nineties that he packed it in and told them to run the business themselves. Needless to say it was taken over by the big boys. No confilct of interest there, then.

[Sysman]

you know what I find really annoying - when you are waiting to fill up your car and the muppet at the pump has decided to do their weekly shop in the petrol station - I mean by all means by a packect of fags or even rush and get some milk but don't spend 20 minutes mincing around

pointless ignorant feckers

I had that once. I went for a Sunday morning fill up and had to queue for about 15 minutes to pay. They really should have had a till for pump only customers.

During that time my car was clogging up the pumps, so the next time I did the Sunday morning fill up I pulled the car off the pumps before paying, feeling the considerate citizen and all that.

I got back to the car to find a very annoyed McDonalds manager screaming at me.

Non stop screaming.

In German.

Make that bad German with an awful accent.

He wouldn't shut up, even after I'd apologised and promised not to park in front of his shop again.

I took my time moving the car, simply to annoy him further

After that experience I made sure I didn't fill up at that petrol station on a Sunday unless I was also going to raid the supermarket section.

[gingerjedi]

- if you are not buying anything in the shop why don't people use the pay @ the pump? Instead they prefer to go inside and queue thus holding everything up!

My local Sainsbury's has just moved the petrol station to be nearer the main road yet the didn't install any pay at the pumps, I asked why and was told their customers prefer to pay at the kiosk.

I now use Morrisons.

[TheFaQQer]

The funny thing about that to me is, where are the petrol stations that sell without VAT? If there were one id use that instead of expensing it.

Northern Ireland

[escapeUK]

why do you have to ask for a VAT receipt? Why can't it all be on one receipt?

The funny thing about that to me is, where are the petrol stations that sell without VAT? If there were one id use that instead of expensing it.

- if you are not buying anything in the shop why don't people use the pay @ the pump? Instead they prefer to go inside and queue thus holding everything up!

Because a vast majority of people are stupid.

[TiroFijo]

Just two or more points:

- why no putting the octane levels on the pumps? My car takes 98 octane yet the petrol available is either 97 or has a silly name like Ultimate
- why can't you put the pump in the tank, start pumping and fix it with a little lever so you can go off and wash your windscreen instead of having to stand there holding it all the time?
- why do you have to ask for a VAT receipt? Why can't it all be on one receipt?

- if you are not buying anything in the shop why don't people use the pay @ the pump? Instead they prefer to go inside and queue thus holding everything up!

[SueEllen]

you know what I find really annoying - when you are waiting to fill up your car and the muppet at the pump has decided to do their weekly shop in the petrol station - I mean by all means by a packect of fags or even rush and get some milk but don't spend 20 minutes mincing around

pointless ignorant feckers

It's not always their fault.

All the fuel stations near me particularly the ones that are 1p cheaper per litre have massive queues. Unfortunately they only have one person on the till so if you get some old git (and it is usually an old git) who takes ages paying then everyone is stuck waiting to fill up on the forecourt.

[gingerjedi]

To be precise, what Dave Gorman did was travel from one side of the country to the other, only staying in independent hotels, buying petrol from independents, eating at independents, only calling independent garages when the car broke down - not giving any money to "the man" (apart from when he ate at BK, McDs and Wendy's as punishment for failure).

Which is a bit trickier to manage.

POP in this country, though we are heading down that path I think there are enough people with money who prefer to use independent services to stop it happening entirely.

I remember talking to a yank who would only eat in chain restaurants as he liked the standardised quality, he didn't trust family run places.

[TheFaQQer]

I don't want to be a pedant but sod it, you need one half decent diesel car and one independent fuel station somewhere in the middle of the journey, how hard can that be?

To be precise, what Dave Gorman did was travel from one side of the country to the other, only staying in independent hotels, buying petrol from independents, eating at independents, only calling independent garages when the car broke down - not giving any money to "the man" (apart from when he ate at BK, McDs and Wendy's as punishment for failure).

Which is a bit trickier to manage.

[gingerjedi]

Dave Gorman did a very good programe about driving across america only filling up with fuel at independent fuel stations, he realy struggled but did make it in the end, there would be no chance of getting from John ogroats to lands end doing the same thing

I don't want to be a pedant but sod it, you need one half decent diesel car and one independent fuel station somewhere in the middle of the journey, how hard can that be?

The reason we get tulip service, mini supermarkets and few independents is there's no money in petrol, the UK has the cheapest pre tax fuel in Europe apparently.

[Lockhouse]

I've hired cars on holidays in Sicily and Cyprus, and in both not only did the attendants from the petrol station fill my tank for me, they also used the clip to leave it filling with the amount I specified, THEN continued to wash my windscreen for me! One place even checked my tyres pressures for me, pointing out that I had a slow puncture...
When it was all done, they even took my payment whilst I sat in the car and returned with the change.

compare that with the UK where you fill your own tank in the freezing cold, often with no squeegee to clean your windscreen, whilst the staff sit in their nice warm, and overpriced Shell shop.

When I was a kid I worked on a garage forecourt using the petrol pumps doing that (err...approx 35 years ago...). Used to have to check the oil, water and tyres as well (cars were less reliable then). We had the locks on the pumps to keep them pumping as well. I used to be able to stop the pump dead on exactly the right price or number of gallons. Sadly these days the prices move too fast.