Service Station Etiquette?

I agree totally Jim BUT most servos hate you moving your vehicle prior to paying. i have been pulled up a couple of times about this situation. so now i dont move till i have paid, i fill up nearly every day so you can see why i just do it their way. cheers Paul

Agree 100% there, but alot of places dont allow this to happen. I have been chased to the carpark many times thinking i was doing a runner. It really p's me off when people pack there eskies and do there windows there too after they have filled up.

Been done before and the general feeling was....yes it would be nice to move up and let the next one in.....BUT in this day and age of fuel theft ect and servos with up to 30 pumps they do prefer you to stay put untill you have paid

Stefan

P.S Now when there is 27 unleaded bowsers empty and one car is blocking the diesel pump or the LPG one when I had my old Patrol...Now that gives me the SHYTES

Jim,

Many Service Stations frown upon this practice and expect customers to leave their vehicle at the bowser until they have paid for their fuel purchase.

As far as I'm aware, moving your vehicle won't let the next vehicle in line "free access" as in the pump working, until the previous customer has paid.

I too, get frustrated at times from inconsiderate (ignorant) people who should promptly pay for their fuel, return to their vehicle and progress to a parking bay, then return inside to buy their bloody icecream, lollies, drinks, or whatever.

Now, how many people would do that?

Bill.

Agree Jim as I fill up to 10 vehicles a day, but as the other guys said they do not like you moving it.
But if gertting minor groceries I aways park away from the bowser.
Cheers Pete

I had a run in at a bowzer some months ago. I was filling up with LPG and ULP at the same time. A voice came over the loudspeakers saying that that was not allowed. I gave them the one finger and when I went to pay I got chatted up again. I told the servo manager to put a sign up to this effect and if he wanted to speak to me to get off his butt and come and tell me personally and not shout at me through the loudspeakers. Guess who had the red face?????? Not me

as per what Paul above says

on a recent trip to ACT a servo at balranald got very narky when i moved the car away from the camera...and that was after I presented myself at the counter to pay the bill..

but I'm with you..i dont get a hassled here in adelaide doing it..maybe its just an eastern state thing

gday all

what would the legalities of this be;

you pull up to a bowser
punch in to the bowser a preset amount
bowser clicks off
then you tip up the hose with the nozzle still in your tank,holding the handle of the nozzle open
preceed to the counter?

would taking this small amount of fuel that is still in the hose ( which came through the pump,which has a counter on it to measure the fuel , is it legally yours??)

Gday Jim, I agree,but in NSW they dont activate the pump until the customer has paid for the goods, so it would save about a minute,if that up here,most folk get their juice,milk, bread,fags etc and put it all on the plastic at the same time.

regards,Keith C

We do a lot of refueling at a small congested BP. Was over their yesterday and a older grey nomad in a GQ and a large bogey van had driven into the bowser closest to the shop. To exit is tight in a fairlane. It was obivious to me the old guy was going to have to back out. BUT another old goose(older them me ha ha) was jamed up his clacker waiting for him to move forward.
I went over to the idiot one and explained the situation, and he complied with my directions and moved to the other side of the bowser. This was actually now the right side for him. While I am helping the other old guy back out the idiot one goes inside and complaines about me.LOL
Anyway when I finally got the UD filled I went inside to fix up and the manager told me about idiot.
Anyhow she told me her reply was( thank god their was someone on the scene with some common sence, because it is not common.
Gave me a laugh anyway
Cheers Pete

Maybe its time we go the American way and install swipe fuel machines where you don't have to go to pay the attendant. Just swipe your card, nominate the amount with the correct buttons, enter and then put your fuel in. When finished get in and drive away.

That way all you young, impatient, tycoons will keep your cool....lol

You know what I hate more, I have the van on the back and pull in to fill up with diesel and the pump is in another lane. Stupid B's can't even put a sign up to say where it is. I just drive straight through and find another station.

Pooley

its not like theres a shortage of servos - just go to another with aspare bowser

Giidday Jim

Can't figure out what the problem is.

Some fella takes a minute to pay the bill and move on. So what.

Cripes I've spent triple that time in a supermarket listening to an old dear telling the girl on the machine her life story.

'Sniff the air, scratch ya bum, and before you know it, they'll be gone'.

LOL

Regards

Kim

Pulled into a servo the other day in the Western suburbs of Sydney and parked behind a panelvan loaded with gear and I presumed the drivers seat was empty and the driver was inside paying for fuel.
I patiently wait 3 mins and then see the badly dressedyoung male middle eastern driver alight from the drivers seat of the vehicle and he is talking on his mobile!!! He then proceeds to slowly fuel his vehicle.
I wanted to abuse him but was stopped by my wife who didnt want me to make a scene. This was in a servo in Lakemba and the owners are also of middle eastern extraction--only went there as they had the cheapest diesel in the area.

I have more of a problem with fuel station attendants who can't push the button on their console to allow you to fill up. The lights on their console are flashing and some of them bleep, but they just continue serving the customer in front of them. All this does is slow down the filling up process. I think they should be trained to activate a new purchase ASAP as I believe in heavy times this will speed up the filling process.

Oh, the other thing that gets up my nose is the "Thank you for your patience in waiting' from some of the attendants when their is a queue to pay on Wednesday mornings. It sounds so false as they are being forced by management to say it. It actually makes me feel worse when they say it. I would be happier if they dispensed with trying to sell their counter '2 or 1' specials when the queue is long. Most of us just want to pay and get out as quikly as possible.

Geez, lack of patience or what!!
Rather than hang meself from the nearest tree/bowser, I just chill and listen to the latest footy scores or whatever.
Glasshouses and double standards.

G'day Jim,

Seems like you opened a bucket of worms and unfortunately in our neck of the woods it is also frowned upon to move before paying. Incredibly frustrating I know but like most here I sit back and listen to the music, clean the windows (before getting to the bowser) and get ready for our Monte Carlo fuel dump.

The whole situation is off course exacerbated by cheap Tuesday when you have that little pocket rocket in front of you that takes $10 of fuel to save 2c with a shopper docket.

Hope you take it easy on me if I'm in front of you because I've already been slapped into this shape by the big fuel companies.

Kind regards

I got confused at one servo in the NT. I hadn't done Pay before you Fill before. I went to the counter and asked how I pay before I fill if I do not know how much fuel I am going to buy? I was told that I could leave my car keys, credit card of $50.00 at the counter. I quickly told the attendant that I do not trust them like they do not trust me and drove off without buying anything.

I always move forward and have never been questioned by the console operator, and I go to a swag of different servos.

Sounds like it may happen soon, but that will not stop me. If I'm not breaking the law, I'm not doing anything wrong.

Jim.

G'day Jim

I'm with Kim and his dog

It's only going to be 5 mins out of your day - a bit of time out to contemplate the meaning of life, or small business. Don't know about scratching your bum tho', could attract some curious stares.

avvagoodday
John

While we're talking servo etiquette, my biggest gripe is with losers who pull up at the pumps just to be close to the front door of the servo. They block the pumps and go in for a paper, bottle of milk and usually some Winnie blues.
Grrrrr!

It wouldnt take much for servos to have signs on driveway
"FUEL ONLY" this may stop those who park in front of bowser and go shopping but dont purchase fuel??

I do move off and park but usually only at country servos because i often get some food go to the dunny and maybe stretch my legs
besides that the 2 servos i fill up at loacally are fairly quite and theres not much of a Q at the diesal bowser anyway

Gday
How slow are those people at the Bunnings check out?
Murray

I was talking to Mark the proprietor at Mobil this morning about this, he said that it is frustrating for the console operators because 9 out of ten people that move there cars can't remember what bowser they used and how much they put in it.

Not only that they can only hold 2 fuel purchases per bowser, so even if you move your car and the next person has finished and moved then you haven't payed as yet because you are still looking for things to buy, the third has to wait.

Steve.

I think the best way around it is timing. Its like peak hour traffic, you know they will be busy at certain times so avoid it and if not then yeah sit back and wait the 5 minutes.

Havent had time to read through the respsonses but can I tell you that from an ex servo workers point of view its customers like you that think they are being courteous that are forgetting that if they want to be courteous to anyone it should be the person working behind the counter.

Especially when its busy and you and you other "courteous" mates think they are being kind, it you gotta remember that not everyone knows what pump they were on nor the amount, some dont even know what car theres is!!

AND my old place now has it so that even if you do move the other person cannt use the pump until the sale is cleared, which many places do these days anyway.

Be courteous to the person working there, not the person behind ya, what are they going to do for ya?? atleast your chances of getting a nicer greating off the CSA is going to be better!

Hi Jim

Once you've paid for another half tank of diesel which some freckle has nipped and took while you've gone off to park your vehicle out of kind consideration...then just driven off...you tend not to do this again and just leave the car where it is. No supposed to happen but it does.

Cheers
Brad

didn't we just cover this a few months back -- ended up in a nit or a rukus......


boc

I select servo's on how accesible they are, not the bowser price.

I have a caltex card and close to normal work to home run there are at least caltex stations. However the one i go to has clear open access to the diesel pumps so i dont have a problem. For possibly a 1c litre extra cost over 80 litres i dont care.
This is not just a prolem on diesel there are lot os servos that are so poorly planned it is evean hard to get ULP.

May be instead of people selecting servos on price they should shop on access.

And how do YOU feel Jumbo when someone drives off after hitching up a ct without paying ,,,,, ?????? at the sandover servo a cpl of mths ago while we were there a drive off that cost the station $300+ occured because people like you have no patience ,,,,,, awaiting your typical vitorol ,,

I think some people on here are getting uptight about things that are non-issues. The majority of people in the world would love to have the problems that you have to deal with.

So you have to wait in your car for an extra 3 minutes. Big deal.

Its a long time since I have seen a "SERVICE STATION", I thought they were all fuel fill up stations now, haven't come across one with too much service of late.