To think that you should not do your weekly shop, leaving your car at the petrol pump!

[BlueEyesAndDarkChocolate]

I live in a small town. There's only one petrol station. It can get quite busy at certain times. So last night, at about 5.45pm, I pull in, to fill up. I would normally avoid going at this time, but I was literally running on vapour! This is quite a busy time, with commuters filling up on their way home.

So, this woman fills up her car, leaves it at the pump, and then proceeds to do, what can only be described, as a weekly shop (the petrol station has an M&S Food section). We are talking 2 baskets! And she was slow and very dithery. Would join the queue, then remember something else, and leave the queue. Eventually she pays for groceries and petrol, and leaves.

This drives me insane! Surely, any considerate person would pay for petrol, move the car (there are lots of parking spaces away from the pumps) and then do their food shopping.

[EssentialHummus]

That sounds maddening. She possibly just popped in for some milk, and got carried away? happens to the best of us in Marks

[EponasWildDaughter]

God. I'd want to kill her!

[Janek]

Even if she moved her car the petrol pump would not reset until she paid for the fuel, so whilst you wouldn't then have to wait for her to get back into her car and drive off, you'd still have to wait for the weekly shop. Yanbu btw!

[wonkylegs]

Janek - that can't be true as the busy Tesco petrol station I used to use asks you to pull into car parking spaces after filling up to avoid queuing, you can then immediatly start filling up once you pull up at the pump. They then confirm at the till how much you filled up.

[BeautifulMaudOHara]

YABU - she's entitled to leave her car there while she shops, I'd have done the same.

I sometimes need petrol and supper which is why I fill up at the garage with M&S as opposed to others nearby. M&S know this!

If it's any consolation I once did a sort of weekly shop in an M&S garage and said as I went to pay "I realise this is a really silly place to do my weekly shop, this will be expensive" and the guy behind the till laughed and said "yep! That'll be a thousand pounds please" (he was joking, obvs, but it was expensive!

[Sparklingbrook]

All petrol pumps should have Pay at the Pump. Should be the law.

[Sparklingbrook]

Our local Sainsburys petrol station has trolleys. I avoid it.

[OurBlanche]

Well, why do they have food shops in garages then?

If waiting behind someone shopping after filling up annoys you get your petrol some other time.

She says, living in a small town with one garage that has a shop...

[Imnotaslimjim]

The pump could have been used again of she'd moved the car, they just suspend the sale. I worked in a fuel station and did it all the time.

[Sparklingbrook]

Re moving the car, at the petrol stations in my town (which I avoid due to weekly shop types) there is nowhere to move the car to.

[BlueEyesAndDarkChocolate]

OurBlanche Only one petrol station. But there is an Asda and Tesco Metro 2 mins away, for groceries.

I can understand grabbing a sandwich or something, en route to the till. But two overflowing baskets (she had one, her teen had another), whilst everyone queues, seems very selfish to me.

[LittleRedSparke]

its the faffing that annoyed the OP (i'm with you too)

[Thewinedidit]

YANBU. There's a petrol station near me which has a Sainsbury's attached to it. I avoid it like the plague. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting 15mins or so to use the pumps whilst folk are dithering around wondering what to have for their tea that night. Any shopping should be a quick grabbing of a couple of things max.

[OurBlanche]

But the garage has the food store... so they obviously don't mind.

You said it was unusual for you to be there at that time, so you usually avoid it. Meh!

[MeolsCop]

I had this. Petrol station in our local 'naice' small town. I pulled up at a fuel pump, behind an empty car, assuming that the driver was inside paying.

Waited. Waited. Waited.

Eventually she wanders out with shopping bags. I lifted my eyes heavenwards and she came over to my window and proceeded to hurl abuse at me for daring to imply that she'd done something wrong. She was actually right next to two spaces set aside for people to park if they weren't getting fuel, but obviously, expecting her to move her car less than two feet would have been infringing her human rights, or something.

I left her in mid-rant and drove away.

[Janek]

Okay, i stand corrected! My dad always used to move the car while my mum paid for fuel, as they are ruthlessly efficient. I did it once when on my own, and had a notion that the next person couldn't fill up until i'd paid, but now i think about it i have no idea how i'd have known that... (Perhaps they were staring, non-plussed at the vacant, but non-working pump!?!).

[BlueEyesAndDarkChocolate]

expecting her to move her car less than two feet would have been infringing her human rights, or something.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

[AppleSetsSail]

I would be incandescent with rage, but I admit that my temper seems fairly short these days.

I don't understand why it's not a more common practice to move your car forward to a parking spot when paying for petrol.

[MistressChalk]

Oooh I hate this! Bits and bobs then fine but a weekly shop whilst you have an ever growing queue of traffic just wanting petrol is ridiculous. Go to a supermarket.
Not quite the same but the other night coming home I needed to fill up, loads of cars in the forecourt and every pump was taken so I pull in and wait behind a car at the second pump in a row iyswim. Sitting there patiently waiting for about 5 - 10 minutes and absent mindedly watching the girl in car in front doing her make up and brushing her hair, then the person in the first car comes out of the shop and drives off. I start the car expecting to pull forward and no! The girl in front stays at the second pump and gets out to start filling up! She wasn't finished and waiting for the car in front to move she was just faffing about for ages, and then didn't even pull forward into the empty space so I could fill up too! Some people just live in their own little world and have no awareness of others.

[Penfold007]

Our nearest petrol station is also a mini M&S shop. They want customers to do their shopping at the same time as refuelling. They created this nightmare situation.

[Teapot101]

Frustrating but the fault of the petrol station. French motorway services have spaces for you to pull into once you have filled the car. They make so much more sense.

[ScoutsMam]

YANBU.

This does my tits in. The local special here is when there are two pumps, to park and fill in the first one instead of pulling forward TO THE EMPTY PUMP so there's an EMPTY PUMP NOT BEING USED while they dither.

These are always the same men and women who cannot get back into their car and drive of without refamiliarising themselves with the dash because having been 18 hours actually paying they have forgot how their car works, where their sunglasses are and no doubt need to check that their license is still valid after all that time.



Dingbats the lot of them.

[nattyknitter]

This really grips my shit. They do it at morning rush hour at my closest petrol station. It has a small Tesco store attached. The queues to get in snarl up the main road and there are people casually shopping. I drive to the next town and go to the Sainsurys one which only sells the contents of meal deals and newspapers in the petrol payment cabin. You want to shop you get you arse to the proper store 40 yards away.

I want to get fuel quickly, pay and leave.

[Lilyargin]

Anybody who does this sort of thing is clearly selfish and has no concept of others. I would have killed her. Or said something.