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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be furious I had to queue for petrol because of stupit panic buying!

124 replies

cwtch4967 · 29/03/2012 18:19

I have half a tank of fuel in my (petrol) car. I was not panicing and had no intention of filling up as I don't do much milage in my car. We are going away for a week on Saturday and it's a three hour drive, we were planning to take DH company (diese)l car and were confident he would be able to fill up before we went............cue panic buying everywhere and now everywhere round here has run out of diesel!!!
Local nurses have been unable to get fuel to get to work (rural area) and it is just bonkers!!! There is no stike even arrange yet - if there was we would have a full seven days notice.
Why are people so selfish................????

OP posts:

tethersend · 29/03/2012 22:16

It's ridiculous.

I had to queue for over an hour today, people were shouting and fighting, and when I got to the front of the queue I was forced to fill three extra cans full as there's no telling what it will be like later in the week.

What's worse is I don't even drive.

CaptainKirk · 29/03/2012 22:19

Good point gaelicsheep. The end of the tax year approacheth and Mr. Osborne probably needs to fill his pockets a few black holes in his budget. I would sacrifice 20 goats if it'd get the Lib Dems to pull out of the gov'mint and force early elections...

hmc · 29/03/2012 22:23

Can't abide the tone of this thread and debates about when it is 'valid' to fill up. If someone who doesn't need their car for anything you deem 'vital' wants to top up with £10 of petrol just in case then that is their prerogative. Get over yourselves - and tough if you can't get petrol / diesel now - you should have joined the other 'muppets' who did it this morning / yesterday rather than tutting, and puffing about it being a lot of unnecessary nonsense

BellaOfTheBalls · 29/03/2012 22:28

It really is the biggest load of bollocks. Panic buying because there might be a strike while Condem laugh all the way to the taxpayer owned bank. I berate DP constantly for his conspiracy theories usually but quite frankly feel there is something dodgy about all of this.

And George Osbourne shouldn't be trusted with a toy till & a few coppers let alone the economy. I lost all respect for the man when a friend of mine showed me photographs he had taken of him trying unsuccessfully to work the worlds simplest automated ticket machine. Knob.

Sparks1 · 29/03/2012 22:38

And again i remind you. Unite started this.

Very quiet aren't they....

noblegiraffe · 29/03/2012 22:42

Probably because they haven't even announced a strike yet and are still in negotiations?

Sparks1 · 29/03/2012 23:05

They aren't in negotiation and the simple threat of striking is exactly what they wanted.

They're "issues" for potentially striking are laughable to the point of ridiculousness and if valid would have been dealt with by other avenues.

myron · 29/03/2012 23:05

Our lawn needs mowing - 3 weeks in and DH has put it off dur to lack of petrol for our mower. Admit to being a tad embarrassed with taking our small can to the petrol station but still did it albeit late at night - no queues but pretty busy for late on Thurs pm!

noblegiraffe · 29/03/2012 23:34

Sparks, it wasn't the threat of strike action at an unspecified future date at least a week away that caused people to scurry to the pumps, it was Conservative ministers telling people to break out the jerry cans.

TheBigJessie · 29/03/2012 23:54

bronze T21:41:46

You know the threads we've had recently where people have been bashing non drivers? Well...

bronze · 29/03/2012 23:56

Wonder how much cake I could get for mine

PfftTheMagicDraco · 30/03/2012 00:12

I actually have no fuel. And now I can't get any

Hownoobrooncoo · 30/03/2012 01:21

Was driving home tonight and thought there had been a smash ahead as the traffic looked crazy in a normally quiet spot. Nope, big queue at the first petrol station into town causing a bit of mayhem for nervous drivers thinking something was wrong. It is also one of the most ridiculously highest priced stations in town. Others up the road a bit were quiet and much cheaper, as BA would say, 'Fools!'

mockingjay · 30/03/2012 03:31

I imagine one of the reasons people panic buy is situations like the OP's. If she'd panicked with the rest she'd have a full tank now, and wouldn't be stuck. So essentially people panic buy because they know there will be shortage because everyone else is doing it! Doesn't make it right, but you can see how it happens...

clam · 30/03/2012 16:32

I've been examining my conscience to see whether I should have acted differently earlier in the week. My orange light was about to come on and I knew I wouldn't last the week to get to work. I always fill the tank up when I buy fuel.
I'd heard the early news reports about people being advised not to panic-buy as there would be enough fuel to go around if we all were "sensible." Yeah right!
However, I knew jolly well that people wouldn't be sensible, and that if I was public-spirited and only put half a tankfull in (out of my ordinary way), I'd be highly likely to run out and spend the weekend in a queue or unable to get hold of any at all.
So, was I right to fill up? It was normal practice for me.

lisad123 · 30/03/2012 16:41

I managed to last until today when my kept beeping at me. I had to queue for about 10 mins, but some people were being real idiots, beeping and even yelling at each other!

OrmIrian · 30/03/2012 16:45

There is an Esso garage just outside work. No queues there. Haven't been all week.

Lilyloo · 30/03/2012 16:45

Didn't panic buy at beginning of week, spent my last few vapours driving round garages trying to find one with petrol, catch 22!

eurochick · 30/03/2012 16:45

I am trying to change my behaviour as little as possible.

I usually fill up when I get to around 1/4 tank. As we are visiting the inlaws this weekend, that would probably have me queueing at a service station on the M3 on the way back on Sunday. So instead, I will try to fill up at a local station before we leave and if that proves impossible, we will perhaps postpone. I don't want to be in the situation of running out of petrol on the motorway. That is just sensible pre-planning. Were it not for the long journey, I wouldn't change my buying habits at all. As it is, I will buy on Saturday rather than Sunday, simply due to the irrational behaviour that others are displaying.

Bearing in mind that there is no strike yet and plenty of petrol, if everyone would just behave as normal, no one would need to change their behaviour. It is all very irritating to see people queueing outside petrol stations like headless chickens.

NewHouse · 30/03/2012 16:46

Have a look [here] nasty comments, when I appealed for not over filling tanks, this was the attitude BEFORE government telling people to fill up! I even said, if your circumstances don't require you to have a full tank, don't go over half a tank, leave it for those in need, I warned of the very thing happening that did!

NewHouse · 30/03/2012 16:46

[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1437430-So-who-is-filling-up-their-petrol-tank here] oops

hmc · 30/03/2012 17:55

That link does not work

NewHouse · 30/03/2012 17:59

NewHouse · 30/03/2012 18:00

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/1437430-So-who-is-filling-up-their-petrol-tank

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