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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

its not difficult to understand that you can fill up the car from either side

147 replies

ljwales · 09/04/2015 17:50

Why do so many people not understand this? Just wasted 10mins when running late as there was a huge q despite being free pumps! Sadly I couldn't get to them as other people were blocking.

I've driven vans and you can fill up either side. So there really is no excuse!

OP posts:
londonrach · 09/04/2015 18:16

Yanbu. For those saying you cant fill up from wrong side never seen a pump where you cant and ive lived in alot if towns in the south. Just pull the hose out further. They designed for that purpose. However if empty petrol station ill always go for the side where the cap is as its easier.... Maybe everyone waiting had tiring days today op?

JaWellNoFine · 09/04/2015 18:16

It can be done but its a schlep. You have to tug the hose around and it bashes the car. Sometimes the hose is long enough but not always

If I want to make my life easier - I think I am allowed.. Even if it doesn't suit you. I don't really need an excuse... Hmm

OrlandoWoolf · 09/04/2015 18:18

To all those people who've said they've never seen pumps where you can't get to both sides - are you suggesting that those people who have used pumps which are short and can't get to the other side are lying?

I've certainly been to those pumps. I've parked my car with the aim of filling up and assuming the pump will fit - but it hasn't and it won't because it's too short.

AlmaMartyr · 09/04/2015 18:18

I'm quite rural so no large garages. I tend to use our local pump which does not have long reach hoses. I have successfully filled up on the other side in the city so know it's possible. It is a pain in my tall car though.

hedgehogsdontbite · 09/04/2015 18:22

I don't have the strength to pull the hose out enough and keep it out long enough to fill up. It's not my fault you're running late. YABU.

EveBoswell · 09/04/2015 18:23

I fill my own on the offside and can fill it from the other side but it's more difficult on that side because of the amount of heaving you have to do to get the hose into the right position.

Apart from that, I currently have a courtesy car which is brand new and not mine which has to be filled on the nearside. I don't want to drag hose-drawn bits of grit over this one so I would wait for a pump relating to that side.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 09/04/2015 18:23

Thee are definitely pumps that don't reach - I've got stuck at one before and had to reverse back into another queue. Very annoying.

Damnautocorrect · 09/04/2015 18:25

Not all pumps round here have long enough hoses.
I am a wrong side filler if need be, but I don't like it, it has also pissed petrol all over my feet before.

Original poster
ljwales · 09/04/2015 18:26

I'm very Hmm at lots of these replies.

You don't have to pull the hose over the car, you just pull the car further forward! Doesn't take any more strength to pull it a few more ft out.

I'm only asking people not to make me any later by blocking off, if you don't want too use it fine, let me in fact its better for me.

OP posts:
Original poster
ljwales · 09/04/2015 18:27

Can any one name a petrol station in southb Wales with a short pump that obviously isn't an ancient pump? I will go there fill it up from the other side and post it on YouTube Grin

OP posts:
ineedabodytransplant · 09/04/2015 18:30

And sometimes the hose won't reach...because you park too far from the pump Angry

I can understand some people, men as well as women, don't have the physical strength t pull the hose around even though it has a roller system. But some people don't even seem aware it's possible.

(and I know some small, independant , retailers may not have long hoses but generally the larger chains do

loveblackcats · 09/04/2015 18:30

You don't have to pull the hose over the car, you just pull the car further forward!

Not always possible on a busy forecourt in a queue!

EponasWildDaughter · 09/04/2015 18:30

Even before this thread i would have been pretty sure there aren't many drivers who didn't know that you can pull the hose over the car to fill up from the wrong side. I would have been able to guess that most folk prefer to do it from the 'right' side - for a variety of perfectly acceptable reasons. Personally i have 2 - first i hate the hose bashing about on my boot and second i have weak wrists and can find dragging the hose painful.

At the small rural petrol stations round here it's hard not to block the way if you are waiting for a particular pump. There's usually only room to wait in single file.

As another poster said it's the ages spent doing the bloody weekly shop browsing the shop with the car left at the pump, or the ages spent fannying around after getting back into to the car that annoys me.

JaWellNoFine · 09/04/2015 18:32

But it takes a substantial amount more Strength to pull the hose out 2 or 3 metres. When I use the 'right' side I don't even have to pull the hose as there is enough slack to use without extracting more hose. If you are not strong it is lot harder to pull that hose and it has a automated rewind so is fighting you all time.

Just because you can do it.. Doesn't mean others can.

Original poster
ljwales · 09/04/2015 18:34

Its always possible to pull forward enough, unless you have a large people carrier, even when I had a 4x4 I could fill up both sides and not block anyone. You do have to sometimes park tightly and the passenger side can't get out. But mostly there is plenty of room.

OP posts:
imjustahead · 09/04/2015 18:35

hoses do not always stretch.

Original poster
ljwales · 09/04/2015 18:35

I don't think there are many people without the strength to pull a pump.

OP posts:
richthegreatcornholio · 09/04/2015 18:36

Been done to death on here before. There's the possibility of causing damage to the paintwork if the dirty hose touches it. Some of us aren't prepared to risk that sort of damage.

PesoPenguin · 09/04/2015 18:39

Well there's no way I could fill my van up from the wrong side. The petrol cap (well diesel cap?) is in the middle so there's no way it would reach. When I had my car I tried to do it and got the nozzle stuck so I won't be trying it again!

HappyTalking · 09/04/2015 18:39

It doesn't matter if your car is tall or not.

Just pull your car up just almost past the pump and pull the hose around the back. I drive a big car and have never been to a petrol station that i can't fill up at either side (although i am in a city so accept this may make a difference.

DragonWithAGirlTattoo · 09/04/2015 18:42

i dont like pulling the hose over my car, i dont like worrying if i have driven close enough to get the hose in at that angle, i dont like having to hold the nozzle in an awkward position.....

ThingummyJigg · 09/04/2015 18:45

Please don't call people 'thickies' ineedabodytransplant because they can't manage things you can.

Stealthpolarbear · 09/04/2015 18:45

I can't at foss Islands morrisons in york. do it everywhere else but this was not long enough despite pulling up very close.

nickelbarapasaurus · 09/04/2015 18:45

okay, sometimes it might not be possible to pull the hose out - either the hose is an old style, or you aren't strong enough, etc etc.

Just because posters have said they've never known one not to pull out doesn't mean they don't believe that they don't exist, just that they've never had this.

Most of the time, you can do it.
and you know what, you can also drive the opposite way to get to the pump, if the pump won't stretch, and there is never any excuse to block the path of someone else who is willing to try the other side.

I know you can do it the other way round because we have an oldfashioned garage in the village near me, and i once reversed all the way round it because i couldn't get it to stretch over.
then they laughed at me because it was full-service too (optional to locals Grin )

FryOneFatManic · 09/04/2015 18:46

I do the same as Happytalking so the hose goes round the back of the car. I can avoid it touching the car by using the other hand to hold the hose while filling.

I've had the car about 6 years. No damage and no problem at pumps.

Admittedly, with bigger vehicles you may have a problem, but small/medium cars, you shouldn't.