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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Petrol Station Etiquette

95 replies

QueenOfMyWorld · 14/09/2018 16:25

Not aibu but my friend.She went to fill up her car and had to wait behind the car using it as expected.Man goes in to pay and doesn't reappear for a fair amount of time,friend is in a hurry.When he does return he's got 3 bags of shopping and a bunch of flowers so my friend goes "Are they for me?" Man says " No they're for my wife" she says "oh I thought they must be for me as an apology seeing as you've done all that shopping whilst I've waited to fill my car up,you should have parked up elsewhere!"
Was she in the right and he was being a CF or was she being unreasonable and he had every right to get whatever shopping he wanted ? I can see both sides tbf

OP posts:
Nothisispatrick · 14/09/2018 16:38

Yeah, she should’ve just moved.

Gettingbackonmyfeet · 14/09/2018 16:39

Parking at a pump with no petrol being put in is not on but anything else really is fair game.

Your friend was rude , and irritating I'd have laughed at her and said not to be so self righteous.

Where I am it's not uncommon or looked down on to get a few bits and almost every station has a m and s or a Tesco attached.

I grant you if someone came out with a full trolley then they would get an eye roll but that's about it

Your friend need to hoik her bosom right back down

SpottingTheZebras · 14/09/2018 16:40

@MozzchopsThirty so you think he should queue up, pay for his fuel and then go back to the car to move it and return to the shop to buy his shopping then? Fuel pumps only reset once the payment has been received, so there wouldn’t have been any other way to do that. I bet his actual shopping only took up a couple of minutes.

thenightsky · 14/09/2018 16:40

The CF-ist one I saw was a couple in front of me filled up their car, went into the shop for ages, came out and went over the road for McDonalds, leaving their car at the pump!

NailsNeedDoing · 14/09/2018 16:40

Your friend was rude. The man did nothing wrong by using the shop provided at the petrol station, he was using it in the way it was intended.

I get the frustration having been in the same situation, but it's one of those times where you have to accept the world doesn't revolve around you and you're just going to have to suck it up graciously. Or plan better so that you don't need to buy petrol at a busy time when you're in a hurry.

Sallygoroundthemoon · 14/09/2018 16:41

I used to have a car that ran on a particular type of petrol so there was only one pump I could use. I drove me nuts when this happened. Once a van filled up and parked there and after waiting ages, I went into the store to ask him to move, and he was up a ladder fixing the lights. Grrrr. I was still polite though and always explained the one pump thing.
I think the OP was a bit rude but understandably so. The etiquette is to pull away from the pump and park elsewhere if you're shopping.

MissConductUS · 14/09/2018 16:50

You're not supposed to move your car before you've paid!

Can you put petrol in the car prior to paying for it? Here you either pay at the pump with a credit or debit card or you go in and give the attendant cash for maximum amount you wish to buy. If you pump less, you have to go in and get your change.

Ages ago there were some stations here that let you pump first and pay after but too many people would just drive off. It's unheard of now.

StealthNinjaMum · 14/09/2018 16:51

It depends how big the petrol station was and how busy. Sometimes you get queues and it isn't that easy to switch from one pump to another because you push in front of someone in their queue.

Personally if I were going to do a lot of shopping (and 3 bags is a lot) I would move away from the pump so that someone else could use it.

ItWentDownMyHeartHole · 14/09/2018 16:52

Are they for me? is funny. If he’d been any sort of gent he’d have handed them over.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 14/09/2018 16:53

He should have paid for the petrol, then moved the car out of the way before shopping.

But your friend was rude.

So 6 of one, half a dozen of the other really.

BarbaraofSevillle · 14/09/2018 16:54

In the UK nearly all petrol stations are pump then pay.

Sometimes you get trapped behind the shopper's car and people queueing behind you so can't move.

If she could have moved, she should have, but you don't always know how long they're going to be and once you've waited a while, you know that as soon as you commit to moving, and possibly getting to the back of another queue, the shopper will return, oblivious to the delay they've caused.

Places that sell petrol and enough stuff to fill 3 shopping bags often have parking spaces and signs asking people to move their cars from the pumps if they intend to shop in the store too. They won't accuse anyone of theft until they leave the forecourt and most garages have CCTV anyway.

ChristmasPlanner · 14/09/2018 16:55

MissConductUS In the UK we either pay at the pump with a card or go inside to pay after.

Nothisispatrick · 14/09/2018 16:55

MissConductUS

I guess that’s in the US? Here you pull up, fill up then go in and pay for however much you’ve put in. Some places now have pay at pump where you put your card in first.

TheHodgeoftheHedge · 14/09/2018 16:58

Both of them were rather cheeky. If you plan on doing significant shopping whilst paying for your petrol, move out of the way, but equally your friend was incredibly gobby.

Wonkypalmtree · 14/09/2018 17:00

I was always told not to move my car from the pump until I had paid, your friend sounds obnoxious.

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 14/09/2018 17:00

Can you put petrol in the car prior to paying for it? Here you either pay at the pump with a credit or debit card or you go in and give the attendant cash for maximum amount you wish to buy. If you pump less, you have to go in and get your change.

Here it is usual to dispense fuel and then go and pay. I only know of one petrol station near me that has pay at pump but the ones I use are all pay after dispensing. I never actually buy anything at the petrol station shops though as the prices are ludicrous!

The next customer at the pump cannot start dispensing fuel until the previous customer has paid though. It is actually possible that of customer A moves off the pump before paying for their fuel, customer B can pull up to the pump and dispense more fuel which will just be a continuation of customer A’s transaction IYSWIM. I would certainly never vacate a pump before I’d completed my transaction by paying.

yesornoworld · 14/09/2018 17:03

This happens all the time. I would say during peak times it's very cheeky to not move if you intend to shop. For those that say the pump needs to be reset after each purchase. They obviously don't know. Each pump can be used twice at least. It's just common courtesy. If you know your going to use the toilet, or browse/shop then move to a parking bay. Why should others have to wait because your not in a hurry. Sounds entitled behaviour to me coupled with CF'ery.

Lweji · 14/09/2018 17:03

The man was definitely a CF. He should have moved the car to a parking spot and then go shopping at his leisure.

Sirzy · 14/09/2018 17:06

Moving the car would be pointless as they don’t clear the pump for the next person until it’s paid for anyway.

It’s a risk if you use a petrol station with a shop attached

footballmum · 14/09/2018 17:07

This is the problem with multi-functional petrol stations which include convenience stores. If you pull in behind someone who’s filling up you have no idea if they intend to go and do a weekly shop when they go in to pay! Then if you’ve got cars waiting behind you and at the side you just can’t get out easily.

I've got an Asda pay at pump station near me. So no shop, no cashiers, just 6 pumps. It’s bloody heaven!!

Lweji · 14/09/2018 17:10

Can't vouch for the UK, but I do think they can clear the pump for service if they want to. Just need to ask them.

CharltonLido73 · 14/09/2018 17:10

To be fair this really pisses me off. Our local petrol station is an M&S Simply Food, and it's a right PITA to pull up behind a car who then goes and does a weekly shop. It's not always easy to reverse back and change pumps, because of traffic or because it's so busy.

^ this.

I totally agree. I don't think your friend BU. However, I avoid our local Tesco local cum petrol station so as to avoid this kind of scenario.

NervousPotato · 14/09/2018 17:11

im sorry but your friend is unreasonable, he was there first and he is well within his rights to shop, he is a customer too, you know.

Enidblyton1 · 14/09/2018 17:11

It’s annoying when that happens, but your friend was BU - she should have moved pump.

PPs are right that you’re not supposed to move your car away from the pump (even to another parking space) before paying. I did this once and it caused a problem. Because I took 10 minutes to find the groceries O needed in the shop, the car behind me accidentally paid for my petrol. It took ages and a lot of faff from the poor lady behind the till to sort it all out.

Butkin1 · 14/09/2018 17:12

This is becoming a situation round by us as (other than Tescos) the local petrol stations all have M&S attached to them and people do take AGES to do all their shopping.

I think the etiquette should be to pay at pump and move into one of the parking spaces outside the shop.

I can't believe how many people on this thread have said "just move pump" - all the petrol stations round here have 4 or 5 cards queuing for each pump at peak times (before and after work).

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