Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

just stretch the hose over your sodding car

346 replies

PiperPublickOccurrences · 16/11/2018 14:55

I don't fill the car with fuel that often as it's mainly just used for around time.

Every time I go to the petrol station the access is blocked by people queuing for a pump on the "correct" side of their car.

If I can stretch the hose over my mum-bus people carrier, you can stretch it over your ford fiesta.

Petrol station etiquette should definitely be on the driving test.

OP posts:
kungfupannda · 16/11/2018 16:22

I always wonder this. I just pull far enough forward so that the hose goes round the back, so no wrestling over the car required.

m00rfarm · 16/11/2018 16:23
  1. Not all pipes stretch
  2. I don't want fuel on my paintwork (or me)
  3. I scratched my car once because the pipe had something sharp on it
  4. It is very easy to snap the fuel flap
Lazypuppy · 16/11/2018 16:23

I always fill up on the 'correct' side, i'm happy to wait.

Luckily our petrol station is huge so never any long queues

BollocksToBrexit · 16/11/2018 16:25

@BollocksToBrexit what wait now you can do what??? How did I never know this!

I saw a bloke casually reading his phone as he filled up hands free and I was like, what is this magic. So next time I filled up I investigated and sure enough you can lock them. The mechanism for doing so varies but since then I haven't come across one which can't be locked and which doesn't automatically unlock and switch off when it's full.

notsodimwit · 16/11/2018 16:25

My car got little scratches on the roof with putting hose over the car Sad

BollocksToBrexit · 16/11/2018 16:26

I should say that I'm not in the UK and haven't been back since I noticed this. But the pumps here look no different to me to the ones in the UK.

Dontsweatthelittlestuff · 16/11/2018 16:27

Or you could just wait your turn. If your life is so busy you can’t wait 5 minutes then try filing the car up when the station is less busy.

OksanaAstankova · 16/11/2018 16:28

I saw a bloke casually reading his phone as he filled up hands free

Huh, one and only time that I tried this they stopped the pump from operating until I put it down Sad

TheEmmaDilemma · 16/11/2018 16:28

@PattiStanger the one I hit that couldn't was exactly that, tiny in the middle of no where. I felt an idiot as I'd never really been in one I couldn't do it before.

NoSquirrels · 16/11/2018 16:30

If you don't even fill up much, why does this enrage you so much, OP? It can hardly be long tranches of your life waiting for a pump. If you had to fill up loads and it was an everyday annoyance I'd understand it.

Meh. I like to fill up on the correct side. I don't really care what anyone else does. Don't see how it causes anyone else any angst - you use the free pump, I'll queue for the 'right' pump. Whatever.

Autumnrocks · 16/11/2018 16:30

I had never heard of locking the fuel pump nozzle but a quick google suggests the pins are removed in the UK so we can't!

YogaDrone · 16/11/2018 16:31

Whilst I obviously want to avoid a snapped flap at all costs I can never remember which side my petrol tank is so I have a 50:50 chance of getting it right.

It sounds as though people are trying to drape the hose over the top of their car instead of around the back of it and that's why they think the hose is too short. I've got a large SUV and I park with the back end of the car in line with the pump, drape the hose around the back and have never had a too short hose, scratches or fuel drips.

I have been driving for about a hundred years and didn't know about the marker thingy on the dash. I shall look tomorrow at my car and see if it has this!

Iloveacurry · 16/11/2018 16:31

I was thinking this just yesterday when I was at Tesco’s filling up. I also go to the free one and pull the hose over the car if I have to.

Original poster
PiperPublickOccurrences · 16/11/2018 16:36

I do more drag the hose over the back and not put it right over the top.

I'm not particularly tall and not notably strong. I do remember the "locking" pumps which you didn't need to squeeze, maybe we used to have them in the UK but not any more.

Recently had to help someone at a petrol station who didn't realise that there was a button on the driver's door to release the flap. She was poking at it as if it was a secret door with a special locking mechanism which had to be opened in the correct sequence.

OP posts:
pouraglasshalffull · 16/11/2018 16:40

This is something so petty to get worked up over. It doesn't effect your life so let people do as they please.

MakeAHouseAHome · 16/11/2018 16:40

Erm ye you ABU. None of your business if people want to wait and fill up their cars from the correct side. I am happy to wait and fill from the right side rather than faff arpund dragging the pump over my car and risking scratching it.

chemenger · 16/11/2018 16:40

All petrol (gas) dispensers can be locked on here in the US but I think its not allowed in the UK. Presumably it originates from the huge gas tanks that old fashioned gas guzzling US cars had.

CiderBrains · 16/11/2018 16:41

If you park correctly you can pull the hose around the back of your car so no need to have the hose going over the top of your car.

GhostsInSnow · 16/11/2018 16:45

donquixotedelamancha have you considered soft rubber is rather good at picking up little stones and the like. You don't need to 'throw the nozzle' at the car to scratch it.

MaxTeyon · 16/11/2018 16:46

Not really a fan of the hose touching my paint, yes it’s rubber but there could easily be grit on it or the painwork. If the car’s a shitter then of course it doesn’t matter. There’s much hilarity to be had when you stop at the first pump and don’t drive along to empty one in front because it doesn’t have super unleaded. You can see people’s tiny minds exploding as they clearly can’t grasp that not all pumps have the same grades available.

Frustratedmum78 · 16/11/2018 16:50

You don’t even have to pull it over the car, move the car slightly forward and it goes around the back. It’s like magic! No scratches, no drips.

Satsumaeater · 16/11/2018 16:51

I rarely have to queue because I always go to my local petrol station when it's quiet, so no issue. Maybe if we're on a long journey as a family and we're at a motorway petrol station we'll have to queue but it won't matter what side we use, we'll have to queue regardless because it will be several cars deep.

I get more annoyed by the people who come back to the car and faff around before leaving - despite being able to see that people are waiting for the pump.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 16/11/2018 16:54

Errrrr, no thanks. I don't want a gritty, petrol covered hose touching my car. I'm happy to wait for the correct side. You go ahead and scratch your car if you wish, but I'll give it a miss.Hmm

Dychmygol · 16/11/2018 16:55

YABU you have no idea about the individual circumstances. I'm disabled and cannot get the hose over my car and in and the right angle to fill from the wrong side. I couldn't give a toss if my queuing annoys you...I can assure you that my life annoys me more than it does you.

KitKat1985 · 16/11/2018 16:57

This doesn't bother me, and I usually end up making a tit of myself somehow when I try to stretch the hose over, so would rather just wait for one on the correct side.

Now, on the issue of people who start doing practically a weekly bloody shop in the garage whilst there's a long queue of people waiting to get to the petrol pump that they are parked at however, well that makes my blood boil! Pay for your bloody petrol, move your car from the pump, and then go back in and spend 15 minutes deciding what ready meal to buy for dinner you selfish arses. Angry