Page 27 | All the people panic buying petrol

Shitfuckcommaetc · 2021-09-24T15:45:42+00:00

Are fucking selfish, and will be the first to moan when they're takeaway can't be delivered, they can't get a taxi, or places are short staffed as people CAN'T GET TO WORK god I'm pissed off

MrsSkylerWhite · 25/09/2021 09:53

We need to fill up this weekend as we are going on a holiday! No it’s not exactly crucial but we have worked our asses off this year and suffered 3 bereavements. We need a holiday! Stop being an arse“

You have no idea of the circumstances of other people queuing, you’re just assuming their needs are more trivial than yours. It’s not a competition.

Thesearmsofmine · 25/09/2021 09:54

@MrsSkylerWhite

Stormwhale

We need petrol for two long journeys this weekend. I'm really concerned we aren't going to be able to get it. We have tickets for an expensive attraction then supposed to see family we haven't seen in months now Sunday, so I have sent dh out to fill up the car, but no luck so far. I hope the people with the full cars ready to sit on their driveways are happy with themselves“

Not exactly crucial, is it. What makes you different?

There is nothing in place to say you can only fill up if it is crucial or have I missed that memo?

My DH filled up yesterday so we can go away this week as planned. Again not crucial but are we meant to cancel our break(again) and lose the money we have paid because of this?

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2021 09:57

@moynomore

I don't understand how you can panic buy petrol? My assumption is that these people are tying to make sure they have enough fuel to get to work on Monday. Not panic buying and sorting it in the garages.

I would guess that probably about 70% of people filling up have a 'legitimate' reason to do so.

Even if the other 30% didn't fill up, there would still be a problem because its such a large increase in demand.

TBH, I don't need petrol, but its making me incredibly anxious all the same. I can imagine that in that 30% are a fair few people who are genuinely very worried for their own reasons. They maybe less urgent but the sense of being 'trapped' is one which is scary for many.

We know that some of these issues are being caused by a chronic issue with drivers rather than a one time only event - so people don't know how long things are going to persist.

Thesearmsofmine · 25/09/2021 09:58

People are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. I can only imagine how unsympathetic many employers will be if people cannot get to work next week because they have no petrol, they will be told they should have been aware and queued for petrol like everyone else.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 25/09/2021 10:00

The reason there is a shortage now is because loads of people panicked yesterday and went and queued up for petrol. This wouldn't normally happen, but the media turned it into a sensationalist story. If people had just carried on as normal we wouldn't be in this situation

You're bringing common sense into it now, mamamia, but then you've only got to look at how some carried on over Covid to appreciate what irresponsible reporting can do.
As a PP said, newspapers are on their last legs so the sensationalism is ramped up - trouble is, most of it's online now where the nonsense is even more accessible

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2021 10:11

@Thesearmsofmine

People are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. I can only imagine how unsympathetic many employers will be if people cannot get to work next week because they have no petrol, they will be told they should have been aware and queued for petrol like everyone else.

Pretty much it.

Once it started, a lot of people had no choice but to also do so imho.

Most remember the last petrol shortage. Thats the problem. There is clearly no contagiency plan for a run on petrol. There are contagiency plans for if we have a run on banks.

Thats a failure of civil protection planning and we should be asking big questions about why its been able to happen. This isn't something we should be blaming on the media and 'sheeple' for this reason.

We know that petrol presents a weakness in the smooth running of our society and we know that the supply chain is fragile - we've had this crisis before. Different underlying causes (but again the run on pumps rather than a genuine shortage was really the issue).

Why, when BP started to say they were having problems wasn't this taken seriously? The Petrol Retailers Association actively was warning drivers not to go below a quarter of a tank. Thats going to carry some weight and authority. Many will merely have been following that advice.

With this happening a second time, the public will be incredibly nervous at the merest hint of shortages in the future and will react the same. How do we stop it happening again???

Xenia · 25/09/2021 10:21

Most people are filling up because they need petrol not to stock pile it like tins of sardines. You only have one tank for your petrol. if they were turning up with huge plastic containers to fill it up and store it then I would agree it is panic buying. I have very little left in my tank and had my abortive attempt to fill up at 3 places today and came back empty handed. I am no panic buying I just want some petrol before I ill have to walk some miles with a can to fill up enough to drive to a petrol station.

AFuturisticalSound · 25/09/2021 10:27

@Xenia

Most people are filling up because they need petrol not to stock pile it like tins of sardines. You only have one tank for your petrol. if they were turning up with huge plastic containers to fill it up and store it then I would agree it is panic buying. I have very little left in my tank and had my abortive attempt to fill up at 3 places today and came back empty handed. I am no panic buying I just want some petrol before I ill have to walk some miles with a can to fill up enough to drive to a petrol station.

They really aren't filling up because they need to. Think about, if petrol was needed that often we'd have queues every day

I would love to see the statistics on how much the average spend was yesterday and will be today.

User135644 · 25/09/2021 10:30

The media will whip people into a frenzy.

Mamamia7962 · 25/09/2021 10:49

Puzzledandpissedoff - Yes online reporting is the worst. We are constantly bombarded with 'breaking news'. At one time you just got the daily newspapers now we have news feed all day, add to that Twitter and Facebook and everything just escalates very quickly.

U2HasTheEdge · 25/09/2021 10:49

@UnsuitableHat

Bit hard to define ‘panic buying’ in relation to petrol though, as you can’t get more than a tank- it’s not like getting a year’s supply of loo rolls or something. I guess if there appears to be a problem (maybe whipped up by media) and people need their cars for work etc, they’ll fill up when they can. If there isn’t a problem, and some people are just overreacting, it’ll calm down quickly and be fine.

People are filling up jerry cans. There are pictures everywhere of people doing this. Someone on this thread has filled up 4 cars, two of them not even being used.

I live near a petrol station and the cars are blocking the bloody road.

If you need to fill up, and were planning on doing so anyway that isn't panic buying.

It is ridiculous. I am in the red. Thankfully I don't need my car this weekend. I would like to be able to use it, but can manage without.

StrongLegs · 25/09/2021 10:52

If we all switch to electric cars will this become a think of the past? I mean if we all had electric cars, then we could just plug them into our own home charging point and then we wouldn't have to queue any more.

whynotwhatknot · 25/09/2021 10:53

You cant even get into the supermarkets now because the queues are blocking the entrance

why dont they send staff out to direct them in

whynotwhatknot · 25/09/2021 10:54

@Xenia

Most people are filling up because they need petrol not to stock pile it like tins of sardines. You only have one tank for your petrol. if they were turning up with huge plastic containers to fill it up and store it then I would agree it is panic buying. I have very little left in my tank and had my abortive attempt to fill up at 3 places today and came back empty handed. I am no panic buying I just want some petrol before I ill have to walk some miles with a can to fill up enough to drive to a petrol station.

they are there are pictures all over sm of people filling up containers

AlexaShutUp · 25/09/2021 10:54

@whynotwhatknot

You cant even get into the supermarkets now because the queues are blocking the entrance

why dont they send staff out to direct them in

Our local tesco did exactly that yesterday. Several staff outside trying to manage the flow of traffic.

MrsFezziwig · 25/09/2021 10:56

The initial news I saw was that only 5 BP stations had no fuel, so I thought it was the usual non-story (which it was). Then I saw the government were telling people not to panic and that there was plenty of fuel, so I knew people would be panicking as this government’s track record doesn’t exactly lead people to believe that they are telling the truth.

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2021 10:57

@User135644

The media will whip people into a frenzy.

I'm going to say this again very slowly and very carefully.

Why was a supply chain shock of fuel which crippled the country, allowed to arise and happen just 9 years after the last one?

Why were lessons not learned? Why were provisions not put in place to prevent this? Why were there not concerns about lack of deliveries / increased demand as people went back to work on the radar of government? Why were there not efforts to protect supplies earlier?

What was the civil contigency planning by government on a known weakness in supply chains and threat to the economy not there, and why was it not top of the list to ensure there were no problems?

Going forward, what measures to stop a third run do you think there will be? I don't think the government will do anything long term.

It is only concerned with crisis management not crisis prevention and thats nothing to do with the media and everything to do with poor foresight and planning.

BungleandGeorge · 25/09/2021 10:57

The storage space for fuel is finite. Even if only people on less than 1/4 tank all fill up it will still cause a problem.
Not to mention that the new petrol is less efficient so of course it will need topping up more regularly. So if we’re struggling with deliveries why on Earth are we still adding extra ‘filler’ ?? Surely it’s not xaverbatimg the problem!

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 25/09/2021 10:59

If we all switch to electric cars will this become a think of the past? I mean if we all had electric cars, then we could just plug them into our own home charging point and then we wouldn't have to queue any more.

Unless we invest heavy on nuclear power stations we’ll stick in the dark and will definitely be driving anywhere with our shiny new electric cars.

RedToothBrush · 25/09/2021 10:59

@MrsFezziwig

The initial news I saw was that only 5 BP stations had no fuel, so I thought it was the usual non-story (which it was). Then I saw the government were telling people not to panic and that there was plenty of fuel, so I knew people would be panicking as this government’s track record doesn’t exactly lead people to believe that they are telling the truth.

Lack of trust in government is part of the problem. Thats based firmly on the last 18 months and how people have been left high and dry in various situations because the government have been slow to respond because they haven't got things in place ready to go or have failed to prevent an issue.

See PPE shortages and existing stock of emergency PPE being not fit for purpose.

hangrylady · 25/09/2021 11:02

I filled up my car today because who knows what the situation will be next week and I need my car to get to work and this morning I had time to wait half an hour, whereas I won't on Monday morning. It's the knobs filling up Jerry cans that are the worst.

Mamamia7962 · 25/09/2021 11:02

Redtoothbrush - Was there a fuel shortage 9 years ago? I don't remember that, must have been asleep. I remember the blockades of 20 years ago.

SunshineCake1 · 25/09/2021 11:03

@gardeninggirl68

i bet i have staff ring in tomorrow saying they need to preserve their qtr tank for emergencies so cant get in or the usual lift they get wont be bringing them in

will employers be accepting this? whats a reasonable expectation for walking in? 3 miles?

Lifts for the people with no fuel with the ones that have and would only be driving themselves in ?

Lockheart · 25/09/2021 11:09

Everyone always has an excuse for why they need to go and fill up with petrol now, even if they wouldn't normally be doing so.

If you're doing it because you're actually low on petrol, that's fine.

If you're doing it because you're panicked there won't be any when you do need it, that's panic buying and not fine and you're contributing to the problem.

The queues outside the petrol stations are abnormal. We don't see this on a regular day with regular demand.

People aren't filling up because they really need to, they're filling up because they're worried - panic buying.

Posters will keep saying "oh I'm not panic buying I just really need to do X Y and Z and I'm worried there won't be any fuel".

Totally oblivious.

Dragon50 · 25/09/2021 11:18

Again, petrol stations would have been busier this weekend anyway.
I always fill up week before payday for this reason.

While a minority have probably taken the piss, many will have bought their purchase forward due to media attention.

Normally without thinking much, you go station payday Friday, see a bit of a queue (nothing like now obviously) and drive on or go again after you’ve shopped.

Those folk are staying in the queue because the other stations will also have queues or be empty.