Petrol pump & full grocery shop

[Poonu]

Inspired by a comment on another thread. Is it reasonable to do a full Tesco / Asda etc shop while your car is at the pump and there's 15 cars behind you? And it's rush hour. This is not something I do, but have been a victim of!!
AIBU - It's inconsiderate
AIBU - It's fine

Are you supposed to, or should you, pull the car forward into a space even when that's all you want to go in and pay for? I've never seen anyone do this, but arguably, it would speed up the pumps.

It’s not impossible to do a proper shop, just pricey. It’s inconsiderate to leave your car at the pump though, fill up and pull over to the side.

You pay triple to do a food shop in those places- it’s out of necessity really.

There's a big M&S one near me, it's always busy, but it's very rare people dump their car to go shopping. They pay, park and shop. They don't spend 15mn in the shop blocking the pump.

Getting sick of saying this on this thread. But for the THIRD time. You absolutely can move your car after refuelling without having paid - you absolutely cannot leave the forecourt/garage without paying. Two very different things.

Park in one of the spaces and do your shopping first, then move to pump to refuel. Why are people acting like it’s mental gymnastics to work out how to use a simple facility? Shop first, fuel after if that is the configuration of the garage.

It depends on the layout of the forecourt.

At our closest petrol station with a convenience store attached, it’s only possible to get to a parking space (that’s not for blue badge holders) from 2 out of the 8 pumps. If everyone who was picking up a meal deal, grabbing a coffee etc waited for those 2 pumps it would cause a queue out onto the road.

Again, that depends on the layout. That couldn’t work in my local petrol station. The parking bays are all beyond the petrol pumps and to get back round to the pumps from the spaces you would have to go out of the petrol station, turn right onto a very busy main road, which would involve queuing for ages, and then waiting for ages again to turn right back into the garage.

So get your petrol first, then move to the bays…

The petrol station shops don’t have everything for a full shop. Hyperbole?

That’s what I’ve said I do twice already on this thread.

why, what are yours missing for you to be unable to do a full shop?

There is a separate shop for petrol with meal deals and snacks only. That’s the set up at all the supermarkets in my town. Then there is a big car park for the supermarket.

But you sometimes you literally can't without driving onto the main road, mine is exactly like that, where you have to join a busy road to get back to the normal parking.

I also have 1 petrol station I go to which doesn't have normal parking, I got told off once for pulling up in front of the petrol station because there was only petrol bays, I was told I had to park up in a petrol bay in future even though I wasn't getting petrol.

A new filling station opened near me which is like a small supermarket and you could definitely do a few days' shopping there - there's a butcher's counter, deli bit etc. I only shop if there's nobody really waiting though. I know you can move into a space but I worry I'll mess it up somehow!

No it's not hyperbole.

We have Morrisons in a petrol station nearish me and a large co-op in the nearest one, M and S/petrol a bit further away. So we have the shopping/petrol delays.

I used to have a big Tesco express at the petrol station on the way to/from work. As others have said, plenty big enough for me to do my main shop. If it was gone 8 or 9 at night, and dead, I'd leave the car at the pump. Otherwise, I pulled forward into the parking bay. It never caused an issue for paying, sometimes I was paying at the same time as the person who had used the pump after me.

For anyone disagreeing it’s possible to do a large/full shop, this is our local petrol station and the shop is enormous. Fresh meat, deli counter, barista bar etc. self check outs also (can pay for fuel but need staff authorisation)

https://neighbourhoodretailer.com/south-belfast-supermarket-officially-reopens-after-million-pound-renovation/

for people saying you can get fuel, then drive into a parking space, then go in, shop, and pay, I understand the point that you will not be charged with non-payment for this but the crucial point is can anyone use the pump until you’ve finished shopping and paid?? At the ones I’ve been at I’m pretty sure the pump locks until the previous transaction is paid.

either way if I think I’m going to be a long time I get fuel, pay for fuel, return to car, repark then shop.

Yes, agreed.

If the petrol station is busy and there's a queue for the pumps, I have moved forward into a parking bay after filling up and then go and pay for the petrol.

Apparently a little alarm goes off inside when you move your car, but if the staff see you have parked up and are coming into the store, they have no problem with it. Surely it's better for the petrol station as they are not losing business with drivers going to a different petrol station if there are long queues to fill up.

Other times I'll pay for the petrol first. Being considerate, if I can then see people waiting to fill up whilst I'm queuing, I'll move my car and then do any shopping or visits to the loo etc, afterwards.

but once you repark, and before you’ve paid, can the person now coming in to the pump actually use it, or is it locked out until you pay and the transaction is cleared?? I’m nearly 100% sure at the ones I go to you can’t fill up until the person before you has paid.

if you can - then how do staff match the person paying to the right transaction, if there are a couple of them backing up at each pump? What if you’ve reparked, are doing your shopping, then someone else fills up at your pump, goes in to pay, says “pump number 3 please”, wouldn’t they end up paying for your petrol?

Our petrol station is attached to an M&S Food. Once, I saw a lady fill her car, leave it at the pump, then her and her daughter mooched around the shop with 2 baskets at snail speed. I was livid. I mean, what kind of a dick does this? Another time, a bloke had paid for his fuel, came back to car and proceeded to set the baby up with snacks and a drink, then peruse his map, without moving the fucking car away from the pumps! Come on now, how dense can you get? I had to get out and knock his window, asking him to move! Gah!

Surely you get your fuel, pay for it , then move your car and go back and do your shopping?

@Blondiebeachbabe I’m so glad others don’t think I’m mad when I originally posted about this on another thread - this one was attached to a Tesco express and the person was definitely gone at least 10 minutes , with no queue to pay in the shop and a huge queue building behind at the pumps - you couldn’t even manoeuvre to use another pump in our queue due to the queue behind- only garage for about 3 miles too in any direction. If it makes anyone think twice if they do this, I’m glad I posted - by all means do some shopping, but pay for fuel and move away from the pumps to the parking bays.

It's baffling that it needs saying/explaining isn't it?

Some petrol stations are attached to Spar, Tesco Express, Morrisons, M&S which are big enough to have 7am-10pm/open 24/7. Those people who decide to do some grocery shopping, pay for their fuel, park in a bay away from the pumps then do shopping.

Petrol stations at supermarkets should only have things like soft drinks, sweets, magazines and cigs. If want anything else, go to the supermarket.