Was I out of order for driving into the petrol pump in front rather than waiting?

[HappyPinkHare]

AITA? Just want to get everyone’s opinions on petrol forecourt / station etiquette in the uk. Two petrol pumps are placed one in front of the other, in single lanes, so if someone is in front of you refuelling, you can’t drive past them (you either have to wait or reverse). When I drove into the forecourt, a black car was in pump 1, still filling up and pump 2 (in front of them was free). So I drove up the other lanes and reversed in front of them into pump 2. I got out, opened my petrol cap, paid using my credit card a pin and lifted the nozzle. At that point, the lady came out of her car aggressively and told me to move out of the way so they could drive off the forecourt as they were in a hurry. If I was still in my car, I probably would have moved, but as I was already about to refuel, I asked why she didn’t reverse and go down the other lanes. It basically got out of hand and she was knocking the hose in my hand to stop me from refuelling and screaming saying “are you going to pour petrol on me?” Anyway, after lots of swearing and aggression (from both husband and wife) and me passively refusing to move, they ended up reversing (just one car length by the way) and leaving via the route I had suggested originally. It got me thinking that what I did (reverse into pump 2) was maybe wrong because why were they so angry, was i out of order?

Majority of forecourts have room for you to fit through the middle of the pumps with both set of pumps in use and use the noodle on the other side of the car. I have rarely waited for fuel when for this reason. park close to the pump and level with it. Simple.

Sorry op, what you did would have really annoyed me. I wouldn’t have gone ballistic at you as I’m a well behaved person but I would have thought you were a total ass with zero regard for etiquette and safety. I don’t get how you don’t get that it’s rude to reverse into the front spot. It would become mayhem if everyone had to reverse in and out.

I agree with the post quoted. Petrol stations are essentially designed for one-way movement. If cars start reversing to get to a pump, it makes accidents more likely. Both from cars reversing into another cars and possible injury to drivers returning to their cars on foot after paying.

I would say the other driver over-reacted but you breached (single-lane) petrol station etiquette to begin with. Because you knew, at the point you parked, that you would block them in.

You arrived after them, so should have waited for your turn. Instead, you pulled past, reverse-parked in front of them and potentially made them wait several minutes for you to fill-up and pay.

I have voted YABU.

Sorry, I forgot the hoses are cleaned after every use so there could never be any dirt or grit on them. I've already got stone chips on the bonnet which can't be helped, I don't want to do risk doing damage when I don't have to.

They were aggressive and OTT but you also behaved selfishly and shouldn’t have inconvenienced them. You could have used the empty lane. They shouldn’t have gone off on one like that though.

might be worth making note of some details in case these dangerous loons do something worse.

If they aren’t long enough then it’s just not possible. It still doesn’t make it dangerous.

This. YABVU and selfish. Please think of other people, not just yourself.
Why is it OK for them to have to wait extra time for you to fill up but you can't do the same? They may have already waited behind people.
Your time is not more important.
Their aggressive behaviour was not acceptable, but they were entitled to be annoyed.

I can't believe we're this far in and no one's asked the vital question - was it a BMW?

She specifically says it was? Did you read any of the OPs posts?

People have been like that before either of the two excuses you mention.

WTH is wrong with people these days.? If there's an empty pump in front of the one that's being used then you don't sit there like a Muppet, you drive around the car in front and use the empty pump. Absolutely normal, sensible and proper behaviour. No "etiquette" about it.

Stop being precious about which side to fill up from. Either side works fine for 99% of cars.

No wonder there are queues at petrol stations with all this nonsense going on.

OP you were fine to go around and reverse but also you could have filled up from the other side.

You were totally NOT in the wrong OP - I’ve lost count of the number of times I wish I had taken the route you did instead of waiting for the other person to complete filling up, only for them seemingly to start doing a weekly shop in the petrol station store rather than paying and getting back in their car 😫

Not where I live.
Of my nearest 4 (one in my village and 3 in the town), only one has room between occupied pumps.

I didn't say it did.

I don't think you did anything particularly wrong however I don't think you did anything right either

You could have just waited and then the filter issue would have been resolved for all

Didn't deserve the abuse though that's a bit much

They didn't have to wait any extra time. They simply needed to drive around the op's car. Which they did. They were just being idiots.

Because of the embarrassment of the hose not actually reaching! The ones which are marked “extra long” are fine, but the regular ones require you to park just so. It’s not that easy to judge if you don’t know the pumps. And as PP said, some need tugging and holding so they don’t retract while you’re shoving the darn thing in. I can use both sides but much prefer the same side.

This is only acceptable where there is a central lane between the lines of pumps and therefore the person using the pump behind has an easy route out.

If there is no central lane it is common courtesy to wait.

YABU

Could you have not parked on the other side and pulled the cable across. I do this quite often if there isn’t a spot free on the more convenient side?

Sorry - my first post was to a quote that said it was dangerous to use a hose at the opposite side. I appreciate that they don’t all reach.

Why did they have to wait - all they needed to do was reverse 1m and then drive around the OP...

I'm finding the comprehension skills of some posters here astonishing. The other driver wasn't blocked or inconvienienced. If they can't reverse 1m on a quiet garage forecourt at 7am then they shoudn't be driving.

People are probably "agreeing with you" for 2 reasons - they have misunderstood that there was not room for the other car to pull around you without reversing and/or the other people seriously over-reacted. However I voted YABU as you could have used a free pump - hoses are usually long enough to manage and someone else with your obsession could easily have driven up behind them and stopped them reversing out.

They were unhinged. For future reference, pump hoses stretch so you can fill from the other side of the car, the pump doesn’t to need to be on the side where the fuel goes in. I often drive past people queuing and fuel from the other side.