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?

It's what I would have done too.

So now you know would you do anything differently next time if in the same situation?

I have said numerous times I am not incapable of pulling a hose to the other side, I just had not thought to do so, as I believed pump 2 was easier, convenient and would not annoy anyone.

There was no one in front of them. If you’d got there ahead of them and took longer to refuel for whatever reason they’d have had to wait or reverse out anyway. Unhinged tossers. If it wasn’t allowed there would be a sign saying please wait behind the car in front if you etc. Forget about it

Exactly. They were not in hurry, they were clearly just annoyed by my manoeuvre. It would have taken 30 seconds for me to fill up. I had already paid and was about to put the nozzle in, it would have actually taken longer for me to put it down, close the cap, cancel my card and drive out of their way. I also think because I am only small, they probably thought I would be intimidated.

They were on their way to a funeral so yes, probably a bit stressed out by being blocked in.

Ridiculous dick move by you. Your options were to use one of the two reach-round pumps, preferably the furthest one(!), or wait for the filled car to pull forward and then use that further pump. Reversing in front of them and blocking them in is entitled and anti social.

Goodness me, is this a creative writing forum I've inadvertently stumbled upon? Where in the name of Jesus has the funeral backstory come from?

OP mentioned that they told her they were in a hurry because they were going to a funeral.

I've never reversed into a space I couldn't reach from the entrance side. But I drive a small cheap car so can sometimes fit through a gap to go in front. I've got a tiny engine so filling up is quick. If someone can't wait that long it's on them. When there's no room though I will wait. And if it's one of the tesco forecourts with the pumps which are long enough to do either side I just go wherever's free first,

They sound awful and that was a disproportionate response from them but I've not seen anyone reverse their way into a petrol spot before.

Next time just stretch the hose, its much easier!

The OP has already said they were on their way to a funeral

lol They did claim to be going to funeral, but only mentioned ‘the funeral’ after all the ranting and nozzle pushing, when it was clear I wasn’t going to move. They only mentioned ‘the funeral’ to bystanders (so not to me) when they realised everyone was watching in horror. Whether it’s true or not nobody knows.

Not unreasonable. If everyone just sat there when there’s empty pumps there’d be queues a mile long and no one would ever get served. If they didn’t have time to refuel that’s their own problem. Sometimes you have to use your initiative, clearly they have none and probably shouldn’t be in charge of a vehicle.

My DP had to tell a woman in front of us who was causing a queue to overtake the car at the pump in front her so that she and us could use the two empty ones in front of it! Her reasoning was she was “being polite”?! …. by causing a backlog that was at this point spilling out onto a main road 🤨 she wouldn’t have been pushing in front of anyone who was waiting, just a person parked at a pump! and the parked car was STILL THERE by the time we’d finished fuelling!!

Edit to add, though, that in your situation I’d have just used the wrong sided pumps as they easily reach unless you’re driving a bus 🤣 but either way, they’re unreasonable. There could just as easily have been someone in the pump in front when they pulled in who took longer than them, and you waiting behind them totally blocking them in. Would they still have had a go at everyone?!

Yes I made a judgement call because they looked like they were faffing about so I decided that I would ‘probably’ be done at the same time as them. And if not, they could have reversed and left via the other pump lanes. It didn’t cross my mind to use the other lanes because I hadn’t thought it would be an issue.

Yeah I think this was probably slightly odd petrol station behaviour. I would have no issue with driving round pump 1 to get to pump 2, but driving down another lane and reversing and then expecting someone else to reverse and do the same to get out etc makes for a really unsafe environment. I’ve never really seen anyone reversing around a petrol station before. Plus pretty much every station now has hoses that reach around, just pull further forward in the space and they will easily go round the back. Even the non-extra long ones usually go if you park correctly.

That said she was clearly bonkers.

Agree. They sound unhinged but the OP sounds inconsiderate

I’d have used the opposite side pumps instead but when I was moaning to a friend about why people queued unnecessarily rather than doing this, she said struggled to move the hose across due to a shoulder injury she had at the time.
I definitely don’t think YWBU.

I believe it was an unmanned petrol forecourt, I’ve only used it once before, but don’t think there are any staff. Not 100% sure, but I will take note next time. They do have CCTV and I also took a picture of their number plate. Still deciding whether to report it, but I probably won’t because although extremely aggressive and on the verge of doing something criminal, I think it falls short of anything clearly illegal.

She was knocking the hose away so I couldn’t insert it, but I had not yet pressed the handle to release any petrol, so the splashes on her hands were from residual liquid left inside the hose previously.

I don't get why anybody would think this wouldn't be annoying, if only a little bit. You've got in somebody's way when it was totally unnecessary to do so. I had the same sort of thing on the way back from work just now - walking along the side of a not-very-busy street, just getting from A to B, somebody crosses from the other side and stops dead in my path less than a metre in front of me to look in a shop window, meaning I have to do the walking equivalent of the elk test. It's not the crime of the century and I didn't get all radgy about it, but it was a bit annoying. It's just the general obliviousness, the thinking of 'I'll do what's best for me and...that's it'.

I think generally, the people who find my actions reasonable, are the same people who wouldn’t think twice if it happened to them. They would simply have reversed out. They deem it as ‘normal’ behaviour and part of life. The people who find my actions ‘unreasonable’ would not do it themselves because it annoys them to have it done to them. The majority of people (myself included) don’t intentionally set out to make ‘a dick move’ as some have called it, they just don’t see it as an issue. That’s what I am learning from this post.

I would do it if like you I was doing pay at pump because it is super fast and you weren’t going in to the Asda forecourt shop to do your big shop (which really gives me the rage if they are blocking a pump 🤣)
I don’t like using the pull over pumps because I get all stressed and they never reach, and I don’t want them scratching my very precious car
I have also often reversed in a petrol station to get around someone in front of me (no doubt doing their big shop)

No way were you in the wrong. Is it annoying for the other person? Sure. But definitely not done anything wrong - see people do this all the time. Totally normal in my opinion. The pumps empty, that means someone can use it - how they get there is none of anyone elses concern. They were unhinged.

No you did the correct thing.

I think you'll find that although you have more votes for YANBU, probably because more people felt the reactions from the other car were over the top, reading the comments, it's a pretty even split between people thinking you were out of order and those that thought you weren't. Your title was slightly misleading as it implied that the only other option was to wait, whereas it actually wasn't. The other option was to use the pumps on the other side.