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?

Have to agree with this tbh

I don’t see anything wrong with what you did. Astounded at the lack of patience, you weren’t going to be any longer than 4 or 5 minutes

What the poster wrote was not entirely true she did not block them in there was room to leave and there was no antisocial behaviour. There seems to be a lot of unnecessary anger over filling up petrol and I hope none of you start on the wrong person.

You did nothing wrong . The car at the back pump should have gone to the front one, but I guess it depends if there was a car there when they arrived. If someone is refuelling in front of you , you just have to wait.

I actually don’t go to the pump begins when there is a car at the front one , I will wait for the one in front to finish so that a whole pump isn’t blocked - so if I get there and no one is in the car in front , they are inside paying , I will just wait . If I get there at the same time then I will because it makes no difference.

I personally wouldn’t drive around to go in front, purely because I wouldn’t feel comfortable with the manoeuvre but my husband has done this before when I have been in the car with him.

They sound unhinged to be honest.

but in that case why aren't you astounded at OP's lack of patience? Surely the exact same applies to her - they weren't going to be any longer than 4 or 5 minutes (and the likelihood is one of the other cars on the side she wanted would have been done even faster) so why couldn't she have waited for them to finish? And she also had the option of using one of the 4 free ones on the opposite side.

There was room to manoeuvre and drive around. They could have easily have driven off. The man and woman wanted to start an argument. If bystanders looked on at horror at how the couple were behaving that tells you everything you need to know. Do you start arguments with people seeing how astounded you are?

Yes, some of the extremely ‘passionate’ responses are obviously from the very people that would attack others on the forecourt. Sadly they’ll either end up looking silly (like Angry Couple), arrested or as you said, messing with the wrong person.

I guess you're saying I'm a liar then? You know, just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

It comes across like you haven't travelled many places in the U.K. In my area, many of them have fresh vegetables and flowers outside, and inside many of them have a coffee machine, a large fridge freezer and everything that a big corner shop or Londis or small SPAR would have. That's why people have a browse of the shelves when they're in there. It's a touristy area so people start buying things like cereal, milk and other items if they're not sure their self-catering place is going to have those things.

They're not really supposed to park in a fill-up space for that because of the inconvenience it causes other people (and because there's designated spaces especially for people who are just there to get some groceries), but they do anyway because they don't want to go in, pay for their petrol /diesel, and then have to come out and move their car to a different space.

I'd say that my comprehension is fantastic given my first language isn't English, and my grammar far exceeds the ability of a lot of native English speakers, but thanks for being nasty.

Too many faffers in the world holding things up! Lol

This is so true there are lots stations with mini-supermarkets attached. Most times you go to get petrol, you have make a judgement, either wait behind (for possibly ages) or get in front because you know you’ll be quick.

Are you kidding?! There’s plenty of times inconsiderate cockwombles leave their car at the pump then spend the next ten minutes wafting round the shop picking up bits, rather then moving their car to a proper parking space. Utterly infuriating.

They have the cheek to look at you as if you've done something wrong but only wanting to buy fuel and piss off.

I find this so odd. I wouldn't think twice about reversing into a free pump... Otherwise it's just sat there empty so two pumps are out of use rather than one... What's the difference between you being there in the couples way, and another car being there that had parked before them? If a pump is free, it's free to use...? Now I'm scared of being attacked everytime I pull into an empty pump...

That's what happens at the petrol station I usually use. If I pull forward far enough to stretch the hose around rather than over the top it doesn't leave a lot of room for people to get past and I don't even have a big car. I usually end up waiting which can then stop people getting to the other pumps as there's not much to pass behind but I'm not damaging my paintwork just so they don't have to wait!

I agree with you @EarthSight it does happen. @BatchCookBabe the main petrol station in our town is also a Tesco express. The queues for petrol pumps and to pay for petrol and groceries take ages.

the irate couple in this thread are lucky there was only one person they were waiting for

I've said multiple times already that they were more at fault because of how they reacted.

But in childish terms, the OP started it. They wouldn't have got irate if she hadn't driven in front of them. She started the whole thread asking if other people would have been annoyed if she'd done the same to them. Lots of people have confirmed they would have, even if they wouldn't have reacted as extremely as the couple.

I wasn't defending the couple in anyway, just pointing out the illogicity in the previous commenter's argument.

We have a local petrol station that is like that, they also don’t have long reach pumps so if you don’t pull up on the correct side it is almost impossible for someone shorter or with limited strength to get the hose across to the other side.

People reverse in front all the time, the person behind either reverses or waits. They do not abuse the person in front!

Tit for fucking tat. You didn't have the patience to wait and they lost their cool because you did an entitled twat move in their eyes.

I know petrol stations like this and no I wouldn't drive round and pull in front of someone already there and I wouldn't expect people to reverse out. The extra long hoses are long enough not to damage cars or leak fuel. Ffs they wouldn't be allowed if they were dangerous in any way.

Not sure we’re being given the whole scene here. Yes, the way it’s described, the other car owners’ reaction was pretty unhinged. However, your first post merely states they asked you to move, and you refused, and then ‘things got out of hand’, which is slightly vague, so one wonders exactly what altercation took place before they grabbed the hose. In a later post, you stated they were on their way to a funeral. So, I think if I had been you, at that point, knowing I had driven past some free pumps and pulled up at the one in front of them, thus blocking their forward exit, I might have said ‘oh, I’m sorry, I’ll be really quick’. I mean, what did you say when they said they were going to a funeral? Something like ‘I don’t care’ or ‘fuck off, you’ll have to wait’ might have understandably enraged them somewhat, although not to the extent of grabbing the hose from you.

FFS you do not need to wait behind a car using the second pump if the first one is free. This thread is ridiculous.

What about the other 4 free ones...

I explained what was required to show the story in a nutshell; In order for everyone to mainly understand my actions before they confronted me. This is the crux of the question: was what I did to them (reverse in front) out of order?

Additional details were added later as a consequence of other posters asking additional questions. However, if you read my original post, I did mention I drove past the other lanes to get in front of them, I could probably have made it clearer that I was missing right-sided pumps, but unfortunately, mumsnet doesn’t allow me to edit the original post, so I have made it clear in further posts.

I didn’t add everything that happened after (she approached) as it’s irrelevant to the actual question of ME being out of order. I’m not asking if they were out of order. If I added all the details of what happened, people would lose the plot.

if I had been knowingly rude or goaded them in any OTHER way (before she approached) then I wouldn’t be asking the question because I would already know why she was so angry.

to answer your questions:

I parked up, and was about refuel (not thinking it was an issue). She came storming out of the car (she was fuming already - hence the question, was what I did out of order), she shouted: “can you move your car out of the way, we are in a hurry”. I said: why can’t you reverse? She started saying: it’s my husband, my husband no no no, no reverse. (English was not her first language) I didn’t fully understand and just said: can’t he just reverse? I have to admit I was not cowering or being polite at this point because she was shouting in my face. I went to continue refuelling and definitely me not backing down would have infuriated her even more and so she started knocking the hose to stop me from inserting it and shouting: are you trying to pour petrol on me. At that point I did raise my voice to say “No I’m not, you are standing in my space and you are assaulting me”. Her husband then jumped out of the car saying: why don’t you F off, F off!” Then turned to his wife and shouted at the top of his voice “leave her! Let her get her f-ing petrol!”

the bystanders were staring at them and so before leaving she turned to them saying: “sorry, sorry we had a funeral to get to and she wouldn’t let us pass”

They reversed and left. The by standers turned to me and said: are you okay? Oh my god. One of them even sniggered and said “they said they were in a hurry, but they’re stopped by the exit”. it was clear they overreacted - without any suggested goading.

My initial manoeuvre was definitely the reason she came out raging initially. My refusal to move it why she turned unhinged. I have made that clear in the original post only missed out the ending detail because it was unnecessary and makes them look more bad if anything.

You protest far too much for someone who believes they are right. You were an arse own it and let it go.

Not protesting just answering from whoever is asking. The poll still shows there far more that agree with me 🤷‍♀️