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Petrol stations, or are they supermarkets these days? There used to be a time when you filled your car with petrol in these places. Apparently you do your weekly shopping there now.&nbps; What is it with these flaming supermarket come petrol stations? Every time I fill up I find myself waiting in a queue of people who actually do their weekly shop in these god forsaken places. On average I have to queue for 5 minutes at my local petrol station in Glasgow whilst cashiers pack bags, item after item, and then proceed to ask if they have had fuel, would they like a two for one deal on these cakes, it goes on and on.
I for one would welcome a petrol only queue. Let the rest of the basket cases stand in line and process their weekly shopping when there's only one or two cashiers on shift. Come on people, this is what supermarkets are for. You've got CHOICE and there's usually an army of staff to make the paying bit quicker. Don't make filling your car with petrol a pain, the price of petrol already stresses me, I don't need you to stress me more.
OK picture the scene, you are visiting your local Tesco or Sainsbury Filling Station as you really need petrol and guess what? There's a queue and it's about 10 cars long. There you are are sitting at the back asking yourself if it's really worth all the hassle to save one penny a litre? You have only come to this particular garage as your fuel light is on, and as it happens you are in a rush. And guess what at the top of the queue there are a couple of brainless people in their Fiestas or People Carriers.
These morons have set their sights on one particular pump that they want to fill up at. They don't care if there are free pumps where with a bit of careful driving they can stretch the pump over and fill from the opposite side of their filler cap. They don't care if they block the queue. If like me you have the balls to overtake and do a smart reversing move into the free space at the top of the forecourt rather than the back - well what do you get? You get evil looks as if you were the one being selfish!
Whilst we're on the subject, why do petrol filling stations have to charge you for air and water these days? Do they not make enough money on the fuel and goods that they sell inside the shop? I remember a time when most petrol stations that had these facilities didn't charge. Surely it can't be that expensive to run an air pump for a few minutes now and then? It's just another way to squeeze the motorist for even more money.
By: Jools, Mickymouse45
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Best idea I've heard in a long while. Totally agree.
Thats the unpalatable truth.
If you have a problem with that then go and live in a communist country ... oh I forgot, there aren't really any left..... communism didn't work! So let's get back to making a profit for providing a service. That's the unpalatable truth.
With the price of petrol as it is, no one "fills up" to the maximum. Result lots of little visits to the garage.
Garages have ceased to sell petrol, and provide service to cars. They sell expensive foodstuffs. Greedy for money.
Used in Top Gear by James May during the Train, Bike and Car race.
THAT is busy, I once spent, without stressing, 25 minutes waiting to use a pump before heading back to Birmingham. Twentyfive minutes. The 2 pumps either side of me and the one I was waiting at, were blocked by empty cars, the owners in the garage with shopping baskets.
I have a picture lurking about somewhere that I took. About 35+ cars queued up onto the road and on the forecourt to fill up.
No I do not have any special knowledge of the equipment. My only experience with garage equipment was when I once dealt with a case involving a compressor that had failed through lack of maintenance and injured a garage's customer. I quite accept your point about cheap domestic equipment however would imagine that the sort of gadget you have would not be at all suitable for commercial use.
As for my local garage, they offer an attended full service with free checks of oil, water, tyres and so forth so I do not have to involve myself with the tedious business of checking those items myself.
The decision to charge for air and water - or not - would be a commercial one and, based on the original griper's main complaint about queues for petrol then that particular site obviously do not have any need to offer incentives and can quite happily charge for use of the air line without the risk of alienating sufficient customers to affect their profits.
I never buy fuel from a supermarket filling station simply because of the queues. Ghastly places.
Use a local garage (if you have one that is - most have unfortunately closed).
The "cost of air" is not just electricity - where do you think the funds come from to buy the compressor; pay for the installation, hoses and valves, safety testing every year and provide funds for replacement?
Jethro