Petrol station query

Dj320

As the owner of a petrol station I want to ask the public why do some people think it is ok to put 10.12 on a pump , run in to pay (nearly in a sprint) throw 10euro on the counter and take off in Olympic style again, another old fav is while they pump the fuel they send in their usually 4 or 5 year old child to pay while they proceed to put in 5.07 or more and again speed off. The most irritating one is ( and the reason I wrote this) the older woman who today got 50.09 and when I asked her for the 9cent basically exploded on me, stating she always does it in other places and they never ask her for it, I explained that I DO NOT MIND THE 1and 2cents and even 4 or maybe 5cent (which I genuinely do not as most people will pay in full and even give extra which makes up for these people) but when it gets passed 5cent I will ask for , which is embarrassing I might add. This woman also told me on no uncertain terms would she be back again , I explained to her that everyday I am short 3or 4 euro and at the end of the year it adds to 12 or 1300 euro ( family hol or insurance on the car for me) , why do people think its acceptable to do this??.
And despite what people say "it is factored into the price" or you make it in the shop , at 3.5 cpl max profit , you try and factor this in, at a time when people are obsessed with fuel prices and will drive miles if your competitor is even a
cent cheaper. It simply is not acceptable to walk into to tesco or wherever and only pay 20euro on your shop which was 20.19 so why is it different at a filling station!!!!!

nava

Very good point, it does happen lots of time trying to €30 it stops at €30.02 or a bit more when I go in to pay I give them the full amount €30.02 even that the assistance most cases only asks for the €30.00, I do say to them is ok I do have the extra couple of cent in my pocket.

I would not even think about doing what you mention putting €30.02 and assume I could pay only the €30.00 because is only 2 cents.

Procrastastudy

Firstly - you can't make a contract of sale with a minor, except for necessaries, so I'd stop that one right off.

Next if the price is accepted - which I assume pumping it into your car is taken as acceptance of the offer to treat (the forecourt sign) then you need to pay the full amount.

Lastly customers are, for a large part, rude. Its like driving - perfectly nice people become idiots. The same applies when going into a shop. People think they have the right to be rude over things that are their own fault. We as a service society reinforce that behaviour. I actually saw a woman assult a member of staff in a well known toy store over a toy that the woman herself had broken - and get away with it and a refund!

Stand your ground - its perfectly reasonable to be paid for the goods you supply.

Now I've had my rant - have you got a pick a penny leave a penny dish out? Maybe that might help.

Dj320

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

Firstly - you can't make a contract of sale with a minor, except for necessaries, so I'd stop that one right off.

Next if the price is accepted - which I assume pumping it into your car is taken as acceptance of the offer to treat (the forecourt sign) then you need to pay the full amount.

Lastly customers are, for a large part, rude. Its like driving - perfectly nice people become idiots. The same applies when going into a shop. People think they have the right to be rude over things that are their own fault. We as a service society reinforce that behaviour. I actually saw a woman assult a member of staff in a well known toy store over a toy that the woman herself had broken - and get away with it and a refund!

Stand your ground - its perfectly reasonable to be paid for the goods you supply.

Now I've had my rant - have you got a pick a penny leave a penny dish out? Maybe that might help.

Hi
Good idea on the pick a penny thing, I might try it and see how it goes. On the sending a child into pay for it , my station is a small site in a busy but very close community area where you have to be very choice in the things you do( recently I had to give up pumping the fuel for people ourselves as it was just not feasible and the amount of grief I have had) so I cannot tell a child to get their parent.
On the some people in the public thinking they can say what they want to somebody behind a counter I totally agree with you, just because you work in a shop or filling station does not mean you are below them .
As I said above I used to pump all the fuel ourselves but it just does not work out ( money mistakes, risk of putting in the wrong product and leaving the till unattended ) but I took so much abuse from mainly women in their 30s and 40s about not serving them that I actually thought about closing up. What decade do they live in that they think you should serve everyone ( I always pump for elderly and disabled) when they are perfectly able. ???

Dj320

nava wrote: »

Very good point, it does happen lots of time trying to €30 it stops at €30.02 or a bit more when I go in to pay I give them the full amount €30.02 even that the assistance most cases only asks for the €30.00, I do say to them is ok I do have the extra couple of cent in my pocket.

I would not even think about doing what you mention putting €30.02 and assume I could pay only the €30.00 because is only 2 cents.

Hi
I must say thanks on behalf of all station owners for paying in full, as I said the 2 cents really do not bother me but again this morning a guy not a half hour ago got 10.07euro , looked me right in the eye and gave me 10euro ( a local and regular) so I am left in a awkward situation and bit my lip!! That guy just gave himself a discount of 1cpl on an already small margin without asking me!!

stargazer 68

Op is there any way you can install a 'pay before you pump'? The garage beside me used to do it after 9pm but now you have to pay first and the pump the fuel - stops bang on the amount you pay.

Not sure if its a machine thats installed or what is involved but may be worth looking into.

nava

Dj320 wrote: »

Hi
I must say thanks on behalf of all station owners for paying in full, as I said the 2 cents really do not bother me but again this morning a guy not a half hour ago got 10.07euro , looked me right in the eye and gave me 10euro ( a local and regular) so I am left in a awkward situation and bit my lip!! That guy just gave himself a discount of 1cpl on an already small margin without asking me!!

Why don't you put up a small polite sign about it.

P. Breathnach

I'm old-fashioned: I pay the price on the pump.

Once my fill came to €50.01, and I asked the attendant if he really wanted the cent (my loose change was in the car). He said yes, so I toddled back to the car to get it. No, I don't think he was being scabby: he was a young lad, and probably felt that he didn't have discretion in the matter.

GarIT

I actually saw a really good system in a garage in France. The pump stopped at every €10. So what you have to do if you wanted more was just release the leaver and then squeeze it again to get onto the next €10.

the groutch

+1, put up signs saying that you reserve the right to ask for payment to the exact cent. that way you're covered that you can let the 1c or 2c go if you want, and still make them pay the 6c or 7c.
unless there's another petrol station literally across the road you won't lose business over it.

vicwatson

For me €10 worth of petrol is €10, €10.02 worth of petrol is €10.02. END OF.

What comes up on the pump is the price you pay. If I were you I'd be insisting on the amount they put into the car, whether it be 1 cent or 5 cent.

racso1975

It's funny how different people think. I remember pumping petrol for my dad's car and he'd always get me to to put in the precise amount i.e. 20 on the button. This has passed on to me and would be so conscious of putting in the exact amount and not a cent over.

On the pump attended piece I would probably avoid a garage that had one just really dont like it.

I also note on the rare times that i have gone over by the cent if i am being served by a foreign person they always charge and the Irish person does not so it must be just an Irish thing to expect to get a few cent more petrol for free.

I wish you all the best and sounds like some of your customers are real a-holes

Skid

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I'm old-fashioned: I pay the price on the pump.

Once my fill came to €50.01, and I asked the attendant if he really wanted the cent (my loose change was in the car). He said yes, so I toddled back to the car to get it. No, I don't think he was being scabby: he was a young lad, and probably felt that he didn't have discretion in the matter.

Erm, so you pay the 'price on the pump' only after asking for a discount first?

Dj320

I could do all of the things above but with prepay in a rural community it is a lot of hassle on people especially those who fill up as this cannot be done with prepay and also 99% of people are fine with paying.
I do ask people when it gets to 5cent or more, but as one guy said to me when he put in 70.21euro " I should have a bit more savvy in business " and allow him the rest off after " spending so much" with me. Then the case of the Linford christy person who drops the money and is gone. Hard to win!!!
I know fuel is really expensive but I can assure you we do not make anything like 10 or 20 cpl on fuel as I've being told, I just wish people would realise this when they overfill

barney 20v

I always pay the exact amount, like a previous poster said- learned from the parents!
I wish more petrol station owners were more worried about reducing prices in a timely fashion when fuel costs are vastly reduced to them.
Not a dig at the op by the way.

Dj320

racso1975 wrote: »

It's funny how different people think. I remember pumping petrol for my dad's car and he'd always get me to to put in the precise amount i.e. 20 on the button. This has passed on to me and would be so conscious of putting in the exact amount and not a cent over.

On the pump attended piece I would probably avoid a garage that had one just really dont like it.

I also note on the rare times that i have gone over by the cent if i am being served by a foreign person they always charge and the Irish person does not so it must be just an Irish thing to expect to get a few cent more petrol for free.

I wish you all the best and sounds like some of your customers are real a-holes

Ya it was just something I tried for a while but it was also very awkward with some people standing looking at you while you pump, maybe where I am a lot of the women are caught in a time warp!!

Dj320

barney 20v wrote: »

I always pay the exact amount, like a previous poster said- learned from the parents!
I wish more petrol station owners were more worried about reducing prices in a timely fashion when fuel costs are vastly reduced to them.
Not a dig at the op by the way.

Often when you hear of a price drop on the news it will not be passed onto us in the petrol stations for weeks as the oil companies have huge stock bought at the old price and will not drop till they have sold all that at the old price, it is not as instant as that, generally we have enough stock for a week so it rises or falls weekly not daily on prices, also it's going up tonite so fill your tank 2cpl

Shelflife

The main problem Dj320 is that you are a scabby fecker, you run your own business and are clearly loaded and yet you scab the customers for the extra few cents.

Sure on a €50 sale you must be making at least €15 and the petrol company that you deal with pay all the staff and the maintenace so its all profit for you.

Unfortunatly this is the logic behind alot of the customers and that its built into the price and they are entitled to a few pence at the local shop, but would never dream or expect to shortchange aldi. lidl or tesco.

Its a bizarre logic but there you go.

Dj320

Shelflife wrote: »

The main problem Dj320 is that you are a scabby fecker, you run your own business and are clearly loaded and yet you scab the customers for the extra few cents.

Sure on a €50 sale you must be making at least €15 and the petrol company that you deal with pay all the staff and the maintenace so its all profit for you.

Unfortunatly this is the logic behind alot of the customers and that its built into the price and they are entitled to a few pence at the local shop, but would never dream or expect to shortchange aldi. lidl or tesco.

Its a bizarre logic but there you go.

Ha ha I was boiling there reading that at first, but yes I suppose it is a funny world, price of cigs or alcohol goes up and they never say anything and they will def not get away with it at aldi or lidl

Sam Kade

Dovies wrote: »

Op is there any way you can install a 'pay before you pump'? The garage beside me used to do it after 9pm but now you have to pay first and the pump the fuel - stops bang on the amount you pay.

Not sure if its a machine thats installed or what is involved but may be worth looking into.

Customers would simply go elsewhere for their fuel. A petrol station in my local town decided to make the customers pay first then fill the shop was closed within a week.

ejmaztec

The consumers dodging the extra are only doing so because of this kind of carry-on:P.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWIz4eYj3fE

Dj320

ejmaztec wrote: »

The consumers dodging the extra are only doing so because of this kind of carry-on:P.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWIz4eYj3fE

Ha ha class , but now it's enda in the dail pressing that button. Great to see not all people are in same mind frame about paying!!

P. Breathnach

Skid wrote: »

Erm, so you pay the 'price on the pump' only after asking for a discount first?

In asking for, rather than taking, a discount I acknowledged my liability to pay the price. And 1c on a price of €50.01 is not a cheeky ask.

But some people try to score with cheap shots.

Supraman

Interesting thread , guess it's hard to apply a pay then fill situation if it's a close community you are dealing with as Irish people tend do business in familiarity a lot of the time . If you turn into a local demon "after their every penny" you'll get a bad name for yourself with the locals .

Having said that it's a substantial hit to take financially so best of luck in choosing the lesser of 2 evils .
If it was my garage , I'd have a
"No credit given , 20.05 at the pump = 20.05 in the till etc"
At least you don't have to ask for it in person at the till then .

Agent_99

In this technological age you think that you could pull up to a pump insert it into the petrol tank and hit a 10, 20, 30€ button, exact amount is dispensed and away you go. of course you would have a fill/freestyle option as well for jerry cans etc
This would save a lot of problems but I know where the OP is coming from I bet there are very few if any filling up 19.98 and leaving €20 notes at the counter.

Skid

P. Breathnach wrote: »

In asking for, rather than taking, a discount I acknowledged my liability to pay the price. And 1c on a price of €50.01 is not a cheeky ask.

But some people try to score with cheap shots.

Call me old fashioned, call me cheap, but if the pump reads €50.01 I will bring at least €50.01 to the till with me.

Dj320

There is pumps like that starting off at 20k each , ok if your doing massive litres and getting constant driveoffs, but yes when we used to serve , one of the young fellas I have put in 19.99 and the woman ate him, was in a while later serving herself and 20.05 , not a word from her.

Procrastastudy

LOL This does make me laugh a bit to be honest.

I dont make sure my sanwich and crisps come to 7.00 exactly I just pay. When I fill up the car I put the nozle in fill it up until it clicks and then pay the €32.67 or what ever it is.

Humans...

seamus

If I'm only getting petrol, I'll make an attempt to get it up to the nearest euro after it clicks, but with the price per litre as it is, sometimes pumps jump in 2c increments, so you can't do that. If I'm going to buy a bottle of coke or something as well, then I just fill it till it clicks.
I always make sure though to pay the exact amount regardless.

I like the idea of the sign asking people to pay the proper amount. The only thing is that people could say that never saw it. Maybe do up a little sticker and place it right beside the amount on the pump. They can't claim they didn't see it then. You can go formal, as in "We reserve the right to ask for the exact amount shown on the pump", or perhaps a little less formal like, "Paying the exact amount shown will avoid embarrassment when we ask for it".

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

In fairness I think this is just a rant. The level of loss as a result of it is probably very small. I pay every cent of any fill I get and so does everybody else I see at the garage I use. Now and again the owner might say "€50.03. Leave it at €50" to somebody, but not too often. I don't think this is a major consumer issue.

Outkast_IRE

Around by me a see alot of fancy recently done up petrol stations,
Can anyone tell me why nobody has yet installed a system, where you can just type in the amount of petrol you want to put in , and it fill fill to exactly that.

Surely in a busy garage it would be worth it. I know you could see people will see that as scabby etc and not use it . But if you diverted some of the lost money back into auxillary services like making sure theres water available and towel wipes, and air to fill tyres then most would see it as worth it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Around by me a see alot of fancy recently done up petrol stations,
Can anyone tell me why nobody has yet installed a system, where you can just type in the amount of petrol you want to put in , and it fill fill to exactly that.

Surely in a busy garage it would be worth it. I know you could see people will see that as scabby etc and not use it . But if you diverted some of the lost money back into auxillary services like making sure theres water available and towel wipes, and air to fill tyres then most would see it as worth it.

No good to me, and many others, as we like to fill her up each time rather than put a value amount in. I couldn't be bothered trying to work out how much she'll hold, multiplied by the current price, to calculate how much I want.

seamus

Encountered a couple of those pumps in the states where you put in your credit card and selected how much you wanted. Very annoying, I just wanted to fill the bloody tank.

ejmaztec

seamus wrote: »

Encountered a couple of those pumps in the states where you put in your credit card and selected how much you wanted. Very annoying, I just wanted to fill the bloody tank.

As against the people who wanted to drive away without paying.

Outkast_IRE

Warren Jolly Rental wrote: »

No good to me, and many others, as we like to fill her up each time rather than put a value amount in. I couldn't be bothered trying to work out how much she'll hold, multiplied by the current price, to calculate how much I want.

but there could easily be a button for that , which would rely on the automatic pump switch to stop it or yourself to stop it.

Guy:Incognito

Ask your staff to stop saying "any petrol or diesel?" when I walk up with a loaf of bread and 2 litres of milk with a fiver in my hand please. I'm an adult. If Iget petrol I'll offer to pay for it.:)

I dont steal a few cent of petrol btw.

Patrick2010

seamus wrote: »

Encountered a couple of those pumps in the states where you put in your credit card and selected how much you wanted. Very annoying, I just wanted to fill the bloody tank.

Over in Tesco Dundrum I put my laser card in, filled up and it gave me a receipt at the end when I was finished, didn't have to select an amount, didn't have to go into the shop. Only garage I've seen them in.

seamus

ejmaztec wrote: »

As against the people who wanted to drive away without paying.

Wouldn't be very difficult to have a system which took your card and locked it in place until you put the pump back. Whatever is shown is then charged to the card.

Instead you had to pick from a fixed amount.

Procrastastudy

In france you put your card in - it preauths upto €130 and gives your card back - you pump it charges you for what ever you take. No dealing with any fleshy viruses for all those people who prefer to have no human contact.

mikemac1

On another note, I do use the air pump quite a bit in the local station, it's free:)

But it's often broken
Not the owners fault

Others use the pump, feck it on the ground and then someone else is going to drive over it

Maybe a token system would work better. Pay a euro and get back a euro. Would get them to think, some people don't respect what they get for free

Just adding it to the thread, I'd say the OP deals with this themselves

whiterebel

GCDLawstudent wrote: »

In france you put your card in - it preauths upto €130 and gives your card back - you pump it charges you for what ever you take. No dealing with any fleshy viruses for all those people who prefer to have no human contact.

I was at one on Thursday in Ballylanders ( I think) and you put in your card, either keyed in the amount you wanted, or just filled it, and it deducted the amount from the card. Every French patrol station I've ever been in does this. Same with their tolls.

Shelflife

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Ask your staff to stop saying "any petrol or diesel?" when I walk up with a loaf of bread and 2 litres of milk with a fiver in my hand please. I'm an adult. If Iget petrol I'll offer to pay for it.:)

I dont steal a few cent of petrol btw.

Guy the amount of people who assume that you have added on the €50 of petrol they got and still only charge them €13.95 is amazing !!

sandin

Dj320 wrote: »

Often when you hear of a price drop on the news it will not be passed onto us in the petrol stations for weeks as the oil companies have huge stock bought at the old price and will not drop till they have sold all that at the old price, it is not as instant as that, generally we have enough stock for a week so it rises or falls weekly not daily on prices, also it's going up tonite so fill your tank 2cpl

Incorrect - the fuel business runs in an extremely tight timeframe.

Here's a few boring facts
1. Oil companies keep about 3 days supply in their tanks at port.

2. Most fuel stations get deliveries at least twice a week.

3. About 70 days supply for the country are kept in stock by NORA (nat oil reserves ageny) who charge you 2c on every litre for the privilidge.

4. In most case an independent delivery company delivers the fuel - hence you can see the same tanker going to all garages ina town (note the figures on top of these tankers - shows several compartments holding a set max of fuel per compartment - one could be esso fuel, then next Topaz, etc etc)

5. A fuel retailer selling at average price will make 4c per litre before any costs are applied (hence no new merc and bmw's in foecourt owner homes), so on €50, they get about €1.20 nd if you pay by credit card thus drops to about 90c. (distributor gets about 5c, government gets 90c+, actual cost of fuel before taxes is about 60c)

6 World oil prices take about 2 weeks to affect pump prices, but currency changes take as little as 2/3 days as fuel is paid for in dollars "at sight" e.g. when it lands at the final destination.

7. Prices will rise a little in the next few days, but China aint doing too well and once the market realsies how bad it is in China, the prices will fall dramtically - watch for a mega market changing report from China next Friday!!

sandin

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Around by me a see alot of fancy recently done up petrol stations,
Can anyone tell me why nobody has yet installed a system, where you can just type in the amount of petrol you want to put in , and it fill fill to exactly that.

Surely in a busy garage it would be worth it. I know you could see people will see that as scabby etc and not use it . But if you diverted some of the lost money back into auxillary services like making sure theres water available and towel wipes, and air to fill tyres then most would see it as worth it.

but then you wouldn't have to go into their shop and that's where the profit is for the garage owners.

Where's the bigger profit

€3.50 chicken roll or €50 of petrol

answer = 3.50 chicken roll gives the bigger profit by quite a margin.

Pkiernan

seamus wrote: »

Encountered a couple of those pumps in the states where you put in your credit card and selected how much you wanted. Very annoying, I just wanted to fill the bloody tank.

You just swipe your card, and fill her up.

The pump charges for the fuel it dispensed.

If you are prepaying with cash, then you estimate - pay say $50 up front. If you only fit $45 worth in the tank, you go in and get your change.

Pre-paying at the pump is a far superior method of paying, for both the customer and the station.

iPhone.

The technology is definitely there to help solve your problem Op and I sympathise and understand where you are coming from completely. In the service industry in a small community you are in a no win situation on this one, unless you can ask your fuel supplier if they are willing to subsidise the installation of self service pumps.

I buy my fuel from an umanned self service fuel station. The way it works is, you first pop your laser/credit card in the reader beside the pump, you then select from a menu of preset amounts 10 euro, 20 euro, etc and remove your card..... then go fill your vehicle and the pump stops at the amount you selected....... if you wanted to completely fill your vehilce, when you are selecting the amount in the first step, just select a high amount from the menu for example 70 euro.... then when you are filling your vehicle and it reaches full at , lets say 50 euro for example, the pump stops at that point and even though you selected a max of 70 euro initially, it only charges you for the actual fuel supplied, ie 50 euro. You then go back to the card reader, key in the pump number you just filled from and the self service pump prints your receipt for you.

For any of the locals who want to pay cash, they will obviously be calling to you during normal business hours so you could have a console inside your shop that linked to the pumps and did exactly the same thing, they pay you cash, then you push the corresponding button to deliver exactly that amount at the pump they parked at, then they go back out and fill.

Now I understand that some of the locals having been accustomed to just pulling up at the pumps, filling and then walking into the shop to pay may be a bit awkward about having to go into the shop to pay first and then fill, also from your point of view you don't want to have them leaving with the impression 'that whore doesn't trust anyone'. If that's a concern, and I believe it would be in most retail units in a small community then maybe a simple 'Macdonalds' drive thru style speaker system would work. The customer lifts the pump nozzle, this in turn prompts you as all pumps do anyway that a fill is about to occur, but in this case the fill is stalled until you ask the customer over the speaker how much they want, you then push the preset button inside corresponding to the amount required and again it stops automatically.

I really understand your frustration and to be honest the very people you are trying to keep on the right side of are playing you like a fiddle, its ok for them to take a few cents off you but when you are legitimately taking the extra few cents off them its a different story, typical double standards but a tough one to solve too.

Anyway, fair play to you, its lads like yourself in these small communities providing employment and buying from all the various suppliers who in turn employ staff to service you and the other garages/businesses that will see this country out of the dark place it is currently in. I take my hat off to you!

Edit: Spoke to Mrs. iPhone. about this and she gave me her perspective on this which was interesting too. The fully automated and unmanned pumps where I get my fuel only supplies Diesel/Agri Diesel or Gas. My wife drives a petrol vehicle so gets her fuel in petrol stations such as the OP's. She told me that she finds it extremely difficult to get the pumps in these garages to stop at for example exactly 20 euro. She also thinks that it has gotten even more difficult in her opinion recently, leading her to wonder if this is a deliberate ploy by the fuel companies, as the OP said, all those extra few cents can add up to 12 or 13 hundred euro by year end - nice extra bonus for them too if you look at it that way - seeing as he is paying his suppliers this money, maybe the OP should be airing his greviance, not with his customers but with the pump/oil suppliers as they are the ones benefiting here regardless - surely they should be able to sort the pumps out to deliver the exact amount required so all parties are happy - anyway, as I said, thanks to Mrs. iPhone I got another perspective which I think is very valid and thought I would share.

Outkast_IRE

sandin wrote: »

but then you wouldn't have to go into their shop and that's where the profit is for the garage owners.

Where's the bigger profit

€3.50 chicken roll or €50 of petrol

answer = 3.50 chicken roll gives the bigger profit by quite a margin.

where did i say you pay at the pump , i merely said you either must type in how much you want or a fill option

Dj320

Warren Jolly Rental wrote: »

In fairness I think this is just a rant. The level of loss as a result of it is probably very small. I pay every cent of any fill I get and so does everybody else I see at the garage I use. Now and again the owner might say "€50.03. Leave it at €50" to somebody, but not too often. I don't think this is a major consumer issue.

Well yes if you call 1400 to 1500 euro per year small then it would be ok, but for me it is a family hol or car insurance. And if you see 200 or 300 cars a day it soon becomes an issue, I would safely say 5 out of 10 people will not pay, a lot of them being over 5or 6 cent

Dj320

Warren Jolly Rental wrote: »

In fairness I think this is just a rant. The level of loss as a result of it is probably very small. I pay every cent of any fill I get and so does everybody else I see at the garage I use. Now and again the owner might say "€50.03. Leave it at €50" to somebody, but not too often. I don't think this is a major consumer issue.

iPhone. wrote: »

The technology is definitely there to help solve your problem Op and I sympathise and understand where you are coming from completely. In the service industry in a small community you are in a no win situation on this one, unless you can ask your fuel supplier if they are willing to subsidise the installation of self service pumps.

I buy my fuel from an umanned self service fuel station. The way it works is, you first pop your laser/credit card in the reader beside the pump, you then select from a menu of preset amounts 10 euro, 20 euro, etc and remove your card..... then go fill your vehicle and the pump stops at the amount you selected....... if you wanted to completely fill your vehilce, when you are selecting the amount in the first step, just select a high amount from the menu for example 70 euro.... then when you are filling your vehicle and it reaches full at , lets say 50 euro for example, the pump stops at that point and even though you selected a max of 70 euro initially, it only charges you for the actual fuel supplied, ie 50 euro. You then go back to the card reader, key in the pump number you just filled from and the self service pump prints your receipt for you.

For any of the locals who want to pay cash, they will obviously be calling to you during normal business hours so you could have a console inside your shop that linked to the pumps and did exactly the same thing, they pay you cash, then you push the corresponding button to deliver exactly that amount at the pump they parked at, then they go back out and fill.

Now I understand that some of the locals having been accustomed to just pulling up at the pumps, filling and then walking into the shop to pay may be a bit awkward about having to go into the shop to pay first and then fill, also from your point of view you don't want to have them leaving with the impression 'that whore doesn't trust anyone'. If that's a concern, and I believe it would be in most retail units in a small community then maybe a simple 'Macdonalds' drive thru style speaker system would work. The customer lifts the pump nozzle, this in turn prompts you as all pumps do anyway that a fill is about to occur, but in this case the fill is stalled until you ask the customer over the speaker how much they want, you then push the preset button inside corresponding to the amount required and again it stops automatically.

I really understand your frustration and to be honest the very people you are trying to keep on the right side of are playing you like a fiddle, its ok for them to take a few cents off you but when you are legitimately taking the extra few cents off them its a different story, typical double standards but a tough one to solve too.

Anyway, fair play to you, its lads like yourself in these small communities providing employment and buying from all the various suppliers who in turn employ staff to service you and the other garages/businesses that will see this country out of the dark place it is currently in. I take my hat off to you!

Edit: Spoke to Mrs. iPhone. about this and she gave me her perspective on this which was interesting too. The fully automated and unmanned pumps where I get my fuel only supplies Diesel/Agri Diesel or Gas. My wife drives a petrol vehicle so gets her fuel in petrol stations such as the OP's. She told me that she finds it extremely difficult to get the pumps in these garages to stop at for example exactly 20 euro. She also thinks that it has gotten even more difficult in her opinion recently, leading her to wonder if this is a deliberate ploy by the fuel companies, as the OP said, all those extra few cents can add up to 12 or 13 hundred euro by year end - nice extra bonus for them too if you look at it that way - seeing as he is paying his suppliers this money, maybe the OP should be airing his greviance, not with his customers but with the pump/oil suppliers as they are the ones benefiting here regardless - surely they should be able to sort the pumps out to deliver the exact amount required so all parties are happy - anyway, as I said, thanks to Mrs. iPhone I got another perspective which I think is very valid and thought I would share.

I agree it is hard to stop bang on the amount , as I said I'm never bothered by 1or 2 cent but some people who are generally in a rush and think its acceptable to get it anywhere near the mark. Most definitely there is no conspiracy between oil companies to do this as they do not supply us with pumps , we buy them ourselves

Dj320

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Around by me a see alot of fancy recently done up petrol stations,
Can anyone tell me why nobody has yet installed a system, where you can just type in the amount of petrol you want to put in , and it fill fill to exactly that.

Surely in a busy garage it would be worth it. I know you could see people will see that as scabby etc and not use it . But if you diverted some of the lost money back into auxillary services like making sure theres water available and towel wipes, and air to fill tyres then most would see it as worth it.

A lot of older and some younger people can barely operate the pumps as it is without putting in more technology ( they can hardly drive, my pumps have been damaged 3 times in 7 months ) and with people wanting cheaper fuel there is simply not a lot of money left for gloves, towels, and keep fixing the damaged airline that someone wasn't bothered to put back. It's ok in big towns or cities with huge volume but I'm only a small site. Perhaps the day of the small garage is gone!!

TOMP

many years ago all pumps were attended by staff of the garage, so if you asked for X pounds of fuel, you got X pounds exactly. Are the garages not saving money by having the customer do the filling up work?