Pet peeve - filling station fuel pumps

CtrlSource · 07-08-2008 10:48AM #1

Does anyone else get annoyed when they're filling up at the petrol station with the crap old style pumping machines we have in this country? Some of them pump quite fast, others woefully slowly. But what gets my goat is that none of the oil company franchises here have bothered to invest in those neato automatic pumps, where you can preset the amount you want (or simply set it to 'fill') and just stand there whistling, while the nozzle does on all the work, unaided!

Almost every petrol station in the US has these pumps and many other countries i've travelled to do as well. So why not here?

Hail 2 Da Chimp · 07-08-2008 10:50AM

Don't you hate pants?
What's the deal with them anyway?

Adam · 07-08-2008 10:50AM

Ireland.

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CJhaughey · 07-08-2008 10:51AM

I don't know where you are but if you ever pass through Bantry, Caseys, Esso has one of those pumps you can fill by money or by volume amount.

CtrlSource · 07-08-2008 10:53AM

CJhaughey wrote: »

I don't know where you are but if you ever pass through Bantry, Caseys, Esso has one of those pumps you can fill by money or by volume amount.

i'm a Dub, but i'll be in Bantry next month and will be sure to fill-up there!

(is that the garage out the Glengarriff Road?)

HPT · 07-08-2008 10:54AM

Tesco Clearwater filling station have pumps with those buttons. They are beside the display on the pump. They offer the choice of filling to a preset price or number of litres.
I've never actually used them so I can't be sure they work, just like the pay-at-pump option they provide...

CtrlSource · 07-08-2008 11:01AM

Never noticed those buttons at that Tesco actually. The pay-at-pump buttons don't always work either. Maybe these pumps exist in loads of places and i'm just blind to them?!

javaboy · 07-08-2008 11:12AM

The auto-pumps are supposed to be verboten in this lil country. Have a search from automatic pumps in the motors forum. I think somebody dragged up the relevant legislation before.

Alun · 07-08-2008 11:38AM

javaboy wrote: »

The auto-pumps are supposed to be verboten in this lil country. Have a search from automatic pumps in the motors forum. I think somebody dragged up the relevant legislation before.

The little clips that hold the pump open are deliberately removed for safety reasons. And BTW, it's not just here in Ireland, but in many other countries as well. In fact the only European country where I remember coming across them intact is in Germany.

Steve_o · 07-08-2008 11:46AM

Hail 2 Da Chimp wrote: »

Don't you hate pants?
What's the deal with them anyway?

A creation of the devil...

OP: Those automatic pumps are cool, but in fairness pumping your own petrol isn't exactly all that difficult, I fail to see how this annoys you!

taidghbaby · 07-08-2008 11:53AM

were in a recession man.......no capital expenditure! end of

CtrlSource · 07-08-2008 11:57AM

We weren't in a recession 10 years ago when i was in Barbados and they had them there!

Yeah, i'm pretty easily annoyed

togster · 07-08-2008 12:00PM

It really used to annoy me too. Those clips that hole the handle down to fill always used to flip off. In Sweden you can just put in the nozzle and walk away. Simple.

CountingCrows · 07-08-2008 12:06PM

This is your pet peeve?? Most garages don't even have toilets!

stevoman · 07-08-2008 12:15PM

what really annoys me is when (usually women) park up at the petrol pump and then go in and do some shopping while your left waiting, and these idiots dont even get any petrol! uuuhhhhhhh

Archeron · 07-08-2008 12:16PM

I'd have to say that if it comes to pet peeves in petrol stations, mine would have to be garages that block your visibility of the road when exiting with sandwhich boards, and giant plastic ice cream cones, and signs telling you burgers are available inside.
The petrol station on the Naas road near the red cow used to be a fecker for this, and my local station is the same.
I might not be able to see the 40 foot truck coming which will smash my car and me to smithereens, but at least I know I can have a calming cup of essence coffee while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

javaboy · 07-08-2008 12:19PM

Archeron wrote: »

I might not be able to see the 40 foot truck coming which will smash my car and me to smithereens, but at least I know I can have a calming cup of essence coffee while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

It's been ages since I did a first aid course but I don't think you should actually take any fluids especially not coffee if you have just been in an accident. I'm open to correction though.

Archeron · 07-08-2008 12:23PM

javaboy wrote: »

It's been ages since I did a first aid course but I don't think you should actually take any fluids especially not coffee if you have just been in an accident. I'm open to correction though.

Thanks javaboy, thats good to know.
I'll have an Angelito ice cream instead

javaboy · 07-08-2008 12:25PM

Archeron wrote: »

Thanks javaboy, thats good to know.
I'll have an Angelito ice cream instead

Sorry I think food (although ice-cream could be considered a drink) is out too. Just sit tight. The ambulance is on its way. Nee Naw Nee Naw.

CountingCrows · 07-08-2008 01:43PM

javaboy wrote: »

Sorry I think food (although ice-cream could be considered a drink) is out too. Just sit tight. The ambulance is on its way. Nee Naw Nee Naw.

Waiting for an ambulance on the Naas Rd :eek: Better off trying to walk to a hospital

daithismith · 18-08-2008 10:53PM

Back to the issue of petrol pumps...how do you fill up your tank?
Does the pump stop automatically when your tank is full or will it just spray petrol all over the place? I'm always afraid this will happen and end up just filling the tank 3/4 full.

swingking · 18-08-2008 11:04PM

I use the petrol lid stuck in between the pump to automatically pump my car :cool:

ChewChew · 18-08-2008 11:19PM

I absolutley HATE the chore of going to a filling station. why?? cause when I get there, there is usually a queue and I dont do those too well. And you know when you go to a garage and you pull up behind a car but the pump infront is free? Well its usually blocked by the stoooopid farmer man who's driving the micra belonging to his missus but thinks its a JCB :mad:

adsgirl · 18-08-2008 11:20PM

People who insist on smoking around petrol pumps, piss me off big time:mad:

Mr. Random · 18-08-2008 11:30PM

CtrlSource wrote: »

Does anyone else get annoyed when they're filling up at the petrol station with the crap old style pumping machines we have in this country? Some of them pump quite fast, others woefully slowly. But what gets my goat is that none of the oil company franchises here have bothered to invest in those neato automatic pumps, where you can preset the amount you want (or simply set it to 'fill') and just stand there whistling, while the nozzle does on all the work, unaided!

Almost every petrol station in the US has these pumps and many other countries i've travelled to do as well. So why not here?

Texaco on the Nass Road before the Red cow still have the little switches working on them. Well on the Pump beside the McD's front window. Very handy during winter when it is too cold to hold the pump handle. I may be the only person in the country, bar the staff, that knows this as said staff have commented on my use of said switches while pondering why no one else uses them.

daithismith wrote: »

Does the pump stop automatically when your tank is full or will it just spray petrol all over the place? I'm always afraid this will happen and end up just filling the tank 3/4 full.

They do stop automatically, the same way they do when you are manually filling you car. Probably a simple back flow switch/sensor.

My OCD is that I always have to round up the bill. We cannot have any cents on the bill!!! Even though we use a company fuel card

Now that I think of it the Texaco at the spawell might have those switches working too...

18-08-2008 11:35PM

Alun wrote: »

The little clips that hold the pump open are deliberately removed for safety reasons. And BTW, it's not just here in Ireland, but in many other countries as well. In fact the only European country where I remember coming across them intact is in Germany.

I was doing a riviting job a few years ago, and had a couple of pop-rivits in my pocket, came in useful while I had them.

CtrlSource · 19-08-2008 12:53AM

Alun wrote: »

The little clips that hold the pump open are deliberately removed for safety reasons. And BTW, it's not just here in Ireland, but in many other countries as well. In fact the only European country where I remember coming across them intact is in Germany.

They're mostly still there under the nozzle triggers - but they've usually been disabled. i don't know how. What do they do, break them in some way? i always fiddle with them to try and get them to stick and hold the trigger!

The clips are different to the automatic pumps though. The pumps aren't illegal

19-08-2008 12:55AM

CtrlSource wrote: »

They're mostly still there under the nozzle trigger. But they just don't work. What do they do, break them in some way? i always fiddle with them to try and them stick and hold the trigget

The clips are different to the automatic pumps though. The pumps aren't illegal

If the holes are there from where the original pins were removed, just slip in a pin (or pop rivit) and the trigger will hold on to it.

steph1 · 19-08-2008 01:00AM

adsgirl wrote: »

People who insist on smoking around petrol pumps, piss me off big time:mad:

Yes only idiots would do such a thing

Firetrap · 19-08-2008 01:39AM

I was in a filling station recently and the staff in the shop were mildly freaking out because a guy smoking a cigarette was filling up his car outside. I wasn't going to hang around for too long either

Back on topic, I hate those petrol pumps where if you pull the trigger down too far, they stop pumping petrol. So you have to keep adjusting it.

19-08-2008 01:42AM

Firetrap wrote: »

Back on topic, I hate those petrol pumps where if you pull the trigger down too far, they stop pumping petrol. So you have to keep adjusting it.

I'd prefer to have that, than have a bootfull of unleaded!

Pet peeve - filling station fuel pumps

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