New Businesses opening in Dublin 15

I was running low on petrol this evening and the "M3" services are on my route, so I drove off the N3 to see whether the prices had gone down to something reasonable. They had (126.9), so I went in.

To my great joy, the first pump I approached had pay-at-pump. If I had my way, all forecourts would work this way. Instead, the Irish pattern (as played out in every true motorway service area) is to fit the equipment, then decommission it some weeks later, either because it runs out of receipt roll or to drive people into the shop to buy overpriced junk food.

Anyway, this forecourt has a new trick - the pay at pump makes a show of working, then just fails. Not knowing that only some of the pumps have the feature, I drove to a different one. This didn't have a card slot and helpfully informed me that prepay is required after 8.

Despite being a man of the world, I still don't know what a full tank of juice costs, so I dismissed the prepay option as I frequently do on other forecourts, and lifted the nozzle. But these guys are on top of their game. I had to enter the premises, approach the counter and ask with what must have seemed like some exasperation (it was) what was up with the pay at pump. Apparently it's a bit flaky and had been acting up all day. Turns out the cashier didn't know how much a full tank costs either (what do they teach these guys?), but he began to propose something about charging 50 and if I'd stuck around to hear it, I suppose I was supposed to go back into the shop to pay any remainder.

So did I persist with a transaction that was going to end up taking two visits to a pump and another two to the cashier? I did in my proverbial. I took my money elsewhere. I didn't notice whether the Applegreen in Clonsilla had a prepay policy marked on their pump, but they let me pump juice before paying either way.

What's the deal with evening prepay anyway? A brand new forecourt like this should have full camera coverage, and it's not like the cops can pursue a driveaway any faster during the day.

This is very early in the lifetime of a fuel station for the pay at pump to be on the blink, while at the same time being long enough after opening for teething problems to be sorted. First impression: not positive.

I have old fashioned ideas about how convenience should break down between a service provider and a paying consumer. In this case, I engaged the process in good faith and was disappointed, with the suggested resolution being more inconvenience.

I'm glad to read that pay at pump has been known to work. The cashier mentioned that it had been flaky, which was all I had to go on.

As to guessing how much the car will take, when I find a well-priced forecourt I fill the tank. Choosing an amount of fuel is a valid life choice, of course, but for the garage it means taking less revenue and for me it means refuelling again sooner.

First world problems indeed, but hey, my credit card.