remind me never to go to small gas stations

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mpvue

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Easton, PA
ok, so I knew I had to get gas, but thought I had enough to get to work, and the light only 'just' came on...
anyway, she stumbled a bit coming to a stop and I didn't think I had enough gas to get to the station I usually go to, so I stopped at a closer station. first pump says 'super 93 only', so I skip that pump and go to the 2nd one, where the super nozzle is wired closed.
I go in to pay, and the snappy lady says 'you know we only have super 93 right?' I said, ok, because I was on empty.
so I go out to pump, see that the 93 nozzle was, in fact, wired closed, so I tried the 87 nozzle. it proceeds to pump REALLY slow...
the lady comes out "I TOLD you we only had 93!"
I said the pump was wired shut!
she goes 'oh, I forgot, you have to back up'
grrr...
price of 'super 93'?
$4.25!
I put just $5 in (I prepaid $10)
I go in to get my change, she yells, 'why'd you stop?'
I said I only had a few dollars and really just needed to get home ( I really just didn't want or need 93 octane gas at 4.25/gal!)
she shakes her head at me and gives me $4 change (she says I had $1 also from the 1st pump)
...

just a really stressful situation, almost getting stranded in traffic (my fault, I know) but made worse by a ridiculous gas station and a rude lady.
 
Reminder for mpvue:

Never go to small gas stations

You're welcome
grin.gif
 
It's not all bad. Have met some really cool clerks at some of the small town stations I've filled up at.

I don't have a regular one that I use, Just stop wherever is convenient. I just hate automated pumps that if they screw up you have to go inside because it says "see cashier" another prime example of something so simple getting messed up by needless technology.

I like regular analog pumps where you just go inside to pay.
 
I never let the needle go under 1/4 on the guage.. Matter of fact i dont think ive ever seen the gas light come on in any of my three auto's.. good rule to go by !
 
Originally Posted By: AlienBug
If you like to go inside to pay how is it an inconvenience when you have to go inside to pay?


I don't know who you're asking since you didn't quote but I'll assume me. I didn't say it was inconvenient anywhere. I just find it annoying that half the time the stupid pump doesnt read your card or is screwed up you have to go inside anyway, so they might as well not exist as pay at the pump at all.

I've just stopped trying to use pay at the pump because sometimes it doesn't like the card, or sometimes it just doesn't read, or the reader is broken, etc. End up going inside anyways, which is perfectly fine by me.
 
My dad and mom only go to small gas stations. Be cause they serve you like the good old days. Pump your gas, wash your windows, swipe your card for you without doing a thing. Just sit there and be served.
 
You forgot: charge more, dribble gas down the quarter panel, gouge paint with the nozzle, forget the gas cap, pump the wrong grade of gas, smear all glass to the point of danger, and maybe charge you $10 for a quart of oil you don't need!
 
Eh, that's why my vehicles always get topped off once they fall below 1/2 tank.

I usually find the smaller stations to be friendlier, and I can't remember the last time I had to go inside to pay. Around here the small stations usually dont have ethanol also, which is a bonus.
 
A tiny old unbranded gas station half way to the city for me has analog pumps that are very confusing on the cents. The pumps also have no automatic cutoff. I accidentally went way over what I prepaid not paying close attention. I went back in and paid the extra and explained that it's confusing.

As I was leaving, they came out with a big black permanent marker and drew lines on the white painted pumps to separate the dollars/cents and write "Dollars" on one side lines and "Cents" on the other.

I doubt I'm the only one who has used it and had that confusion for them to take such action.

Oh and they don't pump your gas or do any such thing like you said LeakySeals. I suspect that's a rarity. I have been to other small town gas stations and they are all lacking in "service station" service. The best I have seen is free water and/or air at such gas stations.

The local SuperOne Foods gas station had free air and water but some idiot apparently ran it over (it was in a bad place with little protection) and they didn't replace it.

That's what bugs me most of all from modern gas stations. $0.75-$1.00 for air! AIR!!!!!

Wal-Mart is the worst I have ever seen.. $1. I had to stop and get air there one night in an emergency. The nozzle on it was hard as heck to use. Half the time the thing ran, I was fighting with the nozzle to get it to actually stay on the valve right and air up the tire.
 
How many gas stations do you have to go to to find a place that bad?

I can honestly say the worst place I've found was in Columbia, SC where the biggest problem I encountered was that they refused to put milk in coffee.
 
Not to sound self-righteous, but things like that don't bother me. Years ago, I would have stayed up all night dreaming of burning the building down but then I discovered that life is entirely too short for things like that. Now I get a kick out of trying to make people happy, (especially the grumpy ones).

I remember one night, stopped to get gas and the fellow in front of me was being very rude to the attendant. You could tell she was frustrated and by the time I got there she was none too friendly. I paid for my gas and got a candy bar as well. She rang up my total and slid the candy bar my way. I told her - that's for you. She smiled and said "thank you." Made my day.
 
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I never let the needle go under 1/4 on the guage.. Matter of fact i dont think ive ever seen the gas light come on in any of my three auto's.. good rule to go by !


I've had very few tanks where my light didn't come on. I work 2 miles from home and there are three gas stations in that 2 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: Cubey
A tiny old unbranded gas station half way to the city for me has analog pumps that are very confusing on the cents. The pumps also have no automatic cutoff. I accidentally went way over what I prepaid not paying close attention. I went back in and paid the extra and explained that it's confusing.

As I was leaving, they came out with a big black permanent marker and drew lines on the white painted pumps to separate the dollars/cents and write "Dollars" on one side lines and "Cents" on the other.

I doubt I'm the only one who has used it and had that confusion for them to take such action.

Oh and they don't pump your gas or do any such thing like you said LeakySeals. I suspect that's a rarity. I have been to other small town gas stations and they are all lacking in "service station" service. The best I have seen is free water and/or air at such gas stations.

The local SuperOne Foods gas station had free air and water but some idiot apparently ran it over (it was in a bad place with little protection) and they didn't replace it.

That's what bugs me most of all from modern gas stations. $0.75-$1.00 for air! AIR!!!!!

Wal-Mart is the worst I have ever seen.. $1. I had to stop and get air there one night in an emergency. The nozzle on it was hard as heck to use. Half the time the thing ran, I was fighting with the nozzle to get it to actually stay on the valve right and air up the tire.


Here in California, Land of Many Laws, there's a law that gas stations have to provide free air and water to customers. So I just drive up to the machine, whether I've just bought gasoline or not, and go in and say, "Hey, could you turn the air on?" and they always do. The air/water machines have a coin slot, and I think it's usually 75 cents, but they'll generally turn it on for you.
 
Eh, maybe not a pleasant retail experience, but it could be worse. Considering the vast majority of customer-facing retail employees I encounter are not too happy to be doing what they are doing, this just sounds par for the course.

I actually prefer small gas stations when I need to use the convenience store. A lot of them stock things you might not find in a mainstream chain, for example $0.79 20 oz RC Colas. Also, the employees are more likely to know you if you're a regular and treat you well. In Charlotte I had two "regular" stores I'd go to for things like a single drink, a beer, or Takis (Mexican junk food). One was called "Express Mart II" and the other was an independently owned/operated BP. Here in Birmingham, I go to a small independent Chevron down the street run by a bunch of friendly old guys.

If I JUST need gas...Kangaroo on Tallapoosa St. I've never been in the store.

The one gas station I refuse to patronize anymore is 7/11. We did without those horrible places until some NASCAR brat got into them and replaced all of the decent Sam's Mart stores in Charlotte with horrible 7/11s. Unless you want a Bud Light, a Coke, and a bag of Bugles, 7/11 is totally useless and expensive. It wouldn't have been a problem if there were ample alternatives, but they stuck a useless 7/11 on every corner. Thankfully Birmingham is still free of this nonsense and has a variety of stations.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
I fail to see where the smallness of their business activity contributed to your situation.

I should clarify, this was a small dirty repair shop with pumps, not their main business. it wasn't a friendly small town mom and pop store, just a junky little garage. and like I said, it was my fault for not planning ahead, but it was made worse by the price gouging and rudeness.
 
#whitepeopleproblems


wink.gif


Someone mentioned the analog dispensers - I miss those now that it was mentioned. By the time I started driving more they were mostly gone - guess I just remember pumping Mom's gas back in the day.

I do abhor going into a station to pay. Its CC at the pump and all the way full for me 99% of the time luckily.
 
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