Filling up your car with fuel, in the UK....
 

Just went to fill up - They have changed the pumps YET AGAIN... I spend about 3 mins looking at the pump, and wondering why it wont activate.

Then I find a 'special secret button' I need to press. I fill up, and go in to pay...

"Do you have a loyalty card sir?" the lady asks... Well, I happen to have one on my keyring, so we go through the process of scanning it... "You did see the sign dint you sir?' is the next question...

What sign? I ask - The one that says we cant accept cash at the moment - Only debit or credit cards... Well I was going to pay by card anyway, so no big deal - BIZARRE - But no big deal.

I place card in machine, and enter pin...

Do you want to use your 2 pence per litre discount on todays fuel, or save it up ?

What? I just wanna pay for the fuel I've put in the car and fuck off... But NO... I've now gotta play 20 fucking questions regarding an irrelevant amount of money... 'Whatever' I politely say...

No sir, you have to tell me - I cant decide for you - Its company policy....

FFS!!! Whatever happened to just putting gas in the car, paying with cash and being on your way? I felt like I had been selected to appear on 'Who wants to be a millionaire' TV show with all the questions and messing about... :(

/rant

Sorry - Just wanted to vent....

It's the same bullshit when buying groceries in the US.

Same deal at subway

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

No, not at all. My 'Subway Incident' involved a lazy little prick and a very rude jumped up teenage 'Manageress'...

This lady was lovely. Very polite and professional, and simply doing her job as she had been told to do it...

My complaint isn't with her personally. Its with all the messing about that turns a simple 5 minute exercise, into a 15 minute, full on fucking event, full of questions and unnecessary bullshit :thumbsup

You're not very tolerant of these new modern ways are you :)

FTFY :upsidedow

But in truth, no I'm not... I wanna just put £40 in my car, walk in, pay £40, walk out... Simple as...

Be on my way and about my day.... But no.... I suddenly need to be mensa member to start the pump going, and then play 20 questions, then almost provide my birth certificate and passport in order to pay....

Trust me - I'm not shaking my fist at the sky, and screaming about 'When all this was just fields' etc....

But bugger me - They couldn't make a simple transaction take longer or be more complicated if they tried.... :2 cents:

Don't get me started on bloody service stations.

Go to buy one item with your fuel and you always encounter *you cfan get 4 for just $1 more*, i only want ONE.

Would you like two chocolates for $2, or if you spend another $10 we'll give you some shit you don't want.

Just want fuel please.

I feel like i've walked into a real life go daddy checkout with the amount of upsells you get at the counter.

Welcome to the club...

I know you said insignificant amount before but wouldn't you rather 'put £40 in your car, walk in, answer Yes to the discount question, pay £39.40, walk out... Simple as...' you are already going to the bother of using the loyalty card when you buy your shopping so why not reap the full rewards? Top end of the scale and you only pay £34 for a £40 fill up.

I consider myself very well off but I do like to get discount :)

Gasstations in Holland are also very annoying....

Me getting something to drink and a quik bite at a gasstation goes a little something like this...

-Scanning articles
-You didn't refuel?
-No... if i did you would have heard
-A lot of people would simply forgot to mention.
-Yeah... well... i wouldn't.
-Do you save freebees/airmiles?
-No but if i did... i didn't put gasoline in my car... so...
-Would you like to enjoy our special offer? Two candy bars for only 1.50 euro.
-No... if i would have wanted candybars you would have known...
-I see you have this chewing gum but actually this one is specially priced.
-I want this chewing gum and not that one. If i wanted that one i would have grabbed it in the first place. What makes you think i just random grab any chewing gum?

Don't you get tired asking the same stupid questions over and over again day in day out? Do you ask these questions in your sleep allready? Do you know how annoying it is to wait in line and exactly knowing the same old stupid questions will be fired at you again?

"Fill er' up with 93 please" Attendant fills car with gas, I give the attendant money, and off I go.

Yes, that's great for when I'm in the city. But start heading out of town on a trip and at some point you'll run into a self-serve joint that has a whole different system at the pump, and there you are standing out there scratching your nuts wondering why it can't be as simple as pumping the fucking gas and then going in and paying.

But no, some places make you go in and pay FIRST (and my thought is how do I know how much it will be?). Or you have to try and decipher some sort of digital readout and keypad setup that asks for voucher numbers and such. And once you do finally actually get to pump your gas and head on in to pay they hit you with their "deals".


But even in spite of all that I'd say Subway is the worst. I once placed my order by telling the girl the few things I didn't want on it, and exactly what type of bun and sauce I wanted. Simple, done and done, right? Wrong. She proceeded to ask me her usual 150 questions. I kept saying "no, just what I said... no this, no that, none of that, this type of bun and that type of sauce."
"Do you want---------?"

I wanted to shoot her.


A close second are those 15 minute oil change places. They make about 90% of their income from upsells apparently, and they of course have you held captive and at their mercy while you're in their bay, so while they change your oil the guy is asking you if you want umpteen different extra things --- new wiper blades, a new oil pan plug, oh you'll soon be needing new fucking spark plugs, want those?
Rad flush?
Power steering fluid??

I envisioned lobbing a grenade at the last one as I drove away.

LOL.. Yes same deal on subway!!!

Well, with 24 hours thinking time, I must agree that you present a persuasive argument lol

If only it had seemed that simple at the time !

Thing is, despite having the loyalty card, I dont use that much fuel, but a couple of times a year, I get a book of vouchers and some tickets for £10 / £20 off all purchases, sent to me in the post...

I give them to my Son, who shops at the bigger version of the chain - next town over... However in the 4 years I've had the card, I have NEVER been asked about using it for petrol.... :thumbsup

I guess it just threw me a bit...

That's how it is where I live plus the fact that they always ask to clean up the windshields.

It is the first time I hear about accepting only cards and not cash. Usually it vice versa.

Absolutely. This was all part of the 'added confusion' of the encounter...

Was your chauffeur on his lunch-break?

Cant you just "Pay at the pump" & avoid going inside or is that not an option there?

Theoretically, but I also wanted a pint of milk, so I needed to go inside.