Petrol station query

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?

Dj320

And years ago they asked to check your oil and water ( some people are stuck in this time warp and will toot their horn for service believe it or not) but I actually used to enjoy filling for people but nowadays it's not feasible to pay for a attendent with profit cut so tight, risk of putting in wrong fuel in their car, carrying money around the forecourt and the amount of pumps nowadays. But I often thought of a separate attended pump with a cent or two higher in price to pay the attendents wage for the people who think its their right to be pumped fuel??

SimonLynch

Dj320 wrote: »

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!!!!!

The customer's getting it as well, my local service station has pumps so sensitive that you can't stop at a round amount, you can take the nozzle out of the tank fill point, hand off trigger, put it into receiver too hard and 2c goes on the total, bring in 20.05 and get a vacant look when you're standing there waiting for your 3c back. I'm not stingy but when I do my bit I'd like to get reciprocation.

fasttalkerchat

With the cost of fuel people have the attitude that whatever they can get for free is fair game. If supermarket prices doubled in the space of 3 years would you accurately weigh your bananas?

Obviously this attitude is wrong and entirely not your fault. You could consider doing a pre-pay or fill-up system. If someone wants to fill up they are spending enough that the 12 cent is a small percent of the spend.

slimjimmc

TOMP wrote: »

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?

The minimum wage for an under 18 is €6.06 per hour or over €48 for a standard 8hr day. If you're losing that much in underpayments you've a serious problem.

Dj320

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

With the cost of fuel people have the attitude that whatever they can get for free is fair game. If supermarket prices doubled in the space of 3 years would you accurately weigh your bananas?

Obviously this attitude is wrong and entirely not your fault. You could consider doing a pre-pay or fill-up system. If someone wants to fill up they are spending enough that the 12 cent is a small percent of the spend.

I dont put up the price of fuel, in fact I dread putting up the price with the abuse I get from some people, also you sell less every time it goes up people drive less, so why take it out on the filling station owner. So to answer youn, yes I would weigh my bananas correctly if the price doubled, that's the price , simple as. You cannot go around giving yourself discount just because you think it's too expensive.
On a fill up which usually takes 50 litres I make about 1.50 before tax, wages rent etc, that is usually paid for by debit card , each transaction costing 30 cent plus the bank takes 1% of the amount. As I said in earlier threads prepay is not an option , it's a hinderence to a lot of people.

Dj320

slimjimmc wrote: »

The minimum wage for an under 18 is €6.06 per hour or over €48 for a standard 8hr day. If you're losing that much in underpayments you've a serious problem.

It's not a major problem but a problem nonetheless. I suppose when I put up the thread that one of these people might give their explanation as to why they do it but they are obviously as embarrassed about it as I am when I ask for the correct amount

harr

Our local garage has had to pre pay on some of there pumps because of drive offs they were lousing between 150 and 200 a week with them it was all cars with false plates or there numbers covered.
People did give out for a while but got used to it and there has been no drives since.
I am friends with the owner and he said it was easy enough to set the pumps up even though they are old enough.

Jame Gumb

Surely this is less of an issue nowadays on the basis that most people pay for petrol using cards?

cycling is fun

Had to reply to this thread, i think the op is right it should not be acceptable not to pay the amount that comes up on the pump, any time i fill up i try to make it 10, 20, 30 if it goes above i make sure i have it with me once or twice if it has been 10.01 the girl behind the counter just asked for ten even though i would insist that she take the one cent how ever it works both ways the owner of that garage who i have also dealt with would not give you the cent back if the cost of an item was 1.99 so no wonder people take the piss some times if some shops are willing to do that

fasttalkerchat

cycling is fun wrote: »

it works both ways the owner of that garage who i have also dealt with would not give you the cent back if the cost of an item was 1.99 so no wonder people take the piss some times if some shops are willing to do that

In New Zealand they do that in a lot of places.