Pre-Pay Pumps

[Lordbenny]

Fed up hearing from garage forecourt bosses about huge losses due to 'bilking'(Filling up and driving off without paying).

All they need to do is install pre-pay pumps as they have had all over Europe for the past 15 years!

This would also stop having to queue while people do their weekly fucking shopping!

[Ed.]

Lordbenny said:

Fed up hearing from garage forecourt bosses about huge losses due to 'bilking'(Filling up and driving off without paying).

All they need to do is install pre-pay pumps as they have had all over Europe for the past 15 years!

This would also stop having to queue while people do their weekly fucking shopping!

Not sure how people would take to compulsory pre pay but having it as an option like they do in some shell and supermarket stations is useful. As to stopping people doing their shopping there its not going to happen there's more profit in food/drink than fuel, the old style small shop stations are the ones being closed for flats.

[falkster]

Lordbenny said:

Fed up hearing from garage forecourt bosses about huge losses due to 'bilking'(Filling up and driving off without paying).

All they need to do is install pre-pay pumps as they have had all over Europe for the past 15 years!

This would also stop having to queue while people do their weekly fucking shopping!

How much would it cost to install pre-pay pumps? If each petrol station loses £250 worth of fuel a week, they are losing the amount of fuel at cost.
The ROI isn't going to be worth it as they'll always have business plan for the potential loss.

[FloppyRaccoon]

I have some American friends who thought it was madness we pay after we fill up.

"But that means people can just drive off without paying doesn't it?"

I'd rather we paid before, but how do you know how much you'll have to pay to fill up your tank? Am I missing something there?

[margerison]

FloppyRaccoon said:

I'd rather we paid before, but how do you know how much you'll have to pay to fill up your tank? Am I missing something there?

Yes, you put your card in, type your pin, fill up (or put as much as you want in) and that amount is then taken from your card.

[TimJMS]

Local Waitrose has pre pay pumps. £75 max though. Great if you need half a tank.

Sort it out, Waitrose

[m3jappa]

I initially thought WTF when i first tried to get some gas in the states. Took me a while realise what was going on

Now i have used it though and see whats actually going on it does make sense and i'm surprised we don't have it here. Surely it wouldn't cost anything to start doing it as all the do is authorise the pump for you.

[andye30m3]

I thought the reason they didn't install them was that they wanted you stood in a cue next to tempting chocolate and sweets that create a good profit for them

[Pet Troll]

The new asda in cheltenham has this, I believe all new asda's are now doing this. All the pumps are prepay, there is no kiosk, if you want food/nibbles then you have to park up and go into the main shop.

Excellent idea Also they have the cheapest fuel in the area

[m3jappa]

andye30m3 said:

I thought the reason they didn't install them was that they wanted you stood in a cue next to tempting chocolate and sweets that create a good profit for them

You do that in the states too, infact you are likely to have to go in twice, once to pay and once to get any change.

[falkster]

m3jappa said:

Surely it wouldn't cost anything to start doing it as all the do is authorise the pump for you.

Totally different pumps, the entire transaction is completed at the pump. I'm not sure the sort of pumps you're talking about, the normal pumps are authorised by the person in the kiosk prior to filling so this doesn't stop a drive off especially in a filling station that has up to 40 pumps.

[sticks090460]

Local Tesco has one lane of pay-at-pump only. Can always drive straight up to those, but you have the option of using the others if you want choccy, copy of Razzle, etc. Max £99 though. Works well.

[FloppyRaccoon]

margerison said:

Yes, you put your card in, type your pin, fill up (or put as much as you want in) and that amount is then taken from your card.

Yeah sorry I should have been clearer. I know that way, I use that method myself.

In the US, you go into the shop, pay, then fill up (possibly not everywhere). So say you were paying cash, and paid £60, but when you fill up your car only held £50 worth of fuel, what do you do? Just lose that £10?

[ShampooEfficient]

Only problem is if you do what I do - fill it til it's full, run til empty, lather, rinse repeat... I don't know exactly how many quids it's going to take...

[falkster]

andye30m3 said:

I thought the reason they didn't install them was that they wanted you stood in a cue next to tempting chocolate and sweets that create a good profit for them

It's a total pain in the arse having a kiosk. Extra sales from fags and sweets but having to pay atleast 2 people and upto 4 people for the full 96 hours costs a lot more than the profit you make on the sweets/fags and, unless you turn over a lot of fuel, the fuel.

[Dave Hedgehog]

i hate prepay pumps

whats the hardship at paying inside

[Superhoop]

With the rising cost of fuel, and with bilking being on the increase, I'd guess we're likely to see more and more pre-pay pumps.

There's actually a slot on Inside Out about bilking as we speak (BBC1)

[jas xjr]

falkster said:

It's a total pain in the arse having a kiosk. Extra sales from fags and sweets but having to pay atleast 2 people and upto 4 people for the full 96 hours costs a lot more than the profit you make on the sweets/fags and, unless you turn over a lot of fuel, the fuel.

You are not serious . Unless you only go to petrol stations used by two people. The over priced shops , earn far more than they pay in wages.

[Lordbenny]

Dave Hedgehog said:

i hate prepay pumps

whats the hardship at paying inside

You hate pre-pay pumps WHY???? Please give me one reason why its a bad idea?

The hardship is having to queue up behind people doing the weekly shopping!

[Saddlebag]

I like idea of pre pay and would use it, but not one pre pay pump I have come across accepts my fuel card (AllStar).