In for a penny, in for a pound........
Discussion
My local petrol station has recently had a full refit, and I have noticed that whilst everything is all shiny and new, its impossible to get the fuel price on the new pumps to land on an exact amount of £xx.00.
In other words if I try to put £20.00 in the car I end up on £20.01 and for £30.00 I end up on £30.01 and so on. I am led to believe that some fuel stations do this in the hope you will round up to the next pound and therefore put more fuel in. (Urban myth?) So much so that I decided to fill the car today and when I tried to stop at £50, got £50.01, same again at £60 - got £60.01 and so on.
Ive been there about a dozen times now and never yet got it to stop on a round number. So are we being ripped off or I am I just usless at putting fuel in?
In other words if I try to put £20.00 in the car I end up on £20.01 and for £30.00 I end up on £30.01 and so on. I am led to believe that some fuel stations do this in the hope you will round up to the next pound and therefore put more fuel in. (Urban myth?) So much so that I decided to fill the car today and when I tried to stop at £50, got £50.01, same again at £60 - got £60.01 and so on.
Ive been there about a dozen times now and never yet got it to stop on a round number. So are we being ripped off or I am I just usless at putting fuel in?
I worked in a full service petrol station while I was at college and I'm a professional at pumping gas so this *really* irritates me!
It does seem to be a recent (ie last few mths) thing. I stopped one the other day at a round £ amount and it moved to .01p as I put the nozzle back. It's a scam.
It does seem to be a recent (ie last few mths) thing. I stopped one the other day at a round £ amount and it moved to .01p as I put the nozzle back. It's a scam.
Edited by Deva Link on Monday 28th November 23:54
I just fill it up until it stops and then pull the nozzle out a bit and stick a bit more in until I don't dare to go any further. I once tried making it round up to the nearest tenner and because I was watching the digital read out instead of the nozzle I got a wet foot when I pulled it out too far! I never tried that t
tish trick again 
tish trick again stabbed rat said:
I just fill it up until it stops and then pull the nozzle out a bit and stick a bit more in until I don't dare to go any further. I once tried making it round up to the nearest tenner and because I was watching the digital read out instead of the nozzle I got a wet foot when I pulled it out too far! I never tried that ttish trick again
I brim it until it clicks once, then twice, then on the third click I call it a day.tish trick again Usually works until you have a dodgy old Peugeot which would prefer to piss a gallon of that all over the forecourt...
twazzock said:
I brim it until it clicks once, then twice, then on the third click I call it a day.
Me too. Unless I'm out/away from home/where I know and REALLY need petrol, and the closest station I find is 'expensive'. Then I just put a few quid in, or whatever it takes to get where I want to go.Must admit I've noticed this in the last year or so too. I could always stop it dead on but now it's a real gamble. Sometimes I get it spot on and then other it just skips straight to another penny.
I now fill the ashtray with penny's because I no longer trust myself when filling up.
Say what you want that it's BS and just my imagination but something is definitely going on.
I now fill the ashtray with penny's because I no longer trust myself when filling up.
Say what you want that it's BS and just my imagination but something is definitely going on.
twazzock said:
stabbed rat said:
I just fill it up until it stops and then pull the nozzle out a bit and stick a bit more in until I don't dare to go any further. I once tried making it round up to the nearest tenner and because I was watching the digital read out instead of the nozzle I got a wet foot when I pulled it out too far! I never tried that ttish trick again
I brim it until it clicks once, then twice, then on the third click I call it a day.tish trick again Usually works until you have a dodgy old Peugeot which would prefer to piss a gallon of that all over the forecourt...
Having already had it piss over my foot I think I need your user name
Ive noticed since petrol went past about the 1.25 mark that forecourt pumps seem to work oddly. It used to go up in units of 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and it was easy to land where you want. However now it goes 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Which means if you land on 97 you're ok. Land on 98 and you have to chance it because then it'll click to 99 and you know the next flicker will make it go to 01 but you do it anyway.
Is petrol now so expensive it cannot be measured in sterling?
Is petrol now so expensive it cannot be measured in sterling?
martin84 said:
Ive noticed since petrol went past about the 1.25 mark that forecourt pumps seem to work oddly. It used to go up in units of 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 and it was easy to land where you want. However now it goes 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Which means if you land on 97 you're ok. Land on 98 and you have to chance it because then it'll click to 99 and you know the next flicker will make it go to 01 but you do it anyway.
Is petrol now so expensive it cannot be measured in sterling?
Is petrol now so expensive it cannot be measured in sterling?
You really do pay a lot of attention at the pumps! I usually spend my time looking to see if any decent women are in the petrol station or working out who I need to be quicker than to make sure I don't have to queue whilst trying to pay for the fuel.stabbed rat said:
twazzock said:
stabbed rat said:
I just fill it up until it stops and then pull the nozzle out a bit and stick a bit more in until I don't dare to go any further. I once tried making it round up to the nearest tenner and because I was watching the digital read out instead of the nozzle I got a wet foot when I pulled it out too far! I never tried that ttish trick again
I brim it until it clicks once, then twice, then on the third click I call it a day.tish trick again Usually works until you have a dodgy old Peugeot which would prefer to piss a gallon of that all over the forecourt...
Having already had it piss over my foot I think I need your user name
martin84 is right though. If petrol was roughly £1/l then it'd be easy to line up £20.00 worth, but when it's racing along at £1.3/L it gets a bit harder.
Let's see. Pump speed is the same, say a a litre a minute to make the maths easy. At 50p a litre, the pump would click round at 50p a minute. At £1 a litre it goes round twice as fast, so it's harder to get it right.
There's another issue too. Both gauges only go to two decimal places, and as we move further from £1 a litre towards £1.50 a litre the amount of rounding increases.
Each .01 of a litre is worth £.013 at the minute, so every .04 of a litre is worth £.052, meaning every 4th increment of the litre gauge causes two increments of the £ gauge.
There's another issue too. Both gauges only go to two decimal places, and as we move further from £1 a litre towards £1.50 a litre the amount of rounding increases.
Each .01 of a litre is worth £.013 at the minute, so every .04 of a litre is worth £.052, meaning every 4th increment of the litre gauge causes two increments of the £ gauge.
twazzock said:
martin84 is right though. If petrol was roughly £1/l then it'd be easy to line up £20.00 worth, but when it's racing along at £1.3/L it gets a bit harder.
I think its the fact the first number after the decimal point is an odd number. It may even be easier at 1.29stabbed rat said:
You really do pay a lot of attention at the pumps! I usually spend my time looking to see if any decent women are in the petrol station or working out who I need to be quicker than to make sure I don't have to queue whilst trying to pay for the fuel.
Every little helps...twazzock said:
martin84 is right though. If petrol was roughly £1/l then it'd be easy to line up £20.00 worth, but when it's racing along at £1.3/L it gets a bit harder.
Piece of piss at £1:L, but at £1.30:L the clock is moving 30% quicker so it requires far more precision (possibly more than the pump/nozzle/human is capable of)
Yes, I've ballsed up the quoting. Sorry.
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