Uh...ok?

[TexasT]

B/G: I had just returned from a trip. Two things important to note about that: (1) Before said trip, I called my credit card company informing them of said trip. (2) I need a recovery day and would like to rent a movie to aid that and, back at Christmas, bought a GroupOn to rent 10 movies from Blockbuster Express (Blockbuster's version of RedBox) for $5. There was one at the gas station this story takes place at.

Scene: Gas Station

Part 1/Pump 2: I pulled up to the pump. I swiped my credit card, but before I could even put in my zip code, it cancelled my transaction. After that, I tried again (thinking I had pressed the cancelled button on accident), but after I pressed what type of gas I wanted, while I waited for it to be all zeros, the screen pops up with the ending message, "Thanks for shopping with Such-and-Such today." Then all the zeros popped up, and I tried to pump, but it wouldn't let me (I got .07 gallons).

My thoughts? "Oh, the reader is broken, I'll try another pump."

Part 2/Pump 3: I go through the whole pay at the pump thing only this time it popped up with "See cashier." This is also when I noticed the Blockbuster Express is gone. So I decide to go inside and talk to the cashier and ask about the Blockbuster Express.

Part 3/Inside: This is when the following conversation took place (as well as I can remember). My thoughts are in parenthesis. Read everything with a "I don't want to be here, so you're annoying me," voice on her end.

Me: Hey, I was wondering if you had any error messages come through on your end about pumps 2 or 3. I tried to use both, but they wouldn't work for me. (Maybe the credit card company still thinks I should be on my trip and is declining a potentially stolen card).
Her: No. It just says, "See attendant." (That is an error message. You just said no.)
Me: Oh, ok. Well, y'all used to have a Blockbuster Express right there, but it's not there anymore. Do you know where the nearest one is?
Her: There are no more Blockbuster's anymore. *rolls eyes*
Me: I know the actual buildings aren't around, but last week you had a machine here called Blockbuster Express.
Her: There are RedBoxes. Blockbuster's don't exist. I don't know why.
Me: Do you remember the machine out front here that isn't here anymore?
Her: *nods slightly*
Me: That was a Blockbuster Express. It's not there anymore.
Her: Blockbusters aren't around. Redboxes are though.
Me: So the machine wasn't a Blockbuster Express?
Her: *shrugs*
Me: (Ok, she's not getting it). Well, thank you. *start to walk away*
Her: Do you want to pay for gas inside?
Me: Well, I thought I'd call my credit card company and see what the problem is.
Her: The problem isn't with your card, it's with our readers. (Well, why didn't you say that before, when I first came in here and asked about it not working? Would a, "Well, the error message won't help, but you can pay inside since it's the reader not working," be so hard?)
Me: Then yes, I will pay inside.

And I did. Then I went next door to rent from RedBox. Then I went home to e-mail Blockbuster Express because their website's map is completely inaccurate, making up names of streets and placing cities in the middle of other cities, so I still don't know if I can use my GroupOn.

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone with this whole conversation.

[Raveni]

Suspicions are well formed. Take it from a former insider: nothing was wrong with the pumps, the clerk was just hitting "cancel" from the inside.

[Pixilated]

Jeez. I'd have said, "Yes, I'll pay for gas inside ... some other station. Thanks for your complete lack of help" and taken my business elsewhere. And contacted the manager.

[PepperElf]

I don't know about BB express. I do know that Blockbuster as a company is still around though. ... and google tells me the kiosks are still around too.

but as you said the maps were inaccurate. i do hope you can find one though cos it would suck if you paid group on for something you can't actually use.

Suspicions are well formed. Take it from a former insider: nothing was wrong with the pumps, the clerk was just hitting "cancel" from the inside.

why would they do that? i mean ... are they trying to lose sales?

[Scorpodael]

why would they do that? i mean ... are they trying to lose sales?

On the contrary- If people don't go inside the store, they don't make impulse buys of junk and soda, after all.

[Javarod]

I may be able to answer about the kiosks, and a little more. First, the kiosks are owned by NCR, they just license the name, in fact as i understand it, they were DVD Play or something to that effect before, but not successful until they leased the name.

Now as to the kiosks, i know of a QT in Tempe, AZ that doesn't have one. Why? They use a cellular modem to connect to the network, and on that corner, cell phones don't work. I would guess that likely a similar problem led them to giving up on the location.

[Raveni]

On the contrary- If people don't go inside the store, they don't make impulse buys of junk and soda, after all.

Usually it is nothing that sinister by the owner. It is more likely just a clerk being a jerk.

I've been called more than once to check out why "I kept trying pump #13 over and over and ended up having to come inside in the rain", only to find the clerk's finger hovering over the "cancel" button and a transparent white shirt on the female customer when I reviewed the video.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Usually it is nothing that sinister by the owner. It is more likely just a clerk being a jerk.

I've been called more than once to check out why "I kept trying pump #13 over and over and ended up having to come inside in the rain", only to find the clerk's finger hovering over the "cancel" button and a transparent white shirt on the female customer when I reviewed the video.

Hopefully that clerk was quickly fired.

[Raveni]

Hopefully that clerk was quickly fired.

Oh yes. Honestly, there was very little that could get you fired without lots of prior warnings, but you don't ever dare mess with the gas pumps.

...

...

Oh, and sexual harrassment of customers is bad too...

[Kogarashi]

Glad to hear that jerk cashier was fired.

I had an odd experience with the pumps recently. Went to a station we usually go to to fill up the tank. I pulled up to one pump, did the card swipe thing, put the nozzle in, and started fueling. And the pump immediately stopped. On a near-empty tank. I tried again, about four times, each time the pump stopping within seconds of starting. I adjusted the nozzle too, since there's a station near my old hometown that has slightly longer than usual nozzles (probably because it's a truck stop?) that can't be put all the way in our tank because then the pump-stop-thing trips every time. But that didn't help.

I ended up finishing up with that 1 gallon in the tank and drove around the island to one of the pumps on the other side and managed to fill the tank there. But what the heck? I still have no clue what happened.

[Argus]

And the pump immediately stopped. On a near-empty tank. I tried again, about four times, each time the pump stopping within seconds of starting.

I had something like that happen once. The clerk said that the underground tank had just been refilled, and the pumps weren't back at full pressure yet.

[Kogarashi]

I had something like that happen once. The clerk said that the underground tank had just been refilled, and the pumps weren't back at full pressure yet.

Weird. No one else at the station at the time seemed to be having issues.

At least it wasn't a creepy cashier canceling the transaction on me.

[Raveni]

Could have easily been a faulty shutoff sensor in the nozzle as well. It's a bit annoying when it shuts you off early. It's a bit worse when it doesn't shut off and someone pumps $75 in gas onto the ground.

[PepperElf]

but that's still their own fault for not paying attention to their cars.

many places started disabling the locks so you can't do hands-free pumping anymore

[Raveni]

I hate it when they disable the locks. If the dummies can't watch their car, they can pay for their spillage, but don't make everyone else get cramps in their hands from having to squeeze $80 into their tanks.