Total moron at the petrol station (long)

[Barefootgirl]

Unfortunately, that moron was me. I don't think I was sucky to the employees, although I was mentally EXTREMELY sucky to the person who designed the petrol station...

I went to the supermarket to get petrol (gas) last night. I often go to a Tesco petrol station, and they are all virtually identical, but i've not been to this particular one. The petrol cap on my car is on the right-hand side. This is important (you can see what's coming, can't you?).

When I drove in, all the "right hand" pumps were occupied. No problem, I'll just drive to the other side, and lift the pump over the car. I do this all the time, I'm quite comfortable with it.

I lift up the nozzle, select "pay at kiosk", and try to put the nozzle in the hole...it doesn't reach. I try turning it upside down to see if it will go in that way. It won't. What it DOES do is squirt £0.17 worth of petrol over the side of the car and all over my feet. Bum.

I set the nozzle down on the side of the pump, get back in the car and try and manoeuvre it a bit closer to the pump. Grab the nozzle again and try to fit it in the hole. Nothing doing. Get very fed up and kick the pump. This does nothing except make my foot hurt, and make a fat woman filling her car up laugh at me (but in a sympathetic way, not a nasty way. perhaps she has done this before herself).

Eventually, I have to face the fact that I am going to have to go inside and pay for my 17p of petrol, and then pull out of the station and round again to get to a pump on the correct side of the car

So, i go inside, tell the assistant Pump 3...and at the look she gives, me, i blather off a rambly story about not being able top get the nozzle in the hole and I tried lots of times and obviously didn't want to jsut drive to another pump without saying anything...blah, blah, blah. To her credit she was very nice, and put the 17p on hold, so I could drive round again, fill up, and then come back and pay for the whole lot. I still felt like a thief, driving away without paying for that 17p !

Anyway, I wasn't sucky to the people in the kiosk, but you can bet that if the man who decided to make the pump hoses so $%&ing short had been there at that moment, he'd have got a Vinegar Mum-style earbashing !

[Canarr]

Okay... not really getting this. I mean, couldn't you just have turned your car around and backed up to the pump, so you'd get the nozzle on the correct side of your car?

[South Texan]

No, you were not an SC. You seem to have been nice about your error rather than copping an attitude or getting mad and raising a fuss in an attempt to blame the store.

People can forgive errors if the person who made the error is honest and pleasant about it.

[bakircioglu]

You can't turn around in Tesco Petrol Stations. They are designed to be one way and are way too narror to turn around. Plus, they are normally incredibly busy too!

You weren't an SC though, as already said because you were polite!


But might I ask, what car do you drive as many times, i've forgotten what side my fuel cap is on since I changed my car. And i've had no problems getting the hose to the other side

[Phone Jockey]

Wouldn't pulling the nozzle OVER the car have potentially damaged the paint job on the car? That's what would worry me. Nevermind that I fingerprinted my WHITE car & still have fingerprint dust on it...smart, huh?

[chantal]

Paint damage

Wouldn't pulling the nozzle OVER the car have potentially damaged the paint job on the car?

Well I've never seen that happen, and I work at a gas bar. Most of the time the hoses are long enough to reach around if the person forgets which side the gas is on. Or in the 80's style cars when the gas tank is reached through the rear license plate. Occasionally I've seen people snap off their antennas from pulling the nozzle over to the other side, but only because they forgot to clear it. It's always incredibly amusing when that happens. For me anyways.