To move or not to move at pump?
If you’ve just filled up and there’s a line of traffic, is it OK to move your car before you pay, asks David Linklater.
If there’s one place where society truly meets on equal terms, it’s the petrol station. Everybody has to go there. Everybody has to do pretty much the same thing there.
If there’s one place where motoring etiquette is crucial, it’s the petrol station. Especially in the weekends when queues can be long and tempers can be short.
So here’s the big question: if you’ve just filled up at the pump and there’s a line of traffic behind you, is it OK to move your car off the forecourt before you go inside to pay?
More to the point, is it the considerate thing to do?
The answer to that second thing is yes. Of course. Especially when you consider that modern fuel stations don’t just sell fuel and in weekends or holidays you’re far more likely to go inside and stock up on road-trip essentials (or be waiting for a coffee) before you make it back to your vehicle.
So it’s polite to move your car before you’ve paid. But will it look like you’re doing a runner?
We mystery-shopped three city service stations and the staff all said the same thing: yes, please move your car before you pay if it’s really busy.
It keeps the fuel flowing, it keeps people happy and it allows consumers more relaxed time to buy other stuff. This sounds obvious, but it really helps if you take note of the pump number and amount before you move your vehicle. It’s surprising how easy it is to forget when you’re rushing.
Large service stations have people watching the pumps and they generally won’t authorise a transaction until they have a good idea where the previous customer has gone. And there are cameras of course. Many cameras.
The situation might be different in rural areas where it’s unusually busy and there isn’t the same level of staffing and/or technology. Then you might be caught in the crossfire between frustrated customers and stressed staff trying their best to prevent driveaways.
As it happens, a friend of Stuff Motoring was indeed a servicestation attendant in a rural area in a previous life: ‘‘We were generally small enough that we knew most customers. If we didn’t and somebody moved their car before paying, we would get a bit worried.
‘‘But when it got really busy it was still preferable for people to do that.’’
So it’s polite to move your car before you’ve paid. But will it look like you’re doing a runner?