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Why haven’t all gas stations stopped allowing people to get gas before they pay?

Started by thspfc, September 28, 2021, 10:47:38 PM

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Scott5114

Quote from: hbelkins on September 29, 2021, 05:05:33 PM
Prepay was a very new concept around here in the early 80s. I wasn't a fan, because I liked to fill up my vehicle and never knew how much it was going to cost. If you give them too much, you have to go back in and get your change. If you don't give them enough, the pump shuts off and you don't get a full tank.

An acceptable compromise should be letting them hold your driver's license while you pump.

But then you still have to go into the store and wait in line twice, which is most people's real objection to prepaying.

Our local 7-Eleven franchise used to let you sign up for a magnetic card that would let you turn on the pump before paying. Of course, it was linked to your personal information, so if you ended up not paying after you turned on the pump with the card, the identity of the culprit would be obvious. The franchisee ended up getting bought out by corporate 7-Eleven a few years ago, and I don't think they offer those cards anymore.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef


TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: jakeroot on September 29, 2021, 12:18:42 PM
You've already indicated that paying at the pump remains an option, as opposed to a requirement, so why would a driver who's not interested in buying snacks/drinks not simply pay the regular way and drive off once filled up?

A lot of people do pay at the pump and head on their way. I paid after pumping inside generally because it meant a zero chance of getting snagged by a card skimmer.

Inefficient? Sure. But it was how I grew up and I was never forced to do it any other way unless I was travelling.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

jakeroot

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on September 29, 2021, 11:11:14 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on September 29, 2021, 12:18:42 PM
You've already indicated that paying at the pump remains an option, as opposed to a requirement, so why would a driver who's not interested in buying snacks/drinks not simply pay the regular way and drive off once filled up?

A lot of people do pay at the pump and head on their way. I paid after pumping inside generally because it meant a zero chance of getting snagged by a card skimmer.

Inefficient? Sure. But it was how I grew up and I was never forced to do it any other way unless I was traveling.

Hmm. I always thought card skimming issues were substantially more prevalent inside of stores than at the pumps themselves. Ask the attendant for some smokes or whatever, and pop the cover on the machine while they're turned.

Then again, card skimming hasn't been a big concern of mine. I've been using tap to pay for years now, and lately at the pump too (Costco primarily, but other places too).

hbelkins

Quote from: Scott5114 on September 29, 2021, 10:58:11 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on September 29, 2021, 05:05:33 PM
Prepay was a very new concept around here in the early 80s. I wasn't a fan, because I liked to fill up my vehicle and never knew how much it was going to cost. If you give them too much, you have to go back in and get your change. If you don't give them enough, the pump shuts off and you don't get a full tank.

An acceptable compromise should be letting them hold your driver's license while you pump.

But then you still have to go into the store and wait in line twice, which is most people's real objection to prepaying.

Our local 7-Eleven franchise used to let you sign up for a magnetic card that would let you turn on the pump before paying. Of course, it was linked to your personal information, so if you ended up not paying after you turned on the pump with the card, the identity of the culprit would be obvious. The franchisee ended up getting bought out by corporate 7-Eleven a few years ago, and I don't think they offer those cards anymore.

Agreed on the "going in twice" thing.

I guess I need to check what prompts I get the next time I'm at a Kroger, Speedway or Sheetz, which are places where I have loyalty cards. I always use the card to get my discount, but I guess I need to test if the pump has stickers "prepay before pumping" but gives the option of pumping anyway after the loyalty card is read and the system figures out who I am.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

tman

I started driving in 2015 (grew up in rural southern Minnesota) and the stations in our town all allow it still, except Casey's which recently implemented a corporate policy wherein all pumps at all locations are prepay/pay at pump only (even in tiny, tiny towns), which strikes me as semi-strange considering their rural/hometown focus.

Paying after pumping feels very "small town" to me, but it is quite common all over Minnesota, to my experience, even larger cities/suburbs. It's more common in Minnesota/Wisconsin than in Iowa/Nebraska, in my experience. I don't often pay cash for gas, but in the event that I do I like not having to collect change (since I don't like not filling the tank completely); it's also nice if I want to grab something from the c-store, which, in Kwik Trip's example, is really a grocery store that happens to sell fuel, so many people buy their cheap staples like bread/milk/butter/bananas. It's not a deal-breaker to have to pay first/pay at the pump, but it is nice to have as an option, IMHO, and I use it frequently when it's available.

snowc


JayhawkCO

Paid once after pumping in New Brunswick.  Prior to that it had been probably ten years or so at some random super rural station.

Chris

GaryV


JayhawkCO


snowc


renegade

Quote from: snowc on November 10, 2021, 12:22:11 PM
Quote from: GaryV on November 10, 2021, 10:17:14 AM
Quote from: snowc on November 10, 2021, 09:58:37 AM
Read this article, to see why we don't allow pumping, before paying!
A 13 year old story?
Its an article that I stumbled upon
You didn't stumble upon it, you fell into a time warp and landed on it.

The Murphy in my area (~50 miles away) requires motorists to pre-pay.
Don’t ask me how I know.  Just understand that I do.

formulanone


NJRoadfan

If you pay cash in full serve NJ, you technically don't prepay for fuel. Drive-offs aren't all that common.

XamotCGC

Roads clinched.
State Routes: Kentucky:  KY 208 KY 289 KY 555 KY 2154 KY 245 KY 1195

1995hoo

Quote from: XamotCGC on November 11, 2021, 05:57:11 PM
When did paying at the pump with a card become a common concept?

Sometime during the mid- to late-1990s, as far as I can recall, though many more rural locations were slower to adopt it. In the early 1990s, most gas stations I patronized didn't have it. If they had "pay first," you had to give them a $20 and then go settle up after, or else you had to give them a credit card to hold. I refused to do the latter for the rather obvious reason of it allowing credit card fraud too easily, although as a practical matter it was irrelevant because most stations still charged extra for credit back then, so I didn't pay credit.

I remember one station in Fairfax, Virginia, that had cash acceptors at the pumps for a while (Main Street Shell just west of Woodson HS). They didn't last long because you couldn't get change at the pump–if you put in, say, a $20 and then bought $16 of gas, the pump would print a receipt and you'd have to go over to the window to get your change, which essentially defeated the purpose of paying cash at the pump. It would have worked better with the style of pump Exxon used to have where you could set it to put in a specific dollar amount (ending in "5"), so if you wanted $15 worth you'd hit the "$15" button and it would shut off at that amount. Those didn't last all that long either–I assume most people just filled it up every time.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

tman

Quote from: 1995hoo on November 12, 2021, 08:21:05 AM
Quote from: XamotCGC on November 11, 2021, 05:57:11 PM
When did paying at the pump with a card become a common concept?

Sometime during the mid- to late-1990s, as far as I can recall, though many more rural locations were slower to adopt it. In the early 1990s, most gas stations I patronized didn't have it. If they had "pay first," you had to give them a $20 and then go settle up after, or else you had to give them a credit card to hold. I refused to do the latter for the rather obvious reason of it allowing credit card fraud too easily, although as a practical matter it was irrelevant because most stations still charged extra for credit back then, so I didn't pay credit.

I remember one station in Fairfax, Virginia, that had cash acceptors at the pumps for a while (Main Street Shell just west of Woodson HS). They didn't last long because you couldn't get change at the pump–if you put in, say, a $20 and then bought $16 of gas, the pump would print a receipt and you'd have to go over to the window to get your change, which essentially defeated the purpose of paying cash at the pump. It would have worked better with the style of pump Exxon used to have where you could set it to put in a specific dollar amount (ending in "5"), so if you wanted $15 worth you'd hit the "$15" button and it would shut off at that amount. Those didn't last all that long either–I assume most people just filled it up every time.

The BP at 30th and Ames in Omaha (which is in the process of being rebranded as a Casey's) has cash accepting capability at the pump. I've never tried to use that feature, but might have to give it a try. I assume that people typically don't put more cash in than they think their car will take (probably mostly $10 and $20 rather than full fills) so that they don't have to go inside for change.

Big John

Kwik Trip is going to institute that policy as the number of drive offs have increased.

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: Big John on November 23, 2021, 05:29:30 PM
Kwik Trip is going to institute that policy as the number of drive offs have increased.

Where did you hear this? Gross. :(
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

Big John


XamotCGC

I don't even prepay inside anymore.  Paying at the pump with a card is so much easier and less stressful.   

How common are full service stations on road trips (not counting the states that requires it like Jersey)?

Roads clinched.
State Routes: Kentucky:  KY 208 KY 289 KY 555 KY 2154 KY 245 KY 1195

TheHighwayMan3561

Quote from: Big John on November 23, 2021, 05:47:18 PM
^^ inside info (I work there.)

Yeah, I just saw on FB today too January 3rd is the supposed planned date. Guess it's back to Holiday if I can help it for now, unless/until more of those switch over too.
self-certified as the dumbest person on this board for 5 years running

mgk920

Most of the stations that I frequent here in northeastern Wisconsin are still pump then pay.  A lot of people around here are still 'handshake deal' honest and upstanding.

Mike

triplemultiplex

Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 23, 2021, 05:39:15 PM
Quote from: Big John on November 23, 2021, 05:29:30 PM
Kwik Trip is going to institute that policy as the number of drive offs have increased.

Where did you hear this? Gross. :(

I saw it in a little sign taped to the pump over the Thanksgiving week.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

mgk920

Quote from: triplemultiplex on November 29, 2021, 06:17:17 PM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 23, 2021, 05:39:15 PM
Quote from: Big John on November 23, 2021, 05:29:30 PM
Kwik Trip is going to institute that policy as the number of drive offs have increased.

Where did you hear this? Gross. :(

I saw it in a little sign taped to the pump over the Thanksgiving week.

A radio station in Green Bay, WI (WTAQ) had something on that within the past couple of days, too.

:ded:

Mike

DenverBrian

I've experienced it twice in the last 15 years. In 2008, north of Atlanta at a small station off I-85 - very surprised but it was quite fun.

Then, last year in Junction City, KS, in the city proper. Less surprising there, because there are small town gas stations all over the Great Plains that still allow pay after pumping.

Lots of factors involved: The cost of adding CC readers (possibly involving complete changeout of the pump bodies/innards); the idea that in small town America, 99% of the cars coming in are known to the attendant inside, so if a drive-off does occur, your parents are likely to get a call before the police; and the aforementioned idea that if you can encourage people to come inside the store to pay, they'll also pick up a candy bar or cigs or something.



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