QotD: Gas Station
Posted May 26th, 2005 @ 11:28am by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: At the gas station, do you pay inside or outside? Cash or credit?
My Answer: Outside and with a credit card. I really, really dislike gas stations with broken handles. I like to squeeze the pump handle, lock it in place, and clean my windshields. Pumps with broken handle locks suck. Regardless, pay at the pump with credit.
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Posted 30 May 2005 at 2:11am #
I don't think they are broken but intentionally disabled.
I find it really surprising when I find one that is still in place.
Apparently they are illegal for use in NY state because possibility of it causing spillage.
Posted 31 May 2005 at 12:39am #
Pay outside and ya, "broken" handles annoy me too.
Posted 31 May 2005 at 8:30am #
Pay outside. Except when I have a coupon -- Meijer (a grocery chain) gives you a coupon for a certain amount off at their gas station with every purchase, but you have to pay inside the gas station to use it.
Posted 31 May 2005 at 1:37pm #
outside, credit card.
Broken handle locks are pretty rare in southern CA, so that's not a big concern for me. (But damned annoying when I do run across one, of course!)
Posted 07 Jun 2005 at 7:25am #
ISTR that it may be illegal (here in MA), but when you encounter one with a broken handle, you can wedge your wallet in there to keep it "engaged" while you go around the car and clean the windows. Much like when you're simply holding the handle the whole time, it will still shut off automatically. The reason this is frowned upon is only because if the person is not standing next to the nozzle (presumably holding it), and for some reason the nozzle should fall out of the filler, it wouldn't necessarily shut off automatically, and gas could go everywhere. That would be an extremely expensive problem for the gas station (in terms of having to shut down the area for cleaning, and then the cleaning itself, and then the fine for polluting the area).