Prepaying will kill me, but hold this $50 while I pump my gas.

[CarcinogenCrunchies]

A customer came in and ordered me to turn on one of our prepay pumps so he could fill up his tank. I explained that I couldn't do that, but if he wanted to guess high on how much it would take, he could always come in and get change for the amount not pumped.
SC: I don't want to do that. I want to fill up my tank. You need to turn on the pump.
ME: I'm sorry sir, that is a prepay only pump. I can't activate it without a payment.
SC: I can't believe this! You guys are killing me!
ME: You can move to a closer pump if you'd like, or pay outside with a card.
SC: I'm not moving anywhere! Here, I can give you fifty bucks to hold if you turn on the pump.
ME: All right, I'll put $50 on that pump for you.
SC: NO!! I don't want to prepay! Goddammit, you are KILLING ME here! (storms out of the store)
ME: Thank you. Have a great day!
SC: YEAH RIGHT! (goes outside and starts to pump. A minute later he's back.)
SC: I'll just take my money and be on my way.
ME: (pulls up transaction) Okay, that's... (WTF?) 49 dollars back for you today. Thanks, and you have a fantastic weekend!

He didn't say anything, just snatched the money out of my hand and stormed out again. Lovely fellow, he was. Whoops, I misspelled loony.

[Sapphire Silk]

He pumped $1 of gas??

[BrenDAnn]

Dafuq? Did he think you were going to steal his money or something? I don't understand, and that's saying a lot since I've worked at a damn gas station for twelve years now. I just... why was prepay so bad? WHY? Some people just shouldn't be allowed out in public, I swear.

[mathnerd]

One of my cards won't work at pay at the pumps. It's annoying, but whatever. I go pay what I think the car will take and get a refund for the rest. This is not rocket science.

And a whole dollar??? WTF?

[Gilhelmi]

How many years has it been since I saw a non-pre-paid gas station? Let me think... ... ... ... ... ...

Last I recall it was 2007, when the last of my home town gas stations went to that pre-paid policy. Honestly, I never understood the big deal. I mean, I can think of no other Product where the company lets you put it into a vessel, that can not be opened except to put stuff in, and that EVEN IF YOU somehow magically could pull it out, they would never be allowed to sell it. All before paying. Except for restaurants, and even then, the customer has to come inside, sit down, and eat first. So plenty of video and eyewitnesses to the thrift. (unlike gas stations where there is almost no eye witnesses by the pumps, and it is easy to conceal your license plate temporarily.)

Only $1 of gas? methinks he was trying to scam, prank, or just be an a**h***.

[CarcinogenCrunchies]

He was an older guy, so I'm guessing he was just trying to rebel against those newfangled prepay rules. As for pumping a dollar in gas and getting the rest back, I can think of several reasons. None of them make a lick of sense (and some of them involve spider monkeys, cotton candy and Mexican drug cartels), but neither did this customer.

[Sleepwalker]

So plenty of video and eyewitnesses to the thrift.

Excellent typo.

[Sapphire Silk]

He was an older guy, so I'm guessing he was just trying to rebel against those newfangled prepay rules.

We had a lot of trouble with drive offs in my area until the gas stations finally wised up and required a card or pre pay before pumping.

One thing I used to be able to do and haven't been able to for a loooong time was hand a bill to a clerk and say "Put X dollars on pump 1." There was a time when I usually paid cash for fills, and I filled based on how much cash I had on hand. Convenient, actually, especially when gas was still $1.16/gal. I could usually fill up on a twenty.

[earl colby pottinger]

I am confused

He does not want prepay.

He does prepay you $50.

He pumps $1 of gas.

Then he comes back in for his change.

Since he gave you money before pumping the gas, how is that not prepaying?

The only change I can see is if you put the $50 into the system or not.

Does he think the system is connect to video recorders to identify people paying with $50 dollar bills?

[XCashier]

Only $1 of gas? methinks he was trying to scam, prank, or just be an a**h***.

He's too stupid to think out a scam that has a snowball's chance of succeeding, and has no sense of humor so "prank" is right out. I'd say option 3; definitely an asshole.

Since he gave you money before pumping the gas, how is that not prepaying?

It is prepaying, of course, but he doesn't see it that way. He's an ornery old goat who won't accept changing times, so he pumps $1 so he can Stick It To Da Man™! And that triumphant feeling will last right up until those few drops he bought with his $1 run out and he's stranded miles away from any gas station.

[Argus]

Maybe he's heard horror stories about how long it can take to get change back on a prepay, and didn't pick up the detail that those stories involved some sort of plastic payment?

[Kanalah]

He just wanted change for a $50 bill?

Also probably an asshole.

[MadMike]

ME: (pulls up transaction) Okay, that's... (WTF?) 49 dollars back for you today. Thanks, and you have a fantastic weekend!

I imagine you had the same look as the one cashier did when she brought up the total for the pump that I had just used -- a whopping 27 cents. What happened was, I bought a used lawnmower from someone, and like an idiot, never thought to pick up a gas can. The second time I went to use it, it ran out of gas, so I just wheeled the lawnmower a few blocks to the nearest gas station, and filled it up. That was back in the summer of '99, when gas was ridiculously cheap.

The next day, I went out and bought a gas can.

[TheSHAD0W]

Stupid question... Did you check if that bill was counterfeit? His antics might've been to get you to pay less attention to the bill, and to the fact that he took so little gas and almost all the cash back.

[Ironclad Alibi]

He just wanted change for a $50 bill?

Stupid question... Did you check if that bill was counterfeit? His antics might've been to get you to pay less attention to the bill, and to the fact that he took so little gas and almost all the cash back.

The OP did not say it was a $50 bill. (To the OP: Was it?) Most likely he was just an asshole.