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No, I didnt set fire to the place!
But this is a bit wordy.
In the UK, the cheapest petrol is at supermarket petrol stations. Usually at least a penny per litre cheaper than shell/texaco/bp stations. Therefore they are always busy. They also run promotions, such as "spend £50 instore and get 5p off every litre" etc. Now, I was at Morrisons petrol station when they were running this promotion, and I had a coupon from the store to use. As did most people there by the looks of things - they were all going into the kiosk to pay (theres pay at pump on every pump).
I brimmed my tank, came to about £54 (60 litre tank). I went in to pay. There were 2 people queueing. Theres 2 registers, and 2 staff.
Now, its my turn so I tell the assistant "pump 4". The important bit: I WAS AT PUMP 4 and definitely said PUMP 4. I hand her my coupon and my Morrisons miles card (which gathers points to spend back instore, most of their customers have one). The total pops up on screen and I pay on my card. Something else to bear in mind is that the amount I filled up with was a random number. I did not memorise it (as I would if I had put in £20 or £30). Therefore I took no notice of the amount the register said I was paying, because it would be different anyway due to the coupon.
Anyhow, as I'm finishing, this guy comes to the register alongside and says "pump 7 please". The woman serving me says "But I just served this guy (me) with pump 7." Woah "hang on, I wanted pump 4!"
Turned out pump 7 guy had filled with about £15 less than me, and looked deeply suspicious of me, as though I'd looked at his pump, seen it was less and was going to purposefully pay for his petrol and try to get away with it. The assistants also looked suspicious. EVEN THOUGH I SAID "PUMP 4" I was like "I definitely said pump 4", but the old hag behind the glass screen didnt say anything that put her in the blame.
Anyway, the assistants then broke out the ZIP ZAP MACHINES! These are the old paper-based card machines, where the machine takes an imprint of the card number on carbon paper slips. They charged the guy at #7 the amount for his petrol (which I'd already paid for), then had to charge me the difference between pump 4 and pump 7. They couldnt take off the 5p a litre because the coupon was already redeemed and couldnt be applied again to a non-electronic transcation, which was fair enough.
The whole process took about 10 minutes, by which time there was a queue out of the kiosk and the forecourt was silent because everyone had finished filling and was waiting to pay
Oh, and I never got my miles card back, but I didnt particularly want to go back and ask for it!!!!
(the miles card accumulates points which can be exchanged for a £5 voucher at 5000 points. I collected a voucher during this epic transaction so there were only a couple of hundred on it)
I dont think I was a sucky customer. If anything, when I told the assistant the pump number I think she was a little distracted talking to her colleague. But I was certainly the one that felt guilty as I left the counter with all these people watching me, wondering what the holdup is, thinking I was the problem.
Oh and the whole process was complicated further by the fact that the other guy had petrol and I had diesel, and there was a penny per litre difference.
Oops. I always pay at pump now.
But this is a bit wordy.In the UK, the cheapest petrol is at supermarket petrol stations. Usually at least a penny per litre cheaper than shell/texaco/bp stations. Therefore they are always busy. They also run promotions, such as "spend £50 instore and get 5p off every litre" etc. Now, I was at Morrisons petrol station when they were running this promotion, and I had a coupon from the store to use. As did most people there by the looks of things - they were all going into the kiosk to pay (theres pay at pump on every pump).
I brimmed my tank, came to about £54 (60 litre tank). I went in to pay. There were 2 people queueing. Theres 2 registers, and 2 staff.
Now, its my turn so I tell the assistant "pump 4". The important bit: I WAS AT PUMP 4 and definitely said PUMP 4. I hand her my coupon and my Morrisons miles card (which gathers points to spend back instore, most of their customers have one). The total pops up on screen and I pay on my card. Something else to bear in mind is that the amount I filled up with was a random number. I did not memorise it (as I would if I had put in £20 or £30). Therefore I took no notice of the amount the register said I was paying, because it would be different anyway due to the coupon.
Anyhow, as I'm finishing, this guy comes to the register alongside and says "pump 7 please". The woman serving me says "But I just served this guy (me) with pump 7." Woah "hang on, I wanted pump 4!"
Turned out pump 7 guy had filled with about £15 less than me, and looked deeply suspicious of me, as though I'd looked at his pump, seen it was less and was going to purposefully pay for his petrol and try to get away with it. The assistants also looked suspicious.
EVEN THOUGH I SAID "PUMP 4" I was like "I definitely said pump 4", but the old hag behind the glass screen didnt say anything that put her in the blame. Anyway, the assistants then broke out the ZIP ZAP MACHINES! These are the old paper-based card machines, where the machine takes an imprint of the card number on carbon paper slips. They charged the guy at #7 the amount for his petrol (which I'd already paid for), then had to charge me the difference between pump 4 and pump 7. They couldnt take off the 5p a litre because the coupon was already redeemed and couldnt be applied again to a non-electronic transcation, which was fair enough.
The whole process took about 10 minutes, by which time there was a queue out of the kiosk and the forecourt was silent because everyone had finished filling and was waiting to pay
Oh, and I never got my miles card back, but I didnt particularly want to go back and ask for it!!!!
(the miles card accumulates points which can be exchanged for a £5 voucher at 5000 points. I collected a voucher during this epic transaction so there were only a couple of hundred on it)I dont think I was a sucky customer. If anything, when I told the assistant the pump number I think she was a little distracted talking to her colleague. But I was certainly the one that felt guilty as I left the counter with all these people watching me, wondering what the holdup is, thinking I was the problem.
Oh and the whole process was complicated further by the fact that the other guy had petrol and I had diesel, and there was a penny per litre difference.
Oops. I always pay at pump now.
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