They're really making an effort now.

[XCashier]

The only people to complain are most likely the scamers anyway.

Scammers, and stupid people who are set like concrete in their ways and don't want to have to learn a new system. A big "Too bad, so sad, sucks to be you" to both of them.

Where I live now, it's illegal to pump your own gas; the attendant does it for you. Where I lived before, every gas station had prepay. It never occured to me to throw a fit because "they're treating me like a criminal! Waah!" Some people are going to steal gas, and since gas station workers can't read minds, there's no way to stop it before it starts other than treat everyone the same.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

And if it really doesn't like you it dribbles a little gas down your leg.


... and starts playing "Duelling Banjos".

Now I'm going to have nightmares of Ned Beatty squealing like a pig . . .

[Beckpatton]

I saw on the news the other night, that a couple service stations in Melbourne where I live have started naming and shaming their petrol thieves!

They have blown up security pics of the drivers and their cars, posted them on a big sign at the store entrance, and offer a $100 reward for information leading to an arrest!

Apparently the amount of drive offs has dropped dramatically! I think it's a great idea, they should be shamed for what they're doing! Stores should do the same thing for regular shoplifters, in the long run, paying out the reward is probably way cheaper then what they're losing in lost profits!

[IT Grunt]

There's not a single station left in my area that will turn a pump on unless you're either using a card or you've pre-paid. On top of that, most of them have cut off the locking plates so you can't squeeze and lock the nozzle. You have to stand there and keep squeezing it to pump gas. I just make sure I have my card with me, and I never have a problem gassing up. I do find the fact I have to stand there and hold the nozzle frustrating, but that's the result of a few ruining it for the masses.

[Mystic]

The stores in my area got smart about how they deal with prepays. If you want to get fuel before paying now, you have to use a store card that is attached to your drivers license and address so that if you forget to pay, they have your info and will send you a letter in the post. You can't turn on the pumps without either using a credit card, going in and prepaying, or getting a prepump store card.

[Teskeria]

The only problem I have with 'swipe at the pump' is most gas stations don't have the courtesy to release their hold once they put the actual charge through. So that hold sits there on the card for 8-12 business days, and if it's a tight month, that money is tied up and unusable. (basically this means if you pumped $32.50 and the hold was $125 <they are usually $75, $100 or $125> then the station has tied up $157.50 of which they are only entitled to a portion.)
Very irritating to explain dozens of times a week (once hold is released, it drops off of pending)

[Shalom]

There's not a single station left in my area that will turn a pump on unless you're either using a card or you've pre-paid. On top of that, most of them have cut off the locking plates so you can't squeeze and lock the nozzle. You have to stand there and keep squeezing it to pump gas.

That's when I jam the gas cap into the handle to keep the trigger depressed.

I'm in the same boat (and probably the same state) as XCashier; self-serv is illegal here. Doesn't mean there isn't post-pay, and you still get drive-offs on occasion, but at least there's an attendant standing right there ready to write down your plate and testify to what you (and your car) looked like.

I grew up in NYC, and it's been pre-pay there since before I had a license. I remember how shocked I was the first time I spent a night upstate in a tiny town and filled up at the grocery store/gas station; I went in and handed them twenty (ah those were the days!) and told them I wanted to fill up the tank, and she said "OK, go fill up and come back in to pay." I was like "?" How do they know I'm actually going to come in and pay? Not that I'd ever have driven off, but that's the first thought an honest New Yorker would have: well I wouldn't, but everybody else would... we're a naturally suspicious bunch. I just didn't feel comfortable with the post-pay system.

Oh, and regarding the OP ... I remember the days of the second gas crunch, when there were nationwide shortages of gasoline, long lines at the stations, and NYC instituted odd/even gas days. If your license plate ended in an odd number, you could only fill up on an odd day of the month, and vice versa. Someone shot pictures of a guy actually changing his license plate while on line so he could get gas when it wasn't his day, and the New York Daily News ran them on the front page. What an outrage that triggered...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Where I live now, it's illegal to pump your own gas; the attendant does it for you.

Yeah, that threw us last year when we were there. At least we didn't have to get out of the rental car and get rained on even more than we did.

Something I've been wondering about, and it's likely a sign I should just stop thinking or something : in some states cars aren't required to have license plates on the front; only in the rear. My state is one where your car has to have a license plate on the front and back of the vehicle.

So if you're in a state where cars are only required to have a plate in the back, and the front of the car at the pump is facing the store, how do you get the license plate if that car does a drive off? Are you just hoping the cameras, if there are any, get a picture of the plate as the car is leaving?

[XCashier]

I'm in the same boat (and probably the same state) as XCashier; self-serv is illegal here.

Nope, I'm in Oregon.

I remember how shocked I was the first time I spent a night upstate in a tiny town and filled up at the grocery store/gas station; I went in and handed them twenty (ah those were the days!) and told them I wanted to fill up the tank, and she said "OK, go fill up and come back in to pay." I was like "?" How do they know I'm actually going to come in and pay? Not that I'd ever have driven off, but that's the first thought an honest New Yorker would have: well I wouldn't, but everybody else would... we're a naturally suspicious bunch. I just didn't feel comfortable with the post-pay system.

I don't feel comfortable with the post-pay system either, for the same reason. Other people do drive off, and that raises the prices, and we honest customers have to pay more to make up for what the thieves take. Not to mention the poor store employees getting raked over the coals by management for "letting" the drive-offs get away (like a mere human being can stop a car!) and by customers for "raising the prices". No, make it pre-pay across the board, that's the only fair way.

The only problem I have with 'swipe at the pump' is most gas stations don't have the courtesy to release their hold once they put the actual charge through.

A good point. They shouldn't tie up that much of your money for that long. How long does it take to put a charge through? Does it really need up to two weeks to clear? How are people supposed to get the other things they need in the meantime?

[Hitokiri Akins]

My brother got accused of stealing gas once, but luckily for him, he also bought something inside the store. So, he got his recipt from buying his gas and cigarettes, went home, about lost his mind when he got told he got caught "pumping and running", returned with his recipt, and told off the girl who accused him. She was getting in trouble for that, and her scapegoat was my brother.

As for me, I've got a lock on my gas tank so it doesn't get stolen, (someone siphoned my gas a few weeks back), and I have used a card for my gas since I bought my own car a few years ago.

Although, I still pine for the "20 dollars fills your tank" days, you know?

[BaristaTrav]

Maybe it's just the places I've lived, but I don't even remember the last gas station where you could even pump before paying. I seriously think it was in the 90s.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Maybe it's just the places I've lived, but I don't even remember the last gas station where you could even pump before paying. I seriously think it was in the 90s.

We had one service station not far from my house where the attendant pumped the gas for you, but it closed down over 10 years ago, IRRC.

It's completely pre-pay here nowadays. At the Quick Stop 'round the corner, they now have signs at each pump that say "IF you're not getting gas, don't park here."

This is because people have trouble getting to the pumps b/c of dheads that park in front of the pumps and aren't using them.

[EricKei]

in some states cars aren't required to have license plates on the front; only in the rear. My state is one where your car has to have a license plate on the front and back of the vehicle.

I've honestly never lived in a state where both where needed -- I'm used to plates on the back only. Heck, most cars I've seen don't even have an empty plate holder on the front!

But yeah. it does suck when they park front-facing-the-store, there's nothing you can do except hope that the cameras caught the number at some point x.x

Note that ALL gas is pre-pay here, and very, very few stations (read: those in the extreme upper-income areas) even offer "Full Service" at all.

[PatchO'Black]

I live in an area where I don't know of a single station that isn't pre-pay. In fact, it often strikes me as odd to hear of a station that doesn't work this way. Is there some places where there are some sort of law against making customers pre-pay for fuel?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The gas stations in my local area are not pre-pay only, as far as I know.

But I always pay for my gas at the pump with my credit or debit card anyway.