Petrol Stations: These Are People’s Most Frustrating Habits
If you drive a car, the chances are you’re visiting a petrol station once a week or so. Here are the most annoying and downright irritating experiences you’re likely to face…
Pulling Up On The Wrong Side
Ok, so this isn’t malicious or rude in of itself. In fact, it’s sometimes easily done if you’re not familiar with the petrol station or its layout. But waiting for a driver to correct themselves, and in an often narrow space, can be very frustrating; especially if you’re in a hurry.
Playing With A Mobile Phone
There’s a golden rule to using petrol stations. It’s utility. Pull up, fill up, pay and then leave. Unless you’re using another service or facility, there’s simply no justifiable reason to be waiting around; a forecourt isn’t a car park. So if you’ve reached your car and then proceed to tweak the radio or play around with a phone, you’re simply being discourteous.
The Time Waster
This driver isn’t doing anything in particular other than dragging the petrol station process out for as long as possible. Perhaps they’re headed somewhere they don’t want to be or maybe they’re just passionate about the smell of diesel. Either way, they will maximise the amount of time they spend on the forecourt. They’ll slowly exit and enter their vehicles, scrutinise small text and ferret around their purses and wallets for who knows what. If you end up stuck behind one, you have our condolences.
The Weekly Shopper
You may not know this, but most petrol stations don’t make much money on the fuel they sell; the margins are very small. Instead, a lot of their revenue will come from their shops; that is to say, food, drink and impulse buys. For most of us, we’ll use these for energy drinks, a desperate sandwich or cigarettes. For the weekly shopper, however, there’s no distinction between Tesco and Shell. They’ll literally get what appears to be their weekly shop there. Either way, we don’t recommend you base your diet on microwave burgers, crisps and cough sweets.
Obstructing Two Pumps
Basic courtesy is important, whether at a petrol station or elsewhere. We suspect that drivers who essentially block two pumps are the same drivers who park between two parking spaces; in other words, bad people. This practice slows the entire process down and is totally needless. If you do it yourself, don’t be surprised if you’re eventually confronted by disgruntled motorists.
Paying At The Pump
Ok, so this feature isn’t an annoyance in of itself. In fact, it can be really useful in speeding the entire process up. The problem is half of the nation seems to consist of Luddites who are woefully unprepared for the use of modern technology. As a result, it can actually slow down the process if you’re stuck behind someone unfamiliar with them. In addition, the technology can sometimes be slow itself and unresponsive. A great idea, albeit often poorly executed.
Never-ending Queuing
Forecourts are strange things, they’re often both inexplicably prone to desertion and saturation; there’s no way to tell precisely how busy they’ll be. There’s nothing quite so satisfying as pulling up to one whilst it’s empty. Other times, however, it’s like the entire neighbourhood has decided to top up at the same time; in which case you can spend what feels like an eternity watching people re-fuel, buy their questionable sandwiches and take forever to pay at the till.
Parking Limits
An increasing amount of people are falling victim to maximum stay limits at petrol stations. The introduction of these are fair enough; they’re designed to stop drivers using them as car parks whilst they conduct their business elsewhere. But even customers themselves are being caught out, usually as they use the car wash. The technology simply needs to be much more accurate.
Driving Tests Can Be Cancelled If Cars Are Dirty – https://autoserveclub.co.uk/blog/driving-tests-can-be-cancelled-if-cars-are-dirty/
MOTs: Here’s What Your Car Could Be Failed On – https://autoserve.co.uk/motoring-tips-advice/mots-heres-what-your-car-could-be-failed-on/
