scapegrace13 wrote:imducky wrote:i refuse i was on "0" miles to empty yesterady, stopped at a bp w/a sheriff's cruiser in the lot (deputy was in the store). i lifted the pump and the clerk advised pre-pay only. i hung the pump up and went to a non-pre pay station.i refuse to be called a thief while i'm conducting transaction! why should i give them my mpney or cc first? they want what i have (my money) more than i want what they have (i can go somewher else and did).When you go through the drive-thru at McDonald's or some such, are they 'calling you a thief' when they get your money first, before handing over your order?Or the grocery store, by insisting you pay for your groceries before you take them out to your car?Or myFICO for getting your money before they show you your score(s)?Of course not. Neither are these gas stations, in asking you to pay for your gas before you pump it.I've been on the other side of this one, and they don't go to this sort of set-up unless drive-offs have truly gotten to be so habitual that they absolutely have to, believe me. They know being able to fill up and then come in to pay is much more convenient for their (honest) customers. But when the 'honor system' breaks down because too many thieving idiots abuse it, and their livelihood is on the line, what else are the gas stations supposed to do, to stay in business and keep food on the table?Try on the station owner's hat for a moment:If they're lucky, the scumbags driving off with a tankful will put the nozzle back on the pump first - if not (and usually they don't, as it gives them extra seconds to get away), and the hose is damaged or even completely torn off as the vehicle screams away, the station's down a pump (and therefore the income from it and whatever else the customer might have bought inside) until it's repaired and out the cost of replacing the hose/nozzle, etc. If they're lucky, they might get a plate number, but even if they do, the cops won't do much besides maybe come by when it's convenient to let you file a report, and it's 'petty theft', usually too little to make it worth the expense of pursuing in court to recoup, so they're out the money for the gas as well.
And it's not happening a couple of times a year anymore, the way it used to - it's happening multiple times per month (or even per week). What do you do? Gotta go to pre-pay/pay at the pump. No other way to stop drive-offs and the resultant hemhorraging of money from your livelihood.Just some food for thought. Asking you to pay for your gas before you pump it really is no different from any other transaction wherein you're required to pay for your goods before leaving the place of business with them. Ain't nobody callin' you a thief, Ducky.So don't punish 'em for something they aren't really doing.
we'll simply have to disagree. i will be treated as a valued customer or vote with my feat (and wallet). as for thier costs due to theft, put up a camera, hire an off duty officer or clerks that pay attention (i can't tell you how many times I had to tell a clerk i had gas).
and yes they are calling me a thief when i walk in ask politley (which i have) for them to turn on the pump and they ask for my cash or card. i simply ask them why i should trust them with my cash or card when they don't trust me and walk out.
i wouldn't use a bank that has a metal detector at the door either. they actually told me i had to take off my steel toed shoes and leave them on the sidewalk.
imducky wrote:we'll simply have to disagree. i will be treated as a valued customer or vote with my feat (and wallet). as for thier costs due to theft, put up a camera, hire an off duty officer or clerks that pay attention (i can't tell you how many times I had to tell a clerk i had gas).and yes they are calling me a thief when i walk in ask politley (which i have) for them to turn on the pump and they ask for my cash or card. i simply ask them why i should trust them with my cash or card when they don't trust me and walk out.i wouldn't use a bank that has a metal detector at the door either. they actually told me i had to take off my steel toed shoes and leave them on the sidewalk.
Yup, on the disagreeing bit. 
Would be a dull and boring world if we all thought alike, wouldn't it?
Would be a dull and boring world if we all thought alike, wouldn't it? I mostly was being Devil's Advocate just for the sake of discussion and to encourage readers' seeing more than one side of the issue.
Just to respond to your suggestions for alternative theft deterrents, those all have been tried; they don't work. If they were effective, all stations would have one or more of them in use and still be pay-after-pumping, for the reasons I mentioned in my earlier post. 
All I can say before bowing respectfully out of the discussion is that, having 'been there' myself, the unfortunate reality is that their only truly effective recourse in the face of excessive losses due to drive-offs (short of raising their gas and merchandise prices to offset the increase in thefts, which I don't think would be too popular with their customers, either) is prepay/pay at the pump.
Unfortunately, it can also lose them customers who share your point of view and feelings on the matter and who respond by taking their feet, vehicles and wallets elsewhere.
I hope most of the stations near you are able to keep the kind of service you value so highly, and that the ones who've had to switch service are able to switch back at some point (MV's, too!).
Here in Europe they don't have the drive-off problem. Gas is close to $8 a gallon in some countries and I have yet to go somewhere that has pay at the pump! Even on base they still have you pump first and then go pay.
Current Score: EX 772 EQ 777 TU 783 15 Jan 17
I prefer pay at the pump. The thing that ticks me off is, like Timothy said, the receipt roll solenoid is empty and I have to go inside.
In the central city around here, many of the gas stations are going to CASH ONLY with prices about 6-7 cents less per gallon. They claim that it is so much more expensive to process the card. In reality, MHO is that they don't trust the patrons and want cash FIRST. I would push my car to another station, before stopping at one of these joints.
In the central city around here, many of the gas stations are going to CASH ONLY with prices about 6-7 cents less per gallon. They claim that it is so much more expensive to process the card. In reality, MHO is that they don't trust the patrons and want cash FIRST. I would push my car to another station, before stopping at one of these joints.
Starting Score: 469Here in NYC, prepay/pay-at-the-pump is the only option. There's no such thing as trusting someone not to drive off.
Can't say I blame them, though! 