Originally Posted by
idleidolidyll
I've just sent an email to Gull as below. Twice now Gull, Gt Sth Rd Manurewa/Takanini have demanded that we prepay fixed amounts of $10 or $20 when we wanted to fill up. Prepay is bullshit!
Prepay SUCKS big time!
As a motorist in New Zealand and particularly as a motorcyclist, I despise prepay. This odious system is NOT primarily designed for security: it is designed to maximise profits by reducing staff numbers and by forcing motorists to enter gas stations more often and sometimes several times on each fill. While there they are expected to purchase products on impulse; and they do (this is not opinion, it is fact confirmed by an industry insider).
By forcing motorists to decide on how much they want to put in their gas tanks on a dollar basis, fuel retailers (mainly the oil companies), ensure that cars are rarely filled up and must therefore return more often to gas stations. In addition, if you do want to fill up, you are usually required to swipe your card at the station, fill up and then return to approve the final amount bought; a double entry into the station and another opportunity for the station to tempt you into buying some junk on impulse that you don’t need and probably wouldn’t have bought otherwise.
Some gas stations have eftpos at pump available but often these are not switched on (Mobil Wiri Station Rd). The idea of eftpos at pump is perfect: we can fill up and pay at the pump with the least fuss. However, for the reasons above, gas stations then don’t get to maximise profits and they often don’t enable this system.
For a motorcyclist prepay is even more of an imposition. Many motorcycles have quite small tanks and even a large tank on a bike is just 25 litres. However, for many bikes, 8-15 litres is more often the capacity. With prepay, it is virtually impossible to guess how much fuel you will need and given that motorbikes often get just 100-200 kilometres per fill; we often want to fill up and maximise the distance traveled. My wife’s bike for example, takes just 11 litres. It gets pretty good mileage but we are never able to guess just how much fuel it will take and we always want to fill up before a trip. A Ducati Hailwood replica (newish model) takes just 8 litres and with it’s 1000cc motor, might only get 100km from that fill. To guess whether the tank needs 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 litres is virtually impossible and the rider is left having to enter gas stations twice to fill up under prepay at it’s worst. The worst offending gas station in my area is Gull Gt South Rd Takanini (near the top of Mahia Rd, Manurewa). This gas station has refused to allow us to fill up our bikes on a number of occasions demanding that we specify exactly how much we intend to use and prepay exactly that amount: their ‘suggestions’ were $10 or $20. My wife’s bike took about half a tank the first time (5.5 litres) and less the next time (about 4 litres). You can see that demanding a $10 or $20 prepay is ridiculous.
Now some gas stations recognise that motorcyclists are an issue and they release pumps when they see a bike arrive. It is not unreasonable for them to require us to take off our helmet for security reasons however. I applaud these gas stations and their awareness.
My suggestion is that we, as motorcyclists AND often car drivers too, name and shame the worst offenders and boycott them completely both for motorbike and for car purchases. I also suggest we name and praise those stations that DO recognise that prepay is an imposition and release pumps for motorcycles. Those gas stations should be promoted and pat5ronage should be encouraged. Likewise gas stations that have pay at pump AND turn it on.
As a start I offer the following:
DON’T use Gull Gt Sth Rd near Mahia Rd Manurewa. These people are ignorant and arrogant and don’t deserve our business.
DON’T use Mobil Wiri Station Rd as this station uses prepay even though it has pay at pump which is usually turned off.
DO use Mobil Hill Rd Manurewa. These people are wonderful and even when pumps are switched to prepay, they release pumps every time they see a motorbike pull up.
IMPORTANT! Make sure you make a fuss whenever possible if you encounter prepay ignorance and tell them you will boycott their gas station on your bike AND in your car because of their ignorance and arrogance. Send emails to the oil companies and tell them to get their act together and stop the callous disregard they have for customers.
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