Gas station rant

"Noodles" (hilgyjeep)
09/04/2020 at 23:20 • Filed to: Rant

I live in eastern West Virginia very close to Virginia. Everyone that lives near here has a zip code that starts with a 2.

My local gas station has a pump with a #2 that doesn’t work. It was busy today and I pushed that 2 button 30-40 times. Instead of moving to another pump that might have had a working #2, I just went to the next store.

I told this story to my wife when I got home and she knew exactly which pump I had tried to use.

Fix your 2 you fuck.

DISCUSSION (26)

CB > Noodles
09/04/2020 at 23:36

Or you could have chip reading at the pump like a civilized nation.

Noodles > CB
09/04/2020 at 23:38

Yeah, but West Virginia.

Just Jeepin' > CB
09/04/2020 at 23:38

Even with A pple Pay I have to enter my zip code. Chip’ s no better.

CB > Noodles
09/04/2020 at 23:38

Oh right. The only state to build an interstate to bring in people, only for it to have the opposite effect.

CB > Just Jeepin'
09/04/2020 at 23:39

Wow, your country is weird. We either have chip or tap at most stations in Canada (or no option to pay at the pump and have to pay in store if you’re remote enough).

ttyymmnn > Noodles
09/04/2020 at 23:42

That’s some beautiful country. That stretch of I-64 from 81 to 77 through the GW and Jefferson Forests is absolutely gorgeous, and not very heavily traveled.

Noodles > CB
09/04/2020 at 23:44

They build new roads instead of fixing the ones that already exist. We're leaving the state too. Already sold our house. Currently trying to find one in South Carolina before we're homeless.

Noodles > ttyymmnn
09/04/2020 at 23:49

I agree. My favorite part of this area is Luray VA. The mountains just end into farm land. It's insanely beautiful. GW is beautiful as well. Never been to Jefferson

ttyymmnn > Noodles
09/04/2020 at 23:52

I grew up in Norfolk, and went to school at JMU. My dad was a hiker, and I hiked a few stretches of the AT in that area with him . I drove with my family from DC back to TX, and I made a point of driving that stretch of 64. I really miss those old mountains.

Noodles > ttyymmnn
09/04/2020 at 23:55

I've spent a little time on the Appalachian Trail. There aren't many ugly parts of it around here. We're moving to SC and I'm definitely going to miss the mountains.

onlytwowheels > Noodles
09/04/2020 at 23:59

Caverns.....

Skyline Drive......

I remem ber it well.

Noodles > onlytwowheels
09/05/2020 at 00:05

I had to drive from Luray to Woodstock at work. Absolutely beautiful. I'll never forget it

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 00:17

Well, I’m glad you got that off your chest!

Noodles > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
09/05/2020 at 00:25

I feel better after getting it out. I no longer want to stab fuzzy bunnies for no reason

facw > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 00:45

Most of the places here have stopped asking for your zip code, even if they haven’t turned on the chip reader yet. I assume that means the credit card companies are no longer requiring it, but who knows. IIRC, t he zip code requirement was added for gas stations to qualify for an exemption to the chip requirement ~5 years ago, or whenever that finally rolled out.

Noodles > facw
09/05/2020 at 00:48

The worst part is that I was using a debit card that doesn't have a 2 in the pin. It wouldn't read it as a debit card and kept asking for my zip.

facw > CB
09/05/2020 at 00:49

Chip readers have been rolling out at gas stations over the past year or so. These new readers tend to support contactless payment options as well. Gas stations were finally getting things set up because if they didn’t have it (I think by this F all), the credit card companies were going to hold them liable for fraudulent charges. That was already an extension of the deadline that other retailers had to meet due to the fact it’s a lot easier to swap a card reader on a POS system than on a gas pump. I believe it’s been extended into next year though, due to COVID, so there are still plenty of swipe readers at the pump.

ranwhenparked > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 01:57

Is it just me, or does it seem like all gas stations turned really shitty overnight at some point during the 2000s? Pock marked, pot holed asphalt, faded and burned out signs, malfunctioning gas pumps, dust covered expired merchandise, filthy floors with missing tiles, and cluttered with junk, etc. It used to be that ones carrying major brands - Shell, Exxon, BP, etc used to all seem pretty clean and maintained, up to about the 90s, then it's like every one not connected with a giant convenience store like Wawa or Sheetz turned into a shit hole.

Urambo Tauro > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 07:20

I pay cash for fuel. Get off my lawn.

HOWEVER, I do use a company card for fuel when driving the company truck and have developed a handful of pet peeves about paying at the pump:

Sticky buttons. Not sticky to my fingers, but I mean I can feel resistance in the button that seems to go away after the first press, like I’ve broken through some layer of gunk underneath the button or something. Ugh why is this a thing. How does tha t even happen

Long beeps. Some pumps will beep for about one full second with each button press, so if I type the buttons “ too fast” , it sounds like one long beep and I have to watch the screen to see how many characters I’ve entered.

Poor display layouts. I’ve seen a couple where the tex t on the screen that points to the button is too long, and blends into the text on the other side of the screen that points to its own button , resulting in an unreadable garbled mess.

Paper jams/outs. Do they not get some kind of alert inside when the pump jams or runs out of paper ?

Noodles > Urambo Tauro
09/05/2020 at 07:24

There's a pump near work that never has paper. It's the closest store that takes the company card and that pump is the only one open every time.

Noodles > ranwhenparked
09/05/2020 at 07:52

This is true. My local store refurbished their diesel tanks and the concrete over them is now 2 inches higher than the rest of the parking lot. With really sharp corners. Wtf

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 09:18

The only gas station near my house that's not out of my way going to work has had pump issues lately. As in it won't pump. It'll take my card, I choose grade, insert nozzle into filler neck, pull trigger, but get no flow. Release trigger and try again, but now it won't even have pressure behind the trigger, it'll feel like the cutoff already flipped. I've tried a few times over the last month when I've forgotten. When it happens I just go to the station by work, ten miles away, and only slightly out of my way. I feel your pain.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ranwhenparked
09/05/2020 at 09:22

What no where do you live? Nigeria? Alabama?

Taylor Martin > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 16:30

The Wawa right next to where I live has it out for me... like, it never accepts my debit card, which is what I typically use for gas, and my credit card is a grab bag. Sometimes I get declined. Sometimes I enter my zip and get declined. Sometimes I lets me in.

The lesson: p umps aren’t that smart...

Noodles > Taylor Martin
09/05/2020 at 19:08

Hahaha

The Compromiser > Noodles
09/05/2020 at 19:40

Try being Canadian...we don’t have zip codes. I have to go in every time. Why do you need to enter it anyway? I always wondered. Not enough to Google it though.