Service-less Gas Stations

I have encountered a situation that bothers me. On the retail front, getting help at a gas station for those who are mobility challenged. With my recent falls, it has been difficult to resume normal activities. One of these has been driving our car.

I can now get into and out of the car. Some difficulty, especially getting out of the car. I carry a walker with me if I expect a trek from a parking lot into a store and vice versa, or if the store is a big box with lots of walking.

Lately, buying gas has been frustrating. Drive up to the pump, get out, insert card and get a message “see cashier. Thinking it was something wrong with my card, I struggle to walk to the station building and talk with the cashier. Nothing wrong with my card or the pump. They merely wanted me to enter their store so I would be tempted to buy something. Lines were long with people doing just that. I was the only one paying for gas, which I had not pumped yet. She only asked what dollar amount I wanted. So, I did this, returned to the car, pumped the required dollar amount, and left. The walk was for no good reason for me, only them.

Next time I visited a gas station, not the same one mentioned above, I attempted to complete my purchase at the pump 5 times, all with the same result – ‘see cashier’. I drove off in disgust. Before returning home from our errands with a dwindling gas tank, I attempted to buy gas again, at the same pump. Same result. Finally, I drove the car up to the front door, parked and entered the building. I spoke with the cashier. They didn’t know if it was the pump card reader or my card that was the problem. But now that I was in the shop, they could handle a card transaction with an exact amount of dollar authorization. I said no; elder folk and mobility challenged people should not have to visit the cashier to buy gas. They offered to pump my gas for me if I called them once I arrived at the gas station, or a few miles away. Why call? The pumps have a ‘help’ button which I had used 5 times on my previous visit. No one answered the call. Why have a call button if you aren’t going to use it?

Bottom line, service stations are no longer service oriented. They merely provide gas in huge amounts while making their money on the merchandise in their building. Elders are not welcome. Handicapped people are not welcome. Their only interest appears to be speed and turnover of transactions plus merchandise sales.

We have come a long way in developing convenience and speed at gas stations. But that was only for the benefit of the station owners. It saved them the cost of staffing the full-service stations.

Service is now gone. Profits are king. It doesn’t pay to get old on top of it!

October 4, 2022

 

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