They do things differently there...

[Gob]

A US woman who recently moved to Sydney discovered we do things a little differently at petrol stations in Australia – after finding out her mistake the hard way.

Rachel Balkovec, a female baseball coach who moved to Australia to work for the Sydney Blue Sox last month, shared her discovery on TikTok after an awkward error at a Caltex servo recently.

“I literally stood in line to pay for my gas first and this lady thought I was insane,” she wrote on her video.

The woman behind the counter can be seen explaining to Rachel that she needed to go outside and “pick up the petrol pump” where she can fill her car first before making any payment.

But this shocked Rachel, who couldn’t believe you don’t have to make payment first before receiving the fuel.

“Apparently in Australia they actually trust people to pump their gas *FIRST*,” she wrote along with three mind blown emojis.

Since her video which was shared last Tuesday over 2.7 million people have watched it, many of them just as shocked as she is.

The Aussie viewers couldn’t get their heads around the fact you pay upfront in America, asking how anyone knows how much petrol they need in advance.

“Y’all pay first?” one dumbfounded Australian teased.

“If you pay first, how do you know what will fill it?” another asked.

“They make you pay first in the US?” someone else mused.

While the Americans had varying stories of how it works in their states, some agreeing with Rachel while others stated they pay for theirs after pumping too.

“I’m in the US and we always have to pay first,” one said.

“We pump our own gas then pay in Wisconsin,” another argued.

“In southern USA it’s very normal to pump your own gas,” someone else mused.

People from other countries decided to weigh in on the viral video, revealing how it’s done in the UK, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

“We pay after we pump in the UK,” one guy said.

“It’s the same in Canada,” another added.

“It’s the same in most of Europe too,” someone else replied.

While another wrote: “In Mexico they pump the gas for you, it’s different everywhere.”

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real- ... CqRGFIr0KE

[Crackpot]

Pay before is regional in the states (even within a given state) it has a lot to do with instances of “gas and dash”

[Big RR]

That and one clerk collecting for and watching 10 or more pumps. Of course, you can skip the cashier line by using your credit card.

FWIW, I live in a state where they won't even let us touch the pump; we have to wait for the attendant.

[BoSoxGal]

It was pump first in most of rural and even suburban America (at least all the places I’ve lived) until fairly recently, when gas prices spiked in the mid to late 2000s and drive offs became much more commonplace. Nowadays I never see a place that doesn’t require prepay inside or a card at the automated pump.

It’s hard to believe that there aren’t any automated pumps in Australia, and if there are, that means lots of folks there prepay for gas. When you run your card to start the pump, you’re authorizing up to a $75 hold on your account, so that’s essentially prepaying - when the fill-up finishes and the actual amount is charged, it’s like getting change back from a cash prepayment to a clerk inside the store.

[Sue U]

FWIW, I live in a state where they won't even let us touch the pump; we have to wait for the attendant.

Which is absolutely fine with me. We are blessed to relax in our climate-controlled mobile living rooms, listening to NPR or Sirius or whatever, while someone else braves the elements to pump us what is still some of the cheapest gas (although no longer *the* cheapest gas) in the nation.

[TPFKA@W]

How very ignorant to be surprised that things are done differently elsewhere. People don't get out enough.

[Big RR]

I have to disagree Sue; when I travel to other states I'm in and out of gas stations in a couple of minutes max; in NJ I usually average around 10 minutes, sometimes more depending on the line. Most stations just have one attendant handling 8 (or even more) pumps, and it takes a very long time for him to start the pump, not to mention come back and collect payment (I used to often finish off the pumping and leave long before he came back (paying by card), but the powers that be decided that was similarly unacceptable and started issuing summonses to the stations so they wouldn't permit it). Bad weather of good, I'd much rather just swipe my card, pump my gas, and go.

FWIW, I admit I probably hate waiting a lot more than many others. I always opt for escalator, or even the stairs (if it's under 8 floors) rather than wait for the elevator), and have often walked between airport terminals (even in the cold) rather than wait for the shuttle. There's no right answer, but I'd always prefer to pump my own gas

[eddieq]

FWIW, I admit I probably hate waiting a lot more than many others. I always opt for escalator, or even the stairs (if it's under 8 floors) rather than wait for the elevator), and have often walked between airport terminals (even in the cold) rather than wait for the shuttle. There's no right answer, but I'd always prefer to pump my own gas

I've been known to take a detour of sometimes several miles to avoid waiting at a red light. The knowledge that I'm still moving adds to the illusion that I'm making good time on my journey.

[Econoline]

The last time I filled up in NJ, I was driving my (diesel) Sprinter van; there was only one diesel pump at the station where I stopped and, unlike the rest of the (gasoline) pumps, it was the old-style pump where you had to flip a lever on the side after removing the nozzle, before starting to pump the fuel. The station attendant was obviously new to this job and probably also a recent immigrant from some Arabic-speaking country, and he couldn't figure out how to start the pump, so I wound up having to do it all myself. (Which probably did save me time.)

ETA: Pre-pay vs. pump-first seems to still be an urban vs. rural divide, but yeah, it's been creeping outward from the cities for some years now.

[datsunaholic]

The last time I ran across a pay after you pump station was in 2014, when I took an 8000+ mile road trip. Those occasional stations caught me off guard as I am so used to prepaying that it was weird finding a station with no pay at pump cardreaders.

I also intentionally made sure not to need fuel in New Jersey. Oregon was unavoidable, as the 330 mile distance from Vancouver, WA to Yreka, CA is over 75% of the nominal fuel range of my Pathfinder. As it was, even filling up in Eugene I still stopped in Yreka.

[eddieq]

I started driving in 1986 and I remember that you would go up to the window, give them money and say something like "10 on pump 3" and they'd take your money, turn on the pump and it should shut off when it got to 10 bucks (which at the time was like 13 or 14 gallons). "Pay first", for me anyway, has always been there, at least in lower Bucks County, Montgomery County, PA (Suburban Philadelphia)

[Burning Petard]

I thought the only 'no self service' gas stations were in New Jersey and they stopped with this Covid19 stuff. But along with the other things, I have not been to NJ even tho it is 15 minutes away from Delaware. But about a year ago even with 'no self-service', NJ had the cheapest gas around unless I went to Virginia.

snailgate.

[Gob]

I've never pre-paid for petrol or diesel in my life.

[dales]

Gob chugs off without paying a farthing.

[Econoline]

I could be misremembering, but I think I recall using "put-in-your-credit/debit-card-and-then-start-pumping" petrol pumps in the UK? (Not in Cornwall, though.)

[datsunaholic]

I thought the only 'no self service' gas stations were in New Jersey and they stopped with this Covid19 stuff. But along with the other things, I have not been to NJ even tho it is 15 minutes away from Delaware. But about a year ago even with 'no self-service', NJ had the cheapest gas around unless I went to Virginia.

snailgate.

Oregon only allows self serve in rural areas.

[Big RR]

FWIW, years ago I found a self serve station (at least for the night) near Newark Airport. I was returning late and had to get gas in a pretty bad area on the border of Newark and Irvington; there was no attendant, but you had to pay in advance (the pumps didn't accept credit cards, you had to pay the cashier, cash/credit/or debit); the cashier sat in what looked like an armored room behind a glass window at least a foot thick and payment was mde through a sliding drawer, much as in drive up bank windows. My guess is that they were robbed one too many times and just made the evening self serve; paying the fines was likely cheaper than being robbed.

[Scooter]

I remember a station with that setup in Detroit about 30 years ago, when I went to the window because the pump wasn't working (so I thought) the guy looked at me like I had dropped in from an alternative universe and told me I had to prepay. I had never heard of that before. It also clued me in to the fact that I was probably in a neighbourhood where I shouldn't have risked finding myself.

What I find weird about how most stations work around here, is that you can pump gas without prepayment if you are then going to pay the attendant afterwards. But if you are paying at the pump you must essentially prepay, as BSG said, by putting the card in first and allowing the authorization for $75 or whatever. I suppose it allows the attendants to pay attention to fewer pumps; if they see that someone has used a card, they know that they don't have to keep track of whether that person proceeds to pay. They only have to keep their eye on the customers who they know will need to pay inside.

[MGMcAnick]

I remember going to the only station in the tiny town I did most of my growing up in, pumping my MGA full of gas at 22-1/2 (not .9) cents a gallon, and saying "put it on dad's account".

Now I use a debit card, and seldom interact with a clerk.

[MajGenl.Meade]

The need for employment here in SA is such that pumping your own petrol would be both illegal and death-defying. I rather like rolling up to the pumps, asking for "95 please, not full - just 'til it stops. Please check the water and oil. Make sure the tyres (that's right spellcheck) are at 2.1". Then wander off for a stretch or two or into the shop for a newspaper while the friendly young man or lady washes my windscreen. Throwback day every time. My dad used to have that job back in the early 60s and several thousand miles northish of here.

The only potential problem is finding one doesn't have an R5 coin as a tip (it used to be R2 until inflation got us). Many's the time I've had to buy something in that shop that I didn't really need just to get change for the tip. One starts the month with a store of coins in the car but with the petrol-jockeys and the car-guards (see "informal economy"), they don't last long enough.