Any Gas Station/Convenience Store owners??

[SEIndSAM]

If so, please explain something to me.

Why is it, that when you prepay with cash for your gasoline, the pump will go at normal speed until you get at about .50 cents from being completed. The last .50 cents goes in soooooooo sloooooow.

When you prepay at the pump with a credit card, the pump goes full speed until the tank is full, then shuts off while at full speed. What is is different when prepaying inside first???? Why does the pump do this?? I hate freezing my butt off waiting for my last .50 cents worth of gas.

 

[Frosty]

The same reason people do, so it doesn't go over the set dollar amount. Granted, they seem to do it earlier and earlier. The station I go to used to start it at about 15 cents before the amount, now it's almost $1 before the total when it starts doing it. The pump doesn't know when your tanks almost full, it will pump until the splash thing shuts it off or the fuel storage tank runs dry.

 

[SEIndSAM]

It just seems that they could set the pump to shut off at the set amount.

 

[chezuki]

If so, please explain something to me.

Why is it, that when you prepay with cash for your gasoline, the pump will go at normal speed until you get at about .50 cents from being completed. The last .50 cents goes in soooooooo sloooooow.

When you prepay at the pump with a credit card, the pump goes full speed until the tank is full, then shuts off while at full speed. What is is different when prepaying inside first???? Why does the pump do this?? I hate freezing my butt off waiting for my last .50 cents worth of gas.

I'm not a gas station "owner", but this is an easy enough question to field...

When you pay at the pump, the card is pre-authorized for a larger amount than you are likely to spend and then adjusted to however much YOU choose to pump. When you pre-pay cash, the amount of gas to be pumped is already determined by how much you paid and the pump has to mechanically stop pumping once you reach that exact amount. This precision is achieved by reducing the flow as the pump nears the pre-determined amount.

 

[eldirector]

Simple, actually.

When you pre-pay with a credit card at the pump, you are really getting a temporary authorization for about $75 or so. You then fill the tank, and the amount is corrected. Since neither you or the station knows how much fuel will be dispensed, it just goes until "done", and then charges you. The full-tank auto-shutoff valve is triggered at the handle. As the fuel "rushes" up the filler, the pressure changes and triggers the valve.

The programmed pre-pay (as in cash, inside) shutoff is at the pump (not in the handle). It has to slow down and stop to account for the hose to drain and dispense the correct amount that you already paid for.

 

[atvdave]

I'm not a gas station "owner", but this is an easy enough question to field...

When you pay at the pump, the card is pre-authorized for a larger amount than you are likely to spend and then adjusted to however much YOU choose to pump. When you pre-pay cash, the amount of gas to be pumped is already determined by how much you paid and the pump has to mechanically stop pumping once you reach that exact amount. This precision is achieved by reducing the flow as the pump nears the pre-determined amount.

Simple, actually.

When you pre-pay with a credit card at the pump, you are really getting a temporary authorization for about $75 or so. You then fill the tank, and the amount is corrected. Since neither you or the station knows how much fuel will be dispensed, it just goes until "done", and then charges you. The full-tank auto-shutoff valve is triggered at the handle. As the fuel "rushes" up the filler, the pressure changes and triggers the valve.

The programmed pre-pay (as in cash, inside) shutoff is at the pump (not in the handle). It has to slow down and stop to account for the hose to drain and dispense the correct amount that you already paid for.

Nailed it....

 

[Frosty]

Meh, mine was easier to understand

 

[esrice]

It's aliens.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I don't feel sorry for you getting cold, OP.

I filled up at a BRAND NEW gas station yesterday. Brand new P-66 in Greenwood. Just north of Smith Valley Road on US 31. Pump 5.

It pumped at a whopping 45-47 seconds / gallon. 16 gallons.

It took me over TWELVE MINUTES to fill my car.

I went in and let the guy know the issue. While there a slight language barrier, I think he understood when I let him know that I doubted I'd be back.

TWELVE MINUTES! For a normal passenger car!

 

[churchmouse]

The same reason people do, so it doesn't go over the set dollar amount. Granted, they seem to do it earlier and earlier. The station I go to used to start it at about 15 cents before the amount, now it's almost $1 before the total when it starts doing it. The pump doesn't know when your tanks almost full, it will pump until the splash thing shuts it off or the fuel storage tank runs dry.

The reason could be that you get so little fuel for so much money the pump will over run if even a few cents. We can not have any of that now can we.

 

[CitiusFortius]

The reason could be that you get so little fuel for so much money the pump will over run if even a few cents. We can not have any of that now can we.

My understanding (and i could be way wrong) is that the profit margin per gallon is very-very small. So a few cents spread out over many cars is a very big deal to the owner. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Gas stations make their money selling cigarettes and Mountain Dew to EBT holders. The gas is a loss leader.

 

[pasonik]

I've often wondered the same thing about the pump slowing down. I've had it slow down before a whole dollar than what I paid for. There was a time that pumps kept going till they hit the amount paid for. If you go in and pay for $20 worth of gas why can't the pump slow down at $19.90? And gas station don't make any money off gasoline. A friend of mine works for an oil company and I actually gave him the idea that it was good for people to go in and pay because they might buy something more while they're in there. Happy shooting!!!

 

[Frosty]

Gas stations make their money selling cigarettes and Mountain Dew to EBT holders. The gas is a loss leader.

Or ripping you off with the $5 minimum charge for a card purchase.

 

[Bunnykid68]

Gas used to be a loss leader, it is not anymore. 20-25 years ago they would make 1-2 cents per gallon. Now it is not uncommon to make 10-12 cents on regular basis and 30-40 cents per gallon after a price increase.

 

[Leo]

The mechanical computer in a gas pump works by liquid volume. 231 cubic inches corrected to temperature is a gallon. That is keyed to a ratio in the money counter as the price. The higher the price for fuel, the harder it is to stop the volume at the price, since the volume does not change. So they slow the pump more radically to maintain accuracy at the cash register.

Even the old, fully mechanical pumps were easy to stop at an exact penny when I was pumping 28 cent a gallon gas. (and washing the windshield and checking the oil too!) It is pretty hard to do that with todays prices

 

[hoosierdoc]

Or ripping you off with the $5 minimum charge for a card purchase.

I don't mind that. If they have a typical $0.30 charge per transaction plus maybe 2.1% fee, then a $5 charge costs them $0.41 in credit fees. The employee time (30s) is another $0.17 or so. That's an 11% hit to the margin. Not all businesses make money on each transaction. If you buy a $1 item on credit card they likely got killed percentage wise.

 

[Frosty]

I don't mind that. If they have a typical $0.30 charge per transaction plus maybe 2.1% fee, then a $5 charge costs them $0.41 in credit fees. The employee time (30s) is another $0.17 or so. That's an 11% hit to the margin. Not all businesses make money on each transaction. If you buy a $1 item on credit card they likely got killed percentage wise.

I know why they do it, it's just annoying when I want to buy a bottle of pop and have to try to find 3 more things to buy cause I don't have cash and don't want to pay a $5 ATM charge to get cash!

 

[MCgrease08]

I know why they do it, it's just annoying when I want to buy a bottle of pop and have to try to find 3 more things to buy cause I don't have cash and don't want to pay a $5 ATM charge to get cash!

Or you could just buy 5 bottles of pop and be set for the rest of the week.

 

[Frosty]

Or you could just buy 5 bottles of pop and be set for the rest of the week.

Bah, they'd never make it a week in the cab of my truck with the heat on, it gets to hot and explodes bottles and cans of pop... It's kind of annoying, to say the least.