quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
If I'm going to Costco and they have gas .10 less expensive and it is good gas, I would be foolish to stop at another station and pay more. The station is 25 miles from my house so I fuel up there maybe 15% of the time.

Having attendants pump your gas goes back a long time, was considered a safety concern. You can pump your own diesel, just not gas. Today I paid $1.41 per gallon, not much difference in surrounding states.

Your Costco must be different from mine. It's usually 10 cars deep line for each of the pumps. I would gladly pay 20¢ more per gallon not to wait an half hour+ for gas.

Same reason I don't shop there, standing in line for 30 minutes to check out, then ten more minutes to have them check my cart isn't worth it. I probably should just cancel the membership at this point. I only go there now for big purchases.

There is a Costco north of me that is closer but the place is packed, forget even trying to buy gas there.
I head south, longer drive but the store and gas station are not at all crowded except weekends in the summer when the beach crowds are here. If the gas lines are long, I just get gas near my home.
What drove me crazy yesterday was the lines were fairly short ( two cars at the pump and one car waiting). In another minute, the driver that cut across the lanes would have been able to pull up to a pump.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
If I'm going to Costco and they have gas .10 less expensive and it is good gas, I would be foolish to stop at another station and pay more. The station is 25 miles from my house so I fuel up there maybe 15% of the time.

Having attendants pump your gas goes back a long time, was considered a safety concern. You can pump your own diesel, just not gas. Today I paid $1.41 per gallon, not much difference in surrounding states.

Just don't forget to factor the additional probability of a fender bender or death by gasoline fire, into the equation.

It may still be worth it, but it should be included in the math.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken226:

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
If I'm going to Costco and they have gas .10 less expensive and it is good gas, I would be foolish to stop at another station and pay more. The station is 25 miles from my house so I fuel up there maybe 15% of the time.

Having attendants pump your gas goes back a long time, was considered a safety concern. You can pump your own diesel, just not gas. Today I paid $1.41 per gallon, not much difference in surrounding states.

Just don't forget to factor the additional probability of a fender bender or death by gasoline fire, into the equation.

It may still be worth it, but it should be included in the math.

That is true at any gas station. I'm not going to sit in a crowded line at a gas station to save .10. If there are a few cars I pull in, if it crowded, it is not worth my time to sit for even 10 minutes to get gas. Most stations where I live have 4 islands with 2 pumps per island. Or I can go to a smaller station that usually has poor access.
While I can see the concern of safety to a few posters, let me say that before I retired 3 years ago I was the Safety Officer with a government utility that had 52 separate sites that I inspected and was responsible for site safety so I still do have that instinct to look for safety concerns. My wife still gets pissed when we are out and I'm looking at the yearly inspection tags on fire extinguishers in stores we visit.

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:

quote:

Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I grew up in NJ and worked a gas station for about 6 years. Started off as a gas pumper, then graduated to working on cars as a mechanic. We had 2 bays for car service.

Anyway, the gasoline hoses are "break away" style. A little gas gets spilled, but this ain't the first moron to drive away with the hose still connected.

Man, the stories I could tell about working there. Had a guy give me a joint as a tip once. In the summer hot chicks would come in, wearing short skirts...they had the AC vents pointing toward...well, you know. Not a care in the world when we would wash their windshields...

Good times.

Oh, Lord don't strike me blind! Oh, Lord don't strike me blind!

My Lucille

WHenI was a lad of about 23 I worked in a service station for my BIL in Ind. and lots of days in the summer the young girls would come in with hot pants and mini skirts on (this was before A/C real real popular in cars) they would have the windows down and you could also smell their cologne. Drove me nuts and I would take my time on their windshield.

Can't imagine living where you need to wait 30 minutes for a pump. That's nuts.


That said, I did observe something strange a couple weeks ago-

Filling up the company sled I watched not one, but two people pull up to the pump, go inside for snacks or whatever and come back out and leave. Plenty of parking available so it isn't like was crowded. Both were out of state plates.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeNH:
Can't imagine living where you need to wait 30 minutes for a pump. That's nuts.


That said, I did observe something strange a couple weeks ago-

Filling up the company sled I watched not one, but two people pull up to the pump, go inside for snacks or whatever and come back out and leave. Plenty of parking available so it isn't like was crowded. Both were out of state plates.

The last time I waited that long was the gas crisis back in the 70's. Even after Hurricane Sandy when power was out I would get up at 0200 and gas up. The time didn't matter to me as work was closed for a week with pay after the hurricane.