this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2024

82 points (85.3% liked)

No Stupid Questions

35211 readers

1537 users here now

No such thing. Ask away!

!nostupidquestions is a community dedicated to being helpful and answering each others' questions on various topics.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)

Rule 1- All posts must be legitimate questions. All post titles must include a question.

All posts must be legitimate questions, and all post titles must include a question. Questions that are joke or trolling questions, memes, song lyrics as title, etc. are not allowed here. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.

Rule 2- Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.

Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.

Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.

Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Questions which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.

Rule 6- Regarding META posts and joke questions.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-question posts using the [META] tag on your post title.

On fridays, you are allowed to post meme and troll questions, on the condition that it's in text format only, and conforms with our other rules. These posts MUST include the [NSQ Friday] tag in their title.

If you post a serious question on friday and are looking only for legitimate answers, then please include the [Serious] tag on your post. Irrelevant replies will then be removed by moderators.

Rule 7- You can't intentionally annoy, mock, or harass other members.

If you intentionally annoy, mock, harass, or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.

Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.

Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.

Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here.

Credits

Our breathtaking icon was bestowed upon us by @Cevilia!

The greatest banner of all time: by @TheOneWithTheHair!

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

How can you drive off a gas station with the hose still connected? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

90 comments fedilink hide all child comments

You drove and pulled up to the gas station to fill your gas tank. You exited your vehicle, opened your gas tank cover, grabbed and put the dispenser nozzle in. You also had to pay at some point.

How can you forget that the hose is still connected to your car when you drive off?

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I was drunk and couldn't drive, so my wife took me to get more beer. She asked me to put gas in our vehicle so I did because it was cold out. I noticed the pump behind me had the nozzle sitting on the ground which was hilarious to me. I took a snapchat picture and posted it saying "what a dumbass!" then I went inside to get my beer.

I get back in the truck and I'm having a grand old time showing my wife what the idiot behind us must have done when I hear the "CLUNK". I was told I turned as white as a ghost. I'd done it. It was my fault.

I went inside, the cashier knew I was drunk (I was being obnoxious). I was profusely apologized and admitted it was all my fault. She went outside with me, explained it didn't break and that they can reattach it, BUT there's a charge.

The cashier then said to me "get in your truck and get as far away as possible immediately. I didn't see you, this didn't happen, and I don't know what happened to the camera footage. Have a nice night."

I hopped in the truck and just told my wife DRIVE. Security came rolling up as we were leaving (by chance).

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

Cool cashier!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I'm paranoid I'm going to do this one day from lack of sleep.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

Never did manage to do that, but was close twice (none of my car would let you drive with a open fuel tank cover).

First was babybrain. Extended periods of not sleeping more than 1.5h in a row and not more than 4h a day in total because your kid is sick/toothing are doing weird things in your brain.

The second time was during COVID. I work as a paramedic part time and we did change our shift model to 24h shifts due to so many sick colleagues. Was the second shift "in a row" (24h on, 24h off, 24h on). Well..None of those shifts were 24h, most were 25-26h. Because we got hammered by calls. Literally no downtime, one critical patient after another. When driving home I had to get gas. Forgot to pay (we post pay here), forgot to take the god damn hose out. Nearly cried when the fucking car didn't start (due to the hose being in).

So TLDR: Not enough sleep is the answer for me here.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Follow-up question for Americans : what happens if you pay for, say 50$ and end up only filling up 40$? Can you go back to the cashdesk and ask for a refund on the difference?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Depends, if it’s prepay by credit card you only get billed for amount used regardless of how much you tell the cashier. If you prepay by cash you have to go get change.

Most pump transactions are just done by credit or debit card and you are billed for actual use.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

Yes you can, and it is a normal situation to be in.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

My FIL did it three times and his answer was "lol" so iono

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Alcoholic? Not playing on the drunken stepdad meme just thinking that's an alcoholic thing to do.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Possibly. But throwing that out there is ridiculously presumptuous because you have nothing upon which to base that.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

"Oops, hah pulled the pump again for the third time chuckles to self"

(for his sake I hope it was drug or drink)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Dude just getting him to remember to close up his garage or truck was hard enough. Fortunately (for him) he spat his sunflower seed shells in there so it was too disgusting to want to rob. Like, he didn't even spit them in a cup he just gobbed them on the floor. I don't know how many times we'd roll up and find both his garage and his truck, all the doors wide open and they'd been that way for hours. First few dozen times it'd happened the neighbors were worried, but after that they just ignored it.eyi

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

My mom can be like that sometimes, she's always had bad memory lapses in the strangest of times. No drug or drink, and no sunflower seeds or nasty anti-burgular precautions, but once she called me in a nearly empty Walmart parking lot after close because she couldn't find her car and thought someone had stolen it. She called me when I was about 5 minutes away saying she found it, it just wasn't where she remembered parking it. In a nearly empty lot.

And I misread FIL as stepdad. That's a much better life outcome for you 😆

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I was stoned

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Look at this guy with his functioning brain that never forgets something just by walking 10 feet

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Yeah I read it and was like "is this guy asking how you can forget something?"

Good 30% change I forget what I was in the process of doing if I have to walk through a door to get it done.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

It has nothing to do with when or how you pay.

It's all about the lock that lets you leave the nozzle pumping while you go do something else. That's what makes it easy to forget you have the nozzle in your car, since you're not holding it for the entire filling process.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Thanks for the responses.

TIL: Americans pay first, then fill. Now I can understand how you could easily get distracted once it is in and locked.

To clarify : this is absolutely impossible to accidentally happen in the EU, because the payment transaction isn't completed until the nozzle is placed back onto its support (that's when the pump shuts off).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

What do you mean by the transaction isn't complete? Does it hold your card until the nozzle is put back, or do you pump then pay after?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's also impossible in India because they pump it for you and you're not even allowed to do it yourself

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

That doesn't make it impossible. Nozzle finishes, then you drive off before the attendant removes it. Quite possible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

That's how it is or was in many places in the US. Not many states do it anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think it's only New Jersey now. It used to be Oregon also but I think late last year they removed that requirement.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

You are correct that it is no longer required in OR but many places at least still offer it as an option

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

A lot of pumps in the US don't shut off until the nozzle is placed back on the hook, at least if you pay at the pump. It's possible that the pump could shut off if you prepay with cash and it hits the amount that you paid, but that's not as common these days. It used to be possible to pay with cash after pumping, but that's basically been phased out.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (3 children)

So are Europeans just more honest and ethical than Americans? Or do all gas stations have better theft prevention systems? In the US, there is often 1 cashier managing 12 pumps AND ringing up vice sales (cigarettes, lottery tickets, junk food). In some states there a pumps with no human on site at all.

What's to stop someone from driving off after filling up in the EU?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Probably a combination of better theft deterance, and peoples expectations for convenience. In NZ there's a mix of some stations that let you fill before paying, and some that don't. When some stations first started operating on the pay first model it felt really inconvenient and annoying, so I guess it's also a way to compete with other stations apart from price. Some stations will probably eat the cost of theft if it results in better sales.

Also probably that there's other types of crime that are more popular in Europe. Maybe because registering a vehicle is more of a hassle in many countries there than in many states in the USA? So criminals are less inclined to do crimes that will get thier vehicle wanted from cctv footage, unless they can easily steal some plates from another vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

In all EU countries I drove trough, the pump doesn't auto-start when you unhook the nozzle from the pump. I think the cashier has to manually allow it to start, from their control system/computer.

So I suspect they glance at clients through the shop's window/cameras, and they don't start the pump if you look shady (hooded, no plates on vehicle) and they suspect you may run it off.

For example if you ride a motorbike, the cashier sometimes doesn't start the pump until you remove your helmet / uncover your face (allowing cameras to see your face).

And yes, after filling-up you then need to go pay at the desk. There can be a waiting line if there are more pumps than open cashdesks.

You could easily tank then gun it. But there are cameras everywhere. They have your face & plates.

there a pumps with no human on site at all.

For these we need to swipe a payment method before the pump starts. It locks a sum on your card, say 200EUR, and when you hook the nozzle back it adjusts the payment transaction to only the amount consumed and debits you.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (2 children)

In the UK, petrol stations almost always have CCTV monitoring pumps, and can use number plates to identify anyone who leaves without paying. Probably similar in the EU I would think.

That said, it's also increasingly common to have a pay at the pump system, where you have to use your credit/debit card before you can fill up, with the amount being taken off automatically based on how much fuel you used.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

What's to stop someone driving cross-country or even just for a 1-off fill up and wearing a hat and glasses and covering their plates with cardboard and tape right before coming and going?

E: someone else in the thread mentioned an attendant will make sure they can see people's faces before starting the pump

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

How did it work before automated monitoring?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Because even though you shouldn't leave the thing unattended in case it slips out while on auto mode people do, and then just forget about it because they are distracted.

load more comments