OT: I don't want to pump my own gas
- Thread starter rutgersal
- Start date
Shouldn't they allow gas stations to include self serve and full service then? I personally prefer pumping my own gas. Supposedly Sweeney said the rule is a matter of convenience, not safey...... but if that's the case, why are their rules enforcing what they believe to be convenient for the public instead of letting the public decide for themselves?
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150519_ap_d4305ed5873d422e9160d519bddcaa89.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150519_ap_d4305ed5873d422e9160d519bddcaa89.html
Well if we pump our own the price would go even lower...less tax and no pumping surcharge.
Because the prices wont really go down, the owners will pocket the savings in payroll and we will just have to pay more for the increase in gas tax that will likely be siphoned somewhere else besides road improvements. There are a lot of college kids and retirees who count on that job of pumping gas to support themselves. I agree with Al, if its not broke, leave it alone. There are plenty of other problems they can focus their attention on
If there were a way to ensure stations offered both self-serve and full-serve equally, then it wouldn't be a problem. But since gas stations make more money from self-serve, there is no incentive for them to offer full-serve. Like every other state, most gas stations will just stop offering full-serve, making full-serve an inconvenient choice, if the choice exists at all.
And even in the 3-year phase in period, when stations are required to offer full-serve, gas stations will do everything in their power to steer you toward the more profitable self-serve. That means limiting the full-serve pumps, and limiting the number of attendants at those pumps to make service as slow as possible, plus jacking up the price for full-serve to price it out of the market.
Unfortunately, there is really no way to ensure a legitimate consumer choice between full-serve and self-serve. It is one or the other.
Al, you're able to pump your own gas 24/7 at most stations. Very convenient, especially if you find yourself in the sticks with an 1/8 tank.
[QUOTE="
Unfortunately, there is really no way to ensure a legitimate consumer choice between full-serve and self-serve. It is one or the other.[/QUOTE]
You keep saying this, but if there is enough of a market for full-serve, why won't stations offer it? They should be able to raise prices to the point where it'll be just as profitable as self-serve. And people will pay those prices because full-serve is so much better than self-serve. and it's NJ, where people have plenty of money. Sure, maybe full-serve will go extinct in some areas, but the wealthy enclaves full of people that can't fathom dropping down so far as to pump their own gas - heaven forbid, what about my fur! - should opt for the full serve right?
Or is full-serve really so uncompetitive that the only way it can survive is to be artificially propped up by faulty laws? If so, the argument for self serve makes itself.
Unfortunately, there is really no way to ensure a legitimate consumer choice between full-serve and self-serve. It is one or the other.[/QUOTE]
You keep saying this, but if there is enough of a market for full-serve, why won't stations offer it? They should be able to raise prices to the point where it'll be just as profitable as self-serve. And people will pay those prices because full-serve is so much better than self-serve. and it's NJ, where people have plenty of money. Sure, maybe full-serve will go extinct in some areas, but the wealthy enclaves full of people that can't fathom dropping down so far as to pump their own gas - heaven forbid, what about my fur! - should opt for the full serve right?
Or is full-serve really so uncompetitive that the only way it can survive is to be artificially propped up by faulty laws? If so, the argument for self serve makes itself.
Well said.
Come on, people....wake up.
Which of these is most likely to be the motivation for this bill:
1. The legislators wanna save the consumer a few more cents on the price of gas.
2. They wanna give the public a choice....to pump or not to pump.
3. They wanna cut the overhead for those things we once called service stations.
Hard choice, huh ?
I would love to be able to pump my own gas.. is so much more convenient and saves time waiting for those attendants. but it is going to suck for those of us who currently utilize discounted pricing by paying cash for gas. I am typically paying about 4% less per gallon than the credit card price... which is offset slightly by any 1% or 1.5% cash back deal I could get from a credit card purchase... but my wife and I drive a lot of miles and that discount saves us a few hundred dollars a year. Would be a pain in the rear to have to go pay cash inside to pump gas to get a discount. Or perhaps that option would go away altogether.
Yeah, let's put more people out of work to save a few pennies...I love to pump my own gas and due often,,,but not if it means more folks losing work (this from a somewhat consevative right leaning independent)
This is New Jersey's biggest or top 10 issue right now?
This is New Jersey's biggest or top 10 issue right now?
I want so badly to defend New Jersey but I can't defend the weak sauce on this thread. Grown men complaining about walking inside to pay for gas or operating a pump. Are you guys afraid to operate the do it yourself line at the grocery store too?
Well, I do avoid it......but not because I'm afraid.
I just can't help wondering what those 75 year old ladies who currently ring up my purchases at ShopRite are gonna do for money in the future. Pump gas I guess.
I love the logic self-serve opponents use. Pretty sure teens still find jobs and old ladies still get around okay in the 48 states that allow self-serve stations. Pumping gas is just part of driving a car in those places; people survive.
Do you also avoid purchasing things online to protect the jobs of the workers at those stores too? How many other jobs are you killing with consumer decisions that lead to robotics, outsourcing, and automation?
As a Godless socialist liberal, I love the gas service attendant law. It's like a tax on gas stations that's too toxic to repeal by Republicans because it directly would eliminate lower middle class jobs.
For those of you who think eliminating taxes on corporations leads to cheaper prices for consumers, I urge you to reconsider - time and time again your theory has been proven to be incorrect. There is no incentive for gas stations to say "hey, my local politician saved me some cash, let me do him a mitsvah and give that money away to Jane and Joe customer". They're in business to set prices as are competitive and make money for their shareholders.
What happened when airlines reaped the billions of profit from lower gas prices? Did they give you and I cheaper tickets? Did they remove gasoline surcharges? No, they pocketed the profits, invested, paid down debts, and gave shareholders a great payday. That's their prerogative as businesses.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/today...nt-mean-lower-airfares-anytime-soon/22155781/
For those of you who think eliminating taxes on corporations leads to cheaper prices for consumers, I urge you to reconsider - time and time again your theory has been proven to be incorrect. There is no incentive for gas stations to say "hey, my local politician saved me some cash, let me do him a mitsvah and give that money away to Jane and Joe customer". They're in business to set prices as are competitive and make money for their shareholders.
What happened when airlines reaped the billions of profit from lower gas prices? Did they give you and I cheaper tickets? Did they remove gasoline surcharges? No, they pocketed the profits, invested, paid down debts, and gave shareholders a great payday. That's their prerogative as businesses.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/today...nt-mean-lower-airfares-anytime-soon/22155781/
I don't really shop online. I didn't mean to imply that every decision I make is based on whether or not people may lose jobs. But there are some instances where it's really obvious and really easy to avoid contributing to the problem. Gas pumping and check out ladies at ShopRite are two such cases IMO.
I don't want to pump my own gas either. My only gripe with gas men are that a lot of times they do not tighten the gas cap all the way, and then the check engine light goes on a few hundred miles later. I now always listen for the clicking sound and if I don't hear it ask the gas man to tighten the cap.
Who exactly is making a living by working as a gas station attendant? These people adapt and find other employment. Can't believe this is actually a debate.
never said that...but they are jobs and a pretty good number of jobs I would guess. And I heard the other day that NJ was actually near the bottom in Job creation last few years. Got enough people collecting government benefits for nothing. At least these peolple are working for a living.
Correct. Full-serve is so uncompetitive that the only way it survives is if it is required by law. But it is not uncompetitive from a consumer perspective. It is uncompetitive from a station-owner perspective. By eliminating full-serve, a station owner can eliminate the cost of full-serve without passing that savings on to the consumer. The self-serve model is more profitable for the station-owner.
This thread reminds me of the first time I bought gas at a self-serve station, which probably was in 1982, but might have been 1983. I pulled up to the pump and waited for the attendant to come and ask me what I wanted. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that nobody was coming.
Anyway, as others have said, the big impacts of allowing self-serve will be to kill off those jobs and to have the savings go to the station owners.
By the way, as someone who drives between Virginia and New York a fair amount, I've noticed that New Jersey has a lot more stations with differential prices for cash and credit than the other states. (They exist in VA, MD, DE and NY, but there aren't nearly as many.) I wonder why that is.
Anyway, as others have said, the big impacts of allowing self-serve will be to kill off those jobs and to have the savings go to the station owners.
By the way, as someone who drives between Virginia and New York a fair amount, I've noticed that New Jersey has a lot more stations with differential prices for cash and credit than the other states. (They exist in VA, MD, DE and NY, but there aren't nearly as many.) I wonder why that is.
the gas station model will change with self serve.
Currently we have a few kinds of stations:
- regular gas station with small snack area that sells gas at competitive prices
- gas station with service bays that may sell gas at inflated prices since the service bays are the main function of the station and not the gas sales
- gas station / convenience store set up (ie. Wawa) where the prices are competitive and they may not charge extra for credit.
The future model will be for the Wawa type stations and for the mechanic service bay stations to lower their prices since they will not need to hire someone to watch the bays. The gas only places will struggle a bit in comparison since the other 2 may be able to cut their margins more.
I personally prefer the Wawa stations because they don't charge extra for credit cards plus I typically pick up a drink to bring to work after I fill up. Many people buy coffee, cigarettes, and sandwiches for lunch after filling up.
Currently we have a few kinds of stations:
- regular gas station with small snack area that sells gas at competitive prices
- gas station with service bays that may sell gas at inflated prices since the service bays are the main function of the station and not the gas sales
- gas station / convenience store set up (ie. Wawa) where the prices are competitive and they may not charge extra for credit.
The future model will be for the Wawa type stations and for the mechanic service bay stations to lower their prices since they will not need to hire someone to watch the bays. The gas only places will struggle a bit in comparison since the other 2 may be able to cut their margins more.
I personally prefer the Wawa stations because they don't charge extra for credit cards plus I typically pick up a drink to bring to work after I fill up. Many people buy coffee, cigarettes, and sandwiches for lunch after filling up.
Yeah, except that it was station owners that pushed the ban on self-serve through to begin with.
Not sure if NJ has it, but in other places there are also supermarket gas stations. You get a per-gallon discount every time you buy groceries. Last time I used it, saved 50 cents per gallon. Probably well cheaper than NJ, despite how self-serve "only benefits station owners" (I.e. bullshit made up by guys that don't want to pump their own gas).
Yeah. In 1945.
In the past 20 years, the convenience store association and petroleum council have lobbied in support self serve, as have several of the corporations that own and operate chains of gas stations. These are the guys who will profit from self-serve. http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/pubhear/040300rs.htm
Want a laugh? Paid $101 for 12 gallons of Regular gas on Sunday at Budget car rental "return" outlet at EWR airport. Fill up transacted by a professional attendant. Wow-eeee. This included a $20 "security fee." Say what? That’s the price of convenience, I guess, Jersey-style. Of course, I could have filled up at one of the many conveniently located, easily accessible service stations surrounding the airport. Hehehe....
The problem is the gas stations around here aren't large enough nor have enough pumps to allow idiots to take 20 minutes to pump their own gas.
That's your fault for not filling the car up beforehand. You signed a contract that if you don't return the car with the same amount of fuel it started with you'll end up paying like 8 bucks a gallon. If you took the turnpike depending where you came on you easily could've passed 3-4 gas stations.
My Mother is 90 years old and she agrees with Sweeney. Unfortunately she lives in PA now because the property taxes drove her out of NJ. She has learned to cope, just like the folks in the other 49 States.
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