Petrol stations and the rogue 1p

[Garlick]

Today I filled up the Merc, and as I was paying with cash I wanted to stop on a round figure.

Sods law dictated that I went over by 1p and I went to pay. At the desk I moaned about my rubbish skills and handed over an extra tenner. The chap behind the counter said dont worry about it and waived the extra penny.

Surely this must happen many times every day? How can they balance the tills? Do they pay out of their own pocket so we don't have to? Or do they overcharge the next man?.....I'm sure they add on the penny as it's a rare art to get it to settle on .00

[ewenm]

Our local Esso has a tray with a few pennies in it that are by the till specifically for this purpose - you can take one to pay for the rogue penny overfill.

[DickSkruttock]

This happens to me all the time!!

[MonkeyBusiness]

Someone on another forum I use mentioned this the other day. Are the pumps also getting faster so it would be harder to stop on an exact number?

[vrooom]

Its all must add up, to create "record" profit every year...

[anonymous-user]

ewenm said:

Our local Esso has a tray with a few pennies in it that are by the till specifically for this purpose - you can take one to pay for the rogue penny overfill.

Our local BP has this too, it's a daft thing but they get more of my custom because of it, the local Texaco made me break a tenner and I've never been back

[Alex@POD]

Usually, and I'm sure this happens a lot to everyone, I slow right down when I get close to the desired price, I see it click penny by penny:
19.95, 19.96, 19.97, 19.98, 19.99........20.01.

[davepoth]

MonkeyBusiness said:

Someone on another forum I use mentioned this the other day. Are the pumps also getting faster so it would be harder to stop on an exact number?

pumps aren't getting faster, the £ per litre is going up.

[vrooom]

Do slow filling up have any effect on flow or are they just drip?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

I always keep a couple of 1p coins in the car for such circumstances, However I find 90% of the time they just say dont worry about the penny.

[sidaorb]

Compared with the amount of money lost on drive-offs, the odd penny here and there won't bother them too much.

Can't believe that there isn't more pressure put on these petrol forecourts to reduce the amount of crime they generate, love the French method of large posts or barriers that only lower once you have paid.

[lankybob]

Alex@POD said:

Usually, and I'm sure this happens a lot to everyone, I slow right down when I get close to the desired price, I see it click penny by penny:
19.95, 19.96, 19.97, 19.98, 19.99........20.01.

This only happens to me on those bloody digital display pumps rather than the mechanical ones!

[Garlick]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

I always keep a couple of 1p coins in the car for such circumstances, However I find 90% of the time they just say dont worry about the penny.

Good idea.

As for the waiving, do you think they just expect to 'lose' a few hundred £ every month?

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Garlick said:

Good idea.

As for the waiving, do you think they just expect to 'lose' a few hundred £ every month?

Im fairly confident that the profits can swallow it.

[Garlick]

True.

[LimitedSlipDisk]

This happens to me quite alot, I go over by 1 or 2p. I don't know why I don't stop when it's at say £39.99 surely you don't get much more fuel for your penny?

[Garlick]

LimitedSlipDisk said:

This happens to me quite alot, I go over by 1 or 2p. I don't know why I don't stop when it's at say £39.99 surely you don't get much more fuel for your penny?

A very good point!

[wackojacko]

Happens to me all the bleedin time
altough they must get atleast 15p out of as some don't seem to pump or cut in until you hit 15-20p so 1p is nothing for them I suppose ?

[anonymous-user]

Although it would seem we all do this quite often, how often do you all pay by cash? I reckon for me I use the card 8/10 times, so maybe it really doesn't affect them much?

[AndyFoo]

This seemed fairly common on my last holiday, twice at the pumps I got about 6 cents waived and then in a shop got a couple of cents waived again. It seems in the Canaries the odd Cents here and there are more effort than they're worth. Though I was always told, look after the Pennies and the pounds look after themselves!