I think I must be unique in that on the three occasions I have visited this petrol station in the last year (I came to buy V-Power, which is not available at all petrol stations) there have been problems with the pumps: pumps not zeroing even after a five minute wait, pumps “zeroing” to numerals that are some way above zero (on two occasions 4p and 26p respectively) so that I end up being asked to pay for fuel I haven’t used, pumps that zero but, after doing so, refuse to allow petrol to flow no matter how the nozzle is held or the trigger depressed, and pumps that start to dispense petrol when the trigger is pressed and then suddenly stop dispensing permanently for no apparent reason whatsoever after only a few pounds worth of fuel has been dispensed.
In case you’re wondering, yes, after forty years of driving all manner of vehicles I do know how to use a petrol pump, and no, I wasn’t inserting the nozzle too deep into the tank or doing anything different from what I’ve done over the last forty years of problem-free petrol buying.
I would be inclined to be more forgiving if any of the staff who had been on duty at the times of my visits had been even remotely competent to deal with the problem, or had at least demonstrated some genuine willingness to be anything other than completely unhelpful. As it was, the staff I encountered came up with various throwaway and, frankly, contradictory explanations for the problems I was encountering:
“Oh, that pump must have a problem, move to another pump”. Same problem on the other pump.
“It’s your technique that’s wrong, you’re holding the nozzle too high”. So I tried it near the ground, whilst filling, or trying to fill rather, a spare petrol can; the result was exactly the same, i.e. no petrol.
“You’re holding the nozzle too low”.
Sigh!
On the most recent occasion I visited, another motorist who could see the difficulties I was encountering, and was concerned that I was perhaps using the wrong technique, even came over to the pump and confirmed for himself that there was nothing wrong with my technique but something obviously very wrong with the pump.
I left the station after around twenty minutes during which I visited three different pumps, made four separate trips into the shop to seek help, but only managed to extract a grand total of less than £5 of petrol.
I am prepared to discuss this matter further with Shell but not on this platform. Perhaps Shell would be good enough to respond to this review by providing a phone number where my problem can be dealt with by people who are actually in a position to do more than just listen, or appear to listen, sympathetically.
I would like to continue to be able to buy petrol at this station, but, given my three experiences so far, I am not hopeful that if I visit again I will not have exactly the same problems as before. A suggested strategy from Shell for dealing with any further problems would be greatly appreciated.