Re: Mad Max Scenario - 2008.

"Kev" <kevcat@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:47b99123$0$26468$afc38c87@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> No because people are retards and think they being treated as potential 
> criminals and get the ****s
> yet they will happily pay before getting food at *enter choice of
plastic 
> food outlet*, pay before going to see a movie, pay before getting into 
> *enter your choice of amusement park*, pay before getting onto a 
> bus/train/ferry, pay before going on a holiday, pay before your 
> letter/parcel is sent in the mail
>
> but ask them to pay before getting petrol
> How rude

It's got absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with being "rude", and 
everything to do with not knowing how much you're going to be required to 
pay when you're asked to pay it.

In every example you cited above, people know in advance exactly how much 
they have to pay, and if they're not paying cash in those cases (which
most 
would I expect) the exact amount is deducted from their debit card. Paying

in advance for petrol is a whole different ball game as almost no one
knows 
exactly how much it's going to cost to fill their car, and as most people 
pay for their fuel by either Eftpos or credit card they have to pay a
"cover 
fee" that will be more than enough to cover the cost of their purchase and

then have the "change" credited back onto their card when the total is 
known.

In some cases that can take 24 hours to happen, and in most cases that
means 
a finance charge for the money coming out of the account and the change 
going back in. It also means that people who hover their bank accounts
right 
on the limit might have enough money to pay for their fuel but be
overdrawn 
(and rejected) in paying the "cover charge" when they try to pre-pay.

They'd also need to make the electronic payment methods *far* more
reliable 
than what they currently are, as it seems like every second time I use
mine 
the ****ing thing isn't working.

You know, there was a day when service stations employed attendants who 
would fill your car, clean your windscreen and check your oil, and you'd 
never have to do anything other than poke some cash out of your window and

wait for them to give you the change. They employed people to do this and 
made a profit, but that wasn't enough. They went "self serve" on the
promise 
of not having to pay attendant's wages meant cheaper fuel for the
motorist.

Of course, that idea lasted all of 10 ****ing minutes.

Now they want you out of the car and into their shop so you can walk past 
the rows of brightly coloured attention grabbing crap and make a bunch of 
impulse purchases before you get to the minimum wage earning console 
operator to pay for your purchase. They created the situation themselves, 
and now they're screaming that it doesn't work and they was *us* to foot
the 
bill to make it right.

**** 'em I say.

--
Regards,
Noddy.