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I'm wondering if anybody else is in a province/state with this type of law? What I'm referring to are laws where you are required to pre-pay before you can even pump gas at all to prevent workers from getting killed from trying to stop people who try and "Gas-n-dash" as recently happened in Ontario: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/09/20/toroncot-colle-prajapati.html

I've lived in two provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan) where there weren't such laws, and now am living in one which there is (BC) so I wondered what others have experienced, both in Canada and the USA?

I also am in the position of having worked at a Gas station while I was in University, so I know it a bit from the other side too. As is said in the story, Shell has (and had while I worked at one too) a policy of "don't chase them down, you could get killed," which apparently the attendant didn't do. I'm not blaming the guy for his own death, I'm blaming the guy who ran him down, but why is an extra law necessary to protect people here? I find it just annoying to work the machine (especially in rain or snow) and this law is protecting people from something that's already illegal: murder.

If somebody wanted to put forth a law that protected the worker from their employers so that the worker is not responsible for dash-n-gas, then fine (and I'd support it), but restricting all to pre-pay only I'm against. It's just unnecessary IMO.

When I worked in the petroleum industry (1992-98), our company was proud of the fact that they were avoiding pre-pay for as long as possible. Now there isn't a station in the area that isn't prepay. I would not be surprised to find this to be true throughout any city in the USA with a population large enough that everybody doesn't know everyone else.

--Patrick

It's all pre-pay around here. I didn't think any place allowed payment after the gas has been pumped.

Man, here in Alberta we all just pump the gas and drive away. Suckers.

No, seriously, I think I've heard of that happening maybe once here. I remember being super confused in BC the first time I encountered pre-pay.

I don't think I've ever seen a gas station where you can fill up and pay after. It's all pre-pay here. I never found it troublesome, as I just need to swipe my card at the pump and then gas away.

You can fill then pay usually during daytime hours but then after a certain time it is all prepay.

Are you more concerned about it being a law then a company prefering to use that method as a deterent or are you more so againt the action of pre-pay?

There's not a single gas station in the area that requires pre-pay up here except smaller stations out in the townships that require pre-pay after dark. It wouldn't bother me unless the station didn't have pay at the pump.

100% pre-pay here.

in the Philippines you had to pay the gasstation attendant and then he would fill it up for you.Here in Germany I never encountered a pre-paid gasstation.But then again,gas and dash isnt very common here.

I don't know if there's a law, but when gas prices started spiking here pretty much every station started requiring cash payments to be prepaid.

Since I've started paying at the pump, I can't tell. I don't think it is the law here.

A few years back I filled up regularly at a station that did not have pay at the pump. We're way out in the country and the owner should have known me. But he wanted my credit card before I filled up. He should have known me after the 5th or 10th time I filled up there. Also, I don't really trust people to hold onto my credit card for the few minutes it takes to fill an 18 gallon gas tank. That just forced me to wait in line twice to get my gas too. He also watched you like a hawk every time you entered his store, like I was going to pocket some Zingers and run out.

Needless to say, that when a larger gas station opened across the highway, he lost my business.

Telephius said:

Are you more concerned about it being a law then a company prefering to use that method as a deterent or are you more so againt the action of pre-pay?

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If people prefer pay-at-the-pump or whatever, then great on them. I'm not against the pumps or anything like that. I'd just rather go inside most of the time, and do in places that allow that.

I've also had a few bad experiences with pre-pay pumps, admittedly in the USA. I was a tourist in a rented car and it asked me for my ZIP code before it would allow me to fill. I obviously don't HAVE a ZIP code. WTF is that for anyways? Something related to verifying your credit card? Or what? That's aside from my experience in the OP where I'd rather NOT stand out in the rain/snow, or at least for as little time as possible.

I would also guess that such laws have a negative impact on gas station owners. I know many stations are corporate-owned, but many are franchises as well (the place I worked at, the owner lived across the street), and I can only imagine the negative impact on their bottom lines of not having people come in to pay. The margin on the gas itself is crap ($0.02 per litre at the place I was at, and I saw the books, so this isn't a guess, think about $0.08 per gallon for the USA), but there's actually decent margin on everything inside. So I imagine laws like these are horrible to them.

I don't know if there's a specific law around here requiring pre-pay; but there are no stations around here that allow post-pay fueling. I don't specifically know about the Seattle area, but it seemed to happen on the east side of the state around 2000-ish, so before the spike in gas prices. They always had signs at the gas stations before they changed over to pre-pay saying "you're on camera, so if you drive off without paying we'll call the cops and press charges against you for theft based on your license plate."

I've also had a few bad experiences with pre-pay pumps, admittedly in the USA. I was a tourist in a rented car and it asked me for my ZIP code before it would allow me to fill. I obviously don't HAVE a ZIP code. WTF is that for anyways? Something related to verifying your credit card? Or what? That's aside from my experience in the OP where I'd rather NOT stand out in the rain/snow, or at least for as little time as possible.

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Yes, it's a tool used to verify that your card isn't stolen... albeit, not a very good one, since you have to actually swipe a physical card, and if someone has stolen your card, chances are they stole it from your mailbox and therefore they have your zip code anyway. It's less of an actual useful tool than it is a way for companies to say "we care" without having to actually care.

The zip code thing fooled me the first time I saw it.

"ZIP CODE" is a little vague. So the first time I gave the local zip code of the station, not my home zip code.

How much would it have cost to write, "YOUR ZIP CODE" instead?

Gared said:

Yes, it's a tool used to verify that your card isn't stolen... albeit, not a very good one, since you have to actually swipe a physical card, and if someone has stolen your card, chances are they stole it from your mailbox and therefore they have your zip code anyway. It's less of an actual useful tool than it is a way for companies to say "we care" without having to actually care.

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Actually a lot of times people will buy chunks of card numbers and reprogram those gift cards with the numbers they get. Then they just go to the places that allow you to swipe your own card. So, it would cut down on them quite a bit. I know we've had quite a few customers that have gotten fraudulent charges from swiped transactions in another state and they still have their card on them.

Yes but couldn't they have a "non-USA" option on the damned terminal when that screen comes up?

No, cause we want to push you foreigners out of here as quick as possible.

Yes, it probably would be a good option.

Welcome to BC, where one stupid mistake necessitates a new law.

Do we need a dine-n-dash law too?

In California, every gas station I've ever been to has been pre-pay. I don't know if it's a law or not, that's just the way I've always known it to be. I didn't know there was anywhere left in the world they allow you to pump without paying, seemed to me like a reasonable theft-deterrent to require pre-pay. Why would a business cling on to pay-after? I don't see any change in convenience, paying before or after would involve the same amount of line-waiting.

Practically all gas stations in Belgium allow (/force you to) put in your card before fuelling - gas stations where you can even pay by cash are becoming scarce. Those that aren't, are usually with an actual person filling up your tank for you, and are small local places.
I was surprised to find how many places you had to tank first, pay afterwards in the shop on my recent tour; especially in Italy. What the hell? I don't want to wait in a line, have to go to the shop, have that much cash on me, etc. Give me a card machine right next to the pump and it's the easiest, fastest way for me.

Guess it's mostly habit/tradition. But, like David, I think it died out around here as theft went up (and people costs, of course - you need actual full time staff if it's pay-after)

Adam said:

Welcome to BC, where one stupid mistake necessitates a new law.

Do we need a dine-n-dash law too?

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Depends, has anyone been killed during a Dine and Dash?

Bowielee said:

Depends, has anyone been killed during a Dine and Dash?

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Could possibly choke on an appetizer.

David said:

Why would a business cling on to pay-after? I don't see any change in convenience, paying before or after would involve the same amount of line-waiting.

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I imagine it's because they don't want to buy a new pump for every position. That would cost a ton.

If it doesn't have pay at the pump, I don't buy gas there.

Ravenpoe said:

If it doesn't have pay at the pump, I don't buy gas there.

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why not?

phil said:

why not?

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Because I find pay at the pump far more convenient, and there are several gas stations around that do offer it.

More like practically every pump at even the smallest gas stations around here have card readers at the pump.

I'm not sure if its law in Jersey, but I usually pay before they pump.