Petrol pump attendants are back!

Some of us may not remember the days when there were petrol pump attendants that fill up your tank for free saving you time; well now they are set to come back with Shell recruiting new staff to help customers fill up at around 300 petrol stations. A few years ago petrol stations started to put up self service petrol pumps, where you fill up and also pay at the same time. This saved motorists time so they don’t have to go into the shop to pay for their petrol. Although some people have tried it, it is not very favoured with many finding it hard to accept non-human interaction.

The reason Shell have decided to re-introduce pump attendants is mostly to do with customer loyalty - they think that customers will keep coming back to them to save a little on time. In reality I don’t think that is the case as Shell tends to be one of the costliest places to fill up. Not only will Shell be filling up your car with fuel but they will be able to carry out basic maintenance checks to ensure optimum car performance. Oil levels and car tyre pressure can be checked for free by AA trained staff in the future.

Funnily enough many forecourts around the world already operate with pump attendants on hand free of charge in most cases. For the price we have to pay for fuel in this country, I’m surprised it took so long for someone to think of this; England is one of the countries where fuel is ridiculously priced.

Some people have been rather sceptical about this attracting more loyal customers. It has been rumoured that the real reason behind this is because of the amount of fuel theft that has been taking place. There have been many drivers filling up on fuel and driving off without paying, could this be really the reason behind it?

I however welcome this new plan, as an avid traveller many countries I have travelled to have this practice in place. In most countries this service is free whereas in others a small tip is customary. There are even some countries where I have tried to fill up my tank and found out it is illegal to do it yourself; an attendant has to do it for you. If anything I think this new plan will be interesting and I hope that other forecourts follow suit. Take for example when you are going out for a nice dinner, the woman is nicely dress, hair and makeup perfected and the weather is bad, windy etc, it saves you having to worry about your hair or your dress blowing in the wind. You can sit in the comfort of your own car in winter and mothers do not have to worry about leaving children in the car or having to drag them inside to pay.