Gas station shenanigans?

[omae mona]

When I filled up my gas tank the other day, I went to a station I've never been to before, in another neighborhood. I was watching the attendant via my side view mirror. He seemed to take a glance around to make sure nobody was looking, then he reached behind the cash register, and pulled out.... a sheet of stickers. He took a tiny yellow dot and stuck it on the inside of my gas tank door.

Granted, no harm done. But I'm curious as hell. Anybody know what this is for? What are they trying to track?

I got rid of my last clunker earlier this year, so for all I know, its gas tank door was also full of stickers I never noticed.

[Kagetsu]

Those weren't stickers... ^_~

Actually it's probably for simple tracking, though nothing sinister... Probably the next time you fill up there, they'll see you're a repeat customer, nothing more then that really.

[Visitor K]

maybe the trick is to get you curious about the stickers so that you go back to try and figure out the secret...
let us know if they change the color of the sticker next time!

[Charles]

I've never driven (or refuelled) while over there, so I'm curious, do you have different grades of gas, like premium or E85? Maybe it's just a reminder of your fuel preference, so the pump jockey doesn't make a mistake. There are apparently all sorts of little rituals involved in fueling, this thread linked to an interesting story about Japanese fueling rituals at the airport.

[james]

not a shenanigan per se, but i was curious - recently i went to the self-service station near my second school to fill up, as the listed price was about 171/l for regular. upon selecting regular and filling up i was actually billed at 165/l. at first i thought it was a pump error or they just hadn't changed the sign or i'd gone and filled my car up with diesel. i went back again though a week ago and it was the same thing - advertised price of 171/l but being charged 165/l.

are stations doing this so that they can appear to be towing the party line of a certain price, while actually attracting a customer base of people who know that it's cheaper to go there?

[omae mona]

[Mike Oxlong]

not a shenanigan per se, but i was curious - recently i went to the self-service station near my second school to fill up, as the listed price was about 171/l for regular. upon selecting regular and filling up i was actually billed at 165/l. at first i thought it was a pump error or they just hadn't changed the sign or i'd gone and filled my car up with diesel. i went back again though a week ago and it was the same thing - advertised price of 171/l but being charged 165/l.

are stations doing this so that they can appear to be towing the party line of a certain price, while actually attracting a customer base of people who know that it's cheaper to go there?

The station in my area has two price schemes - one for people filling up with small amounts (under around 2000 yen), and another for people doing the mantan thing. It is several yen/litre cheaper if you do a fill-up, rather than just 1000 or 2000 yen's worth. Maybe something like that is standard practice...the advertised price may be for those just topping off the tank, and the lower rate for those buying more volume.

[Mock Cockpit]

Mine has the 2 price thing as well. If you have an existing card you get the cheap price, you pay by cash you pay the full price.

[Mike Oxlong]

Oh yeah. We got that too, but you just need to fill out a form for a card for that particular filling station. You hand over the card when you pull up for gas, and they give you the lower rate. It's not a credit card, just some sort of Esso (or whatever brand) discount card.

[canman]

The self serve stand near my school has a prepaid card system. When you use it you can get a 5 yen discount. So while the price says 171, with the card it is only 166 per litre. I can't believe I just wrote "it is only 166" .
Anyway what kills me is the number of people who pay cash and pay full price. There are signs everywhere explaining the situation.

[IkemenTommy]

Japanese gasorin-sutando are surprisingly like airports. They have guys who wave and shout "o-rai, o-rai, o-rai" (corrupted version of "alright") as they guide you into your space, and finally give you a "hai, OK!".

It's just so people won't get overly excited and ram their cars into the shops

[james]

The self serve stand near my school has a prepaid card system. When you use it you can get a 5 yen discount. So while the price says 171, with the card it is only 166 per litre. I can't believe I just wrote "it is only 166" .
Anyway what kills me is the number of people who pay cash and pay full price. There are signs everywhere explaining the situation.

interesting. i've only ever been using my credit card when i fill up.

[james]

fuckin' prius drivers, eh?