Metropol

I noted some new petrol pumps at a local Tesco store of mine today. The whole experience has been upgraded with more buttons, colour LCD screen, Pay@Pump is a bit different, and the pump will let you set a price cap before you start dispensing and will cut off when you reach that amount.

The pump I was at was only allowing pay at kiosk transactions though (note stuck on it) and due to a queue, I couldn't really play about with it. That said, I did notice that upon lifting the nozzle, the screen changed and a green "Unleaded" graphic appeared on it, which was I thought was kinda cool.

I availed myself of my accumulated 2p a litre Clubcard Fuel Save discount the other day using Pay@Pump.

I was impressed with the way the process all took place pre-fuelling: after scanning my Clubcard I was asked by the payment terminal if I wanted to activate the discount. Upon selecting 'yes' there was a message like 'the price of your fuel has been lowered'. The price on the LCD on the actual pump then went down from 127.9 to 125.9. A nice touch.

I wonder if it was a big job for the techies to get the pumps to receive instructions from the payment terminals to lower the price of the fuel, considering all the different ages and models of equipment across the Tesco estate (the pump I used looked about 20 years old, with the Pay@Pump retro-fitted).

I had 12p off the other day. It's a very slick operation I have to admit, I'd also be fascinated to find out how much technical work went into it. Might be worth a tweet at dresserman actually.

It is a really good scheme generally - especially for people like me who rarely do big shops but cumulatively spend loads at Tesco.

Does anyone know why Asda have *completely* different tills in Petrol to the ones they have in store? The ones in petrol stations seem to be the same things Morrisons have (with really laggy pin pad instructions).

scottishtv wrote:

Alexia wrote:

WillPS wrote:This behavior has been the case for ages, Alexia. I don't believe JS Self-Services have ever automatically launched the payment screen - to my knowledge the only ones who ever have are Tesco.

I give up.

I don't. I've stated that it took me a while to get used to this alteration. The alteration went from inserting card without having to press "card payment", to after the change where the till now insists that you do. I used to just shove the card in every time and it just worked. The confirmation that a change to 'Press Card' was brought in was confirmed by Philip Cobbold in this post.

This is dull as shit now. I have no memory of JS self-serve machines ever doing anything under those circumstances than:

1. Saying "Card Inserted Too Early" on the Pin pad screen
2. Doing nothing (leaving you to press Card) and/or saying "card detected, please select card type"
3. Doing the present "press card" instruction

I could be wrong, but I don't think I am and frankly I don't care.

WillPS wrote:It is a really good scheme generally - especially for people like me who rarely do big shops but cumulatively spend loads at Tesco.

Conversely, it's a bit useless for people like me who cumulatively spend a lot at Tesco but don't own a car. Can I have some money off my Oyster card instead?

thegeek wrote:

WillPS wrote:It is a really good scheme generally - especially for people like me who rarely do big shops but cumulatively spend loads at Tesco.

Conversely, it's a bit useless for people like me who cumulatively spend a lot at Tesco but don't own a car. Can I have some money off my Oyster card instead?

Obviously that's a flippant comment but it's not really a fair comparison.

Tesco sell fuel as a product, and contrary to popular belief they make a bit of money on it (mostly through stoozing the cash). Offering discount on fuel is essentially a promotion like any other.

Aside from anything, even if Tesco offered an Oyster top-up (and they probably do, I've no idea) - it would be offered as a convenience rather than a profit-making enterprise. I doubt very much that TfL would be happy with them discounting them at all.

Sainsburys regularly offer me Pet Insurance discounts from their coupon-printer but I can't make any use of it because their Pet Insurance doesn't cover bunnies. I don't expect them to give me an equivalent discount with another provider.

All these promotions are basically rubbish anyway (max discount is 20p per litre, which in my little Punto will save me a maximum of £9) - but as a perk it's much more inclusive and fair than competitor/previous schemes.

WillPS wrote: Does anyone know why Asda have *completely* different tills in Petrol to the ones they have in store? The ones in petrol stations seem to be the same things Morrisons have (with really laggy pin pad instructions).

I can't say I've seen one myself, but do some ASDA petrol stations have a proper shop to accompany them, as in a traditional forecourt store like Sainsbury's and Tesco do, or do they not, in keeping with their lack of ambition to have a 'convenience' format like Express or Local? The only ASDA petrol stations I've been to have had toll booth/drive-thru style exits where you pay someone at one of the booths blocking the exit. I think they might have had some pay at pump variation also, but I might be making that bit up.

Critique wrote:

WillPS wrote: Does anyone know why Asda have *completely* different tills in Petrol to the ones they have in store? The ones in petrol stations seem to be the same things Morrisons have (with really laggy pin pad instructions).

I can't say I've seen one myself, but do some ASDA petrol stations have a proper shop to accompany them, as in a traditional forecourt store like Sainsbury's and Tesco do, or do they not, in keeping with their lack of ambition to have a 'convenience' format like Express or Local? The only ASDA petrol stations I've been to have had toll booth/drive-thru style exits where you pay someone at one of the booths blocking the exit. I think they might have had some pay at pump variation also, but I might be making that bit up.

There are a couple with shops; I've not seen one in the flesh.

I've seen plenty of "drive thru" Asdas, including some with Pay at Pump (a really clunky horrible thing that spits out receipts the size of a rizla paper) - and there's even a few with tiny pay at pump only unmanned stations.

Asda's take on the convenience format is the Asda Supermarket concept in the old netto estate.

WillPS wrote:I could be wrong, but I don't think I am and frankly I don't care.

Yes also another vote for Sainsburys tills never just accepting cards without pushing the button first. Perhaps that store was a trial one?

Out of curiosity, are the supermarket self-scan / normal checkouts tied together for things like layaways? I know at B&Q you can layaway on a self-scan for whatever reason and pick it up on a normal till, can you do that in other stores?

ASDA put in a completely unmanned 24/7 pay at pump only filling station at their Edinburgh Chesser store about a year ago. First time I've encountered a completely unmanned filling station in the UK.

I'd kindof assumed it wouldn't be allowed on safety grounds, but it's there and has a couple of jet washes which taxi drivers can be seen using at midnight.

I also hate the receipts, and the fiddly little perspex plasticy thing they sit behind to try and stop them falling out on to the ground straight after printing.

EDIT: Here's the planning application. The Design & access statement gives a good overview of how it works and the link marked Photos shows others already in use, (direct document linking won't work it seems.)