Machine scam.

Had a low tire, so I pulled into a station. Air now $0.75. Needed air bad so I dropped in 3 quarters. WHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR but no air. Machine broken. Station workers "we know nothing" "Owner not here" "Machine belongs to a guy in Ohio".

Bet the station owner gets a piece of the action.
Bet the owner of the machine is getting rich.
Bet this scam is happening all over America.
Bet he would be mad as hell if the machine was full of slugs or epoxy...that would be against the law.
Bet he would say it was an honest mistake...but no refund...the owner is in OHio.

Stealing is neither capitalism nor free. enterprize.

(quoted from post at 10:54:31 02/01/12) Had a low tire, so I pulled into a station. Air now $0.75. Needed air bad so I dropped in 3 quarters. WHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR but no air. Machine broken. Station workers "we know nothing" "Owner not here" "Machine belongs to a guy in Ohio".

Bet the station owner gets a piece of the action.
Bet the owner of the machine is getting rich.
Bet this scam is happening all over America.
Bet he would be mad as hell if the machine was full of slugs or epoxy...that would be against the law.
Bet he would say it was an honest mistake...but no refund...the owner is in OHio.

Stealing is neither capitalism nor free. enterprize.

Click to expand...

Just don't say the name of that state that is just north of tou or east of Ohio.... Folks there ain't so bad but the ones that claim em for family sure get em in a wad....... :shock:

4 or 5 more trips like that and you could afford one of these.....

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-250-psi-compact-air-compressor-4077.html

Yes, what a dis-service these places are, something that used to be a complimentary part of a service station, is now a royal pain in the @ss.

Now I realize there are things behind the scenes, a compressor to maintain, power bills to pay, hoses and fittings, chocks for the public to abuse/steal like they do public restrooms, I know enough about the owners end because in conjunction with our old ford tractor dealership, we were also full service Mobil station adjoined, matter of a fact thats what started the business long before us.

I had the same thing happen, come home from work, must have hit something, tire just about off the rim, I made it up the hill a busy 4 lane corridor, running the bead on the rim, stop at 3 places within sight of each other, first 2 are broke, last one same thing .75 cents please and no air, middle easterner owner, blah blah mumbo jumbo... finally got air so I did not get stuck, only 1.5 miles to the house, but it would have burned up or whatever happens when you keep running on a flat, lucky it did stay on the bead.

The thing with those cigarette lighter plug in emergency compressor, warning/flash light things is they are slow and cheaply made, they do the job, someone ought to build a better quality one, they do work and will save you in a bind.

But, I bet if you hit that air machine, with a BFH, they would call the cops!

Unrelated, but..............a friend of a friend used to own a restaurant/night club. In the ladies restroom, he put one of those machines on the wall which dispense fancy, uh, uh, you know whats. $1.00 each, except he NEVER stocked the thing. He owned the business for several years before moving on and took about $300.00 per month out of the thing and never received ONE SINGLE COMPLAINT.

like holy man, ten blonds each day.

I understand the need of c-stores to supplement their income and cut costs. Two things that really make me soreaying for air and prepaying for gas. I know it is their business and their money and if I want to get it from them, I need to do it their way. Nevertheless, these two things irk me enough that I note which stores or chains of stores are set up this way and just avoid them in the future. If I pull into a station and find out they require prepay, I figure out the minimum amount I actually need and get that. I prefer to give my money to people who are willing to trust my integrity.

Christopher

It's prepay as far as the eye can see around here. From the days when there used to be a number of independent stations that a large number of drive-off's (people who would gas up then drive off without paying) could put an owner in the red as profits are slim on gas sales. I'm not an owner or former owner but know people who used to be in the business before the large companies squeezed the independents out.

Poor service most likely but a scam doubtful. I don't doubt the worker's statement as I have seen plenty of owners with poor attitudes. Most do not learn until the now former owner joins his former employees as a fellow wage slave after he has lost the business to somebody else.

EDD.You might consider what we have, A 12 volt battery driven air compressor that we carry in the vehicle just for emergency low tire pressure. Cheap insurance. No pay any station for air . LOU.

Put paint on the machine, saying "BROKE"
To prevent the jerkoff from scamming others.

We were out in the middle of no-where doing property inspections a while back in the company car. a rock got wedged between the brake disk and some sort of little tinny shield. It was making a Heii if a racket. We pulled into a little one horse town, with a one horse service station. Like we used to have, remember? The attendant jacked the car up, took the wheel off, and pulled the rock out.

No charge.

Try getting that at a C- store.

I told him I appreciate the no charge, but handed him a $10 and told him it was a "tip"

Gene

Better carry extra fuses. Only time I used one of those, it blew the fuse in about 30 seconds.

Pay for air. Around here, every c-store has an air hose and it's free.

Nancy I cut lighter plug off mine added enough cord to reach trailer and added clips to hook direct to battery. figured this out after having to unhook to reach trailer tire.

You will watch where you stop next time. Those pay machines are not very good when they work

Around here...people kept stealing the air hoses and sometimes the compressor too. :roll:

I don't much care for Casey's gas (or pizza) but most of the Casey's stores around here have free air.

I have also had usually poor results with the pay for air type machines. DOUG

How long before at costs a dollar to take a leak?

watch for Pilot/Flying J stations.Go in the truck entrance & go to the last diesel pump, or, if a truck is in it, go to the other side of the concrete barrier. Free air, up to 150 lbs pressure on 100' roll-up hose. Sometimes the truckers steal the fittings so I carry all I need. Fill my air tanks there too.