Who said air is free?

rev_henry

There's a new sainsburys near me that proudly advertises free air. And a shell but the hose there has been leaking for ages and they never bother to fix it. I just use a decent bike track pump now.

Hard_Boiled_2

I've often wondered if these air-pumps at petrol stations are actually far less useful than they first appear, given that the worst time to accurately measure the air in a car's tyres is when they are warm after driving. Since you need to drive to the petrol station to use the pump, or do it while getting fuel, your car's tyres are warm and you'll therefore get an inaccurate reading surely?

Better just to keep a foot-pump handy and one of those little digital gauges and adjust the tyre pressures at home.

Nilrem

dickydonkin wrote: »

And how much does the product cost that is being dispensed?

The cost of electricity used is peanuts to these massive companies - what happened to good customer services? - especially as it is a safety issue as well.
.

The cost of the electricity will just be one of the ongoing costs of the machines.
They will cost a small fortune (probably many thousands of pounds) to install, they will require maintenance on a regular basis, both scheduled (IE regular safety checks on the electrical safety, oiling the compressor and probably replacing things like the seals every X hours of run time), and repairs when they are (invariably) damaged by the customer dropping them, running over the inflater etc.

Add to that the misuse they can have, things like people trying to pump up bike tyres, footballs etc with them and it's potentially costly to run.
Charging a small fee can discourage people from pumping up unsuitable items with it, whilst covering the costs of still providing it.

Remember many garages are running on a very tight profit margin (a lot don't make any real money from the sale of fuel), so that air pump is another potential additional cost.

Personally it's the sort of thing that if I wanted to pump my tyres up and I had to, I'd happily pay for if it meant it was more likely to be properly maintained.

However, everyone should have the basic tools to check their tyres in the car*/garage - it costs ~£20 to get a foot pump and gauges (tread and pressure), or a small 12v compressor (we actually have a mini compressor in the car for emergencies, and a proper one in our garage).



*Otherwise you're potentially screwed when you get a flat, and find your spare has deflated sometime in the last 2-3 years since you last looked at it.

RichGold

Never mind the air machine, recently I had a head gasket start to go and needed to top up the water. When i pulled into the garage the water machine had a new sticker on it telling me it was now a screenwash dispenser which wanted £2 for a litre of screenwash and that they no longer had water available.

m1974m

A few years ago it was free in petrol stations e.g Tesco, but are charging now. I always presumed that the charges emerged during the recession when money was short and organisations became greedy.

leosayer

Tyre pressures should be measured when the tyre is cold. You're never going to get an accurate cold pressure reading from a forecourt.

Footpumps and tyre pressure gauges cost very little and are well worth them money.

vikingaero

Years ago forecourt pumps were abused. The airline and gauge as thrown on the floor or run over, at least with these new machines with the gauge in the unit they are more reliable.

The adage is why should people who never use the airpump pay for them? If you don't like it don't use it or boycott the garage. The safety issue is a red herring - brakes are safety critical - so do you want me to pay for them?

I still think that if you don't carry a footpump/gauge (decent one for £3.99 sometimes at Aldi) then more fool you. If a pump for less than £5 is breaking your motoring budget and safety then you can't afford to run a car and should stick to public transport.

garethgas

Nilrem wrote: »

The cost of the electricity will just be one of the ongoing costs of the machines.
They will cost a small fortune (probably many thousands of pounds) to install, they will require maintenance on a regular basis, both scheduled (IE regular safety checks on the electrical safety, oiling the compressor and probably replacing things like the seals every X hours of run time), and repairs when they are (invariably) damaged by the customer dropping them, running over the inflater etc.

Add to that the misuse they can have, things like people trying to pump up bike tyres, footballs etc with them and it's potentially costly to run.
Charging a small fee can discourage people from pumping up unsuitable items with it, whilst covering the costs of still providing it.

Remember many garages are running on a very tight profit margin (a lot don't make any real money from the sale of fuel), so that air pump is another potential additional cost.

Personally it's the sort of thing that if I wanted to pump my tyres up and I had to, I'd happily pay for if it meant it was more likely to be properly maintained.

However, everyone should have the basic tools to check their tyres in the car*/garage - it costs ~£20 to get a foot pump and gauges (tread and pressure), or a small 12v compressor (we actually have a mini compressor in the car for emergencies, and a proper one in our garage).



*Otherwise you're potentially screwed when you get a flat, and find your spare has deflated sometime in the last 2-3 years since you last looked at it.

So how did they manage to provide free air for donkeys years?
The machines used today are grossly over complicated. They used to have a metal post, a hose and a gauge, all connected to the already running compressor in the back of the garage.
Also, the pump only runs if the pressure in the tank drops so its not on all the time.

atnoble32

It's a business not a charity!

chuckley

i agree with u OP. i should be free. its totally ridiculous! and ur right about the emergency thing.