Who said air is free?

alistair.long

What about if you goto a BP petrol station with a low tyre, put in 20p and the machine cant pump up your tyre, instead it lets the air out, annoyed me. I went inside and they never even gave me my 20p back, never even complained to headoffice but not used BP since for fuel or air.

redped

chuckley wrote: »

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

As others have asked, who do you think should pay to install/service/repair the machine? The garage that is probably struggling to survive? There are plenty of garages around here that have gone out of business, so expecting them to provide air free of charge isn't going to be high on a garage owner's list of priorities.

If you're not happy, buy a compressor and keep it in your boot for emergencies.

dickydonkin

atnoble32 wrote: »

It's a business not a charity!

So you are quite happy with a price increase of around well over 100%?

I didn't mind the 20 pence - but these garages are taking the p**s now.

If these companies are so desperate - then what next - charging to use the toilets?

CaptainKidd

dickydonkin wrote: »

My opinion for what it's worth is that this is potentially a safety issue.

People running on a flat tyre may not have change to use the machine and drive on tyres in a dangerous condition or even be discouraged to use the pump.

How can it be a safety issue? for starters you should not be driving with a flat tyre, secondly you are resposible for the maintainance of your car. A responsible person would carry either a foot pump or a plug in car one with them at all times if they where that concerned. If i get a flat in the country and theres no pump about in the middle of no where then is that the petrol stations fault aswell?

I really hate this society we live in now where its always someone elses fault, you drive a car then you are responsible for all to do with it end of,

Rolandtheroadie

CaptainKidd wrote: »

A responsible person would carry either a foot pump or a plug in car one with them at all times if they where that concerned.

Or a spare?

Kilty_2

As said, maintainance costs money, do you think these machines maintain themselves for free?

Nilrem

garethgas wrote: »

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.

They probably managed to provide them for years because they made more money elsewhere in the business.

Some parts of any decent compressor will be checked on a regular basis - either timed (6 monthly, daily etc), or at set usage intervals (every X hours).
Things like air filters (needed to keep the air going into the piston clean...) can get mucky just sitting there, as well as when in use, the oil levels will need checking daily/weekly (depending on if it's an oiled piston, or more expensive oil free one which might need the o-rings replaced every couple of years), things like the hoses, and gauges will need checking for damage/replacing from time to time.

There will also be fairly stringent safety requirements for them as they are on the forecourt and used by the public (I'm guessing regular electrical safety checks at a minimum).

Re the "already running compressor", which one?
Most modern garages don't seem to have an air compressor on site apart from the one on the forecourt (anything that needs pneumatics these days on your average petrol station probably comes with it's own unit).

I actually doubt they even break even on the ones that are coin operated given the costs involved, the chances are it just helps defray the running costs.

But as I say, anyone running a car should really have their own gear for checking the tyres when they are cold.
Mind you, I suspect many people rely on the MOT (if they bother with one), for that.

dickydonkin

Nilrem wrote: »

They probably managed to provide them for years because they made more money elsewhere in the business.

So what's Tesco's excuse then?

Garages have been charging (20p) for years though.

I am not disputing that - what my gripe is an increase of over 100% - and before they used to charge 20p - the provision of air was free!

dickydonkin

CaptainKidd wrote: »

How can it be a safety issue? for starters you should not be driving with a flat tyre, secondly you are resposible for the maintainance of your car. A responsible person would carry either a foot pump or a plug in car one with them at all times if they where that concerned. If i get a flat in the country and theres no pump about in the middle of no where then is that the petrol stations fault aswell?

I really hate this society we live in now where its always someone elses fault, you drive a car then you are responsible for all to do with it end of,

That argument is a silly one.

Flat tyres are not about maintenance - it can happen to old tyres as well as new ones at anytime and anywhere. Even well maintained cars break down but tyre failures generally create reactive measures and no amount of planned preventative maintenance will guarantee that a tyre or its valve will not fail.

What about Truck Drivers who may develop a soft tyre that they may not have been aware of but only realised when the truck was fully freighted? I can assure you from personal experience that it does happen - regularly.

I can just imagine some poor trucker attempting to blow up his super singles with a foot pump or one of those electronic pumps as described earlier.

People may be driving cars that are not their own i.e. company cars or a friends/relatives/hire car - I suspect that many of these won't carry pumps, spare bulbs etc. Does that make the drivers of those vehicles irresponsible?
Of course not.

How can it be a safety issue?

Because if a deflated tyre occurred to the drivers described above, then it is a safety issue.

Certainly I would pay 50p (grudgingly) to blow up a tyre as I owe it to my own safety as other road users - and a 'token' charge is fine - but just as supermarkets provide free shopping bags to customers (well most do) would it really break the bank to provide free air as well? - Every little helps.

garethgas

Nilrem wrote: »

They probably managed to provide them for years because they made more money elsewhere in the business.

Some parts of any decent compressor will be checked on a regular basis - either timed (6 monthly, daily etc), or at set usage intervals (every X hours).
Things like air filters (needed to keep the air going into the piston clean...) can get mucky just sitting there, as well as when in use, the oil levels will need checking daily/weekly (depending on if it's an oiled piston, or more expensive oil free one which might need the o-rings replaced every couple of years), things like the hoses, and gauges will need checking for damage/replacing from time to time.

There will also be fairly stringent safety requirements for them as they are on the forecourt and used by the public (I'm guessing regular electrical safety checks at a minimum).

Re the "already running compressor", which one?
Most modern garages don't seem to have an air compressor on site apart from the one on the forecourt (anything that needs pneumatics these days on your average petrol station probably comes with it's own unit).

I actually doubt they even break even on the ones that are coin operated given the costs involved, the chances are it just helps defray the running costs.

But as I say, anyone running a car should really have their own gear for checking the tyres when they are cold.
Mind you, I suspect many people rely on the MOT (if they bother with one), for that.

I think you've missed my point.
I was referring to the 'good ol days' when the air line was an auxilliary to the already running compressor in a traditionl garage. As opposed to modern petrol stations which are not really garages and so would, as you say need a self contained unit.
If I'm honest, I hadn't really thought of that one.
Still hate paying though :beer: