IT REALLY annoys me!!!!!

[PU7E]

They should have more petrol stations like the asda one in High Wycombe, you fill up and then go onto the drive through kiosks, it's awesomely lazy!

 

[Dano]

Company policy (BP) states that you should be asked to take off your helmet (there is also a sign on the door to say to remove helmet before entering) and get off your bike before being allowed to fuel, I've never asked myself due to knowing how much grief it can be but please don't blame somebody for doing their job as required. If you use a BP and don't get asked then the cashier authorising is putting themselves at risk of disciplinary action everytime, mind you, the same goes for letting people fuel cars with the door open and people filling more than two 5 litre cans

 

[MADMAN69UK]

Never been asked personally.

The local garage I frequent most has pay at the pump which I love. If my normal side is free I can roll in, take 1 glove off, beep beep, glug glug, glove back on, bwaaaa bwaaaa!

I can understand why they might want you to remove your helmet, but I really don't understand the getting off your bike thing.

You can't fill the bike to the top if it's on the side stand... What's the rationale behind that one?

 

[Dano]

According to BP it's the same as having the car door open, possible indication of a drive off, ridiculous right?

 

[MADMAN69UK]

You'd have to assume that the people coming up with these brilliant rules/ideas have never actually owned/ridden a motorcycle.

 

[wazza300]

i wonder if its bp policy to be asked to "remove your burkah"? i dont thinkso

 

[Ghosteh]

Just need to do what they say, especially if it's busy.
As mentioned above, I wear 1 headphone while riding, and trying to get it in my ear properly after putting on my helmet can be a right pain in the arse. If they insist on taking my helmet off, I'll oblige, which ends up taking me twice as long doing all that as it does actually putting fuel into my bike.

 

[MatteH Oxford]

I just wear a balaclava underneath my lid & leave that on when i take the helmet off

 

[helpimcrap]

I just wear a balaclava underneath my lid & leave that on when i take the helmet off

Never been asked to remove helmet.

No different to all these women who wear head-dress and you can only see their eyes.

 

[FunkyCowie]

You could claim you were a female and that the helmet is a kin to wearing hijab/burka and that they are infringing on your human rights to hide your face and they are being racist.

 

[CaNsA]

Hey Wazza,

The same thing happened to me last year.
This is the complaint email i sent.

Dear Sir/Madam

On the 28 May 2011, I entered the petrol station forecourt on my large motorbike to purchase some fuel from the Litherland store, L21 8NZ.

I waited my turn in the queue, approached the pump and inserted my card. I then entered my PIN number, waited for it to be accepted and lifted the nozzle.

I looked at the display on the pump and it showed "Transaction cancelled". A rather stern voice shouted over the tannoy "Pump 12 please remove your helmet".

I removed my helmet and entered the kiosk. I asked why i had to remove my helmet when I was paying by card at the pump. The member of staff said "You have to be 25 to buy fuel, I need to verify your age". They also displayed poor attitude with the use of an arrogant tone.
I asked the member of staff and it was clear they knew the minimum legal age to buy petrol was 16 years of age.
I asked the member of staff to point out any signs stating "helmets must be removed for age verification".
I was told there were none.

I can understand why it is Tesco policy for motorcyclists to remove a helmet when entering the kiosk to pay, but there is no reason for a motorcyclist to remove their helmet when using the Pay @ Pump facility.

I also noted other members of the public that were clearly in the age range of 17-25 and not one of these people had their ID checked, making a mockery of the "Think 25" policy that the staff member claimed to be abiding by.

If this actually was an age verification reason, then a member of staff should come out and ask to see my driving licence that I have held for over 13 years. If that is not an acceptable suggestion, then i would like to suggest further training for your staff to make them aware that all the cards accepted by the Pay @ pump system are only available to customers over 16 years of age. Meaning that it is legal for that person to purchase fuel. I would suggest that this is a reasonable and logical deduction and not at all odds with Tesco's attempt to appear as a "responsible retailer". However, I am of the belief incidences like that I have just described only serve to do harm to your brand reputation, and annoy your customers going about their daily business.

If the reason is to capture people's faces on the CCTV to help with "drive-offs", how would i drive off with out paying when my card details have already been entered and recorded? Indeed, in light of the fact that this station will dispense fuel without providing any card details simply by selecting the "kiosk" option, I cannot see why your member of staff felt this was necessary to try and humiliate me infront of several people.

I have attended several Tesco petrol stations without receiving this kind of discrimination in the past, and i'm disappointed to have received it on this occasion. There are no safe, petrol-free surfaces provided by Tesco on which to place my protective helmet, so being asked to remove it when not necessary is particularly irksome.

I feel that I am being penalised for riding a motorcycle, and that there is no point in me using the pay at pump facility if it isn't going to save me any time. Surely the actions of your staff contradict what Tesco states about the facility:-
"Did you know that you can save between 2 and 4 minutes on average if you switch to PayatPump?! "

Yours faithfully,
Mr Annoyed Motorcyclist

And this was the reply.

Dear Mr Awesome Biker.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me recently and I appreciated it very much.

Further to this, I'm really sorry you feel that by asking motorcyclists to remove their helmets, they are being made to be figures of suspicion and that this is unfair as customers that wear a Burka or other dress that covers their face aren't asked to remove this. I can see your point of view, as if the reason to ask for helmets to be removed is security, and then surely the same applies regardless of the item used to cover the face. However, please let me reassure you that we're not trying to implicate suspicion on motorcyclists, rather as the Burka is worn as part of religious dress, so being a sensitive subject, in most cases we're not obliged to ask them to change or remove any part of this dress.

After investigating this, it seems that the sad reality is that some of our stores have suffered a number of robberies involving people wearing helmets and we are a large target. Stores that have a high security rating will ask customers to remove their helmets. It should be politely requested and is down to the direction of the store. This is why it may vary from location to location.

However, upon further investigation with my Business Support Team, I have been advised that there is no need to remove helmets to use ‘PayatPump’ and I’m sorry for giving you the incorrect information on our telephone call. Please note that our fuel and kiosk buying managers are serious bikers, so this is in no way an anti-motorbike campaign.

In regards to the think 25 policy, all products that have a minimum age requirement of 18 could result in the customer being asked for proof of identification if you are lucky enough to look under 25. Please find a list of the products that are in accordance with this policy:

Alcoholic Drinks - 18
Fireworks - 18
Gas lighter refills - 18
Knives (all knives, plastic knives, oyster knives etc) - 18
Other solvents - 18 (if possible abuse is suspected)
Tobacco Products (including cigarette papers)- 18
Videos/DVD's/CD's/PC/Games - 12, 15, 18, (according to the classification).

At the moment this issue is under great debate, as there are a number of people with good arguments both for and against the matter. However, please let me reassure you that currently we ask for helmets to be removed simply for security reasons and this approach is taken in line with other retailers. As a business, we hope customers won't take any offence as absolutely none is intended and we are grateful to our customers for observing the notice.

Even so, as a large retailer we find customer feedback incredibly valuable and as such I’ve passed on your comments and concerns to our Head Office who will discuss these points internally at their next review meeting.

Thank you for contacting me and once again, please accept my apologies.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] quoting TES9790410X.

Kind Regards


Jonathan Bishop
Customer Service Manager
Tesco Customer Service

Print that off and slap the staff in the face with it.