What the fuck is up with gas stations charging us for using their air hoses? I went to FOUR fucking stations tonight looking to pump up one of my tires and every fucking one of them was looking for money to turn on the goddamn pump. Last time I checked, you didn’t have to drill for or refine air. And if you’re going to claim the “proceeds” (meaning whatever is left over after paying for whatever the fuck it is we’re being charged) go to charity, try NOT naming the charity The COMPANY NAME HERE Foundation. I might as well make a donation to the George Fund.
Is it not enough that you bastards fuck us up the ass at the gas pumps on a regular basis and make obscene, multi-billion dollar profits? You have to charge us for a couple pounds-per-square-inch of air too? Don’t you realize that driving on under-inflated tires reduces our gas milea–SON OF A BITCH!
—Slug Tire Stu
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.
You may be onto something with that last sentence there OP. Clever bastards. Outside of urban/suburban HRM, free air isn’t hard to find. Once Superline Fuels closed down, I have yet to find any free air in the city.
Here’s a tip… wait till Crappy Tire puts air compressors on sale. I got a basic, simple, air compressor for 30 bucks. It fills my tires. Or pay the fucking 25 cent fee. It’s a goddamn quarter. Who cares where it goes.
Hey Dr. F, where do you only pay 25 cents? Every air jose near where I live is a minimum of $1…
You think you’re paying for the air? Isn’t that like going for a boat ride and complaining that you’re paying to float on water (something you can do for free in your bathtub).
You’re paying for use of the air compressor. Don’t want to give the gas station $1. Buy your own.
Gidget, it’s 25 cents at the Esso on Ochterloney. Even if it’s a buck, come on, it’s a buck. How often do you fill your tires? Once a season, if that? That’s four bucks. If it bothers you that much, I’ll spot it for you.
I’m not complaining – it’s a service provided, therefore I pay, was just curious where it was still only 25 cents…
Sheesh.
the gas station on the corner of Robie and North , Shell maybe ? Anyway I am almost certain their air hose is free.
It used to be free at the Petro Can on Quinpool. I used to drive my bike there to fill up.
Anyone want to guess what the use of the compressor actually costs the fuel station in electricity and wear and tear? I’ll bet it’s a lot less than 1$. …more like 1¢.
I think air used to be free when gas stations were “service stations” that had an attached garage for vehicle service. The garage already had an air compressor to power the pneumatic tools, so they could run a line outside for their customers to use for free. With the disappearance of the garage (and its replacement with a convenience store), a separate air compressor (and its corresponding costs) became necessary.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: in California, gas stations are legally obliged to provide free air (and water!) to their paying customers.
I don’t begrudge them for not wanting to provide a free service, but how about a reasonable mark-up?
Also…mixing the price in with a mandatory charitable donation? Oxymoronic, and low-class.
You drove to 4 stations to avoid paying? Do you reuse your kleenex as toilet paper?
TANSTAAFL, people… Heinlein predicted it, and now it has come to pass… 😉
Try the air hose at cyclesmith on Quinpool 🙂
Welcome to the age of gouging on every level possible. Free air used to be a courtesy service at gas stations. Now you have to pay. Some stations still provide free air to gas buying customers, but still charge bicycle riders. Some donate their air money to charities. If they want to donate to charities that is their choice but not one that shouldn’t be imposed upon customers. Air is a necessity not a luxury. Charitable donations should be a choice not an imposition. I get to choose which charities I want to support, not gas stations. A dollar may seem trivial to some but to those already struggling to get by a dollar is a big deal.
Remember the stores used charge to use the bathroom too? I’m sure electricity, water, toilet paper, soap, paper towels and clean up cost more than the use of an air compressor, but the stores returned to making it a part of the service. Maybe if you write the companies to tell them what cheap asses they are, they will return to making it a part of the service too.
Actually, if you go to Irving, you can request that they turn the air hose on without putting money in. All you have to do is go to the counter and tell them you want some air, yo.
Given the change of so many stations’ air hoses to pay-only, and at too high a cost, I HAVE bought my own portable air compressor, but I would much prefer to just pay a fair price (say 5 cents per tire) for air when I need it.
It is simply more wasteful and less efficient for every person or household to own things they use infrequently. The energy and materials put into the manufacture of millions of portable air compressors could be put to better use if people weren’t driven to buy them by overpriced per-use charges. The same is true of most things you own but rarely use (think of the tool collection that everyone and their dog has). There is some value to having things at the ready right when and where you want them, but a lot of it is needless laziness. Anyway, you should be able to rent just about anything at a fair price, but people always want things to themselves.
The Shell on Pleasant Street in Dartmouth is free if you happen to live in Dartmouth (the one close to the refinery).
Irving on Robie is only $0.50, which is less than it is is elsewhere.
I miss Petro Canada’s “Tire Robot” – you just dialed your tire pressure into the machine, and then when you attached the hose to the valve stem, it would measure your pressure and adjust it accordingly (whether it needed more air, or to let air out). I would have started paying for that. I hate the gauge-fill-regauge routine.
It’s cheaper to buy an air compressor from Crappy Tire.
You’re right, sebastian_…and that’s the problem.
Seriously, it’s a buck at most. If you can’t afford a buck, you shouldn’t have a car, or you have more important things in life than putting air in your tires.
I can afford a buck per use, but buying my own compressor comes out cheaper in the end, even if I only consider a couple of years ahead and not the entire life of my compressor. That’s fucked up, and it’s a strong indicator of price gouging.
I believe the Esso on Young st is also 25 cents.
I think it is absolutely ridiculous for any gas bar or service station to charge any amount to run the tiny little compressor required to pump a few pounds of air into a tire. OH MY GOD.. God forbid we actually wanted our windows washed too! Do they charge for that now? To use the squeegee to wipe bug parts off your windshield?
So it’s only a dollar.. what if you don’t happen to have an actual dollar, do the machines take debit? Will the cashier make change? I know! I’ll go in with a $100 bill and ask for change for the air compressor! I promise you, if everyone did that, they would give you the air at no charge.
More important… a lot of kids go there to pump up their bike tires. I think it is shameful to charge a kid for the tiny bit of air to fill 1 or even 2 bicycle tires. Not to mention low income people that actually have to drive bicycles because they don’t have a car.
The point is, there are certain things people expect from various sources. Washrooms, windshield squeegees and free air are what are expected from gas stations. With the price of gas now, I hardly think a few pennies worth of power to run a pump for a few seconds is going to make or break them.