I dont get it, most gas stations I have seen in taiwan are full serve, you know someone pumps the gas for you, unlike in America where most the time you pump your own gas. Wouldnt it cost less to run a self serve gas station because you only need one instead of 3 or 4 employees at night… or are they concerned about people stealing gas?
Is it just a Taichung thing, or do service stations all over Taiwan hand you boxes of tissues, stuffed toys, snacks and bottled water every time you fill up???
Not complaining - most of the cool junk that they gave me ended up as presents for my extended family back home 
Creating jobs or are you willing to take the chance that people actually blow up the place …
I think it is a service concept. You don’t want your customer to spill the gas and get their hands dirty.
I remember in Japan, they wave you “Good Bye” on your way out…
Are you kidding? People can’t even use squat toilets without missing the target. Gas stations would be a nightmare. And then think of the one percent that would be filling up with a smoke dangling from their mouth. How do you say “Boom!” in Chinese?
Yes, it’s preferrable to have the gas jockey do it for you. I’ve never had a fill without half of it ending up on the ground.
It’s just one of those things I really like about this place. I think the service stations are all full service in the rest of the world because people will steal the valuable gas.
Imagine someone giving you pump service for a motorbike in Canada!
It isn’t just Taiwan–it is all full-service in Oregon as well. It makes visiting Californians very unhappy.
[quote=“rahimiiii”]Wouldnt it cost less to run a self serve gas station…?[/quote]When those kids are getting like 80 to 110NT$ an hour? Not really.
[quote=“Duke”]…think of the one percent that would be filling up with a smoke dangling from their mouth.[/quote]My gut says it would be a lot more than 1% since I probably see more than that number already who refuse to obey the no-smoking rule as it is. Then there’s the stubborn few percent who refuse to switch the engine off while they fill up so as not to disrupt the car’s life support system (air conditioning). I’m sure that given the proper lack of supervision they would come up with even more dangerous things to try.
…and then the ones who talk on the cell phone…
(but that, as the MYTHBUSTERS on Discovery Channel proved, is not really that dangerous)
I know of one self service station. They still have someone on the island to take payment on the spot,…usually very amazed when they see a foreigner knows how to pump gas all by himself.
I went to fill the car up in London last week and I had to fill it up myself! I tell you, you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone. Next they’ll be paving paradise! Someone should write a song about it. Don’t complain mate.
And your thread title is gramatically incorrect. It should read ‘Why aren’t there…’ and not, ‘Why isn’t there…’
I do accept PayPal.
Did you get a good rate on your mortgage? I hear HSBC do a good APR these days.
Did you get a good rate on your mortgage? I hear HSBC do a good APR these days.[/quote]
Have you heard, off topic, of the horrors of ‘interest only’ mortages, which are now all the rage? They are as bad as they sound, you buy a house, borrow the money, pay back the interest, and never own the house. Renting off the bank! W£nkers.
Quality :bravo:
And Hannes… I thought it was only me that watches Mythbusters
Quality :bravo:
And Hannes… I thought it was only me that watches Mythbusters[/quote]
The obvious follow on would have been…
They did write a song about it! It were called ‘Agadoo!’ Aye, Black Lace. Magic.
(Mythbusters is HUGELY popular in the U.K. and has a regular primetime slot on B.B.C. one, fyi.)
Taiwan telly, I tell ya…
I click the remote like that:
Sports (snooker championship) next
CNN (global weather forecast) next
HBO (Harry Potter on a broom stick) next
local news (local politicians yelling) next
Discovery Channel (Mythbusters blowing up dummy) alright, let’s learn something practical :bravo: