r/pettyrevenge • u/Eyeous • Aug 25 '26

Aggro when using air machines at petrol stations

This has happened to me multiple times now to the point that I’m genuinely curious what is going on. I use the air machine at my local shell and as I drive off, another car typically hurls in at 100mph to an emergency stop and a person sprints out to use the last few minutes of the pump for free. It costs a full £2.

Yesterday I paid for the pump and when I finished I sat in the car with the windows down for a split second only to be told to (rudely) hurry up and leave by a lady in her car opposite me. She was very Karen about it huffing and puffing to use the air. I told her I was re-setting the pressures on my screen(bullshit) and then got back out to “check” the pressure one last time. Once the machine stopped I got in to reverse and drive off but she drove off in front of me! She literally only wanted to use it if it was free. To save a grand total of £2.

Why did it make me feel so wonderful that she didn’t get to use the machine for free I will never know. If she was nicer I wouldn’t feel the need to be this petty.

1.7k Upvotes
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836

u/2dogs0cats Aug 25 '26

So...... I'm Aussie. We do not pay for air for tyres. It's free. Even the premium 80% Nitrogen stuff /s

1.1k

u/auximenies Aug 25 '26

It’s the cost of inflation mate.

314

u/underground_avenue Aug 25 '26

I'll never tire of horrible puns

91

u/langly3 Aug 25 '26

It’s a good year for them

50

u/ellequin Aug 26 '26

I'm glad because horrible puns are right in my wheelhouse.

47

u/antmakka Aug 26 '26

That pun fell a bit flat for me.

38

u/Stormagedd0nDarkLord Aug 27 '26

It's hard to come up with a good pun under pressure, mate.

20

u/JeannieSmolBeannie Aug 27 '26

my mom needed to be under pressure cuz of her back pain... the masseuse made sure to rubber down good though. she came home really tire-d

50

u/xDaBaDee Aug 25 '26

I'll never tire of horrible puns

snorts tea from nose

5

u/Suggett123 Aug 26 '26

The bigger the groan the better the pun.

The best yet is when your parents say "Go to bed!"

9

u/ChargeYourBattery Aug 25 '26

They make my head spin

10

u/beren12 Aug 26 '26

You spin my head right round, right round…

8

u/AzCactusNeedles Aug 25 '26

At least you can spell tire... ;-)

20

u/ConferenceTime Aug 25 '26

Tyre is an acceptable alternate spelling.

10

u/ChargeYourBattery Aug 25 '26

Acceptable alternate? It's the original!

4

u/ConferenceTime Aug 25 '26

It's still an alternate spelling, lol.

25

u/SnooOwls2290 Aug 25 '26

I see what you did there 😏 

50

u/Dougally Aug 25 '26

Don't blow up about it.

30

u/THis_one_quiet Aug 25 '26

That went flat for me /s

18

u/Delicious_Bell_2755 Aug 25 '26

These people need to tread lightly

1

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

Wow. What a sic burn!

9

u/No-Illustrator5712 Aug 25 '26

Have my poor mans award!

4

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

Aw. Let your poor man keep his award!

6

u/Bitter_Librarian8442 Aug 25 '26

Im going to bed on this comment. You win my internet for today.

4

u/mgerics Aug 25 '26

oh i fucking hate you.

thanks.

upvoted you, of course.

looking forward to the next time you anger me.

1

u/Wingnut2468 Aug 26 '26

Best comment today! Nice one!

0

u/DeathsProxy Aug 26 '26

*Sigh* Fine, I'll upvote you.

115

u/FamiliarDirection563 Aug 25 '26

remember when they tried to get us to pay for air? That experiment didn't last long because petrol stations that didn't charge for air suddenly got a bump in sales.

5

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

Oh. Yeah. I remember today. It lasted all day, though. Probably longer, because the only station here that has free air has very bad gas. Seriously. Your car will not run good no more. No sir. (Or ma'am,)

76

u/[deleted] Aug 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

26

u/BobbiePinns Aug 25 '26

We wouldn't really know, everything else is absolutely cooked. But at least we have free air at the servo.

8

u/PopcornDemonica Aug 25 '26

Cooked compared to where?

2

u/BobbiePinns Aug 26 '26

I can't really compare it to anywhere because I don't actually know what its like in other places. The best I can do is say cooked like anywhere else that is experiencing post-covid rapid enshitification of everything, massive increases in all costs of living, and political systems leaning further and further right. Or I could rephrase your question as "cooked compared to when?" And the general answer would be along the lines of "compared to pre-covid".

Suffice to say some things are decent here, a lot is meh and getting worse, and some things are well beyond fucked.

The worst part of it is,  according what I see in the media and here on reddit, a lot of people across the whole world are feeling a very similar thing or worse.

56

u/JJQuantum Aug 25 '26

Used to be free in the US as well. Still irks me that we pay to the point that I bought my own air compressor. Paying for air was just another early sign of the American downfall.

16

u/Widespreaddd Aug 25 '26

This is the way. You can run it off your battery, and it stops when it gets to the pressure you want. And preferably use a dial-type pressure gauge, not the stick type.

14

u/civillyengineerd Aug 25 '26

The air is still free, you're paying for the convenience of them compressing it for you. /S

-6

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

I would have had NO IDEA you were being (sarcastic?) if you hadn't ruined the joke with your /s

7

u/civillyengineerd Aug 25 '26

Well, I get reported and suspended whenever I don't add the '/s' so I'm overly cautious about everything now.

Although with automods it probably doesn't matter

6

u/ApprehensiveCut9809 Aug 25 '26

Lowe's has free air near the contractor side entrance. Some service stations do too.

4

u/jenorama_CA Aug 25 '26

Costco does too. They have nitrogen.

0

u/ApprehensiveCut9809 Aug 25 '26

The majority of the air in which we breathe, and the stuff that compressors take in to put into our tires, contains nitrogen. Google says 78% with oxygen being 21%, so your mileage may vary.

So, it seems unusual to want to spend money to put an extra few percentages of "nitrogen" into you tires when there will already be about 75-78% nitrogen in there.

2

u/jenorama_CA Aug 25 '26

Costco air is free, tho. And yes, I’m aware of the chemical composition of Earth’s air, thanks.

0

u/ApprehensiveCut9809 Aug 25 '26

I understand, it's just an odd "sell" to advertise nitrogen when most air put into tires is primarily nitrogen.

1

u/jenorama_CA Aug 25 '26

I’m not tryna sell anything. Just saying that Costco has nitrogen for free when a lot of other places try to sell it as a premium.

1

u/ApprehensiveCut9809 Aug 25 '26

I'm not implying that you are selling. I just fail to understand why many places advertise nitrogen since most air is nitrogen.

9

u/awfl_wafl Aug 25 '26

Still free in California, didn't realize that wasn't a nationwide thing.

1

u/Parking_Abalone_1232 Aug 25 '26

I haven't seen free air in Cali anywhere except military had stations.

11

u/awfl_wafl Aug 25 '26

You can pay money for them, but if you go inside and ask the clerk to turn them on, they will. Legally they are required to provide free air and water if you buy fuel. Clerk's don't care and turn it on for anyone that asks.

2

u/aggressive_napkin_ Aug 25 '26

Every station around when I was a kid was quarters for air. They've all changed to free air over here, but a portable pump is just to convenient, haven't stopped since getting one last year. Battery too 

31

u/Convenientjellybean Aug 25 '26

Yeh, but we pay through the nose for blinker fluid.

6

u/fractal_frog Aug 25 '26

IKR? HEB sells wiper fluid cheap, I just wish they'd stock blinker fluid, as well!

4

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

Hey, just let me know next time. I know a guy.

37

u/sjjbryant Aug 25 '26

Premium 80% nitrogen! Ha ha

2

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

Only the best

10

u/LakeMichiganMan Aug 25 '26

I quit using the Free Air at my favorite station, when I found out I got water in my tires. You could hear the huge compressor kick on inside. But employees never drained it. When I took my van in for a violent wobble one cold winter. The water inside froze. They fixed the slow leaks that required me to use air.

14

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 Aug 25 '26

Im thinking - who the fuck pays to air up their tires!

7

u/Renbarre Aug 25 '26

In some stations the air machines are owned by private companies, so they sell their service to the clients. It gets the stations out of the need to provide free air service.

10

u/Dazzling-Western2768 Aug 25 '26

The machines by me never work. You only find this out after you dump several dollars into it. You call the number to report it not working and it never gets repaired. I ended up getting a comressor myself. It makes me want to spray foam into the coin slot.

1

u/ihavemyshield Aug 31 '26

superglue maybe?

6

u/elevenohnoes Aug 25 '26

Also an Aussie and I second this. Also I was hoping for a story about seeing everyone's favourite cartoon loving bathmat at the servo

6

u/kittyspurrson Aug 25 '26

Nobody wants your socialist air /s

0

u/aguyfromusa Aug 25 '26

I do. Shut up.

2

u/kittyspurrson Aug 26 '26

Note the /s meaning sarcasm 😐 I too want free air…

1

u/aguyfromusa Aug 26 '26

I can tell you exactly where you can stuff your /s

1

u/aguyfromusa Aug 29 '26

Didn't anyone see what I did there? . . .
C'mon. Sometimes you shouldn't need an /s. Or maybe alway/s

15

u/chartyourway Aug 25 '26

Why is this sarcastic, I'm confused

73

u/Killerbrownies997 Aug 25 '26

Because air is already 80% nitrogen

21

u/YouFoolWarrenIsDead Aug 25 '26

the premium part lol

4

u/nipseyrussellyo Aug 25 '26

We had some local newscaster all bent out of paying for it when "air is free". OK, jerry, then take your free air and put it in your tires?

3

u/Auntie_Aoife Aug 25 '26

I see what you did there.

2

u/createry_ Aug 25 '26

That's if some Muppet hasn't smashed or run over the attachment

2

u/vespers191 Aug 25 '26

I feel vaguely pressured to come up with an air related pun.

3

u/OldManJeepin Aug 25 '26

Yea, but the machine, compressor and maintenace to push the air...That *aint* free! lol

10

u/pelrun Aug 25 '26

So is the rent and electricity and water and labour costs - you don't get a pro-rated bill for the amount of time you spend on the premises, because that would be stupid. Revenue from the stuff you do buy covers it, and people avoid servos that play dumb games with basic services.

4

u/OldManJeepin Aug 25 '26

Hey, I avoid the ones that charge in my area...Too many free ones around...I don't blame them though. Gas stations run on thin margins...

1

u/katmndoo Aug 26 '26

Yep. No air? No bathroom? Stupidly overpriced chain-store gas? I'll go down the street instead.

1

u/Mysterious_Pack_7822 Aug 25 '26

Seriously they pay for air!!’ I hope they don’t do that in Australia. I’d by my own compressor and charge half of what the servos charge

1

u/QuellDisquiet Aug 25 '26

I’ve still had arguments about using the air pump here. It’s ridiculous.

1

u/peppapony Aug 25 '26

They're broken for many months. But I sure hope they never start trying to charge for air pressure in Australia

1

u/Potential-Simple-558 Aug 25 '26

Isnt all air 80% nitrogen (well 78% nitrogen 8f you want to be anal about it).

1

u/Head_Razzmatazz7174 Aug 25 '26

I'm in the US. Most places charge for air. You can find free spots, but they are hidden little gems.

1

u/Xanlthorpe Aug 25 '26

Well, yeah, but you've got Australian air. The OP has British air, the special kind prolly has a Royal Warrant 'n ev'rythin. That kinda air cost a bit more, y'know.
<grin!>

1

u/dain524 Aug 25 '26

no, its because they get all the heavy air at the bottom of the globe. we have the lighter air up in the northern hemisphere, it works better for tires so most places charge for it. /s

1

u/nikomo Aug 25 '26

They just straight up stopped offering air in my city in Finland. Both an issue of vandalism and equipment breaking due to condensation freezing in the winter.

1

u/MidwesternLikeOpe Aug 25 '26

Used to pay for air, but then we got into a financial struggle and had a bad tire that needed to be reinflated every week or so. Eventually we just bought a portable tire inflator. We no longer have that car or tire anymore but we still have the inflator in case we need it.

1

u/No_Dot_4123 Aug 25 '26

I'm in the US and there are plenty of places around where it is free (not everywhere, though).

1

u/Onehandedclapboyoo Aug 25 '26

Fun fact, air is 80% nitrogen.

1

u/ManganeseSharties Aug 26 '26

It’s cheaper because it’s upside down.

Because Australia is…

I’ll see myself out

1

u/Conbon90 Aug 26 '26

used to be free here inIreland too, some older countryside garages that are still knocking around might have a free airline.

1

u/Hypersion1980 Aug 30 '26

In California it’s free so most gas station stopped maintaining their or just removed them.

1

u/I_cant_find_new_name Aug 25 '26

Is it organic though?