Wellington has no Pay-At-Pump

Disclaimer: Author has not visited all petrol stations in Wellington region.  There are at least 2 completely un-manned pay-at-pump stations--1 of these just opened last week.

I pondered this the other day and felt this mild difference between Wellington an the US was note-worthy.  None of the petrol stations I visit have any facility to pay at the pump.  Many stations require that you pre-pay--especially at odd hours or for pumps that are in the ideal jet-away-illegally position.  But they just don't do pay at the pump.

To me, this is particularly odd since Kiwi's live and die by their EFTPOS (debit card) for virtually everything.  The coffee cart in the parking lot will take one.  Even the gas station will take it at the register... just not at the pump.  I don't know if the system to set this up is just seen as added expense or what.  Certainly adding the feature now would be a cost sink and probably couldn't be made up with petrol sales so the pump owners would have to just absorb it.

In some ways this is quintessential Kiwi.  Folks here are very stingy about value.  Few things are done merely for convenience, it has to have real meaningful value.  Paying at the cashier only takes a few more minutes.  As the crime rate rises, they might drive toward it as a safer option for midnight cashiers, but just to save a few minutes for the average punter? yeah nah, bro (means No).  The attitude is something like "Go inside like everyone else.  Talk to real human. Buy some coffee."

There are 2 fully automated stations with no attendants, but these appear to really only be used commercially.  I tried using it once and eventually had to give up.  They are not like the dummy-proof devices in the US.  There is one pay station and you have to select which pump you're paying for and know how much you're going to pump in advance, etc.  Even then I couldn't get the damn thing to work.  So for purposes of this discussion, I can still say there isn't really a pay-at-pump option.

One could also say that New Zealand is just behind the times a bit.  This is often repeated.  I think the Beatles are even quoted as saying New Zealand was just like the UK... in the 1800's.  So I suppose it isn't surprising that this modern frivolity is absent.  And that's really the point of this post.  NZ is not striving to be at the cutting edge of modern.  NZ typically does not attempt to deliver every convenience.  The very idea is distasteful to Kiwis.