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Remember the good old days when a service station sold gas and provided services like air and water? I do and up until last week I, in the very least, still received the Free Air from the local Gas Station.
Of late I had a slow leak in one of my front tires and had been filling it every few days at the local Maple Ridge 7-11 Gas Bar at the corner of the Haney By-pass and Lougheed Highway. Imagine my surprise when I was confronted with the new coin operated air hose system requiring a $1.00 coin to fire it up! I was infuriated and immediately left deciding I would try other gas stations along the way.
Now I didn't hit every single gas station in Maple Ridge real estate but I did drive into another 7-11 and a Petro Canada to discover that they also were charging a Buck for tire air. I eventually stopped by the Chevron in west Maple Ridge on Lougheed Highway where Free Air was still Free!
So if you are looking for proud purveyors of tire air and want to pay $1.00 in your hour of desperation struggling with a flat tire please check out these fine retailers of compressed air:
If you are like me and feel that you pay enough already to Gasoline Retailers and the fact that you have to put the gas in your car yourself, wipe your own windshield and check your own oil then please give Chevron in Maple Ridge your patronage or other gasoline retailers that you discover with an assemblage of a conscience. If these retailers actually put the air in the tire for you I could understand it but this is just ridiculously cheap and offensive.
I know what some of you are thinking, some gas stations have had an Air for Charity program, this isnt what I am talking about. In that case it is a donation and you can still get the air for free if you are stuck.
I would like to suggest to these struggling retailers some other possible revenue centres to help maintain their profitability and further alienate customers like me:
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Pay toilets
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Pay Squeegee
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Pay paper towels
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Extra charge for a receipt
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A priority access lane with a yearly fee
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Extra charge during peak hours
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Late night surcharge
your Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Langley, River Springs and surrounding areas Realtor
My local 7-11's will give FREE AIR if you go in and ask! I have had to do this a few times recently in our "beater" car. Don't pay for AIR! Go in and ask them to turn it on! Buy a Slurpee instead! : )
I have 'free air' in my garage... but that compressor wasn't cheap. But when I used to 4wheel without a compressor in the group, I used to remember who had free air... and that is where the rigs got fueled up.
Stephanie there was no connection between the coin operated attachment to the hose and the 7-11 attendant inside, I asked the first time. This coin op device is just an attachment to the outside switch. You are not the first one to have suggested this to me.
Lane, vote with your wallet for certain
Scott,
Underinflated tires can be quite risky. So, I hope people don't avoid the issue by looking for the free stuff. But, I think they often do. So, some of these companies should just step up to the plate and make it available for free.
Brian
When I owned a gas station, the cost of purchasing and maintaining one of those machines was quite prohibitive. I only charged 50 cents for air, and this never covered the costs of replacing the compressor when it froze in the winter, replacing the valve attachements whenever someone drove over it or purposely vandalized it. Never mind the initial expense of buying one.
Most gas stations are operated by people who lease the premises, and they typically don't make a lot of money. I can see why they don't feel an urgent need to subsidise people who won't get their tires fixed. (Probaby 90 % of the usage is from people who are there every day with slow leaks)
Malcolm this is Lotusland, frozen compressors are hardly a concern. The gas stations I refer to are not Agent Leases but large mega chain owned and operted. Ironicly the small Agent Leasee's are the only ones still offering the Free Air.
It is also worth noting that I recently heard privately from an impetuous young man who said whenever he comes across one of these pay units he wraps the hose around his trailer hitch and drives away.
I also wonder how gas stations from the 1930's till 2000 managed to give free air but the Brave New World of 2010 can't quite manage it?