Should I fill up with diesel today?

[pearley]

42 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Ditto. Except... I used a local garage recently that I’ve never used before and discovered that they didn’t accept Amex. First garage I’ve come across in years that doesn’t. 

We stopped accepting Amex in 1996 when I realised I'd paid them something like £36 in commission on a job we did.

[TheBiscuits]

11 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

It would be pissing on the chips of those Brexiteers who were always on about freedom from EU regulations, though.

Nice shoehorn, but what exactly do you think Brexit has to do with marked diesel for the construction industry or agriculture?

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

That's what I was questioning. My credit card accounts do not have monthly fees.

Perhaps some folk think it's supposed to be impressive to flash an Amex around?

 

 

Oh, AMEX. That's NOT a credit card, its a "charge card". Completely different thing, silly!

 

There is however, an American Express credit card too. A 'me too' product for peeps who do not have the creditworthiness to get a proper AMEX card. I have one but never use it due to the swingeing interest rate charged.

 

But yes, the main point of an AMEX card is it has no limit. You can spend whatever you want on it, and they trust you to pay the bill when it arrives. Back in the 80s peeps used to buy their Porsches with them. To get one, you need to have a bit of financial clout, and using the card "tells people something about you", as one of their marketing slogans once pointed out. So it you like impressing petrol station attendants, GET ONE! 

 

Most AMEX card holders have them given to them by their employers however AIUI.

 

 

 

 

 

[mrsmelly]

23 hours ago, David Mack said:

...if the Chancellor is going to require us to pay full white diesel duty tomorrow?

This one always makes me giggle. Many moons ago my next door neighbour stated he was going to fill his car up with petrol and did I know the chancelor had put 2 pence on a gallon of petrol from midnight so best get up and fill up. I explained to him that the budget was once a year so spread the 16 pence he was saving on a tank of petrol over the next twelve months...............he still drove up and queued up with others to fill up ?

[Athy]

3 hours ago, WotEver said:

I pulled up at a pump in the 70’s that was still operator controlled and the price at the time had increased to more than the pump could be set for. So they set it for exactly half and if you asked for £5 worth they’d pump you an indicated £2.50. 

Wasn't that the reason that many pumps changed from displaying the price per gallon to the price per litre about that time?

2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

 For a while I always checked each filling station before using it but I have to say that I have not done so in decades!

I trust that you learned from that humbling experience and always carried sufficient cash thereafter.

[David Mack]

Sounds like we've got another 2 years to carry on filling up with red diesel.

[mayalld]

9 minutes ago, Athy said:

Wasn't that the reason that many pumps changed from displaying the price per gallon to the price per litre about that time?

 

No, the conversion was already planned.

 

My dad ran a petrol station back then, and all the pumps had been modified ready for the conversion to litres. These were mechanical displays, so there would have been an extra gear or two somewhere, and a lever to make the change.

 

The price setting was done by 3 sets of changeable gears that went up to 99.9.

 

As the metric conversion would take prices back under a pound (to about 25p per litre) within months, it wasn't work modifying pumps, so they provided "price per half gallon" and "X2" stickers for the pump heads.

[Nightwatch]

Gone are the days when I pulled up in my Triumph Heard and the attendant asked what I wanted. I would say 3 gallons or a £1 worth which ever came up on the pump first.

[ditchcrawler]

Well as for filling up soon, oil has dropped from $55 a barrel to $30 in the past week and Saudi have just said they are ramping up production so it may pay to wait a bit

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

It amazes me that anyone chooses to pay a fee to get a credit card.

I don’t possess any credit cards whatsoever, I don’t see the point. I do have a few debit cards however, plus one charge card. 

1 hour ago, Athy said:

Wasn't that the reason that many pumps changed from displaying the price per gallon to the price per litre about that time?

No idea, I can’t remember that far back; I have a job remembering what I had for breakfast

 

Oh, I see Mayalid knows the answer.

[pearley]

56 minutes ago, mayalld said:

No, the conversion was already planned.

 

My dad ran a petrol station back then, and all the pumps had been modified ready for the conversion to litres. These were mechanical displays, so there would have been an extra gear or two somewhere, and a lever to make the change.

 

The price setting was done by 3 sets of changeable gears that went up to 99.9.

 

As the metric conversion would take prices back under a pound (to about 25p per litre) within months, it wasn't work modifying pumps, so they provided "price per half gallon" and "X2" stickers for the pump heads.

As far as I'm recall, we started purchasing from BP in litres long before we started selling in litres. When reconciling stocks we had to convert at 4.546 litres to a gallon. They took out lovely brass dipsticks away and replaced them with fibreglass ones. If you dropped the brass ones onto the tank they would bounce about a foot. Drop the new ones and the ends just broke up!

 

Changing the price with those moveable wheels on 6 pumps was a real pain. And, as you had to break the seals, you then had to pay Weights & Measures to reseal them and hope they hadn't drifted out of measure.

[peterboat]

16 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Well as for filling up soon, oil has dropped from $55 a barrel to $30 in the past week and Saudi have just said they are ramping up production so it may pay to wait a bit

Price of oil is in very exciting times at the moment, I thought Brent crude was holding up though?

[nicknorman]

11 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I don’t possess any credit cards whatsoever, I don’t see the point.

Well one point is for the built-in protection from faulty goods, selling going bust etc. (Section 75 of consumer credit act). Quite an important point I’d say, that you lose by paying by cash, bank transfer or debit card.

[ditchcrawler]

17 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I don’t possess any credit cards whatsoever, I don’t see the point. I do have a few debit cards however, plus one charge card. 

 

They can give you extra financial protection on purchases over £100 

[peterboat]

2 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Well one point is for the built-in protection from faulty goods, selling going bust etc. (Section 75 of consumer credit act). Quite an important point I’d say, that you lose by paying by cash, bank transfer or debit card.

When I bought this my present boat I paid 10k by credit card manager was smirking until I pointed out that they would make life very difficult for him for faulty goods! My old boat I did the same same reasoning

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Well one point is for the built-in protection from faulty goods, selling going bust etc. (Section 75 of consumer credit act). Quite an important point I’d say, that you lose by paying by cash, bank transfer or debit card.

 

Yup this. If we buy any significant consumer products/white goods etc I always pay by my credit card and as soon as it appears on my credit card statement on line I pay it off. Sometimes in two or three lumps but always before I incur any interest.

Edited March 11, 2020 by The Happy Nomad

[ditchcrawler]

24 minutes ago, peterboat said:

When I bought this my present boat I paid 10k by credit card manager was smirking until I pointed out that they would make life very difficult for him for faulty goods! My old boat I did the same same reasoning

That is why I paid my moorings like it as well

[MtB]

52 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

Gone are the days when I pulled up in my Triumph Heard and the attendant asked what I wanted. I would say 3 gallons or a £1 worth which ever came up on the pump first.

 

My mate Gordon used to amuse himself asking for a pound's-worth of four star, then adding "but now we are metric, can I have it in litres rather than gallons please?" 

 

 

[WotEver]

29 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

They can give you extra financial protection on purchases over £100 

I get that with my Amex charge card. 

[WotEver]

38 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Well one point is for the built-in protection from faulty goods, selling going bust etc. (Section 75 of consumer credit act). Quite an important point I’d say, that you lose by paying by cash, bank transfer or debit card.

But not lost if paying by Amex. 

[Machpoint005]

3 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

using the card "tells people something about you", as one of their marketing slogans once pointed out. So it you like impressing petrol station attendants, GET ONE! 

 

Sounds a lot like the usual justification for paying extra tax to DVLC for a "cherished" registration mark.

 

I wonder if there is a correlation between AmEx holders and poser plates?

 

[ditchcrawler]

46 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I get that with my Amex charge card. 

I can't afford one of them

[TheBiscuits]

20 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I can't afford one of them

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/#amexeveryday

 

The American Express Platinum Everyday* is the top fee-free card, especially if you've big spending to do in the next few months. It gives 5% back on your first £2,000 of spending in the first three months (max £100 cashback), then 0.5% on up to £5,000/yr and 1% above this. You need to spend at least £3,000/yr to earn any cashback.

[ditchcrawler]

36 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/#amexeveryday

 

The American Express Platinum Everyday* is the top fee-free card, especially if you've big spending to do in the next few months. It gives 5% back on your first £2,000 of spending in the first three months (max £100 cashback), then 0.5% on up to £5,000/yr and 1% above this. You need to spend at least £3,000/yr to earn any cashback.

Ta

The company tried to give me one for expenses but a lot of restaurants wouldn't take them but that was several years ago

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

Ta

The company tried to give me one for expenses but a lot of restaurants wouldn't take them but that was several years ago

Lots of places don't take them because of the excessive merchant fees they charge.