Panic buying

[Parsnip]

You won't find me panic buying fuel. I'll take any excuse to stay at home and do nowt.

I've got about a quarter tank if anyone wants to come and siphon it while I'm not looking.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Beetroot

[maxjam]

2 minutes ago, Beetroot said:

You won't find me panic buying fuel. I'll take any excuse to stay at home and do nowt.

I've got about a quarter tank if anyone wants to come and siphon it while I'm not looking.

petrol or diesel?

[TigerTedd]

1 hour ago, Miggins said:

 The term 'panic buyers' is so disrespectful to most of the people queuing for petrol.

The fact is that these days we rely so much on our cars. So many work a good distance from home and are far from family. They may not work for emergency services or be 'key workers'  but they still need to get to work and rely on their vehicles. Gone are the days when people and their families lived and worked locally and were less reliant on cars.

My mum is 90 and I go over to see her three times a week, staying over one night, to enable her to stay in her own home. It is a round journey of 50 miles each time I go over. I was lucky to have a full tank of petrol before this struck and I am now down to half and I won't fill up until I need to but I hope that this resolves very soon.

Anyone who needs to get to work is going to be concerned about getting there if the journey can't be made by bus or bike. It's not about  'panicking' it's about making sure that we have enough fuel for where we have to be in the next week.

The fault lies with the media, without whom we would have been fine.

Not exactly. There is no shortage. Therefore if everyone just carried on as normal, filling up when they need to, as you’re doing, then there’s no issue. 

my sister just admitted she filled up yesterday, having gone to 3 empty stations, so she can safely get home from her holiday at the end of the week. 

I called her out. Would she have filled up now if there wasn’t a panic? Or would she have waited to fill up on the way home?

The media cause a panic, early panickers go and empty the pumps, then secondary panickers go to fill up earlier than they normally would for fear that ‘everyone else’ will get there first and leave them with none when they actually need some. Not realising that they have become ‘everyone else’ and perpetuating the problem. If my sister, and all other secondary panickers had just waited til the end of the week, the crisis would be long over. 

[Mucker1884]

15 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

If my sister, and all other secondary panickers had just waited til the end of the week, the crisis would be long over. 

... Until the end of the week!   

[Miggins]

1 minute ago, TigerTedd said:

Not exactly. There is no shortage. Therefore if everyone just carried on as normal, filling up when they need to, as you’re doing, then there’s no issue. 

my sister just admitted she filled up yesterday, having gone to 3 empty stations, so she can safely get home from her holiday at the end of the week. 

I called her out. Would she have filled up now if there wasn’t a panic? Or would she have waited to fill up on the way home?

The media cause a panic, early panickers go and empty the pumps, then secondary panickers go to fill up earlier than they normally would for fear that ‘everyone else’ will get there first and leave them with none when they actually need some. Not realising that they have become ‘everyone else’ and perpetuating the problem. If my sister, and all other secondary panickers had just waited til the end of the week, the crisis would be long over. 

There is no shortage in the country, but the suggestion that there might be a shortage of petrol at the pumps because of a lack of tanker drivers is what set this whole thing off. If this had not been reported by the media there would have been no problem. As soon as a petrol shortage possibility is announced every sensible person in this country will want to maintain a functioning level in their tank because they think that stocks will soon run out because of those buying unnecessarily. How do they know that in a weeks time the problem will be over? When people are first alerted to the problem they don't know what the time scale will be. Most people just want enough fuel to get to work and these days work can be quite a distance away.

[TigerTedd]

31 minutes ago, Miggins said:

There is no shortage in the country, but the suggestion that there might be a shortage of petrol at the pumps because of a lack of tanker drivers is what set this whole thing off. If this had not been reported by the media there would have been no problem. As soon as a petrol shortage possibility is announced every sensible person in this country will want to maintain a functioning level in their tank because they think that stocks will soon run out because of those buying unnecessarily. How do they know that in a weeks time the problem will be over? When people are first alerted to the problem they don't know what the time scale will be. Most people just want enough fuel to get to work and these days work can be quite a distance away.

I question you’re use of the word sensible there. 

the media incepted the idea, the primary panicers started the crisis, the secondary panicers are prolonging the crisis. 

sensible people would understand that and continue as normal. The only people who should be at the pumps now are people who would normally be at the pumps anyway. I don’t fill my car up til I’m in the red (my car tells me the range, and I’ve got at least 50 miles when I’m in the red). You and I wouldn’t need to be at the pumps yet, so we’re not at the pumps yet. We’re sensible. If everyone was like us, there would be no crisis. 

everyone seems to be waiting for the next Armageddon. Life isn’t that interesting. The shops are short of a few non-essential items. That doesn’t automatically translate to fuel not being delivered. Fuel is a priority. If there really was a significant driver shortage, all qualified drivers would be diverted to driving fuel tankers, and keeping other essential services ticking. 

the army hasn’t been mobilised yet. Once the army gets mobilised, you can start to imagine there’s a crisis. But the fact that the army is mobilised, means there isn’t a crisis. Cos the army probably have the largest fleet of drivers in the country, I’m one of them, so the crisis is averted. 

anyway, the point is, sensible people would recognise that one petrol station shutting down does not equal a crisis. All these sensible people that want to maintain a functioning level throughout a perceived crisis have created the crisis. 
 

[Eddie]

[Gritstone Ram]

6 hours ago, Eddie said:

I bet another left some in next doors garage.

[Anon]

The thing I don't get about panic buyers is what do they think an extra week or two of fuel (or whatever item our perfidious media are scaremongering about this week) is going to get them if there is a genuine prolonged problem with supply? Either the issue will be resolved fairly quickly as supply chains adapt to the unexpected spike in demand or there is a societal collapse. Congratulations champ, you were driving around for two weeks longer than everyone else before we all returned to the dark ages. You win, I guess.

[Mucker1884]

Not Happy!  (Hiss, Grrr, etc)

OK, I've got a good 400miles left in the tank, but even so, I can do without having to waste some on a site visit to the land of multi-toed, relative-wrestling, gun-toting, tree-hugging red-coated curs this morning!  

On a match day too!  

Brrr!  Shuddering at the mere thought of it!   ?

Edited September 29, 2021 by Mucker1884

[ram59]

I wonder if it would shorten the queues if they put a MINIMUM charge of £20 and not allow fuel cans. 

So all these people clogging up the pumps just to top up their tanks would maybe think twice?

[Wolfie20]

4 minutes ago, ram59 said:

I wonder if it would shorten the queues if they put a MINIMUM charge of £20 and not allow fuel cans. 

So all these people clogging up the pumps just to top up their tanks would maybe think twice?

Make it £70 minimum then us gas-guzzler owners are taken care of - problem solved ?

[rynny]

On 27/09/2021 at 17:05, Eddie said:

I did note that more than one local petrol station had imposed a 'Maximum spend of £30' rule - I think they've got that wrong. For cars etc, it should be 'MINIMUM spend of £30' - so the morons who are trying to dribble a few pints in to replace that used on this morning's 20 mile commute are royally shafted in the pocket.

 

21 minutes ago, ram59 said:

I wonder if it would shorten the queues if they put a MINIMUM charge of £20 and not allow fuel cans. 

So all these people clogging up the pumps just to top up their tanks would maybe think twice?

And that punishes people like myself, where I'm paid weekly and budgets for £15 a week, and I don't get more petrol until my petrol light comes on.

Have we not learned anything over the last 2 years? 1 rule doesn't fit all.

[sage]

I find it's interesting that 

a) The fuel crisis is almost over according to Boris

and 

b) The army will start delivering fuel on Friday 

[1of4]

What's the next item we'll see the stampede of panic buying for? There's already been a warning that due to the shortage of seasonal workers that there could be a shortage of turkeys and pigs in blankets this christmas. Though I have heard that there's plenty of turkeys available in France. So no problem with getting a turkey then?

So what is the next item we'll be dashing to the shops to buy due to the shortages caused by lack of lorry drivers?

[maxjam]

No queues this morning when I went to fill up at 11:30am - not at the one I used nor the 3 or 4 others I passed on my journey.  

Seems like a bit of normality has descended again for the time being, certainly between Swad and Ashby.

[Anon]

16 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

What's the next item we'll see the stampede of panic buying for? There's already been a warning that due to the shortage of seasonal workers that there could be a shortage of turkeys and pigs in blankets this christmas. Though I have heard that there's plenty of turkeys available in France. So no problem with getting a turkey then?

So what is the next item we'll be dashing to the shops to buy due to the shortages caused by lack of lorry drivers?

As David will likely confirm in his annual thread, turkey meat is sub par anyway, so people will find their Christmases improved if they're forced to consider eating something nicer.

[1of4]

14 minutes ago, Anon said:

As David will likely confirm in his annual thread, turkey meat is sub par anyway, so people will find their Christmases improved if they're forced to consider eating something nicer.

Forgot about David's aversion of turkey. That'll be one less person in the queue, scrambling for that tasty christmas treat.

[Ramarena]

1 hour ago, sage said:

I find it's interesting that 

a) The fuel crisis is almost over according to Boris

and 

b) The army will start delivering fuel on Friday 

And a) it’s a global driver shortage 

so

b) we’re offering short term visas to foreign drivers 

Seems legit!

[BucksRam]

1 hour ago, maxjam said:

No queues this morning when I went to fill up at 11:30am - not at the one I used nor the 3 or 4 others I passed on my journey.  

Seems like a bit of normality has descended again for the time being, certainly between Swad and Ashby.

Maybe that's the area Boris is using to give credence to his "everything's returning to normal" comment.  I passed 5 garages on my way to Oxford this morning - not one had fuel.