[News] There's no need to panic buy petrol

[jakarta]

Storrington Tesco/Esso coned off, presumably has run dry. The other petrol station in Stozza utterly rammed, these people have obviously got VITAL trips to make.

Personally I'm calling it a weeks holiday...

 

[Bry Nylon]

Just got back from taking the kids to junior Parkrun and can confirm the bellend fuel panic buyers are currently panicking across north west Essex too. Every filling station we drove past had queues back out onto the main road. Within those queues there will doubtless be people who genuinely need fuel but I’m betting the majority are just the usual suspects who piss their pants at the slightest thing. Nothing but utter contempt for those who are just topping up / fueling all the cars they own etc.

 

[Bra]

No diesel in Burgess Hill first thing this morning. Might struggle to get my son, who is disabled, to school tomorrow. Pretty sure he wont be upset however.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Just got back from taking the kids to junior Parkrun and can confirm the bellend fuel panic buyers are currently panicking across north west Essex too. Every filling station we drove past had queues back out onto the main road. Within those queues there will doubtless be people who genuinely need fuel but I’m betting the majority are just the usual suspects who piss their pants at the slightest thing. Nothing but utter contempt for those who are just topping up / fueling all the cars they own etc.

There may well be people like that. However it is also the case that we do not and never would have enough petrol pumps/stations for everyone to fill up at the same time. That is only happening because of the frenzy whipped up by the media.

 

[WATFORD zero]

There may well be people like that. However it is also the case that we do not and never would have enough petrol pumps/stations for everyone to fill up at the same time. That is only happening because of the frenzy whipped up by the media.

I think an initial part of the problem right at the beginning was that BP and Esso, trying to protect their reputation, refused to say how many of their stations were actually closed and would only say 'a handful' and 'a small number'. The BBC reported that it was 'a handful' and 'a small number' and that the supermarkets were all fine. I think the actual numbers would have helped.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712

But once the areas of the media targeted at idiots got on board (and that's a fairly significant part of the media), guess what happened

 

[METALMICKY]

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I think an initial part of the problem right at the beginning was that BP and Esso, trying to protect their reputation, refused to say how many of their stations were actually closed and would only say 'a small number'. The BBC reported that 'it was a small number' and that the supermarkets were all fine. I think the actual numbers would have helped.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58645712

But once the areas of the media targeted at idiots got on board (and that's a significant part of the media), guess what happened

I agree with most of that but not the final sentence. Plenty of non idiots also need petrol and can’t afford to miss out. They have therefore joined the queues and made them worse. Everyone is a part of the same problem as we have collectively lost belief that there will be petrol tomorrow so we need to buy today.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Some were saying that this immediate issue would only last a couple of days …I’m not so sure …unless ‘people’ can trust that fuel will be available as normal, then I expect a fair few to want to keep tanks full..under supply almost needs to go to over supply

If we are still facing this fuel frenzy by midweek I’ll admit I will want to top up as van is needed for work and fuel for mowers (work)

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Some were saying that this immediate issue would only last a couple of days …I’m not so sure …unless ‘people’ can trust that fuel will be available as normal, then I expect a fair few to want to keep tanks full..under supply almost needs to go to over supply

If we are still facing this fuel frenzy by midweek I’ll admit I will want to top up as van is needed for work and fuel for mowers (work)

Same here. I filled up on Thursday but need to get to Sussex on Friday night in advance of the big game Saturday so will monitor the situation to decide how soon to join any queues if they are still happening. Having said that it doesn’t seem quite as bad up here as down south.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I agree with most of that but not the final sentence. Plenty of non idiots also need petrol and can’t afford to miss out. They have therefore joined the queues and made them worse. Everyone is a part of the same problem as we have collectively lost belief that there will be petrol tomorrow so we need to buy today.

I agree completely once the queues started then they were self fulfilling and drew everyone in. I had already decided that I wasn't going to go to a petrol station until the queues had gone and Albion were top of the Premier.

Or wednesday/thursday, whichever is sooner

 

[Justice]

People on the whole are sheep, they feel safe following the herd.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

I agree completely once the queues started then they were self fulfilling and drew everyone in. I had already decided that I wasn't going to go to a petrol station until the queues had gone and Albion were top of the Premier.

Or wednesday/thursday, whichever is sooner

I just hope that second condition doesn’t come back to haunt you ! You can always buy a bike if Palace turn us over though

 

[Bry Nylon]

I put some fuel in the car Thursday lunchtime as I was getting low. At that point everything was situation normal. I imagine there was 1% of filling stations experiencing supply issues but nobody knew as it hadn’t been reported so everyone just behaved normally. Anyone encountering a closed filling station would have just driven to the next one and put the usual amount in. Everyone is happy and no problem. I had no inkling about supply issues at 1pm Thursday, because in the grand scheme of things, frankly there weren’t any.

Then sometime Thursday evening the BBC reported about fuel shortages, people started queuing and making repeat trips to fuel any vehicles they owned and by Friday morning the BBC were doing live broadcasts from busy but still just functioning petrol stations, reporting tanker driver shortages and a run on fuel. By Friday afternoon it was gridlock and by Friday evening filling stations were running dry. And we have never recovered from there. A manageable situation made completely unmanageable by irresponsible reporting given the vital nature of a stable fuel supply.

In a situation that has potential to go tits up, in my experience it’s often better not to tell people certain stuff for their own good as they will panic, making things ten times worse. Unless of course you want to create chaos.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Some were saying that this immediate issue would only last a couple of days …I’m not so sure …unless ‘people’ can trust that fuel will be available as normal, then I expect a fair few to want to keep tanks full..under supply almost needs to go to over supply

If we are still facing this fuel frenzy by midweek I’ll admit I will want to top up as van is needed for work and fuel for mowers (work)

Bought the last jerry can in asda this morning, I already had one in the car, queued for 40mins only to be told you cant fill them up! I said it's for my van that's stuck at home, they said you still cant! I told them to do one and filled them up anyway! Dropped them to my dads then took the van to tesco lewes and filled that up. Queue was much better there however theres still a big queue on a27..

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

 

[drew]

View attachment 140751

Sort of Brexit again. Every wanker is at the petrol station but not everyone at the petrol station is a wanker!!!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Some were saying that this immediate issue would only last a couple of days …I’m not so sure …unless ‘people’ can trust that fuel will be available as normal, then I expect a fair few to want to keep tanks full..under supply almost needs to go to over supply

If we are still facing this fuel frenzy by midweek I’ll admit I will want to top up as van is needed for work and fuel for mowers (work)

If garages set a limit, it will help to stop panic buying. Someone said Findon set £30 as a limit.

 

[LamieRobertson]

If garages set a limit, it will help to stop panic buying. Someone said Findon set £30 as a limit.

There are various reports of garage chains now setting £30 limits …..perhaps too late

 

[Stat Brother]

I can't help thinking had the BBC decided to make this a non story many people would now be saying:-

'The BBC are just a government puppet, they now won't even report actual news'.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Bought the last jerry can in asda this morning, I already had one in the car, queued for 40mins only to be told you cant fill them up! I said it's for my van that's stuck at home, they said you still cant! I told them to do one and filled them up anyway! Dropped them to my dads then took the van to tesco lewes and filled that up. Queue was much better there however theres still a big queue on a27..

Sent from my SM-A600FN using Tapatalk

I’ve got enough petrol in a can for most of the week….then it will need filling ironically even if there is diesel in the van….due at Seaford end of week…might be skipping that…..still never know things might get partially sorted

 

[drew]

I put some fuel in the car Thursday lunchtime as I was getting low. At that point everything was situation normal. I imagine there was 1% of filling stations experiencing supply issues but nobody knew as it hadn’t been reported so everyone just behaved normally. Anyone encountering a closed filling station would have just driven to the next one and put the usual amount in. Everyone is happy and no problem. I had no inkling about supply issues at 1pm Thursday, because in the grand scheme of things, frankly there weren’t any.

Then sometime Thursday evening the BBC reported about fuel shortages, people started queuing and making repeat trips to fuel any vehicles they owned and by Friday morning the BBC were doing live broadcasts from busy but still just functioning petrol stations talking about tanker driver shortages. By Friday afternoon it was gridlock and by Friday evening filling stations were running dry. And we have never recovered from there. A manageable situation made completely unmanageable by irresponsible reporting given the vital nature of a stable fuel supply.

In a situation that has potential to go tits up, in my experience it’s often better not to tell people certain stuff for their own good as they will panic, making things ten times worse. Unless of course you want to create chaos.

Not quite sure why everyone is blaming the BBC! The chairman of BP released a statement to say that they had a 'handful' of forecourts closed because of supply issues. As Watford said, had they said how many that might have been the end of it but when pressed they didn't. Why would a news organisation not report that? That said, according to ITV on Thursday evening before the so called panic buying, BP were advising they were going to ration deliveries to ensure continuity of supply! Hanna Hofer at BP described the situation as bad, very bad.

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-23...o-ration-fuel-deliveries-amid-supply-problems

If all that was kept under a media secrecy blanket and then when the pumps were dry it came out then there would be an outcry about a cover up. The pumps probably won't run dry but if they do I don't think that's the media's fault.