this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2025
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And I live in Slovakia and haven't yet seen pre-paid gas station either.
You pump the gas, go in, tell the cashier the pump number, pay, go back and leave.
This is exactly how it works in the UK too in most petrol stations.
You've described post-pay pumps, which is how they used to do it 20-25 years ago. This is how pump theft happens: They pump the gas... aaaand run off.
Same in NZ. However they have cameras on each pump, pretty sure your number plate will get flagged if you don't pay up.
Clearly there is places where pump theft is not that common or tackled in some other way, because there are countries where post-pay is still the default.
I do know that at some post-pay pumps the cashier has the ability to lock and unlock the pumps from inside
A long time ago, I used to work at a gas station when post-pay was allowed. All of the pumps required the cashier to activate them when somebody picked up the nozzle, but it was just expected that you hit the button to allow them to pump first. Most of the time, it's just a normal transaction. Sometimes, you realized some asshole stole gas when the next guy was at the pump.
Enough of this happened, especially during periods of high gas prices, that my boss would say "prepay is required now", and we'd tell them they have to come inside first. Eventually, paying with credit cards was so popular, and cash transactions were so rare, that nobody allowed post-pay anymore. There wasn't a point, when the risk was people would steal gas, and it's so easy to just stick a CC in a slot.
So, yeah, there's locks on the pumps, but if post-pay is the norm, it doesn't really matter.
In the Netherlands it's a mix of both these days.
During the daytime you pump, and then walk inside to pay afterwards. At night, when the building itself is closed, you pay using the terminal and only then are you allowed to start fueling up
There is also unmanned stations without a shop. They are pre-paid all day by default.
Yes, this is how it is in Germany too and in my experience travelling it is like that in a lot of Europe.
Unmanned stations are a relatively recent thing here, so the first time I wanted to fill up at one I thought the pump was broken before I realised I have to pay first lol.
Unmanned stations have existed for quite some time here, they are just not the only way to fuel up.
Manned stations are still very common, if not the default, and if a station is manned it is usually not prepaid.
of the 3 I visit with any frequency in my town in the US:
one has a card reader. If you want to pay in cash, you call out to the guy, 'lemme get $20 / 5 gallons/ fill' er up. I got cash!' And he heads over to the register and presses the button, activating the pump, and you pay after. I dont think it puts a limit on what you can pump (like if i say $5 and go over, that's what I owe) so it wouldnt make sense to pay upfront.
One of them has a little booth in the middle of the rows, with an attendant. He'll pump the gas for you then ask for payment, or let you pump yourself if you want, then take payment.
The third is afaik attendant only, but they usually have 2-3 of them. They seem to have a system that allows amount inputs, so if you ask for a $/ volume amount, they'll usually ask for the card/ cash, start the pump, then return with a receipt for you to fill out while/ change while its pumping. But if you asked to fill it up and that youre paying cash, theyre still waiting till after the pump has click3d over to give you the cost.
This used to be the norm in Sweden, but now you can't really find those any more, at keast not around Stockholm to my knowledge