Whatever the case, I find those infernal things to not only be obnoxious, but a potential safety risk. I mean, you have a customer literally in the process of handling large quantities of dangerous, liquid flammable material which emits fumes that can be ignited by a spark, with potentially inadequate controls in place to stop it killing people. So, let's distract them with shrill, unwanted blather-boxes showing distracting imagery. I make a point of trying to avoid gas stations that have those stupid things installed precisely for that reason - I don't trust that location to put my safety above them making $.0002 from some shady ad network.
I just can't stand that there is such a concerted effort for this war on silence. Just give me a few minutes of simple contemplation.
(Not that anti or pro Biden stickers terribly upset that status quo. The problem is having upset the wrong person with a modicum of power)
[0] If the nuisance pump is tied into the commercial surveillance databases for choosing what content to blast. I've no idea if we're there yet.
I was trying to hit skip or cancel or something (this was in the Before Times, barely remember what it was asking) and what was the skip button became the "Yes, I'd like a car wash" button as the next ad started. I always suspected this was a bit of Dark UI level trickery, but could also have just been unfortunate button selection between two separate ads.
Since then, I just avoid those buttons when ads are playing lest they get me again!
I'm in a good-sized city, and every gas station I've been to lets you pay inside after filling up. The only ones that require pre-pay (either by going inside as you described, paying for a max amount, or by CC) are the farthest pumps away from the store.
That being said - perhaps its an "attendant" state? Several states have laws which restrict motorists from pumping their own gas, is this the scenario which you are talking to?
edit: grammar
You fill up for $X, then walk into the store and say "I filled up on pump 3", then you pay.
When tanking before paying, I also used to get into the car and move it so that someone else could fill while I was inside(it would start a new transaction when you put the nossle back), probably to you look like a dash from the bill. Then walk inside saying "hundred and fifty something on pump 3 is mine".
But I haven't seen a pump not accepting card in what, 20 years, here? So haven't used anything else for ages (and now got an electric car anyways)
Just one now. Oregon just starting allowing it last month so New Jersey is the only one left.
But I've also ran into plenty of places that if you hit "pay inside" on the pump will simply just turn the pump on, or will call you via the pump intercom (is that common everywhere?) and tell you they're turning the pump on for a max of XX gallons and to prepay or use the card at the pump if that's not enough.
-Confirm account: super small test move to confirm liveness of endpoint
-Place hold: (locks $⁷5 worth of funds attached to an account) Finalize transaction
-Finalize transaction for final amount
-Release hold
This is actually a really troublesome thing for people who have trouble keeping their account balances positive, because you can end up locking them out of further financial activity until the hold is expired/released.
It's one of those things you don't really think about but are all over the place, and are a big part of making the world turn the way it does.
I do not miss at all standing in line behind someone who couldn't figure out which lottery ticket they wanted to buy.