The Pump Is On But Nobody’s Home

(I’ve already had a particularly bad morning. Due to nightmares, I didn’t get much sleep. The coworker that gives me my keys to the fuel station is very late, and once I finally open up shop I’m swamped with customers for two hours because the pay-at-the-pump system is malfunctioning. Prepay works just fine. This customer interaction happens while tech support is on the phone, fixing the problem.)

Me: “Hello. What can I do for you?”

Customer: “Hey, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m trying to use my card outside and it’s not working. I don’t know what’s going on.”

Me: “Yeah, I think pay-at-the-pump is messing up. I’m already on the phone with tech support trying to fix it.”

Customer: “So, then, it’s not working?”

Me: “Outside, it’s not, but you can pay in here and it’ll work fine. I just need an amount to set the prepay.”

Customer: “So… it’s not working?”

(I try not to repeat myself verbatim, out of fear of sounding snarky towards her.)

Me: “Pay-at-the-pump is not, no, but if you pay in here, it’ll work just fine.”

Customer: “Okay, it’s not; I’ll just go somewhere else.”

(As she left, the customer behind her, who heard everything, paid by card to prepay his own pump, and the transaction went through with no issue.)