wrote in message news
On Tue, 8 Aug 2017 19:57:36 +0100
"Michael R N Dolbear" wrote:
Fully automatic self service petrol stations appeared in earnest in the
2000s, driven by supermarkets keen to cut costs to provide automatic
unattended fuelling at night and reduce staff needed to run the filling
station kiosk during the day. 'Pay at Pump' is now a common feature at
Tesco, Morrisons and Asda stores, with the latter having a number of
completely unattended filling stations, with just a phone to contact the
main store if assistance is required.

Its been a common feature in France for a long time plus even the manned
stations usually have a pump that takes cards so you don't have to go and
endure the regulation scowl from Jean-Claude when you try to pay.

Just come back from 2 weeks in France

and pay at kiosk is definitely a minority sport there now. And evenings and
Sundays, often an impossibility

(fortunately, the machines offer instructions in 4 languages -though you can
just about bluff your way through without translation - unlike the bloody
Scandinavian offerings)

tim