Wellington service station attendants copping motorists' fury over petrol prices

Monday, 8 October 2018

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claims NZ consumers are being fleeced by petrol prices. (Video first published in October 2018)

As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attempts to rush through legislation to investigate record-high petrol prices, motorists aren't the only ones feeling the pain at the pump.

Drivers in Wellington and the South Island have born the brunt of 39 cents of increases between October 2017 to September this year.

And it's service station attendants have been feeling the fury of frustrated motorists with one spoken to by Stuff facing repeated verbal abuse over the sky rocketing prices.

Petrol station staff are being faced with angry customers as fuel prices continue to increase. (File photo)

Several attendants spoken to reported customers verbalising their disapproval, and one said she was regularly 'yelled and screamed at' by customers.

Strategies to spend less on petrol require effort.

The government is being urged to consider dropping charges on petrol to prevent the economy from stalling.

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'Some customers are shouting at us. They're like, 'I know it's not your fault'. To every customer, we just say we can't do anything about prices going up,' one central Wellington service station worker said.

The owner of a Petone, Lower Hutt, petrol station described her employers as 'the poor soldiers on the frontline' after customers continued to attack them.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern believes New Zealanders are paying too much for petrol, and is looking to push through legislation giving the Commerce Commission powers to investigate. (File photo)

She said it was unfair that her staff earned much less than those who decided the price of petrol when they dealt with far more harassment.

'They probably don't have to listen or experience half of the harassment my staff is having.'

An Upper Hutt cashier had to explain to a customer that he also has been affected and it will be hard for him to afford gas with a minimum wage. He said everybody was in the same situation, but customers didn't care.

Another attendant said while he hadn't experienced shouting, many frequently commented on how expensive petrol prices have become.

'A lot of people say 'I've never spent that much to fill my car up. That's the general gist I've had from it,' he said.

Two other service stations say they give customers with price rise queries brochures to explain what factors make prices change.

'We have no idea why the price goes up and down. We just work here and we get notifications from the head office when the prices change.

'Obviously, they say they don't like it when prices go up … people are quite nice with us – most know we aren't the ones changing the prices.'

On Monday afternoon, Ardern said drivers were being 'fleeced' by fuel companies for increases that could not be explained.

'As a moral stance, I think New Zealanders are paying too much for petrol,' Ardern said during her weekly press conference at the Beehive.

Ardern will rush through legislation to equip the Commerce Commission with the power to investigate fuel margins in late October.