For instance, I was utterly shocked upon going to a 'gas station' in the United States and realising I had to fill the tank myself! Fortunately, I was with a local, and he laughed at me as he went about doing the job. I have thought about this Do It Yourself (D.I.Y) way of doing things at filling stations on numerous occasions while waiting to be noticed and maybe even served by a petrol attendant at empty filling stations. Without getting into details, it is no fallacy that one can spend valuable time at some filling stations during busy seasons and peak hours. Maybe our Western counterparts have the right idea when it comes to self-service filling stations, because really the service at most of our filling stations is appalling. One can argue that the level of dedication these workers have towards providing that free service, such as pouring water, cleaning the windscreen or filling our tyres with pressure leaves a lot to be desired. This brings me to the point of this commentary: the quality of service we receive for these freebies. According to my understanding, filling stations not only fill up our tanks, but also act as a one-stop shop to get our cars brought up to par for travelling. Everything provided for at filling stations is necessary towards making your car more efficient. The attendants at the filling stations should treat every service they provide at the filling station as such - part and parcel of the entire filling station experience. Sadly, this is not the case at most of our filling stations.
When you actually do get someone to pay attention to you, it is sometimes with a sour attitude and poor work ethics. Needless to say this poor service increases exponentially when you ask someone to help you with something that isn't paid for at the filling station. Like asking for pressure or checking for water and oil in the engine. Not one to place blame and decide upon situations without some kind of evidence, I went around Gaborone filling stations to play 'Customer Service Police' and prove my theory. From Tlokweng to Broadhurst; South Ring to the Western By-Pass and almost everywhere in between in search of T.L.C I asked them to check my pressure, water and oil levels in my borrowed vehicle. I deliberately went around during rush hour because that is when filling stations tend to be most active. I was challenging them to perform their best under pressure.
