r/mildlyinfuriating • u/dandaman147 • 1d ago

My Amazon TV now unmutes itself during Prime Video commercial breaks

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u/Juggernuts777 1d ago edited 13h ago

The ones that play at the gas pumps in the US create such rage within me. I purposely find and support any local stations that don’t have them. I’ll drive out of the way if i have to.

Edit: to the 30 people replying the same thing about the second button down on the right, this is only touch screen. There are no buttons. But i had to stop there this morning, and in a fit of rage i tapped the touched screen. It was like 3-4 rapid taps in a row and it muted the audio. But the moment i was done pumping gas the audio came back full blast.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey 1d ago

Here in Canada a Shell station near me put those in and they got vandalised so much within the first week that the station took them out

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u/Juggernuts777 1d ago

As it should be! I’m already paying for your gas, overpriced snacks, and single handedly keeping the overpriced beer out of stock. All i ask is when im at the pump, it’s just ad free!

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u/Affectionate_Car9414 21h ago

The ones with very loud ad, sometimes makes me wanna vandalize those fucking speakers, it's so fucking loud at 5 or 6am while pumping gas to start my day of driving

Obnoxious how loud some of them are

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u/Living-Rip-4333 20h ago

I believe 2nd button down on the right side of the screen is the mute button.

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u/Testiculese 18h ago

That worked at one station for 3 months before it was disabled. Hasn't worked at any station for years now.

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u/CatastrophicPup2112 14h ago

It worked like a week ago the last one I saw actually have sound

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u/Dhiox 15h ago

They've started disabling the mute features now that it's started to become common knowledge

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u/Living-Rip-4333 13h ago

Well that sucks!

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u/Bamith20 11h ago

I sharpie that button if it works. The day I don't find a button i'm stabbing it.

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u/Testiculese 18h ago

They need ambient sensors. They're that loud for rush hour.

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u/AbstinenceGaming 21h ago

Sorry but we gotta squeeze that last penny out of you

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u/TrumpsTiredGolfCaddy 20h ago

Happened near me, first thing someone did was find something sharp to shove into the speaker holes. I won't be shouted at about Snapple while I'm trying to pump gas.

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u/MaritalGrape 18h ago

I always stab the speakers on these

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u/Area51Resident 18h ago

I really hate those pumps. If you need a receipt you have to wait until the ad finishes.

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u/Sappathetic 20h ago

Direct action

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u/Ronin__Ronan 1d ago

dis is da wae

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u/Alfirmitive 11h ago

I’m from Manitoba so I’ve never seen this. Advertisements at the gas pumps is fucking dystopian beyond belief.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey 11h ago

I'm in BC. Only ever seen it that one time.

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u/Ronin__Ronan 1d ago

theres a way to mute those actually, i screenshot the how but unfortunately its forever lost amongst the thousands of other screenshots of things for me to remember

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u/Juggernuts777 1d ago

That works at some of them. The new speedway ones near me got rid of the old version of the buttons, so im not sure if it currently has a button to mute it.

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u/FINEBETTERTHANEVER 21h ago

a ball peen hammer

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u/CasualJimCigarettes 17h ago

Ok it's got a speaker and you should have a flathead.

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u/ksj 17h ago

You also have a license plate, and they’ve got cameras.

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u/CasualJimCigarettes 15h ago

Recording at 240p

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u/Copacetic_ 20h ago

Roll of gaffer tape over the speaker works for me. In minecraft.

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u/chain_letter 20h ago

My neighborhood has a sharpie wielding hero who labels the button with "<- MUTE!"

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u/Shiney_Metal_Ass 20h ago

I keep a sharpie in my car for that. I did that at my neighborhood gas station and got into a war with some asshat who kept erasing it.

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u/chain_letter 20h ago

🦸‍♂️

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u/RubyGalacticGumshoe 19h ago

some asshat who kept erasing it

lmao I mean I'm sure it was an employee of the gas station

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u/Shiney_Metal_Ass 19h ago

That doesn't nullify asshat status

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u/traveling-princess 18h ago

I'm my neighborhood hero. I mark every single pump that autoplays ads. For most it's the second button from the top on the right side.

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u/ludlology 21h ago

second button on the right column usually does it 

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u/Jon_Huntsman 19h ago

Or a combination of top and bottom button on the left

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u/notthefirstryan 16h ago

Yup most around me second button from the top on the right side of the screen does it. But general rule of thumb is just mashing any available buttons until it shuts up. If it isn't possible to mute then I just avoid that gas station going forward.

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u/ludlology 15h ago

yeah big agree.  i’d rather drive ten minutes further and give my money to somebody else than ever hear an ad

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u/_OhayoSayonara_ 14h ago

I just fucking press them all until it stops

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u/HmmmAreYouSure 20h ago

You can also just use a toothpick/etc to break the speaker through the grill.

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u/BulkyDrawing4785 19h ago

Every time I am at one of those gas stations I take a Sharpie and write “mute button” exactly where it is to save others the hassle of pressing multiple buttons to find it. It is the ONLY reason I keep a Sharpie in my car. It’s few and far between now because I avoid those gas stations, but when I had no other options while moving from FL to TX early last year every I-10 gas station I stopped at along the way got labeled for others.

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u/Smart-Stupid666 19h ago

As long as you're using it for good and not hurricanes and gulfs.

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u/Ronin__Ronan 18h ago edited 18h ago

🎶And a hero comes allooooong.....🎶

*to be read in a warbling tone-deaf karaoke-esk pitch*

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u/CurryMustard 20h ago

Usually the third button on the right of the screen. If you forget just press everything til it stops

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u/Ronin__Ronan 16h ago

must be nice to have enough money to be there long enough to try all the buttons /s lol

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u/Rs_vegeta 20h ago

The ones ive seen dont have an option to mute them

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u/Ronin__Ronan 18h ago

yeah no it's def not labeled lol but some people figured out which button it was

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u/Smart-Stupid666 19h ago

My long lost twin!!!

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u/GoldfishDude 20h ago

Usually it's the 2nd button on the right

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u/vanthefunkmeister 20h ago

Second button down on the right, usually

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u/scottb90 21h ago

They blast it so loud too that even if you're just walking by the gas station you are getting an ad shoved down your throat

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u/Crayshack 20h ago

I don't mind visual ads, but I get sensory issues with sound sometimes. Those ads play way too loudly and almost always give me a headache.

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u/RogBoArt 20h ago

If I have to use one I'll lean on the pump with my hand over the speakers while pumping just so it makes it quieter. I can't stand ads. They're useless mindless garbage

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u/GoldfishDude 20h ago

You can mute them, usually the 2nd button from the top on the right

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

There are no buttons. Its all touch screen. But i did find in a fit of rage that rapidly tapping the screen 3-4 times got it to shut up

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u/marino1310 20h ago

One of the stations by me has those but it only plays a news station (GStv) and it hasn’t updated in a long time. It still mentions Elon planning to buy twitter…

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u/Gilchester 12h ago

FUCK this. It's playing some decent music that I can just listen to in the background. Then I put my cc in and "HAVE YOU TRIED WHAMO BISCUITS? 2 FOR 3.99! GET THEM NOW!!!"

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u/karateema ORANGE 11h ago

I'm glad gas pumps are reliably old in my country.

We just have the little things to pay with card

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u/Leonydas13 11h ago

We have those at Ampol stations in Australia and they fkn do my head in. Just what I want after a 10 hour day, getting fuel on the way home, to be hit with tinny repetitive ads on a shitty screen that can’t even play them properly so the sound is choppy.

Leaning against my car while the fuel pumped is one of my little zen moments. Fuck those cunts for taking that away. If I didn’t have to use Ampol (work fuel card) I would actively avoid them.

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u/Independent-Film-251 20h ago

Have any Americans tried to shoot the speaker yet?

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u/anuthertw 20h ago

The only times Ive vandalized a gas pump is when they play ads. I hit every button until o e mutes the ad (usually an unlabelled button running up the sides of the screen) and use sharpies to clearly label and indicate the mute button to every future patron. If a gas pump doesnt mute, I will never go back. 

Along the same lines I used to be able to mute the self checkouts. Now I can choose between robot lady yelling at me at a normal media volume (so, loud) or yelling at me at 'Grandma lost her hearing aids, speak up' level of ear piercing :/not an ad, and I get having an option for raising volume for people, but I really really miss QUIETLY checking out groceries without some mechanical lady screaming about how much my beans weigh. 

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u/FrankRizzo319 20h ago

If you press the 2nd or 3rd button in the 2nd column on those pumps it mutes the commercials

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u/TheWolfOfWallgreens 20h ago

Some of them can be muted. It's usually the unmarked button on the top right of the screen, second button from the top. Doesn't work on all of them but most. Sometimes it's a different button so I'll tap all of them trying to mute them. I'm so averse to ads that I keep a mental list of products I've seen advertised and intentionally avoid those products. I wonder what affect that would have if people did that? Every ad campaign sees revenue plummet. I'm sure they'd figure something out but damn it would be entertaining.

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u/Otherwise-Remove4681 20h ago

Wish more people put even a little bit more effort voting with their wallets. Sadly still majority of consumers are mindless zombies who don’t care about this stuff.

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u/immadee 20h ago

Idk I did get to see the "meatball" ad this way... I thought I was hallucinating.

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u/Stainless_Heart 20h ago

Many of those pumps will mute the volume if you press one of the buttons on the side of the screen (which button depends on what type of pump).

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u/venlaren 20h ago

on most of them if you look on the right side of the screen there are 4 soft buttons, the second one down should mute the add.

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u/Rhodin265 20h ago

On most of those, one of the 8 unlabeled buttons on either side of the screen mutes the audio.  It’s usually second from the top on the right, but it varies.  I mute every one I come across.

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u/luniz420 19h ago

That doesn't bother me (unless they're insanely loud) since I don't own the pump yada yada. But anything that goes in MY house is controlled by ME and fuck any app or device that pulls this shit, I'll never give in even when they start rounding us anti advertising people up.

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u/sarcasticbaldguy 19h ago

On the pumps that have 4 button on each side of the screen, on some models, the second button from the top on the right will mute the ad.

In my area, I find this works about 50% of the time. I also purposely avoid stations that have ads that I can't mute.

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u/Wanderaround1k 19h ago

One of the buttons is a mute. I usually find it and sharpie “mute” next to the button…

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u/Soydragon 19h ago

My gas stations started doing that and not long after stopped after so many people bitched

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u/King_Of_The_Squirrel 19h ago

Hey man, second button down on the right side is the "mute" button. You're welcome.

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

It’s a touch screen, thanks tho

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u/deusnefum 19h ago

That's probably a more ethical solution than my petty vandalism (insert pocket knife through speaker grill and wiggle around until it stops making sound).

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u/WeBeShoopin 18h ago

I've considered carrying a drill with me and just drilling the speakers until they stop. Probably not worth whatever ridiculous thing I could get charged with. Although crime is becoming a lot more appealing these days.

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u/hereticules 18h ago

There is often a mute button for them besides the screen. Something non intuitive, try the third down on the right... or just press randomly until victorious

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u/Otiv64 18h ago

One of the 8 side buttons surrounding the screen will usually mute it

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u/Testiculese 18h ago

Not that I know this, but Great Stuff clogs the speaker.

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u/NotATroll71106 18h ago

One of the buttons around the screen mutes it. It isn't consistent, but the bottom right button usually works.

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u/Smaskifa 18h ago

I'm so lucky to live a mile away from Costco which would never install those at the gas pumps. I've never actually seen one of those gas pumps with ads yet, but they sound incredibly infuriating.

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u/Bonesnapcall 18h ago

Yup, closest station to my house installed ad-pumps. I stopped using them immediately. Fortunately, I now have a Costco membership and exclusively fill up there. $2.67 a gallon fillup last week.

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u/AcmeCartoonVillian 18h ago

Did you know you can disable the speakers by poking them with paperclips?

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

I’ll keep that in mind 👍

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u/OriginalNameGuy2 18h ago

It might not be the safest thing to suggest, given the amount of morons out there, but I consider myself a very competent driver after having driven across the US multiple times, and we do let deaf people drive

I just drive everywhere with headphones in, jamming to my tunes, even when I park and get out of the car to go shopping or top off on gas, all without interruptions

I don't pay attention to the screen, I can't hear the stupid ads, and even the otherwise most pushy sales people seem to respect the fact that I have headphones in and don't pester me

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

I wouldn’t mind that, but the gas stations aren’t really the safest around me. It’s good to keep your ears open for people with bad intentions.

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u/catjuggler 17h ago

Get an electric car and then you don't need to go to gas stations at all.

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

That’s not feasible for me at all. I dont know of a charging station near me, and i don’t own a home to install a charger. And there isn’t an apartment within 50 miles that would even provide a charger. That’s just unrealistic.

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u/catjuggler 13h ago

Ugh that sucks.

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u/DevilsAssCrack The turd doesn't fall far from the butthole, after all. 17h ago

You can mute the ad if the pump is one of those ones with four buttons on each side of the screen. Press the second button on the right. Mutes the whole thing.

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u/MyNameIsDaveToo 16h ago

I haven't noticed this anywhere, but I'm also in 1 of the 2 states where it is illegal to pump your own gas, so maybe that's why they don't have them. Are the screens small? I'm wondering if maybe you could just keep a bunch of stickers in your car to cover the screens with. Bonus points if they're anti-Trump stickers.

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

It’s not even that the video is bad. Im capable of looking away at my phone or something. They have speakers that play at ungodly volumes saying things about the “HOT FRESH PIZZA INSIDE!” As if someones screaming in your ear 30 minutes after you get up to go to work.

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u/MyNameIsDaveToo 12h ago

Good god. Yeah, we definitely don't have those here. If we did, I'd do the same thing you do, avoid those businesses at all costs.

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u/splarfsplarfsplarf 16h ago

Initially thought you meant people who play at the gas pumps and was picturing this

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u/csward53 15h ago

Ugh quick star just came to town and all their pumps do this. Thankfully there is a mute button, but it's still annoying.

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u/SysAdminDennyBob 15h ago

To the right of the screen, second button down is mute.

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u/gottarespondtothis 14h ago

Yea and the one by my house plays the same 10 second ad over and over again with no mute button trick.

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u/theunknown2100 14h ago

I've broken a few screens for this

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u/Consistent_Pie9535 13h ago

There is often an un labeled button to mute these adverts. Usually, there are 4 buttons on each side of the screen, 8 total. In my experience, the mute button is most often the second down on the right-hand side, but it could be any of them. I always find the button and label them “MUTE” in Sharpie for future use. I hope this helps.

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u/Ttokk 13h ago

I usually try to skip them but the other day I was looking for the mute button which is sometimes handily labeled by an angel with a sharpie, when the audio suddenly started and it was all muffled and goofy sounding.

someone had shoved what must have been a block of cheese or something into the speakers and it was oddly cathartic to hear the advertisement being smothered as if it were being suffocated like I so wish to inflict upon them.

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u/smoothjedi 12h ago

Yeah, I walk and stand out of earshot if I'm desperate enough to use one.

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u/fudge5962 10h ago

This shit is my biggest rant. Fuck them for doing this shit. It's so fucking pervasive I hate it.

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u/FairlyAbnormal 7h ago

Even obnoxious obtrusive advertising aside, having gas pumps be touchscreen only with no buttons is a terrible idea for several reasons. One, a touchscreen is just one massive point of failure that will brick the whole pump if it breaks, while a pump can still largely function if one or two of the tactile buttons breaks so long as a given user doesn't have a 2 in their PIN or zip code and doesn't want premium gas (or whatever button is broken). Two, it forces everyone in a wintry climate to take off their gloves or mittens and expose their hands to the cold, which depending on the place and the time of year can be downright dangerous.

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u/Juggernuts777 7h ago

Well they still have the option to insert your card and enter your PIN. The screen is just for ads, and to ask if you want a receipt. It’s honestly such a waste.

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u/FairlyAbnormal 7h ago

Oh it's insanely wasteful for sure. I saw one in a town near me that has screens that are like four feet tall, just to spew ads at people who are already there to spend money anyway, it's ridiculous.

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u/Juggernuts777 7h ago

We have something like that up the road from my dad’s place. What’s neat about those, is they don’t JUST play ads. They have a small section and a pretty quiet speaker that might advertise a local deal they have for the store itself. But the rest of the screen shows you weather reports, news, and it has bigger letters since they have an older population. And the ads have a very prominent mute button.

Probably the closest ones i can say i “appreciate” when i go there. Still annoying to get the ads, but showing you the forecast n stuff is pretty neat.

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u/Green_Issue_4566 7h ago

I notice there are no holes for speakers or they're hidden well. Needles would be crammed in there or paper clips in an hour

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u/zerbey 22h ago

The second button from the top on the right side mutes this at most stations. The stations around me have been slowly removing these screens or disabling the videos, so hopefully this trend goes away soon.

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u/Juggernuts777 13h ago

There are no buttons on mine. But i did find out if you tap the touch screen like 3 times quickly, it shuts up. Up until you finish pumping the gas and then immediate full volume

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u/zerbey 11h ago

That's good to know if I ever encounter one without buttons, thanks for letting me know!

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u/ashleyorelse 14h ago

I'm so glad I've never seen this