> Is that so? I only live a scant 3 hours away (one hour, 45 minutes if you REALLY move fast and don't get caught -- no, we never did that but one of my dad's co-workers who owns a Ferrari did) from you and it's quite different here. Full serve generally costs anywhere from a half to three cents more per litre then self-serve. However, the people who work at the full service stations tend to do a good job (although this can vary immensely from station to station). There are even a few that advertise that they'll pump your gas, wash your windshields, and check your oil, and if they ask for payment before asking and/or doing all three of those then the gas is free. I somehow doubt that anyone would forget though....I have an odd feeling that a slip up'll come out of the employee's paycheck.
>
> Still, our family has always preferred self serve, simply because we do a better job at it, and the fact that it's cheaper. Even small differences in price add up after a while. That and, like some other people already said, it's not a big deal and what else are you going to do just sitting there anyway?
>
> -Ka"I've only got my learner's permit..."z!

OK, now THAT is interesting. I was hoping you or Spacebar would jump in here, since I think anyone NOT in Alberta would not be able to provide a good frame of reference here.

I must admit that even within Calgary, prices vary significantly as you move around the city, so of course, a full serve station in Crowfoot would quite probably have a different price than a self serve in Deer Run. Of course, with a city this big, driving to the cheapest gas station may cost you more in gas used than you would save. Hence, I will not consider that point.

My statement has to be based on the one thing which can be consistently verified. I don't know how common these are elsewhere, but we do have several service stations with both full service and self service, depending on which bank of pumps you select. The banks are clearly labelled. In my experience, the majority of service stations which offer both have the same price for both. I can think of one notable exception, a service station located at the corner of two major access routes to the downtown core.

I will now go and check when I get the chance to confirm my statements about the other stations, mainly because I am curious. I am pretty sure that the way I described it is still the case, though, and am now wondering why it would be this way when everyone else seems to have had different experiences...

Don "Doubting himself now, for many reasons" Monkey