questionsif you are waiting at a gas station for food to…


@bsmith1: "If the gas station was worried about abuse, it wouldn't be self service."

That's what I'm thinking.


Why are you buying food at a gas station to begin with?

I have personally never done it, but I see people do it. Not a fan of it myself, but what do I know.


That's not ethical!?! I got your unethical refill right here:
When my friend worked at a gas station when we were kids, we could bring our own cup, any cup, and drink for free!
No cup and you had to buy one.
I did wheeze the machine a few times (Drink from the tap: I think this is a term from Pauly Shore buudddyyy).


For many, the fountain machines are a contract. You pay for each cup used, not the volume of soda dispensed.


Roller Food!

If you're waiting for food at the gas station, you're doing it wrong. Grab a fist full o' dogs from the roller machine and scarf 'em down. Done. No time for refills.

Edit: I don't see an issue with topping off you drink. I've seen people do this with coffee. Take a sip, put a little more in and then call it good. If the gas station was worried about abuse, it wouldn't be self service.


One ounce of soda out of those machines costs around 1/10th of a cent. And they're charging us over 10 cents an ounce. Whos not being ethical?


@wickedd365: I do when I take long road trips. If you go to a good gas station they usually have better (and cheaper) food than the fast food joints.


@wickedd365: Royal Farms and Sheetz have VERY good food.


I think I got heartburn just thinking about eating at a gas station. and to pick up on @caffeine_dude : "You see you’ve got your 4 basic food groups: corn nuts-vegetable group, sweettarts-fruit group, burrito-meat group, and milk duds-dairy group."


I tend to assume that if the machines are self-service, there's a presumption of free on-site refill. For example, Taco Cabana, Taco Bell, Taco Tote, Pepe's Chicken (yes, I eat a lot of Mexican food), Sam's and Costco are all places I frequent with self-service soda machines but none of them have signs that say "free refill". We routinely buy a soda on entering Costco or Sams, drink it as we shop, and refill it it as we leave. If I dine in at one of the taco places I get refills, and I sometimes drink part of my soda while waiting for food and then top it off when I leave. I have always believed that's the purpose of them, not to sell single cups of soda. If you have any doubts, ask before helping yourself. But I'd be very surprised if the answer was no.


Free refills is something I miss when I'm living overseas. It's something we definitely take for granted here in the states. Free refills and Dr Pepper at the same time can almost seem like heaven!


Has anyone else been seeing the Coca Cola Freestyle showing up? They put one in my local gas station as well as many fast food places. It's a good idea but the flavors are "off" to me.

Basically it's one box machine that allows you to have over 100 different soda options. I see people just stand there and taste test it wasting large volumes of it. I like Peach and I like Coke, but Peach Coke was kinda gross so I dumped it - I wonder how many others dump a full 32 oz each day?


@eraten: I've never seen a sign saying free refills. I know the cost of BiB syrup is cheap but I feel that if they don't have a sign saying you can then you shouldn't assume that you can. I was just wondering how others feel, there's one sit down diner I go to that doesn't give free refills on pepsi/coke products so it's not a common thing that you should always get free refills.


I would ask if it's ok to refill. If yes, then I would. If no, then I wouldn't. If it's a Subway or McDonalds, etc. that have an eat in area that usually allows refills, then I wouldn't think twice about it.


@michaelkriss: If there's a sign saying otherwise then it's definitely not okay. The competition in my town for restaurants is ferocious, they open and close like revolving doors in some areas. Free chips and salsa with your meal, free refills on drinks, frequent customer cards are all ways they manage to hold onto their slim customer base. Restaurants that don't want customers taking refills put the fountains behind their counter, but they are really fairly rare. A restaurant with a sign like you describe in my town would not be in business long unless they had something really special to keep them in business.


@ryanwb: Raspberry Diet Coke and Peach Sprite Zero are my favorites. All of the fruity flavor, no sugar.


I know a lot of places around here have a note stating if you drink some of your drink and top off your cup you will be charged for a refill.


@ryanwb: Apparently there's a pizza place near by me that has one of those. Now if I liked the pizza they had there it would be compelling enough to go check it out.


I think this question is just a sneaky way of finding out which people eat gas station food.


@ryanwb: I have used that several times. I was in Vegas when they put it in the Coke store for testing and have used it at several locations. The theory is good, it uses less packaging for the syrup (from the giant bags to what looks like a printer cartriage) but occasionally the mixture can get a little off. (I was told it uses the same technology that hospitals use to measure dosage, but for some reason the Mello Yellow is never quite right.)


I had heard once growing up (in Oregon), that if the soda machine is in the dining area and self-serve, they are technically not allowed to charge for the refill.

I have no idea who told me this, if it's true, and I've never looked it up to see.

Personally I think if there is no sign and it is self serve, then I think it's safe to say that it is free refills during that visit to the establishment.

We have a Coca Cola Freestyle in our Fudruckers. I sat there and sampled almost every flavor they had. No, there was noone else there waiting for me, I made sure. Each location can also disable/enable flavors. I used one in an airport (can't remember where) and they had grape coke. The fudruckers one did not allow grape coke, but did allow grape Fanta. It was more because I think it would be terrible, just like peach coke, which I also disliked.


Yes. I take a drink. If I'm thirsty when I go in, I will fill my drink, drink some (or a lot, or a few times almost all of it), then refill. I only do that on the soda fountain. Frozen drinks have different rules. No extra top-offs on frozen stuff.

I think it's technically either Theft of Services or Theft by Taking. I also speed and take the tags off my mattress. Sometimes I litter by throwing my gum out the window of the car like when smokers flick their butts out the window.


@pitamuffin: Sheetz food is so amazing, it is now put on highway signs for food. If you ever get a chance, do it because it really is that good.


I'm in the camp of "If there is no sign prohibiting refills at a self-service fountain, then it's allowed.". It just makes sense.