Canadian expat ‘shocked’ at inconvenience of Australian service stations

A Canadian expat revealed his ‘unrest’ about how difficult it is to navigate while refueling a car in Australia.

Matty, from Ontario, recently moved to Brisbane with his Australian fiancee and was shocked to realize he had to walk into the gas station to pay for petrol.

The expat was used to ‘pay at the pump’ at home and did not understand why the norm was so different in Down Under.

“Australia has some apps and there are certain pumps where you can pay – but you have to go in pretty much every time, which is a pain,” said Matty.

The man also revealed that the pumps are quite short by comparison and don’t reach over the top of the car, which makes it awkward when the car pulls in the wrong direction.

Matty posted a video highlighting the main differences between the two countries.

“Pay at the pump in Canada is so huge,” he said.

“Everyone does it, it’s so easy – it’s also one of the things my Australian fiancé noticed first when she moved abroad.”

Another thing was the price points of gas station and gas station snacks.

“Even though fuel costs about the same, everything else in home gas stations is so affordable,” he said.

‘But here you just have to go to the supermarket, because gas stations are so expensive.’

Matty shared that Canada only has one fuel pump, while Australia has a separate pump for each type of fuel.

“There’s only one pump in Canada and you have to push a button to select what kind of fuel you want,” he said.

The most obvious difference was the local term for place.

“Australians say ‘servo’ or ‘gas station’ – but Canadians and Americans call it a gas station.”

Many Australians also shared their dislike of the ‘clumsy’ payment method.

“I hate paying at the pump,” said one woman. “I can never guess the right amount to fill up my car.”

“It’s to entice you to buy something too expensive at the store,” said another.

“We need more pay at the pump — especially when you have kids in the car,” said one mother.