Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26

ity OF losing many OF tn'
free services that now are
given them at service ant
filing stations because of their abuse
of the courtesies so extended? Thi:
question is timely in the light of The
growing conviction on the part o.
the proprietors of many such estab-
ishments that certain type oi
motor car owner has become so &C.
customed to favors that he is de-
manding more than can be provided
for high.
A day spent at typical service
station-one of the commodious
pleasant, we'll equipped establish
ments SO common today-served to
throw light on the situation that
revealed rather startling effects
And if some of the motorists who
visited the station that day could
have seen themselves from a de-
tached vantage point. their impetu-
GUS unreasona bleness would have
turned into a boomerang of embar-
rassment.
For, in relation to the services they
obligated the station to give as a
result of making purchase, the de-
fnands of some of them were nothing
short of outrageous. To The credit
of the great body of motor car own
ers, it can be said that this attitude
was confined to specific type, and
one that was in a minority. This
minority, however, was sufficiently
large to make an emphatic impress
sion upon its observer.
To the motcrist who pays as he
goes and as result assumes that
every one does the same there is a
big surprise in the actions of some
of the patrons of the average service
station. Some of the incidents of a
typical day will seem unbelievable.
Many of them will look staged"
but the average filling station owner
in the potential skeptic's own neigh
borhood will unquestionably substan-
tiate them.
There is one exhibition of effront-
cry that almost dehes belief, and yet
the proprietor of the station declared
it 10 have happened there before.
The case involved a fairly we'll
dressed man of middle age who
drove car selling around $1,000.
He pulled into the station and drove
over one of the pits and asked for
change of oil"
When the attendant had drained
the crankcase, the motorist turned
around, reached into the back COM
partment of the car and pulled out
a gallon can of oil
Put this in" he commanded.
unless you buy your oil here,
well have to charge you for the
service" said the attendant.
What? Charge me for the serv-
ice? You advertise free crankcase
service"
Eventually he paid quarter, but
far from graciously.
This case, of course. happens
rarely. 1t has parallel that occurs
more often, according to the pro-
prietor of the service station. The
second. variety concerns tire mount
ing. A nlotorist will buy tire from
an establishment that does not
mount it ON the, rim and take it to
another dealer who does such work
and expect him to mount the tire
free of charge merely because he
happens to be dealer in that par
ticular make of tire. He resents
being penalized for his lack of fore
sight.
One-half hour, when business is
rather dull, may be cited to show
the motorist at his worst. Of eight
that came into the station only one
made purchase. Here is the story
of the 50 minutes, just as it hap
pened:
The first customer" was a youth
of about p, driving an old touring
car. He wanted TO borrow a jack.
The proprietor told him they were
all in use. When seen few minutes
later, the young mans car was
. parked along the stations air line,
blocking two towers. He was using
his own jack and had one old tire
off the rim and was mounting a new
one. The wrappings from the new
tire were blowing ali over the place.
Just to show the observer how
long the two air towers would be
tied up. the proprietor said nothing
to the youth about the fact that the
stations tire repairer would mount
the tire for quarter. After mount
ing the first tire and putting it back
on the wheel, the youth put the jack
under the other rear wheel and pro-
cecded to take off the old tire and
mount new one on it also. Neither
of the tires had been purchased at
the station The owner of the place
never had seen the car owner before.
The air towers were tied up in such
a way that no one could use them
for an hour and 10 minutes. No sale.
Two girls in a small coupe were
the next patrons" All they wanted
was parking space for few minutes
while they went to a nearby police
station to deposit collateral for over
time parking. They did not have any
money TO buy gasoline, they told one
of the station attendants when they
returned an hour later.
The third case was that OF man.
He pulled up to the air line and
started putting air into a tire that
looked as if it already had as much
pressure as it could hold. While no
one was looking, he sneaked away,
leaving his car parked on the air
line. He was gone half an hour.
When asked il he did not want to
buy some gasoline in return for the
parking privilege he had taken, he
replied that he had lust filled 'er
up" He did not say where.
The fourth incident was unlike
any Of the others. 1t was large
car with a fat tire. Its owner asked