Leap Day brings self-service fuel issues

Motorists nationwide were left frustrated yesterday after trying to get petrol and diesel at self-service pumps only to discover they were shut down by a software glitch. Keenan O’Brien was among the locals who had to go elsewhere for fuel. Picture by Paul Rickard

Self-service fuel stations across the country, including outlets in this district, yesterday reported outages at the petrol pumps due to the date — February 29.

Allied Petroleum, Gull, Z, Waitomo and other fuel stops around New Zealand reported problems with card payments because of a software glitch likely caused by their systems not being programmed to deal with the date February 29.

Gull and Allied spokesmen told media yesterday the issue was because it was Leap Day.

“It seems to be mainly affecting outdoor payment terminals,” they said. “It’s a pain for everyone.

“They rolled out a new system last year but they obviously weren’t programmed for the leap year,” the company spokesmen said.

Steps were being taken nationally during the day yesterday to solve the software problem.

When The Herald went to print last night no resolution had been reported.

Local pay-at-the-counter service stations spoken to by The Herald yesterday reported no issues.

“No issues at all, but we are extra busy,” said one proprietor.

“Everything is normal for us,” said another.

Self-service pumps at Gisborne fuel outlets were affected by the problem.

“Everything that’s self-service will have been down because of the problem,” one manager said. “We appreciate it’s very frustrating for those wanting to buy fuel that way.”

One motorist spoken to, Keenan O’Brien, said “it was a bit annoying” he could not get fuel at his usual self-service refuelling location.

“I went to the Z station in Gladstone Road and paid over the counter.”

It was expected the situation would have returned to normal today.