‘I think it’s great!’: Customers and gas stations react to the changes of allowing self-serve as an option

(Update: Adding video, comments from gas station owner, Bend resident)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) --  It's been almost a week now since Oregonians were given the option of pumping their own gas. Pumping your own gas is now a choice for Oregonians and visitors who are in a hurry or just prefer to do it themselves.

"I think it's great, just because I know sometimes gas stations will get busy and it's easier to, you know, hop out and pump your own gas, and then you'll be able to kind of get in and out quicker," Bend resident Brooke Burns said Thursday.

People across the state can choose between having an attendant pump their gas or doing it themselves.

Stop and Go Shell owner Kizer Couch said, "We're a full-service station. We allow customers to pump their own gas, now that this law is enacted, but most of the people aren't wanting to do it." 

Couch added that their attendants are also still taking trash and washing windshields. And while the majority of drivers aren't pumping their own, there are those willing to learn. 

Burns said, "Traveling outside of Oregon, I went to Las Vegas, and everything was self-serve. I have never self-served before. So it was a great thing to learn, but definitely not like on the fly."

In terms of numbers, the Stop and Go owner estimates 10-12 customers a day pump their own gas, and three or four employees are still on hand to help. 

Couch said, "So far, people are a little confused. They lift the handle, try to pump and things don't work quite right. So they get us to come over there and help them figure it out."

He said by Friday, they'll have stickers on pumps to help guide customers through the process of pumping their own gas.