Pumping Up The Refueling Experience in Farmington

You’re driving down Grand River, looking to fuel up, but every gas station is closed to you. Can you feel the panic set in?

For the driver with a disability, that can be the refueling experience.  But now, one Farmington service station has installed FuelCall, a system that makes pump assistance just a push-button away.

“People pull their cars up, there’s a button on a black pole and they push it,” explained Kristen Neubecker, assistant manager of the Atlas Oil Marathon Station on Grand River and Power. “An alarm rings in the store and we know someone needs help out there.

“People are very grateful to have the help because a lot of them can’t even walk into the store in the first place,” she said.

Without getting out of their cars, customers with a disability license plate or placard can get more than just gasoline.

“We have a menu that we bring out on a clipboard, and we can write down anything they need from inside the store – soda, food, any other thing they need," Neubecker said. "We can ring everything up with their gas so they don’t need to come into the store.”

An added bonus, she said, is that people with disabilities can now receive the cash-discounted price, since employees take the cash inside and bring out any change with the receipt.

For those looking for assistance, the symbol publicizing the FuelCall service is located on the Atlas Oil Marathon’s sign and visible from the street. In addition, the pump island equipped with the system displays its own signage.

This unique service (the only one in Farmington) is available to others, Neubecker said, including "elderly people in our community that need us to go out and pump their gas. If you’re an expectant mother and you don’t want to walk into the store, if you have children sleeping in the car or an infant in a car seat, you don’t have to come into the store.”

While the FuelCall service enhances the Farmington community, it also brings much to the Atlas Oil Marathon employees. “I love pumping gas for people because they are so happy that we can do that for them, that makes my day better,” Neubecker said. “It warms my heart.”