Allied Petroleum, Gull, Z and other fuel stops around New Zealand have ground to a halt owing to a software glitch they say is likely caused by their systems not being programmed to deal with the date February 29.
A Gull spokesman said a software glitch meant some payment terminals were not able to be used to pay for fuel across the country.
”We understand there is a nationwide payments issue.
”We first started seeing some of the issues earlier this morning, and we have been liaising with our provider and understand they are working as quickly as possible to fix the issue.”
He said that the issue was due to February 29 being a leap day, and was “just one of those things, that caused the payment software to have a glitch”.
”We are really reliant on the payment supplier, but we are hoping they can get it fixed as quickly as possible.“
”It’s across the board, but it seems to be mainly affecting outdoor payment terminals, but it’s too early to say, we think it is affecting all payment terminals.“
”It’s a tough day for motorists who are trying to fill up at the pump today.”
At Allied in Pōrangahau in Hawke's Bay, the station owner said he had been in contact with head office about the problem, who had told him it was due to the leap year date.
“It’s a pain for everyone. They rolled out a new [system] last year, but they obviously weren’t programmed for the leap year.”
Gull and Allied said on social media they were aware of a nationwide technical error across all fuel brands that had put their fuel stop network offline on Thursday.
“Our team are busy working with our suppliers to fix the issue, we will provide further updates as soon as we can,” Allied wrote.
Gull said: “An industry-wide fault is causing some Gull payment terminals not to work. We’re working hard to fix this as quickly as possible.
“We understand the frustration our customers are feeling and will have a Discount Day next week to make up for the inconvenience.”
