Posted on 10/25/2016 11:39:45 AM PDT by heartwood
My brother lives on a residential block zoned commercial. On the next block is a gas station that has just installed tvs next to the pumps and started playing music 6 am to 10 pm "to attract customers." It's cranked up LOUD about 150 ft from his house. He works at home and spends a lot of time working on his house and yard and the noise is making him miserable.
He's spoken to the gas station owners, no luck, and to the town - no noise ordinances in commercial zones.
Any suggestions?
I've never seen gas pump TVs. Is it a southern thing? Do they really attract customers or does the TV company pay the station, to get advertising revenue?
The TVs at supermarket cash registers already annoy me - who thinks, hey let's go to Bill's Pump N Snack and we can catch up on the News N Ads? I
My condolences.
I have a jackass neighbor across the street who inconsiderately rattles our windows with his bass blaring at all hours.
My kingdom for some claymores.
Yoko Ono them.
Sharpen up some stout wooden dowels, grab a decent sized hammer, and mute the speakers in the middle of the night when the gas station is closed.
The one’s I’ve heard aren’t really that loud. Can’t imagine being able to hear anything the next block over. Those pumping their gas must be getting hearing damage.
IIRC, the sleep deprivation tactics used on Noriega included a continuous loop of "Free Bird." lol, and I'd crank the speakers up to 11 (homage to Spinal Tap).
which includes the sound of typing in the office......Where the hell do you work? A buggy whip factory?
I am in Texas. There is a Shell station where I fill up that runs a TV at the pump. It shows clips of Jimmy Fallon or a sports update and other such bullshit that I don't care about while I'm pumping gas.
It doesn’t have to be obnoxious. People like this cannot stand opera. I love opera. Any opera will do. I always thought if I won the lottery (of course I’d have to buy a ticket first) I’d get one of those pick ups with the directional bed filled with speakers and roll through town playing opera.
What state are you in? It doesn’t matter what the city ordinances are. I am certain there is one concerning decibel limits. Heck, there are federal guidelines on legal decibel limits.
Bingo. Retaliate with whatever music will drive the customers away, at a higher decibel level than the gas station can put out. If there are no ordinances to stop the gas station, then there are no ordinances to prevent retaliation, and the dispute must be settled by the law of the jungle.
Here are a few options:
1. Stop by the gas station and make sure you overfill your tank. Pull the car away from the pumps, then call 911 to report the spill. Do this a few times until the guy gets aggravated with the process of dealing with these 911 calls.
2. Leave something on the gas station property (or adjacent to it) that makes a god-awful stench. Freep-mail me for some ideas on this.
3. Alternatively, you can leave something that will attract large numbers of pests (stray dogs/cats, rats, etc.).
4. A pellet gun to disable the exterior TVs would be a last resort.
I would absolutely suggest that any contact with the gas station owner -- or anyone else in that town -- should cease immediately. Better yet -- patronize the place regularly and wear earplugs or something so the owner thinks you've come to grips with the noise. If you come to be known as the person or family that was complaining about it all the time, you'll be the prime suspect in any of the things I've listed above.
“Sell and move.”
The noise might greatly effect his property’s value, and also make it very hard to sell!
My sympathies. I detest those things as a customer, and make it a point to avoid pumps so equipped if at all possible.
Type up a flyer to pass out to customers asking them to kindly ask owners to help their neighbors.
See what the neighbors think - take it to the mayor and town council or whatever....
Chances are that the TV’s on the pumps aren’t loud enough to warrant intervention. But if your sound can overwhelm their sound at the pump, you’ll be charged.
It’s no different from your elderly neighbor’s TV being heard outside.
“mute the speakers in the middle of the night when the gas station is closed.”
Security cameras at almost all gas stations these days. He could get in a lot of trouble!
In CT some gas stations have started playing horrible loud ads by the pump.
OK—as to the neighbor problem.
You, or someone you know, or someone they know, needs to contact a motorcycle hobbyist group (or gang, whatever :-) ).
They need to spend several hours biking around, through and next to the gas station. That should keep customers away.
Then you can have that conversation about noise... :-)
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