They didn't. So I got out to move my hatchback car closer and angled so they would reach. I unhooked the pump and put it in my car.

But first it asked me to pay my bill of £0.

Do you have an example? Every rental car I have tried in the past decade had this. At least 10–15 different models from a variety of different manufacturers.

I was driving for ten years unaware of this, before somebody told me. It’s easy to miss that the icon telling you “this is fuel gauge” also shows you which side to fill the tank from.