Posted on 06/16/2007 5:59:15 AM PDT by BenLurkin
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- So you're at the gas station filling up your vehicle, and without warning the gas pump shuts off. What? The tank isn't full, and you know your credit card isn't over its limit.
"Using my Visa card, I commonly hit a limit and I would be standing there scratching my head," Shawn Bloomfield, who pumps premium gas into his SUV, said from his home in Allentown, Pa. "I would always assume it is the gas station setting a limit on how much gas I could purchase. It felt like a ration scenario."
As the price of gasoline continues to rise, rules to prevent credit card fraud at the nation's pumps are confusing consumers who just want a full tank of gas.
Caps on transaction amounts -- or the total dollar amount of gas a customer can pump into their car -- are limiting some drivers of gas-guzzling vehicles.
"When I go to the gas station I now have to use two credit cards just for one tank of gas," said Paul Brisgone of Oxford, Pa. "Kind of defeats the convenience of pay-at-the-pump."
Brisgone, a field operations manager for a telecommunications company, said he alternates between three different credit cards -- two Visa and one MasterCard -- when filling up the 32-gallon tank in his Ford F-150 pickup.
"When I can go 400 miles a day, it inconveniences me if I need a full tank of gas and can't get one," Brisgone said.
Credit card companies say the policies, which aren't new, are designed to ensure that merchants and consumers are protected from fraudulent transactions that could occur at a gas pump.
When a customer uses their credit card at a cardholder-activated terminal, such as a gas pump, the transaction is authorized without knowing the final bill of sale.
Typically, consumers who use their credit card are not liable for any fraudulent purchases, and gas merchants are not liable either.
But credit card companies have established a protective layer by setting caps on how much gas a consumer can pump at any one given time.
That means in the event of any fraud, "the merchant is protected from bearing the cost of the fraudulent transaction," said MasterCard spokeswoman Joanne Trout.
But only up to a certain amount.
For MasterCard customers, it's $75. Visa and Discover users have a $50 pay-at-the-pump limit. Transaction limits vary for corporate card holders and American Express users.
Not all gas stations have to abide by the cap. And there are no limits if a customer goes inside and pays with their credit card at the counter.
The caps went unnoticed when gasoline prices were low.
"We get more calls, questions, when gas prices increase," said Visa spokeswoman Rhonda Bentz.
The average price of regular unleaded gasoline increased from $1.50 a gallon at the start of the decade to $2.28 a gallon in 2005, according to the American Automobile Association.
Today, gasoline prices are topping $3 a gallon.
"Yes, it's an inconvenience," said Bloomfield, who often reaches his $50 limit when filling up his Nissan Pathfinder. "I guess you could say it's a necessary inconvenience for more secure transactions."
I’ve also had the card rejected on the second car when filling up my wife’s car and mine at the same time. Most times it works fine, but once and a while we’ll fill up at the same place and I have to wait until my car finishes and then swipe hers again, or just use another card.
I haven't read all the way through this but, there's another problem as well ....
I had run my bank account down and at the last minute, a small, $87.00 check came in, just in time for me to get a tank of gas. ('93 Cavalier)
I deposited the check, went to an ATM and checked my balance, and proved to myself the check was in as a balance.
I went to the gas station and slid my card, but for some reason, the card was refused .... I assumed the electrons hadn't caught up with each other.
I went to another station and the same thing happened.
Almost out of gas, I went home and dialed my bank and complained.
The lady fixed it all up with this explanation ...
"Some stations have a built in 'limit' before they even accept a card ... the first one I went to (Get Go) had a $100.00 'limit', and because I had less than the c-note, the pump refused my card ... BUT ... consequently, the station had put a hold on $100 (that didn't exist) and effectively negated my $87.
The next station I went to couldn't accept an empty bank card, and I was refused there too."
The bank lady on the phone told me that 'Get Go' was notorious for this kind of problem and customers and banks have complained, but to no avail.
I went to a local, mom and pop station after the phone call and my card was accepted.
The bottom line is ... if you go to some stations and get $50 in gas, untill the transaction clears, they will hold $100.
So if you have $125 in your account ... untill the station clears the $50, you have affectively, $25.
Don't transact on a Saturday.
Hmm. Why out there? How do you get the oil there? Rail?
New car ping, pumpkin.
I haven’t used my card at the pump for years. It’s not so annoying to walk inside and write a check for the $23.56 once every two months or so since I get to talk to the mechanic about the business while he tries with greasy hands from the Ford up on the rack to operate the cash register.
I actually know the answer to this one. Credit card fraud is really common at gas stations. The first thing homey does when he steals a credit card is take his five friends to the gas station and fill up. Bad guys know that as long as there is ANY money available on the card (even $1), they can fill up. (The reason for this is that the pumps only send an authorization request for $1 to validate the card because they don't know how much gas you are going to pump. If it account checks out with $1, you get the gas.) So one of the classic signs of credit card fraud that the Fair-Issacs models score as very likely fraud is repeated charges at gas stations.
The credit card companies have responded by capping the amount you can charge--usually $50 or $75, depends on the company. That limits their losses.
I drive a lot in my little motorhome. I try to watch the gas gauge and fill it up at 1/4 left in the tank. Usually allows $100 worth to fill it up. Most stations in these parts (TN, and N.GA, AL) require the zip code to activate the pay at pump ... threw me the first time because I didn’t make the connection of my mail zip code to the purchase of gas! Attendant had to tell me what to punch in ... felt about three inches tall with that.
I think it’s regional as we don’t even have those stations or stores here in the Panhandle of Texas. Love’s , Rip Griffins, Pilot, etc etc . SAM’s and Wally world and united stores limit to 50 dollars and ya have to run yer card back through and start the pump again. Pilot will let me fill up with diesel and I have Twin under bed 30’s and a 98 gallon bed tank in my Cummins Diesel Doooge 2500.
Limits exist as I stated at some places and others it does not at least where I am .
My understanding is that the request for your zip code is a security feature. It is just confirmatory... the credit card company already knows it, and if you don't, you probably have stolen the card.
Of all the things they could ask, Zip Code is the most benign.
I have been encountering this for several years now as i do most of my driving in a motorhome and a fillup for me can come to well over $150. I always use the same credit card, mastercard, and when the pump shuts off at $75 i just shove the card in again and get another $75. Lately, it has been more likely to shut off at $100 so i can usually fill up with 2 swipes of the card now instead of the previous 3 swipes. most pumps seem to have no limits and i can get $140 or so on 1 swipe of the card. In my experience the policy of shutting off at a certain limit is with the service station owner or the corporation if it is a station owned by a chain such as FlyingJ or Loves, or Pilot, etc.
my husband just noticed this as well...filling his tahoe and some extra gasoline cannisters, it hit $99 and wouldn’t let him have anymore.
my husband just noticed this as well...filling his tahoe and some extra gasoline cannisters, it hit $99 and wouldn’t let him have anymore.
When holds are placed, it is supposed to be for the expected amount of the charge, plus a little extra to cover any last-minute add-ons. For a car rental, that would be a full tank of gas if the customer did not fill it before returning it. At a hotel, that could be a room service charge.
So the hold on a gas pump transaction is the same concept, but the transactions closes in minutes, instead of days for a hotel or car rental.
Two years ago at the pre-Memorial Day price spike I encountered this with a corporate gas card. It took them about three weeks to make an adjustment and I’ve never seen it since.
I would think a call to customer service would fix it (or find a different card)...
It didn’t help us when my husband’s wallet was stolen. The guy just filled up to $50 at many different locations. Thank God the bank was on top of things. A convenience store clerk found his wallet in the trash, so he got all of it back, minus his ss card. Gee, I wonder what happened to that?
Fortunately there aren’t many tree huggers and environmentalist wackos in South Dakota so it may actually get built.....
They may not be in your state, but they will come to you from other states. Look at Alaska, they wanted to drill for oil, the majority of Alaskans are for it, but tree huggers from all over prevailed and congress backed down.
I wondered what in heck was going on. It is aggravating. Now I see why the local station is not letting you use the credit card at the pump. They are getting by the CC rationing scheme. EUREKIA!!!!!!!!!!! Mystery solved.
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