The New Trick Gas Stations Are Using In My Town..

[rsmith6621]

...Doesn't matter if it is a UNIOCAL,Shell,Chevron,AM/PM,ect.... you pay 3.79 a gallon for 87oct and then you look at your online bank statment 2 days later and they have added a charge of one to two dollars on top of it with no explanation. Its almost as if their debit machine stores your info and then pulls it up two days later.

So I spent $24.00 on gas which was really $26.00.....BASTARDS.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. Protest the charge...

Copy your receipt and use it as the basis of the contesting it. Alternatively, pay cash so they can not do that.

[meegbear]

2. Are you sure that's the price?

I have a couple of gas stations in my area that'll have posted a price of $x.xx, and in small text "Cash Only". The next higher price is what they charge with a credit/debit card.

[MineralMan]

3. It works just the opposite for me. When I use the debit card to

buy gas, a $1 charge shows up immediately. That is charged when the pump authorizes the purchase. Usually, the actual charge for the fuel doesn't show up until the next day, for $1 less than the pump showed when I bought the fuel. That's a Wells Fargo debit card.

Perhaps you're seeing the same thing, but not understanding it completely.

[CarmanK]

11. That's how it works for me, and I never use my PIN. It is chged.

[ChandlerJr]

19. Same here,

years ago I somehow opted to have my Wells "debit" card run as a charge card. Sometimes I have to tell a cashier to treat as a credit because it still says "debit" on the front. Never a pin #.

I've never had a fee and I usually get 2-3 days float on gas and restaurant transactions.

[mike_c]

4. I absolutely LOATH gas stations that advertise a "cash price" at the pump...

...but add a surcharge for using a credit card. Whenever I identify a station that does that I NEVER return. It's dishonest, IMO, even if technically not.

[SoCalNative]

6. Why is it dishonest?

They're just passing along what it costs them for credit card transactions.

[1monster]

12. No. The Federal Reserve has lowered the amount banks are allowed to charge

for debit transactions (swipe fee) to twenty-four cents. It does not cost $1 to $2 to process a debit or credit swipe.

[Xithras]

25. Not true for credit cards, or debits processed without a pin.

The fed limited the swipe fee for debit cards, but credit card companies are still allowed to pass on the full interchange fees to retailers for credit transactions, and these average 2% in the United States. I just gassed up my car and paid $3.71 a gallon yesterday evening. I usually do run my card as credit because it's faster, and that decision applied a 7.4 cent per gallon surcharge to the retailer.

Keep in mind that most gas stations are independently owned franchises, and the average American gas station owner has a margin of 1-2 cents per gallon. And that's not even profit...that has to fund everything from the electricity in the pumps to capital improvements to meet current technology and legal standards. Actual "profit" is a fraction of a cent per gallon. With numbers like that, the independent gas retailer can't simply absorb a 7.4 cent per gallon penalty from the big banks. It HAS to be passed on to the customer.

[mike_c]

16. because they advertise the cash price knowing that most folks...

...make their decision whether to stop or not based on a quick glance at the price per gallon signs. There is one chain of gas stations here in the west (not in my local area though, so I can't recall their name just now) that is particularly bad about this-- you don't find out that they're charging you a different price-- if you don't visit them regularly-- until the damned pump reads your card and you select your gasoline grade. THEN you find out that the price on the sign, which handily beats the competition next door, is not the price they're going to charge you and that they're really going to charge you MORE than the competition across the street. Most folks grumble but pump the gas, if they even notice what's happening. The station knows they will. Maybe that's not dishonest, but it's certainly deceptive. The sign says nothing about a two tiered price structure, and only advertises the lower price that most folks don't actually get to pay because they're not carrying lots of cash.

[coalition_unwilling]

23. Those sound like gas stations that are ready for Occupation or

even Liberation.

[Fla Dem]

20. No. that should already be built into their price structure. n/t

[dtexdem]

26. No, they're passing on much MORE than it costs them for credit transactions.

Even with the outrageous charges banks charge them.

[leftyohiolib]

13. the debit cards were advertised as same as cash

[Xithras]

21. It isn't really their fault. Blame the banks

Most gas stations only make a few cents per gallon in profit, and the credit card companies charge the retailer a couple percent "interchange fee" whenever you use a credit card. If you use a debit card, they are still required to pay a transaction fee. That surcharge is simply them passing the bank fees along to you. If they didn't charge this fee, they could actually lose money on the sale.

When you see gas stations that don't charge this fee, it's generally because they're just jacking up the price in the first place to cover it. You are STILL paying the surcharge, but they've decided to also charge the fee to cash customers and pocket the difference as extra profit. You're not saving anything by preferring these retailers.

[cui bono]

24. They are charged for using cards as well. I just pay the cash price

and figure I'm saving.

[SheilaT]

5. Personally, I almost always

pay cash for gas. I use a credit card, never a debit card, when on a trip, rather than carry that much cash with me.

All of you who have been thinking debit cards are the best thing out there since sliced bread, really ought to rethink that.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. I've used my credit union debit card for the last 18 years everywhere in the world. I've never had

any additional charges or fees except for currency conversions.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. I've never seen that with my credit union debit card in NC.

Don't know if its a credit union thing, or a NC thing.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Is it from Think?

[Speck Tater]

10. Gas stations are one of the places I only pay cash. I've had too many strange charges show up. nt

[Honeycombe8]

14. Walmart adds a charge that you don't know about, IF you use certain types of credit cards...

Not sure which ones. If you write a hard copy check, they tack on a fee. If you use I think Discover, they tack on a 10% fee. Maybe if you use a debit card. The last time I paid there, I used the credit feature on my debit/credit bank card, and there was no fee.

Is the fee from the gas stations...is it listed separately on your statement? Or is teh total charge amount just a bit more than it should be?

[SheilaT]

29. That's quite interesting.

I don't happen to ever shop at walmart myself, but what you've just indicated is just another example of why they are not that often the cheapest place around to shop at, despite the popular perception.

[hobbit709]

15. don't have that problem here.

[RebelOne]

28. Me neither. And I use the evil Bank of America debit card. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. weird. n/t

[msongs]

18. does this station TELL U up front somewhere there will be an extra charge added??

right there at point of sale, the pump, it should say an extra fee is added. if there is no sign, contest the charges.

[dembotoz]

22. i pay cash or write a check

yes some places still take a check and i patronize them

sometimes i play my checkbook pretty much down to nothing
a number of unexpected debit charges might really fuck me up.

another reason not to use the debit cards.

[sufrommich]

27. Most gas stations now have 2 prices, one for cash and one

for credit/debit. If you check the sign you'll see that "credit" is usually 10 cents more.