I sure would let the main office know especially if it caused an overdraft advance.

It's a standard procedure, and I see signs posted on the pumps around here, warning people about it.

I use cash. ;-)

The company is only protecting themselves. They want to be sure that they will get paid. In this day and age it is not unreasonable to assume you might have spent $50 or more on a tank of gas.

We have signs up at our local place- they hold $90.00 at ours. I use my card as a credit card rather than a debit. Thankfully our place told us first!

Trish

It's standard procedure and has been for a long time. Actually since the prepaid became common. What happens when the card gets swiped it authorizes a $75 charge (or whatever amount the card company uses but $75 is pretty standard around here) and then you make your purchase against it, then after a period of time the balance is released. If you want to buy more than $75 you have to make it another transaction. Big rigs often have different pumps that authorize larger amounts. If you ever watch the pump, most will say something like "authorizing transaction" so it's getting the ok that the card is good for $75.

You're in error on the thought that it costs the station more for credit than debit. They're the same thing! Your debit card is handled through the credit card company. It is a *credit* transaction. I'll bet your card says VISA on it and if not, it probably says MasterCard. The credit card clearing company pulls the money from your account, not the station and then the card handler credits the station's credit card account and that can take quite a while.

Business wise, a "check card", debit card and credit card are all the same thing. However certain credit cards, like American Express charge the station more than VISA, MasterCard or Discover. Other cards too are generally higher cost but much depends on the clearing company.

I don't follow your comment about not wanting the station doing your banking for you. Essentially that's what you're asking them to do.

Why on earth would a station only authorize $1? The idea of prepay is that you pay before you get the gas. If they only authorized $1 and someone charged $25, then only had $1 on the debit account, uh, need I say more?

Why not just use your credit card at the pump rather than your debit card? Then you won't have the issue of such a small credit availability. Then just pay it off monthly (can do a direct transfer from your account if you want, and you don't have to go inside. Plus you have use of the money for the grace period. There's no way I will use a debit card. I'll write a check first. If there's a screwup on a debit card, your money is gone first. If there's a screwup on a credit card you have a challenge procedure.

"So now, regardless of where I use a check card, it will be swiped as a credit purchase!"
That's what happens. It is a credit card purchase. The difference is that it's paid by automatic deduction from your bank account rather than billed.

If you use a debit card in a store only the amount rung up is authorized on the card since they don't have the risk of losing more than that.

BP is especially bad about that. They "overheld" on my card a month ago and it was so out of the ordinary, that my cc company called to inquire about possible fraud. Maybe BP is trying to pay for the Gulf cleanup with the float on these overholds?

In my previous life I managed a gas station so I know a little bit about this subject. Your clerk was correct in that the individual gas station doesn't have any say in how much of a hold is put on your card. What she failed to tell you is that the credit card companies and the fuel companies get together and set that amount periodically. Exxon and Visa for example negotiate the hold amount. When gas prices increase dramatically you'll see the hold amount goes up also (not during day to day fluctuating prices but long term when prices jump by more than .50 a gallon). There are still some stores that place a $1 hold, you just might need to find them.

On a side note, using your card as a credit rather than debit doesn't necessarily cost the vendor more. That depends entirely on the deal your vendor has made with the company processing their transactions. I know where I worked debit was more expensive than credit (that's why you'll see some places with a minimum charge for debit transactions), but at several local businesses they would rather run my card as debit because it saves them money. I usually tell them to run whatever is cheaper for them since I'm hoping they'll pass those savings along to me.

And just in case people think gas stations make a whole bunch of money from gasoline sales.... not so much. In general it takes .18 a gallon over wholesale costs to break even on fuel sales. The money is made inside the store on candy bars, beer sales and especially fountain sodas. If you want to hurt a convenience store where it hurts never buy fountain soda again!

I had this problem once and now, I just get cash from the bank and prepay inside the store. It's a little more inconvenient but it takes away the worry of holds being placed on my account.

My daughter had a similar problem. She went to the bank and the bank officer was able to reverse all fees , but explained hiow it works. I personally believe in drawing out enough cash each week to cover ny gas and groceries plus any "incidentals" (like my manicures and coffee). That way no over-drafts happen.

"Maybe BP is trying to pay for the Gulf cleanup with the float on these overholds?"
Nice conspiracy theory but impossible. They don't get the money! Calling it a "hold" is false. It's an authorization whereby they tell the company that your credit is good up to that amount. The card company "holds" against your card's credit line (again, *not* the business). The fact is and few people understand that the business does *not* get the money the day of the transaction even though the clearing company can. It can take months before the business gets the money credited to their account. There's no possible way the business can benefit from authorizations on your account.

Prepay is very hard on c-stores sales. But so are drive-offs. If you don't go into the store, you don't have any impulse purchases and fast food is probably the highest margin items in the store. Candy, cigarettes and prepared food/beverages are the moneymakers in a station considering that a good margin on gas is still about 6â to 10â per gallon. The mom & pop stations (including places that have a few stores) just can't make it these days and that's really sad.

I was talking to an owner of a station a couple years back and he was telling me about Shell's policy that the company will put out gas coupons and promos and the individual station had to eat the loss. They did not get reimbursed for it, at least so he said. Then add in employee and customer theft, drive-offs to say nothing of normal business expenses and it's not an easy business. He's been out of business now for a couple of years. The station sits empty.

You're right, it is an authorization Cynic, however, the store where I worked had the funds in its account three days after the sale date. Actually, how it works is the funds are deposited into a credit account with the fuel distributor. Say we sold $100 in gasoline on Monday. On Thursday that money would be deposited directly into the store's account with the vendor who supplied the fuel. If we had $200 in fuel delivered on Friday we would then owe the vendor $100. Techinically I suppose you could say the business didn't directly get first $100, however, if a store is selling very much fuel they are constantly getting deliveries. We had three or four deliveries a week so really the business was getting its payments rather quickly. Perhaps for a small store, where fuel sales are slower, getting payment for credit/debit purchases might be a problem but that wasn't the case for us. Of course, non-branded stores obviously have different arrangements. If there's no big fuel company sign out front then they probably have to pay for their fuel upon delivery.

When we went pre-pay it was very difficult on our clerks as it was a small town and the "regulars" were very upset. Fact is we'd had dozens of drive offs to the tune of about $150 a day. The owners blamed the clerks for not paying attention but really, it wasn't the clerks' fault. It's virtually impossible for one clerk to keep an eye on 7 pumps all the while waiting on impatient customers. What the regulars failed to see was that "they" were the ones doing the drive-offs. Eventually everyone settled down but those first few weeks were brutal.

And just a note to everyone, please treat convenience store clerks decently. The price of gas is not their fault. They have families. They have problems. And they probably aren't being paid anywhere close to a living wage. Cut them some slack. Most of them are probably stuck in a job they hate working for ungrateful employers. Be kind.

Cash ...

... is ...

... king.

And the retailer gets the full amount.

But ...

... "that's a $50./100. that you have ... sorry - we've been having trouble with some of them being counterfeit, so we can't take it".

So - hope your bank isn't too far away, so that you can leave the car while you go make a withdrawal.

Life seems to get tougher by the day!

ole joyful

Here I am AGAIN, once I too worked for an .AM/P.M. I've learned a lot just now. From now on I will just use cash!!
"IF" I can do it at the terminal. I'm already piss#d off that they charge forty five cents for not going into the store!!! I will never buy anything inside, well maybe coffee, so their not losing by me staying outside. So who does that money go to? The $.45? Here's another topic to post REMEMER WHEN WE WENT TO THE GAS STATION AND GOT WAITED ON AND OIL CHECKED, WINDSHIELD WASHED, ETC.Etc...........and they didn't get any tips either, at least not from my dad.

You know authorization holds are done at many places. It's not just when you buy gas. the amounts vary according to the business and the length varies also. When you pay for a meal at many restaurants with a CC there is an additional $20 charge put on for up to 24 hours. Anytime you rent something either a car or a tool there may be a charge over and beyond what you are paying. Hotels too.

If a surprise fee of under $100.00 is going to put one into an overdraft mode then it seems one shouldn't be using a credit card to purchase gas to begin with. Use cash and you'll stay within your budget and know what you are spending.

marcy345, what are you talking about that it costs 45â to not go into the store? I don't follow unless you're talking about "club" stores and their annual fees.

inthesticks with the station being corporate I don't know the details of exactly when they got the funds deposited. However from the store I had we had a paper credit to our credit card account yes immediately, however there was the hold to get the cash transferred to the bank account of upward of 2-4 months which meant we couldn't spend it for that time to pay wages, purchases, license fees, taxes, etc. So we had to front the money to buy things then look for the money to come in down the road. The reason for the delay is in case someone challenges the charge. The credit card outfits are not looking for the small business' interests. This has been nearly 10 years now so with the credit changes this may have changed too.

Cash isn't always king either. If we deposited "large" amounts of cash at the store we were charged for it. I maintained we should have gone to a different bank but my partners had personal reasons to stay with the local one. We never kept it all either... the rent took its share, electric company, City, federal and state taxes all took a piece, employee wages....

my 2 sister-in-laws manage convenience stores and it is 150.00 hold or whatever it is called at their places

I always use a credit card to pay for gas (I use a CC to pay for everything and pay it off every month) and they always just charge $1 as the hold. I see that $1 sitting there for anywhere from one to five days until the real charge comes through. I wonder if they treat credit cards differently from debit cards as far as the hold amount goes. AFAIK I've never been OVERcharged on my hold amount at either a gas station or restaurant. Always undercharged.