hhoman's Blog

I know you don't want to hear this but in the gas retailers defense the problem isn't you the honest guy who pays his bills and does the right thing, for you it is a insult and slap in the face. Here is why it has come to this. Debit cards only when inserted into the gas pump do not check to see if bank funds match the purchase. A person who was out to take advantage of this knows they only have $20 in their account they pull into the pump and get $100 worth of gasoline and now the store is the one who has money in limbo that they have a heck of a lot of trouble collecting on. In the meantime the person who bought the gasoline has long gone and if it was a fraud it is currently difficult to prosecute, unlike say writing and passing a bogus check. In retaliation the stores automatically put in the number of $100.00 to protect themselves. I can see in just a short time it will be cash only or use the ATM in the store to pay cash for your fuel.

The folks I know that run a gas station told me that this is why they no longer take a debit card without the holding fee. A gas pump is one of the only things where the purchase amount of the product is not known until after it is done and the consumer doesn't have to do a face to face purchase. Think of it like a restaurant you set there and eat the food but unless you are able to slip out the door, which does happen but is rare you have to pay the bill.

The ATM checks your account to see if the amount you are asking for is available if it isn't you can't draw out that amount the gas pump doesn't do that because it doesn't know what the purchase will be....so most pumps have no preset amount that it checks for to see if it is in the account and that was O.K. when gas was cheap, but now it isn't cheap anymore so instead of a $20.00 purchase it is $75 - $100 and many people are taking advantage of the fact that the pump won't cut off if I have only $20 in my account but pump $100.

Now on the station owners side the customer is gone and the bank battle begins except now as you mention about your money .... it is the station owner that has their money tied up.........not a big deal when it is one or two incidences a week but with the cost of gas increasing at it's current rate the friends I have with the station say it is getting into the thousands range and they will just not take the loss any longer. The amount you are charged usually $100.00 will be back in you account minus the amount of your gas purchase but as you say it will take a day or two. It makes you mad b

I do understand why its done, what is wrong is the station owners do not notify the consumer at the pump of this action to protect themselfs as you see it. All thats ok with me, except the station has no right to continue to hold the money once the purchase is complete (I have been told that by the bank). The block can only be removed by the station. What the station owners are doing is making TWO transactions for one purchase, thats not right, and it is a crime. They post a transation for the $100 to protect themselfs as you describe it and then another charge for the gas purchase. I only authorized a singe transaction! And then the customer has to wait two days or more (I only had to wait two day because I called the bank and they reversed the charge) to use their money again, UNFAIR by any means or how ever you may look at it.

I purchase gas sometime 5 to 6 times a week, now should I keep $600.00 plus the gas cost in my account just to keep the bad guys from stealing from the stations owners, I think not!!

Your freind should be honest and discontinue debit card and credit card use and work on cash only then instead of locking up other peoples money from them, Its just plain wrong!

I have offered a easy solution, notify the consumer of these charges so they can make the desision on their money, not the station owner!

I do understand that the station owner does not like that idea, it might drive away business, thats the cost of doing business like that, dishonest at the least!

If you think that my family or friends are going to use Quality Mart for a debit c

I am trulley sorry that you just cant get the consumer side just for a second, which leads me to believe that money is no object to you and a $100.00 being placed on hold and not avalible to just dont affect you personally, but the majority of the people are working pay check to pay check and dont have an extra $100.00 for the service station to protect themself's with for 2 to 10 days, that just plain dishonest and wrong!

When you finish pumping gasoline into the tank of your vehicle or other container, the pump informs you of how much you received and provides a receipt for that purchase. Then, it seems to me, that the same machine should then notify your bank that you pumped "X" amount of dollars/9/10th cents and place a hold on that amount of money until the bank pays the station owner.

It seems to me that if they cannot collect the $20.00 and 9/10th cents, then surely they cannot expect to collect the $100.00 that they placed a hold on. Therefore, it appears to be just harassment.

Regarding the service stations in the near future refusing any type of card and only cash will probably cost them more as they will have to hire armed guards on premises 24/7 to prevent armed robberies. Thieves just love places with lots of cash laying around.

Uncommon Valor, that is the point I am trying to make if you don't have at least $100.00 in the account the pump will not accept your debit purchase request for purchasing gasoline,it won't let you get any at all using your debit card at the pump you will have to go in and prepay where the cashier will verify the purchase amount before setting the pump for the specified amount. Gas is quickly heading for $4-$5 per gallon range and as Jimbob has noted they are going to do everything they can to insure that they don't loose money. I am glad Fox 8 did the article about where your money goes so maybe people will realize where most of their money ends up, Making The OPEC countries RICH! The little guy selling it doesn't make much at all.

I have a stupid question.If you buy 40 bucks of gas and they debit your account for 100 where is the 60 bucks for 2 days ?

Then the money is still in your account but froze/held ? Nobody is making money off the 60 bucks ? The oil company doesn't have it ? The bank is not using it and you can't move it ? Does the bank do this free for the oil company and you ?

I may not have been very clear, its not were they took a deposit of $100.00 and my purchase was $40.00 and we are talking about $60.00 heing held here, what is happening is they take and hold $100.00 when you swipe your card, you pump the gas and in my case I got $40.00, now the transaction for the gas is $40.00 they took the $40.00 as i expected, and also keep on hold the $100.00, so my transaction was now two transactions, one for $40.00 and another for $100.00, so to total it up my visit to Quality Mart cost me $140.00 until they feel like releasing the $100.00, ITS A CRIME, THEY ARE STEALING FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS.

gadget410

WOW, a teacher.

So lets teach our kids that opec controls the cost of gas, oil retailers control your money, that great!

DEBIT card were designed to replace CASH, and are safer for the consumer to carry and also offer a fraud recovery menthod of protecting the funds in your account by LAW!

As a teacher make some calls, visit a bank or get a book on DEBIT CARDS!

Electronic transations are account and balance based, no transaction can be processed before a balance is checked. Try to use a credit card for more that your balance, its not going to work! So if the station owners are faced with the fact that consumers can purchase more than they have in their account the problem is in the equipment and service provider the station owners are using, again thats their cost of doing business not ours, we pay, o boy do we pay.

One quick question, do you have stock in Quality Mart or any family relationship?