Gas station limits credit card purchase to $50

Code54 · Feb 20, 2006

Yep - here in WV it is fairly common.... I can think of 3 or 4 stations right off the top og my head, and you are correct, it is a pain!

SnowRidge · Feb 20, 2006

A lot of them around here had a $50 limit. Some raised it when gas went through the roof. Some haven't. It's a loss prevention thing.

Soundguy · Feb 20, 2006

Here in florida, most of the pay at the pumnp setups limit you to 50$, and some of the bigger stations around the interstate limit you to 75$.. I've also noticed that the pump will reject even the '2nd' run... That is.. you get 1 swip and fill at that one station.. etc.. or else you have to have an attendant ring it up..

Soundguy

MadDog · Feb 20, 2006

I think that it is probably the station. The Shell station where I fuel up the Suburban used to be $50; some months ago they changed it to $75 and I think ( can't remember things older than a week /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) that it recently went to $100. I'm gonna find out tomorrow, because Tuesday is a "nickel off" day and I'm down to about 1/8 tank at the moment.

dmccarty · Feb 20, 2006

My station is limited to $75. Which stinks. I have to swipe the card again to put in another couple bucks worth of fuel. I called the credit card company and they said it was the station that set the limit. I really should go inside and talk to the manager to see if he can up my limit. A lot of local dump, medium duty, and cement trucks use this station. I have seen them pull away after paying a couple hundred dollars on credit cards at the pump. If the drivers went inside to pay I did not see them. So there must be some way to up the limit.

Its just not convient for me to walk in. I usually have a kid strapped into a seat and I would just rather fill up and leave. It is a hazzle to swipe twice and then add up the two reciepts....

Later,
Dan

PAB_OH · Feb 20, 2006

When I moved back to Ohio from New Mexico this past August I ran into the same thing. I had the biggest U-Haul I could rent w/ a car trailer and my wife's Grand Am on it and I went through gas like mad. EVERY station I stopped at, (Amarillo Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illionois, Iowa, and Indiana) along I-40, I-44 & I-70 limited me to $75.

ultrarunner · Feb 20, 2006

I thought the $50 was bad.

This morning I stopped for gas in Oakland California on the way to the airport and my card stopped at $10...yes ten dollars.

I walked inside and the manager told me they had to limit credit card purchases, inside or at the pump, to one swipe per 24 hours and $10 total. He said they had no choice but to limit it because so many people try to use stolen cards.

Apparently the first thing to do with a stolen card is to fill up your gas tank and that of all your friends? Welcome to civilization...

BTW...$50 bought 20 gallons of 89 octane last Friday

JoeR · Feb 20, 2006

Wow that's really bad! $10!!!!

The local news did a report on stolen debit cards in our area. Very common. They steal the numbers... Anyway, police said many people weren't reporting it. The reason: The local police won't take a report unless the fraudelent activity occurred in their county. Most thieves take your number and run to another part of the state or another country! No wonder the criminals never get caught!

Joe

Alan L. · Feb 20, 2006

I used to run into this but haven't recently. My fillups are usually about $55 or $60 so I don't know what they raised it to.

George2615 · Feb 20, 2006

Same thing here. But its up to the station or company running it. We recently had a new Mini Mart / fuel station built with gas and diesel pumps installed. It was great when they first opened, just fill up and go in and pay. Then the price of fuel went up and they started getting non paying driveoffs that ruined it for the rest of us. Now that station makes you prepay or use a CC but only has a $50 limit. I tried to reason with the manager but they wouldn't change so they not only lost my fuel business but anything else I may have bought inside the store. Another station 1 mile away has no limits and you can still fill up and pay at the pump or inside. They also have a mini mart so they get a lot of business. I told the manager about the other store and He said at first he wondered why his business had increased by 1/3 then began to realize why once other customers told him the same thing I did. He said they have a couple drive offs a week but they also have cameras on every pump so drive offs are on tape and easily caught. They turn the tapes over to the local P.D. each week for prosecution. They are doing a booming business. Their gain is the others loss.