Pump limits?
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Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 319
From: Boston
Pump limits?
Last 2 fill-ups have been at a station I hit on my way home late on Friday nights, which isn't one I normally use that often. (But Friday I was running low, had almost 600 miles, and had, as this post is about, no real clue how much gas was left--and they were selling at "only" $3.919, woohoo.)
But last time I stopped in, mid-may sometime, I ran the pump until, after slowing down around $49, it stopped at exactly $50. This made me suspicious. One of my previous fills at another station (same brand) I'd actually managed to fill to $50.01 as the second stop and had to top it to $50.05 (just how I do it after someone else posting something like that as their method, after the whole "topping off is bad" and may impair upping the cruise range thing). But this one stopped at $50 and completely refused to let me add any more gas. So I left with $50 of gas and when I added my tank info here it came out as (big surprise) higher FE than I could expect. All signs pointing to the pump filling to $50 rather than to "full".
Friday did the same thing again, mentioned it to the attendant who smiled and shrugged and said "sometimes it just happens to fill up at exactly $50!
" and ignored any protests about how it doesn't magically happen to be full at exactly $50 twice in a row when I have no doubt at all that it didn't finish filling up. When I got back to the car I saw that it even displayed on the pump "Authorization limit reached" or something. So I had to finish and do another whole pump transaction to add another almost 2 1/4 gallons to get it full.
It was kind of annoying and I don't like knowing I don't have a full tank and not knowing how much short I am for telling how much I should have left.
Now that gas is so expensive $50 for a tank is a lot less unusual, a) it's dumb (how the heck do trucks fill up at this station??) and b) figured I'd mention it here in case anybody else runs into something like this and can't figure out if it's really full or not. This situation does exist at least at some stations, just be aware.
But last time I stopped in, mid-may sometime, I ran the pump until, after slowing down around $49, it stopped at exactly $50. This made me suspicious. One of my previous fills at another station (same brand) I'd actually managed to fill to $50.01 as the second stop and had to top it to $50.05 (just how I do it after someone else posting something like that as their method, after the whole "topping off is bad" and may impair upping the cruise range thing). But this one stopped at $50 and completely refused to let me add any more gas. So I left with $50 of gas and when I added my tank info here it came out as (big surprise) higher FE than I could expect. All signs pointing to the pump filling to $50 rather than to "full".
Friday did the same thing again, mentioned it to the attendant who smiled and shrugged and said "sometimes it just happens to fill up at exactly $50!
" and ignored any protests about how it doesn't magically happen to be full at exactly $50 twice in a row when I have no doubt at all that it didn't finish filling up. When I got back to the car I saw that it even displayed on the pump "Authorization limit reached" or something. So I had to finish and do another whole pump transaction to add another almost 2 1/4 gallons to get it full.It was kind of annoying and I don't like knowing I don't have a full tank and not knowing how much short I am for telling how much I should have left.
Now that gas is so expensive $50 for a tank is a lot less unusual, a) it's dumb (how the heck do trucks fill up at this station??) and b) figured I'd mention it here in case anybody else runs into something like this and can't figure out if it's really full or not. This situation does exist at least at some stations, just be aware.
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 12
From: Darien, IL
Re: Pump limits?
This is a VISA/Mastercard issue. They have a $50 limit on gas charges without a signature. Most people have never hit the limit until the recent gas price increases. Every station around me has stickers on their pumps explaining it. The way around it is to simply swipe your card a second time. It is odd that the employees at your station don't know this.
--A2K
--A2K
Driving in stealth mode
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 430
From: Far South Chicago Burbs
Re: Pump limits?
I think they recently moved it to $75. I almost always go to the same Speedway station and they have had a sticker there for quite some time now saying it was a Mastercard\Visa limit. Lately though it has gone over $50. I think it stopped at $75 on my wife's minivan the other day.
Ridiculously Active Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,051
From: New Jersey
Re: Pump limits?
One additional problem surrounding the use of debit cards is their use at a self-service gas pump like those common in the U.S. The customer might want to purchase fuel on their debit card, but the pump's computer does not know how much fuel the customer wants. The pump is activated by the customer presenting their card to a card reader (see methods described above) and possibly entering a PIN. At this point the pump will dispense fuel, though no sales transaction has completed. The pump has no way of knowing how much fuel will be sold, nor how much money is available in the customer’s debit account. In a typical sale transaction, trying to spend more money than is available in your account (credit or debit) will result in a "no-sale" alert to the merchant, and the sale does not occur. At a self-serve fuel pump, the fuel is already in the customer's tank by the time the bank knows the final sale price. Several solutions to this problem are in place, such as denying $1 pre-authorizations when an account holds less than $10 while still allowing transactions for specific amounts, but the concept of delivering the merchandise before the sales transaction plagues the debit card system. The commission is sometimes so high that the gas station sometimes actually loses money when someone pays for gas with credit. When pay at the pump started in the 1980s, many gas stations offered a discount for paying with cash. Most of them stopped doing that because the discount did not significantly increase their cash sales
Thread Starter
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Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 319
From: Boston
Re: Pump limits?
But restrictions on debit card use doesn't really map to restrictions on credit card use, I'd think.
And I was using Discover, so if other cards do it too... But it would have to be both card- and station-specific, as other stations with the same card do not have a problem. Idunno, it was just annoying and unclear (especially at 1-2 am, hehe).
And I was using Discover, so if other cards do it too... But it would have to be both card- and station-specific, as other stations with the same card do not have a problem. Idunno, it was just annoying and unclear (especially at 1-2 am, hehe).
Ridiculously Active Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 2,051
From: New Jersey
Re: Pump limits?
Fill up in NJ.
Self service is illegal, you sit in your car and wait for the attendant to pump it for you. When he's done you hand him your card.
Very convenient, especially when it's cold, rainy, snowy, etc.
Self service is illegal, you sit in your car and wait for the attendant to pump it for you. When he's done you hand him your card.
Very convenient, especially when it's cold, rainy, snowy, etc.
Active Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 244
From: Oregon
Re: Pump limits?
Same in Oregon as well, but with only NJ and OR banning self-serve, the pump manufacturers seem to only be making self-serve style pumps. Most stations here have upgraded over the years and the new pumps require the attendant insert the card before the pump turns on. At least you don't have to get out and go inside the store to pay.
