wtf is this?!

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
so the sign said 3.89 and when I used the CC it was $3.95, then there is a little readout thing that says

Cash: $3.89
Credit: $3.95

so this is the new scheme that they are doing these days?!?!

This is new how? Most places charge more for CC.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Baked
They didn't charge you extra, customers who pay w/ cash get a discount.

Not really. I get 3% cash back on gas. I still got raped less in OPs example. And I didn't have to go inside the building and waste time waiting in yet another line.

Cash: $3.89
Credit Card: 3.95 - (3.95*0.03) = $3.8315

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: mugs
They did this years ago...
and then they stopped
and now they've started doing it again
because profit margins on gas are pretty thin
and credit card processing fees take a big chunk

i'd imagine you get a lot more volume if you advertise by the cash price... especially w/o mentioning it's for cash only.

In the short term. Its pretty easy to never return to a gas station for the rest of your life over a small slight. I know I have several on my shit list. Its not like there isn't another one on the next corner.

 

[torpid]

Cash discounts I know about, but a plastic surcharge? Surely that can't be allowed. It needs to be worded as a cash discount of $3 and not a plastic surcharge or they are violating the TOS. Isn't there something about the advertised price, too? As in, you have to advertise the credit card price?

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: mugs
They did this years ago...
and then they stopped
and now they've started doing it again
because profit margins on gas are pretty thin
and credit card processing fees take a big chunk

yip, i think the first stations to stop was Chevron.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
this isn't a 'small' business and if they can't handle the CC fees, then they can stop accepting CC's.

whut?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
What happens if you select pay inside, then go inside after you pump the gas to pay and use a credit card? Do they raise the price on the spot? I would think that would be illegal, you pumped, you got a price, you walk in and it's different with no way for you to go 'no thanks'.

I have to pay inside because I have a card that gives me a 10 cent discount. But it has to be swiped by the attendant.

If you select pay inside then the pump won't even turn on. You have to pre-pay with cash and they'll allow you to pump that much gas before it shuts off. Then you go back inside and get your change (if any).

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Baked
They didn't charge you extra, customers who pay w/ cash get a discount.

that'd be the wording, yup!

 

[Row1and]

Originally posted by: Baked
They didn't charge you extra, customers who pay w/ cash get a discount.

haha you're ridiculous.

I actually get 5 cents off a gallon as a college student at some gas stations in my town!

 

[yuppiejr]

So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

What? It's in the terms of service between merchants and credit card companies that they cannot impose a fee for using credit cards. If it were in eBay's terms of service that you can't charge more for FedEx, then the analogy would work.

 

[sourceninja]

This thread needs a car analogy.

 

[yuppiejr]

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

What? It's in the terms of service between merchants and credit card companies that they cannot impose a fee for using credit cards. If it were in eBay's terms of service that you can't charge more for FedEx, then the analogy would work.

Well, in this case the station wasn't charging a fee for the use of credit cards - they are offering a "discount" to people who pay with cash to reflect their lower cost for this method of payment. As you pointed individuals don't negotiate with their credit card company what fee structure they are charged to accept payment. However you are still paying this fee indirectly since the cost gets rolled in by the merchant to the price of goods sold.

 

[randomlinh]

haven't seen that around here for ages. it'd definitely suck to see a come back of this.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

What? It's in the terms of service between merchants and credit card companies that they cannot impose a fee for using credit cards. If it were in eBay's terms of service that you can't charge more for FedEx, then the analogy would work.

Well, in this case the station wasn't charging a fee for the use of credit cards - they are offering a "discount" to people who pay with cash to reflect their lower cost for this method of payment. As you pointed individuals don't negotiate with their credit card company what fee structure they are charged to accept payment. However you are still paying this fee indirectly since the cost gets rolled in by the merchant to the price of goods sold.

I'd have to say that doesn't pass the sniff test.

That's like saying I'm not robbing a bank, these people are giving me a donation after I appealed to their sense of self-preservation.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

What? It's in the terms of service between merchants and credit card companies that they cannot impose a fee for using credit cards. If it were in eBay's terms of service that you can't charge more for FedEx, then the analogy would work.

Well, in this case the station wasn't charging a fee for the use of credit cards - they are offering a "discount" to people who pay with cash to reflect their lower cost for this method of payment. As you pointed individuals don't negotiate with their credit card company what fee structure they are charged to accept payment. However you are still paying this fee indirectly since the cost gets rolled in by the merchant to the price of goods sold.

No he was being charge a surchage. The price was listed as 3.89 and he was charged 3.95. That is a surcharge.

OP call up your credit card company and dispute the charges. You might get a free tank of gas out of the deal.

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: akshatp
They just started doing this again recently. About 6 months ago IIRC is when I first started seeing it around here.

I refuse to go to stations that have this BS. There are a few that are the same cash/credit and if I have to pay a few extra cents I will do so.

Why? Because the gas station loses money when you buy small quantities of gas with a credit card?

I can understand it. When the store owner only makes 5 cents profit (and that's generous) on every gallon, and I pull up with my motorcycle and take 3 gallons with a credit card....30 cents goes to the credit card company. The owner has lost money because of me.

It's simple really.

A companies profits are not my problem. The more money they lose on a transaction with me the better.

 

[Nik]

Originally posted by: zerocool84

Originally posted by: xSauronx
youre paying them, and not even BP likes you

big surprise.

LOL.........

anywho because they have to pay the credit card companies to use the credit cards. If you use cash it goes directly to them. I've been seeing this all over

They're not allowed to carry the charge over to their customers. Last I heard, they can get in trouble with Visa or MC or whoever for doing that.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Many stations are changing to a $3 flat fee for using plastic.

I am sure this "fee" will continue to go up.

now THIS is against the credit card TOS.

Question: How does this apply to debit cards that work as credit cards?

 

[smack Down]

Originally posted by: Raduque

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Many stations are changing to a $3 flat fee for using plastic.

I am sure this "fee" will continue to go up.

now THIS is against the credit card TOS.

Question: How does this apply to debit cards that work as credit cards?

They can charge what ever they want to for debit cards if you use a pin number. Which is why you should never use the PIN number option except at your own banks ATM. If you use them as credit cards then they are covered under the same merchant agreement as credit cards.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: CasioTech
I'm going to use Citgo from now on.

citgo around here has been the worst about advertising cash prices in big numbers with small 'cash price' underneath

 

[wiredspider]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
So let me flip this on your a bit OP...

Say you sell a laptop on on ebay and you advertise a shipping fee of $12.00. After the auction closes they ask you to ship via Fedex to get the laptop sooner at no extra charge, though it adds an extra $10 to YOUR cost for freight.

By your logic, you should eat the $10 cost difference to make it more convenient for the buyer... even though it comes out of your pocket. We all know that would be stupid and illogical, yet somehow you can apply the same logic to asking a gas station to foot the bill for the fee YOUR CC company imposes on them?

Same thing applies to buying ANYTHING with a Credit Card - in this case YOU are being charged by the merchant for the cost of offering the convenience to YOU that goes along with using a credit card instead of carrying cash. If you don't like it you should be calling out the CC company, not the merchant.

I could be making things more convenient for the store
Pay at pump = no need for attendant
no risk of payment being stolen by robbery or employee
no need to count, arrange for armor car service, etc like you would need for cash

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
If 6 fucking cents per mile is that big a deal then you must have made some wrong turns in life.

😵 what car do you drive that gets 1 mile per gallon? The space shuttle?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: akshatp
They just started doing this again recently. About 6 months ago IIRC is when I first started seeing it around here.

I refuse to go to stations that have this BS. There are a few that are the same cash/credit and if I have to pay a few extra cents I will do so.

Why? Because the gas station loses money when you buy small quantities of gas with a credit card?

I can understand it. When the store owner only makes 5 cents profit (and that's generous) on every gallon, and I pull up with my motorcycle and take 3 gallons with a credit card....30 cents goes to the credit card company. The owner has lost money because of me.

It's simple really.

A companies profits are not my problem. The more money they lose on a transaction with me the better.

That's idiotic. But I guess that doesn't surprise me coming from you.

 

[yuppiejr]

Originally posted by: smack Down

Originally posted by: Kalvin00

Originally posted by: akshatp
They just started doing this again recently. About 6 months ago IIRC is when I first started seeing it around here.

I refuse to go to stations that have this BS. There are a few that are the same cash/credit and if I have to pay a few extra cents I will do so.

Why? Because the gas station loses money when you buy small quantities of gas with a credit card?

I can understand it. When the store owner only makes 5 cents profit (and that's generous) on every gallon, and I pull up with my motorcycle and take 3 gallons with a credit card....30 cents goes to the credit card company. The owner has lost money because of me.

It's simple really.

A companies profits are not my problem. The more money they lose on a transaction with me the better.

That's right, anyone who makes a dollar deserves to be punished... stick it to the man comrade... how's living in mom's basement living off the great teat of everyone else's hard work going for you?

I don't get it. People piss and moan about the price of gas (CRISIS, CRISIS!!!) and then when a gas station owner gets creative and decides to help cash paying customers by offering a discount reflecting their lower cost people piss and moan about it. Idiots...