It happens at all gas stations, not just Exxon/Mobil. At the time your
card is accepted for purchase the size of the purchase is unknown so
they put a lock on the funds that *might* be required. It has certainly
not been unusual to spend $70 for a tank of gas recently. The same
thing happens on a smaller scale when you use a card at a restaurant.
The purchase is accepted by the card issuer before the final total is
known since you haven't yet added a tip. They lock the purchase price
plus some amount for a tip. It's all reasonable except for the part
about holding the funds for anything more than an hour. That's the part
that should be illegal.
Chuck Norcutt
John Hermanson wrote:
> A weird story. A friend of mine lives in the Binghamton NY area and
> used to use his Paypal debit card for buying gas for his truck. Twice,
> Exxon/Mobil stations debited his card $70 for a $20 gas purchase! After
> spending an hour on the phone, Exxon explained they do it "just in case
> there are problems with paypal. Don't worry, you'll get the $50 back in
> a few days". No one else handled the card, he paid at the pump, this
> extra penalty must be built into their "firm"ware. He got his money
> back, but they had it for 10 days to do with as they wish. Sounds
> frickin' illegal, underhanded or something you'd expect an oil company
> would do in the '20s.
> ___________________________________
> John Hermanson | CPS, Inc.
> 21 South Ln., Huntington NY 11743
> 631-424-2121 | www.zuiko.com
> Olympus OM Service since 1977
> Gallery: www.zuiko.com/album/index.html
>
>
> Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>> It's probably happening all over the place. Anyone lending money these
>> days is taking steps to limit their exposure.
>>
>> Chuck Norcutt
>>
>> John Hermanson wrote:
>>> Anyone here using American Express recently discover their credit limit
>>> has been cut way way back and AE won't explain why? AE used to the "no
>>> limits" cc.
>>> ___________________________________
>>> John Hermanson | CPS, Inc.
>>> 21 South Ln., Huntington NY 11743
>>> 631-424-2121 | www.zuiko.com
>>> Olympus OM Service since 1977
>>> Gallery: www.zuiko.com/album/index.html
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