Beware of Bosselmans

[llmrealestat]

Stopped for fuel in Grand Island, Nebraska 2 days ago at a place advertised as Pilot Bosselmans Fuel Center. All their pumps had the Pilot logo and and the word "PILOT" on them. I took my RV Advantage card to the cashier to start fueling and was informed they were NOT a Pilot and that there were NO Pilots in Nebraska so they would not honor the card. I huffed a bit and gave her my credit card and said I wanted to fill the rig.

I just checked my credit card statement online and found they put a temporary authorization on the credit card of $999.00! The temporary authorization takes a few days to come off once the real amount is charged ($77.31 in this case). Anybody have a tank big enough to hold $999.00 worth of fuel.

After so many problems in the last couple of months I have decided to boycott any Pilot or Flying J around. They apparently really do not want the business of RV'ers and I'm tired of being treated like a second class citizen at their places.

[RJay]

I am absolutely puzzled by your post. You were told the station wasn't owned by Pilot before you purchased fuel and made the choice to purchase anyway. The company Pilot and Flying J had nothing to do with the way you were treated or your transaction so why boycott them? Is this a case of guilt by association in name only?

[w6pea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJay I am absolutely puzzled by your post. You were told the station wasn't owned by Pilot before you purchased fuel and made the choice to purchase anyway. The company Pilot and Flying J had nothing to do with the way you were treated or your transaction so why boycott them? Is this a case of guilt by association in name only?

X2....I would contact my credit card company about this. Also I would contact Pilot/Flying J and let them know about the signage of that station.....let them take care of the proprietors that own that place.

[traveler of california]

We traveled from CA to the southeast this summer and used several Pilot and Flying J service stations without a problem. No problem with billing either. My only complaint is that if you use a Mastercard you are capped at $100 and must do more than 1 transaction to fill the tank. I guess that is not true with Visa so I need to get a Visa card.

Nick

[TXiceman]

The card does not place the cap on your fill up. It is controlled by the station.

I never let them run a temporary charge against my card. My wife will stand there and hold the card and then hand it to them after I wave to her.

Call the CC company and get that taken care of.

Ken

[texnet]

If you have a Flying J R.V. card then you can put it in at the pump and it will provide you pump start for the fuel. Once finished you go inside and pay the cashier. You receive the cash price and an additional 3 cents a gallon. I know the discount of 8 cents is not much but on 100 gals it is $8.00 and not having the hassle of reaching the card limit and restarting the pump is worth a lot to me!!

TXiceman... I thought the cap is by the card companines not the gas station/company. At a Pilot yesterday the limit, if you don't have a pump start card, is now $495.00 for Visa and $100.00 for MC.

[Ray,IN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJay I am absolutely puzzled by your post. You were told the station wasn't owned by Pilot before you purchased fuel and made the choice to purchase anyway. The company Pilot and Flying J had nothing to do with the way you were treated or your transaction so why boycott them? Is this a case of guilt by association in name only?

I too am waiting for a reply. The OP made a statement which made no sense, and has not returned to clarify anything.

[blackf3504dr]

Most stations will put a temporary authorization on your card when paying at the pump, but I have no idea why they did it when paying inside... I also don't understand boycotting Flying J/Pilot...

[falcor]

See, the problem starts when you hand them your card and walk back outside. They run your card for an amount which will cover what you might pump and drive off with. I know occasionally you'll find one that will simply put it behind the counter and run it when you're through like they did at the corner store back home , but not many, anyway times are changing . That is at the discretion of the clerk running the register. ( they still have to pay for drivesoffs ) I know they're not supposed to but when you have a minimum wage job that's hard to get anyway, you don't make a lot off waves. Anyhow , once they do the corrected charge, it could be minutes or days before anyone runs the corrections through the bank.
So if I stop at a place that doesn't have auto start, I just suck it up and go to the laborious effort of pulling my card out of my shirt pocket 2 more times. Man, my fingers are sooo tired now, I think I'm going to have to take a map to recover. Happy trails.

[ChiefJohn]

I visited OPs blog site and find their comment about an Escapees event interesting:
"Unfortunately, most of the attendees were “Campers” … we are NOT “Campers,” we are “RVers”. The distinction being a matter of comfort: “RVers” like and expect comfort and amenities, “Campers” don’t. Most full-time Baby Boomers are “RVers”, while the beatnik generation (born in the 30s through 1945) is still emulating Euell Gibbons (Euell Gibbons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
and eating off the land, so to speak. They are clearly “Campers”.
And, I thought "campers" and "RVers" were all in the same family?? Now I've got to determine which species I belong to?

[AL]

Hi all,

I also don't understand the OPs boycotting Flying J/Pilot, since neither one was involved in the $999.00 charge!

As for his blog I guess I am an RVmper!! Do to the fact that I travel in an RV and enjoy the comfort it offers, but I also spend 90% of my time outdoors, hiking, kayaking, photography and sitting around a nice campfire

Remember All: LIVE, LAUGH & ENJOY !!!

[CoastieSCPO]

Al's comments hits the nail on the head. The nice thing about the RV lifestyle is that we can go where we want, when we want, for as long as we need to, and do whatever we desire while there.

And, while I'm posting this comment, the OP is shown as currently viewing this forum, so the ball is in his court, so to speak, regarding answering some of the responses posted by folks.

[llmrealestat]

Ok, Ok, Ok. I'm a whiner. You all are right. I was painting with a broad brush all the Pilot/Flying Js and I apologize. However, the previous 3 Pilots I had been in had told me that they were not set up to take the RV Advantage card and they would not honor the discount (cash price). Bosselman's did tell me they were not a Pilot (even tho all advertising and all pumps held the Pilot logo) and I proceeded to fuel anyway. I have contacted my bank and Pilot to address the issue. I apologize for any offense.

[Wayne M]

Well, in regards to the OP, does anyone really think that a 1 person boycott is going to cripple PFJ? Someone else just purchasing an RV will take the place of anyone leaving. All these so call "boycotts" do not mean a thing unless you can get a couple million people boycotting such a large corporation.

I'm x3 on this.

Also, it is a well known fact that independent dealers, using the PFJ logo by permission, do NOT have to offer discounts or fuel pump start. It is all laid out in the PFJ information structuring of their service stations.

In over 5000 miles of travel this past Spring/Summer, there was only one instance when I did not get the discount, but the fuel pump start worked. I just need to remember that some of the computer systems in the far-away-places are archaic to say the least. It may be some time before every PFJ station in the US is up to snuff, especially the independent dealer ones.

Edited: I posted right after the OP'er, but I'm still going to let my post stay posted.