So, So, frustrated.....

[RonK]

Don't really understand the continuation of the thread regarding Flying J charging to dump. I think we should all be morning the death of the Flying J concept and how we are going to be serviced post Flying J.

Let me explain…..

We have been MH'ing since retirement, Jan 2000 when we wanted to travel but I informed the wife that traveling would not entail "flying or staying in motels". When you do that for 20-25 years while working it is just not that desirable a way to travel. Yes, I would hop on a plane if going overseas but here in the USofA no. So we bought our first MH and started traveling. We soon found the ease of fueling up at Flying J wherever we were. Now that we need to stop to fuel at other locations I am sooooo frustrated with not being able to use a credit card at the pumps, fueling to $75.00 then having to start over again, then to find I can only run the card thru 2 times….. You name it we've been thru it with TA's, Loves, Pilot, etc. Just yesterday I attempted to fillup at a pilot station, went in, told the clerk I wanted 80 gal., she set it to $80 instead. Then stood there for 10 minutes while the only person working was waiting on others. I just gave up and left with 1/2 tank.

I would just like to know if there is some easy way we can fillup while on the road and not need to go into the station multiple times and still sometimes not get what we went there for in the first place.

Why should filling up our MH so difficult????????????????

RonK

[dajudge]

Ronk, I sympathise with you. It aggravates me everytime I have to fill up at an idiot station built for cars and the idiot said "how much do you neet"? I tell her about 200 and she runs my card through and gives it back. I go outside and put an additional 80 bucks. When I go back inside, she says she can not credit my card with the difference, that she has to give me cash.

I have asked many time at several stations why they limit the amout to 75 bucks. The first one I asked told me it was my bank. When I got home, I asked my banker and he said it was definitely was not the bank, it was the station.

[safari1]

A sign at the station I went to said it could only charge $75 on credit cards due to the high cost that the credit card company charges the Gas Station.

[Wayne M]

I had the same experience traveling, using a Federal Credit Union charge card. I had the same response that it was my credit card company. I called them and they stated that it was for security purposes that the limit at gas stations was $75 and locked out at that location after the 2nd $75. I now go inside, hate to surrender my CC but I do, and pump to my hearts content (and tanks contents). I'm usually only putting in 45-50 gallons, since I stop for rest break and fill up typically at 1/2 tank. At the highest price of $3 a gallon I can put in $150 for half a tank, so scanning twice is only a small inconvenience. Besides, it gives me time to sit and ponder why there is a $75 limit. (Hey! It used to be $50)

I guess we just have to appreciate our bank's security procedure. Actually, they don't want to be responsible for more than $50 if it isn't you.

[InPursuit]

Before I pump I go in and ask HOW they want to handle the greater than $75 transaction. The answers vary from leaving the CC with the clerk or the two $100 bills I keep stapled together for this purpose. One or the other is usually more than enough to get the gas and LP pumps running.

Afterward it is all added together including any dump fee (usually none) and all is put on one Visa transaction. Mostly it works. The problems I've run into are stations with a different cash vs credit price or inept giggly girls/disaffected hipster boys at the register.

Get the older guy if you want it done right (but isn't that true of most things?).

As to the great burden and cost of paying to dump being lamented... out of the 50 or so waste dumps done over the course of a full-timers year (1x/week?) most will/can be done for free as part of the deal where you are staying or buying fuel or at a public access station like a rest stop.

If twenty of those dumps require a modest fee... so be it.

[RonK]

Here is what I just sent to Pilot Customer Service...... Awaiting a reply.

We have frequented Flying J for years while traveling in our motorhome. We have NOT had any problems with utilizing a credit card to fuel, the area around the pumps or the pump handle itself being clean. Anytime we attempt to fuel at a Pilot we are greeted with dirty pump area, cannot use the credit card for anymore than $75 worth of fuel then having to scan the card again to continue. To make matters worse your pumps will not allow anymore than two fill attempts then advises us to go into the station to see the attendant. Their advice is to come in first and pre-authorize then pump then make another trip in. We attempted this only to find the attendant authorized only $80 instead of 80 gal. No, it is NOT our credit card which limits $75, I called and checked it's you!. So, if you truly are a customer oriented company how about starting to act like one. What is it going to take to drive up to a pump, scan a credit card, fillup and drive off. I'd just like to be able to get the customer service you state you provide.

[Gary RVRoamer]

We still go to Flying J. We use the truck lanes, put in my RV card, and pump what I need. I haven't seen any change of service level at FJ, though the prices seem to have risen a few cents/gal. Why go elsewhere?

Yes, I know that a few FJ's have been closed where there is a Pilot in the same area. Not many, though.

[TXiceman]

As a security measure, NEVER leave you CC in the hands of a store clerk. While you are our filling the tank, they can skim the card and sell the data. If they have to have the card, my wife will stand there with the CC in her hand and will hand the CC to the clerk when I come in and confirm the amount.

Ken

[Stanbnv]

From what I've been able to find out about the $75 limit, it is neither the CC issuer or the station, there is a middleman outfit handling the transactions and THEY are the ones setting the limit.

I can only get $75 in our local Maverik, but in the one in Dayton NV, I get over $80.

[AFChap]

We recently had to use a Pilot station when we needed fuel and there was not Flying J around. We had to go to the truck pumps because there was not RV island and the car islands were too tight for a 40' MH towing a car. The truck pumps (even the one marked "car diesel"), would not take a CC ...the cashier inside said I could only use a "fleet card" at the pump. That was just another reinforcement to me NOT to use a Pilot as that fillup cost me a little over $10 due to the 5% rebate I get when I am able to swipe my cc at the pump.

A few days later we fueled at a Flying J and the pump clearly indicated the CC limit ("set by the CC company") for my brand of card was $50 ...but the pump did not cut off until I was full at over $100 ...go figure...

[historyljc]

Yesterday I filled up at the Flying J at the AL I-65 exit 264 location. The RV pump would only take $75 at a time. It was not a problem for me as I only need 50 gallons since I fill up at around 1/2 tank. It did take the card twice. They have a good RV parking area there so since it was lunch time I ate there. The old Flying J "Country Store Restaurant" was gone, replaced by Denny's with a regular Denny's menu. The food was good which was a great improvement over most of the Flying J restaurants in which I've eaten.

[ccook129]

Imagine that you have a huge 500 gallon tank in the back of your pickup. You steal a credit card, go to the gas station at 3 in the morning and fill it up. When the owner of that credit card disputes the charge, the bank and the gas station are on the hook for $2000. They don’t like that. But if you had to stop every $50 and restart the transaction it’d take a lot longer increasing your chances of getting caught. A bunch of $50 transactions in a row will set off a flag and the bank or the gas station can alert police to check it out.
The origin of the $50 limit came when gas was about $1.50, so they should increase the limit accordingly so that normal people don’t bump into it. But then again, there are probably more cases of gas theft at $4/gal than $1.50/gal.Now that has been raised to $75.

[paulrtaylor]

I thought the $75.00 thing was just me. It doesn't make it any less of a pain but at least now I know I'm not alone.

[SteveLevin]

I know it sucks, but fuel is one of THE most common uses for stolen credit cards; it is easy to quickly use anonymously and is really just about as good as cash to a thief since just about everyone uses gas.

Steve