Community Forums

W9WLS · 12-06-2010, 06:38 AM

Here is A little KNOWN :
When paying for fuel, DO NOT PAY AT THE PUMP, ALWAYS PAY INSIDE !
At many stations (mostly the Indian operated ones) when you stick your card in the fuel dispenser and it tells you it's "AUTHORIZING" it is also putting a "HOLD" on a preset amount (anywhere between $0.00 and $200.00) usually about $75.00 on your account .
The ACTUAL amount of the purchase doesn't get posted to your account until the station / store operator / owner preforms a "CLOSE OF SHIFT or CLOSE OF DAY" on the register / point of sale system.
Some owner/ operators of these stations / stores are more than a bit lazy and do not do a "CLOSE OF SHIFT / CLOSE OF DAY" for maybe two or three day's or longer ( this is why ,if you watch your account on line at all you will see that you know that you got fuel today but the debit doesn't show up for a day or more later) IF you "PAY INSIDE" the transaction / debit is immediately posted to your account through the station / store "POINT OF SALE" system.
The bad part of this practice is, that if you are on a fixed income and tend to run close at the end of the month (or what ever) your bank's computer / system doesn't know or care, it just saw the "HOLD" right away and deals with the "ACTUAL" some time later, depending on where your account balance is you could get hit with an "OVER DRAFT" / "INSUFFICIENT FUNDS" charge, all very legal but still not right, or your fault.
NOW "HOW DO I KNOW THIS" you ask, my son work's in the "FUEL SERVICE INDUSTRY" and doe's the initial programing / set-up of "POINT OF SALES" systems and get's to see the way things are done.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS, "ALWAYS PAY INSIDE", you pay for the convenience of the pump !

Dogpatch · 12-06-2010, 07:14 AM

I use "AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011". It's the same one that our IT people use on our network computers at work. I've never had any issue at home or work and it's free. We used to use Symantic and haven't bought it for 7 years now. Just Google AVG and look for the free download version.

Midniteoyl · 12-06-2010, 09:51 AM

dogpatch... wrong topic?

---------------

If your bank is holding that 'pre-authorization' PLUS the amount of gas you actually purchased, find a new bank! When I go into the back to look at my account, I see these on there all the time, but no money is actually withheld. I dont see these charges when I look online. The bank knows what these charges are and if they are pulling it from your balance then 'giving' it back to you, they are scamming you and hope to collect some fees... take your money somewhere else!

As another side as to why I like my bank: Debits/credits show up in 30 mins or less as 'memos' and a projected account balance is figured. If I go over, I know it and have till 5pm the next day to get money in before I am dinged a fee... Not that night, or right away like a lot of banks. Sometimes, depending on the time of day I go over, this could be 36 hours later..

RickO · 12-06-2010, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W9WLS

THE BOTTOM LINE IS, "ALWAYS PAY INSIDE", you pay for the convenience of the pump !

Personally, I value my time too much to stand in line twice each time I purchase fuel. From my understanding of your post the cost of the convenience of paying at the pump is not a money cost but rather a potential to trigger overdraft charges if your account is close to the edge and that's a risk I'll deal with for the convenience of paying at the pump.

rick

Ken-55 · 12-06-2010, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W9WLS

At many stations (mostly the Indian operated ones) when you stick your card in the fuel dispenser and it tells you it's "AUTHORIZING" it is also putting a "HOLD" on a preset amount (anywhere between $0.00 and $200.00) usually about $75.00 on your account .

It's my understanding that credit cards usually only "HOLD" $1.00 or so during the "authorizing" whereas, debit cards "HOLD" a big(ger) chunk.

Explorer2 · 12-06-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W9WLS

THE BOTTOM LINE IS, "ALWAYS PAY INSIDE", you pay for the convenience of the pump !

When you pay at the pump there is an option of purchasing by DEBIT or CREDIT. If your card works both ways, push the credit button. That should eliminate your problem; holds are not placed on Credit Cards. It’s not the Indian owners/employees that do this but the financial intuition that are running the cards through such as Merchants bank.

Back to the OP
I would stop the automatic authorization of deductions to your card or account. I had an issue with direct TV, who requires you to give them a credit card number to have on file. They did not live up to a promise of three months of free channels and we told them we were going to cancel the service. They threaten us with a $300.00 cancelation fee on our credit card. While my husband was on the phone with Direct TV arguing, I called my credit card company and reported the card lost and had another reissued. We did end up getting our free set up after all, however I do feel better that they cannot charge my card.
Online banking is wonderful tool; you can keep up with charges as they are placed. My institution has tools to track spending, creates graphs, etc.

Wayne M · 12-06-2010, 05:47 PM

It's hard to comprehend that a company can force a payment. I'm sure you are proof that it happens.

As for Symantec, Norton programs, I have been using them for 15 years or more and I have never had problems with them, or their customer service. My recent episode was with them and an on-line technician. All went well.

Sometimes, it's the first monkey out of the barrel syndrome, and all companies are prone to it.

shadrack · 12-07-2010, 07:02 AM

My original post did not mean to hit on Norton. It was what we learned about our banking system that caused the post. Being full timers for the past nine plus years, it would be really hard to NOT have automatic banking payments. The reason. We travel a lot. Escapees is our mail forwarding service and when we traveled to Alaska three years ago, we received no mail in an ten week period. This past summer we traveled to Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and that area and did not get mail for about seven weeks. And also during those times, we had very little or no internet connectivity. So, we have no choice but to have automatic payments made or pay late fees up the gazoo. Mail forwarding always adds at the least, one week, and at times more than two weeks additional delivery time to first class mail depending when the service gets the mail and the day it goes out. Unless we are planning on being somewhere specific, we "wing it" when we travel so having mail sent somewhere we are planning to go isn't a sure bet because we may just not get there. Or get there after the mail is returned.

Ken-55 · 12-07-2010, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midniteoyl

As another side as to why I like my bank: Debits/credits show up in 30 mins or less as 'memos' and a projected account balance is figured. If I go over, I know it and have till 5pm the next day to get money in before I am dinged a fee... Not that night, or right away like a lot of banks. Sometimes, depending on the time of day I go over, this could be 36 hours later..

That's sweet!

Would you mind sharing the name of that bank?

Midniteoyl · 12-07-2010, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken-55

That's sweet!

Would you mind sharing the name of that bank?

https://www.1stsource.com/

Its a regional bank, but have online banking and whatnot..

Also, for you retirees/vets and family members, USAA is pretty sweet as you can deposit a check using a scanner or Smartphone picture, and there are NO ATM Fees nationwide. If you do get dinged, they will reimburse it.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_logon/Logon

WOODYDEL · 12-07-2010, 01:04 PM

Microsoft took my card number from the transaction at Comp USA.

Card company believes they are doing you a favor to continue the automatic payments. Amex does even after changing the card number several times. It took me months worth of disputing charges placed by Microsoft each month. They kept sneaking in that $15.95 charge in there for dialup. I never even dialed up. Amex corrected the bill each month after my dispute and waited for a Microsoft reply. The replies never came so the charges always were eventually dropped. Finally, got a "human" at Microsoft to end the mess. This all started from a purchase at defunct Comp USA when they had stores. I received a class action notice against Microsoft a couple years after getting this resolved. Even with automatic payment setups you must be diligent in reviewing your bills.

Midniteoyl · 12-07-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Amex does even after changing the card number several times.

AMEX did it for 2 years after my wife canceled the card! Got a bill outta the blue saying we owed over $2800.. for a AOL account she canceled after the 'trial' that was still billing

Purplefans & Harvey · 12-07-2010, 05:59 PM

I had just gotten my CC bill with the norton charge on it when this thread started. Not sure if it was the old broken PC or not, I called the CC company who took the charge off, and called norton who cancelled the account. When DH came home he said it was for his PC. Oh well. I like AVG Free anyway!

AZgl1500 · 12-07-2010, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadrack

My point was that these places can force thru a charge onto a new credit card number from the old expired card. I spoke with both VISA and U S Bank people and they stated they could do nothing to halt this practice. Take it for what it'd worth.

Then I would switch away from the provider of that credit card.
I am with a Credit Union and use their CC. I had a problem with a vendor who insisted that I pay him for XYZ. I refused.

Went to my credit union and explained what happened. They told me to close that CC account and they would issue me a new CC number. End of Story

I specifically asked if there was anyway that the vendor could force that payment onto my new CC account. The answer was pretty much "absolutely not". And that was the end of my dealings with the sad faced vendor.

That's been 3 years now...