Great Prices, But What Bullshit $75 "Hold" Policy Is This? Seriously?
SITREP
When hitting my eLearning Instructional Design classes at SacState Modoc Hall, hanging out at University Starbucks with classmates, and/or just cruising through East Sacramento, THIS is my gas station of choice.
GOOD PRICES
CJ is generally a full 20, even 25 cents less than the service stations closer to my home in Midtown. Today it was only $3.09:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cj-gas-inc-sacramento?select=qJw1LPMN85H-YBhWNO9qtg#oBq74uvfa2vw1povNHVkNg
So if I find myself reasonably in this area - and more than half a tank empty - I'll make the stop and fill-up.
THE SETUP
I've had a long-term relationship with this station going back years & years. However, the station has placarded the pumps with stickers (can't believe I'm just noticing them now, but I don't remember this the last time I stopped here on Halloween 2014), stating they MAY be entitled to put a $75 hold on your credit card when utilizing their gas pumps:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cj-gas-inc-sacramento?select=qJw1LPMN85H-YBhWNO9qtg#qJw1LPMN85H-YBhWNO9qtg
THE CONCERN
What if I only need $10 of gas? Does that mean that $65 extra dollars is going to put a 2-Day (IF that's all it is) hold on my credit-card for a whole $75 hold?
Call me over-curious, but I had to check it out:
(1) The fill-up cost $32.64:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cj-gas-inc-sacramento?select=qJw1LPMN85H-YBhWNO9qtg#LGBOTbewYGOBbOllcsGyyQ
(2) The Credit Card hold after the fill-up was......
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cj-gas-inc-sacramento?select=qJw1LPMN85H-YBhWNO9qtg#LGBOTbewYGOBbOllcsGyyQ
...was only $32.64. So at least on my credit card, the hold was only for the amount of gas put into the car. [Not including the separate $1 pre-charge to verify my account.] So the $75 hold is no doubt for the Debit-Credit cards or Debit cards. But I'm not interested in checking THAT out just to see the full hold.
I have a problem with this kind of policy:
(A) Many gas companies don't practice this policy - sure they do a $1 verification charge like Arco-AMPM does, but they don't "over"-hold;
(B) From personal experiences with lots of businesses that put on "holds" well beyond & above the expected charge, even after the gas is purchased, the rental car returned, the hotel room left, they will STILL "hold" your funds days, if not WEEKS until your next account statement cycle.
(C) The worst outcome is when a gas station states on the pump options, "Inside Credit" or "Outside Credit", and you choose "Outside Credit", but then after you swipe your credit card, the attendant THEN states on the intercom that you have to go inside. I refuse. So I leave. But then I notice that my online credit card accounts shows that I have a $40 "hold" from the gas station that I didn't purchase any gas from. I call my credit card company, and sometimes I get to fill out an online complaint-form that even leads to an investigation and the station getting fined, sometime with penalties if other complaints are already in the queue, and in once instance a business license suspension.
So I DESPISE "Hold" policies of any form and see them as archaic, useless vestige (and possibly symptomatic of a fraudulent business) before all banks were "verified"-interconnected.
Sure you have to live with some (ie. Hotels), but not all.
THE LOWDOWN
Good gas. Questionable "Hold" Policy - the fact that it is stated as a choiceless "waiver" on the gas pump, doesn't reduce the risk of mal-intent. read more