Amex Fuel Pre-Auth Now $250?!

[pizzadude]

The easist way to avoid the pre-auth situation is to simply walk into the store and pay at the counter.   For example if you know you have a 17 gallon tank, pay for 55 bucks of gas ( assuming $3.25/gallon ).    Your card will be charged immediately for 55 bucks.   And if you only happen to fill up to $50, the $5 due back will clear when they run the batch processing.

[Anonymous]

My car is very tiny. If I drove a truck I'd have probably driven off a bridge or killed everyone on my way to the gas station. I was thinking about calling and just telling them off, but really what does that do? I should go there and steal a box of Slim Jims as compensation for my troubles. 

I tried to show a printscreen, but can't think of an appropriate place to host. 

[drkaje]

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@pizzadude wrote:

The easist way to avoid the pre-auth situation is to simply walk into the store and pay at the counter.   For example if you know you have a 17 gallon tank, pay for 55 bucks of gas ( assuming $3.25/gallon ).    Your card will be charged immediately for 55 bucks.   And if you only happen to fill up to $50, the $5 due back will clear when they run the batch processing.

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You have just given a perfect way to express my unhappiness with their practices.

Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

And..now we will have to WALK inside the store. Probably spend more because we need a Diet Coke or Red Bull, chapstick, two Red Sox snow globes and chocolate covered cherries. I really need an assistant. 

[drkaje]

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@Anonymous wrote:

And..now we will have to WALK inside the store. Probably spend more because we need a Diet Coke or Red Bull, chapstick, two Red Sox snow globes and chocolate covered cherries. I really need an assistant. 

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There are people who can't walk.

"Always look on the bright side of life."

[chan85]

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@drkaje wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

And..now we will have to WALK inside the store. Probably spend more because we need a Diet Coke or Red Bull, chapstick, two Red Sox snow globes and chocolate covered cherries. I really need an assistant. 

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There are people who can't walk.

"Always look on the bright side of life."

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You guys crack me up!

[p-]

1.The retailer determines the amount of the pre-authorization.  I know they are going up, because one station that used to stop me at 50, then stop me at 75 now lets me go to 100 on one swipe.  As I take about 80 bucks to fill up, I stopped going to a couple stations as it was inconvenient to keep swiping.  Can't blame them for increasing the amount, they want the business.

2.When the retailer batches out, the corrected amount is sent to the bank or cc company.  This could be at end of day, end of shift, or even longer.

3.If the information matches, i.e.. preauth #, etc, the correct amount will REPLACE the preauthorization.  This doesn't always happen, and I'm not sure why.  I don't think the gas station's processing software and the banks software communicate well enough every time to accomplish this.  If it does happen, the preauthorization goes away.

4.If the charge doesn't post, or posts in a way that the preauth is still there, the preauthorization will remain until it expires.  I believe this is determined by your bank.

5.If this is a problem for you, there are two fixes; either pay inside with a predetermined amount, or use a credit card.  I personally NEVER swipe my bankcard at a gas station.

[Imhotrodcrazy]

I started using my new BCE card 3 weeks ago for my gas purchases.  When I check on line, it always shows the exact amount of purchase, never a pre-auth for me. I am located in So Cal, I don't know if that makes a difference or not. 

[SoulMaster]

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@p- wrote:

1.The retailer determines the amount of the pre-authorization.  I know they are going up, because one station that used to stop me at 50, then stop me at 75 now lets me go to 100 on one swipe.  As I take about 80 bucks to fill up, I stopped going to a couple stations as it was inconvenient to keep swiping.  Can't blame them for increasing the amount, they want the business.

2.When the retailer batches out, the corrected amount is sent to the bank or cc company.  This could be at end of day, end of shift, or even longer.

3.If the information matches, i.e.. preauth #, etc, the correct amount will REPLACE the preauthorization.  This doesn't always happen, and I'm not sure why.  I don't think the gas station's processing software and the banks software communicate well enough every time to accomplish this.  If it does happen, the preauthorization goes away.

4.If the charge doesn't post, or posts in a way that the preauth is still there, the preauthorization will remain until it expires.  I believe this is determined by your bank.

5.If this is a problem for you, there are two fixes; either pay inside with a predetermined amount, or use a credit card.  I personally NEVER swipe my bankcard at a gas station.

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+1  This is EXACTLY how I've understood it to be all my life.

@Anonymous other way around this (which I used to do for budgeting purposes) is to go in to the store once and buy a $200(or whatever) Gift Card, which represents your gasoline budget for the month.  Then, use that @ the swiper outside.

Rinse. Repeat.

-SM

[Watchmann]

Seven pages of hand wringing over nothing.  Drive offs are a bigger and bigger problem......stations are only reacting to a lousy economy by requiring a substantial hold to cover their inventory.  The same thing happens when you check into a hotel, or rent a car, and they put a $100-$250 hold on your card until final charges come through.  Unless you have a very low credit limit there really should be no issue.  AMEX says the hold is 8 days at which time it rolls off.  If it bothers you than walk in and charge a set amount of fuel, or pay cash, or just get an oil card and use it.  The policies of credit card companies and merchants allow them to protect their assets from being stolen, there is nothing wrong in that.  Before we could look at all this stuff online we were unaware of these holds, but they are nothing new.  Live with it, folks, it's a part of asking someone to float you a loan for a month or six weeks.