Weird Gas Refund?

[Adkins]

@Kforce - Exactly! I don't need the cash advance but I'm curious enough I'll try that Exxon again next month to see if they process the payment the same way.

[UncleB]

When my grandfather was alive he never trusted the pumps with his card, and would always prepay inside.  After he was finished pumping his gas, he would nearly always have to go back inside to get his change (his station also gave cash rather than a charge credit). 

I tried to convince him it wasn't worth the hassle that the bank would cover any fraud, but he insisted he didn't mind the walk.

Considering it's nearly always a small amount I suspect it's simpler (and quicker) for the clerk to just give a cash refund as well.

[Caleb87]

Gas station i worked at this was the only way to pre pay with a card. We had to give give cash back

[fltireguy]

A merchant that does a refund in cash is setting them self up for an easy dispute.. especially if the customer prepaid, for example, $50, in a car that might only hold 12 gallons...

Refunds should ALWAYS be made back to the original method of payment, if they are purchased on plastic. Period.

[Adkins]

@UncleB - The refund was for almost $20. I always overestimate how much I'll need, just in case!

@Caleb87 - Interesting, thanks!

@fltireguy - Exactly!

[Adkins]

I stopped off at the same gas station this morning, just to see what happened. The clerk refunded the difference back to the card but she did ask me if I wanted cash back instead. 

[longtimelurker]

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@fltireguy wrote:
A merchant that does a refund in cash is setting them self up for an easy dispute.. especially if the customer prepaid, for example, $50, in a car that might only hold 12 gallons...

Refunds should ALWAYS be made back to the original method of payment, if they are purchased on plastic. Period.

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I would have thought it was also in the merchant's interest to refund via the card, otherwise they are paying the transaction fee on the full original amount.   On the other hand, are there extra fees for a merchant to do a refund?

[Adkins]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@fltireguy wrote:
A merchant that does a refund in cash is setting them self up for an easy dispute.. especially if the customer prepaid, for example, $50, in a car that might only hold 12 gallons...

Refunds should ALWAYS be made back to the original method of payment, if they are purchased on plastic. Period.

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I would have thought it was also in the merchant's interest to refund via the card, otherwise they are paying the transaction fee on the full original amount.   On the other hand, are there extra fees for a merchant to do a refund?

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No idea, but I've asked someone who might know. I'll chime back in with the answer unless someone else does before me. 

[Adkins]

And he's not sure. I suppose googlefu will have to work. 

[Kree]

Its been a decade since I've owned a store. But when I did;  the actual charges for credit cards were processed at the end of the night in one big batch.  So any refunds would effect my payment fee. Something like 30 cents + 2%.   But 2% of a 2 dollar refund would be 4 cents, so change is less important than someone returning a 60 dollar item.

I think it might have to do with the specific credit card system, if they have to cancel the charge and reprocess it, then a employee less interested in the bottom line might chose to simply give a cash refund. Or a owner worried that the employee might screw up, would rather take the 4 cent hit, that have the entire charge refunded by mistake.