Gas station holds - how they differ

[GApeachy]

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@seattletravels wrote:

 would lead me to believe the gas station sets the policy.

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They do.  The same fuel chain, different ownerships have said ^^^ this to me.  For instance this one chain we use daily is a $100 hold every fuel up but the same chain station in town, different ownership only puts a $75 hold.  Amex, when I called the first day I saw the $100 holds, told me that that was how it works. He also said the $75 hold is more common than the $100 hold.  Sometimes now the holds are only pending 24 hrs., sometimes less, sometimes more if on a Saturday and those may continue on through until Monday morning.

I have never seen that type of hold with any other card network, other than a $1 hold, at this same gas station except with Amex.  

[ReturnOfTheCredi]

Interesting.  I haven't been hit with anything less than $100 when using this card, doesn't matter the station (and I'm all over the place in a 25-30 mile radius from my home).

Cap1 gets it right instantly.  Why can't they all be that good? :/

[GApeachy]

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@ReturnOfTheCredi wrote:

Interesting.  I haven't been hit with anything less than $100 when using this card, doesn't matter the station (and I'm all over the place in a 25-30 mile radius from my home).

Cap1 gets it right instantly.  Why can't they all be that good? :/

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Your card runs on the Amex network right?  Also, the same chain that charges our Amex card $100 hold can and does charge that at their out of town stations....again run by the same ownership as the one by our home.  So different ownerships can place different hold amts. because it's their policy they adopt. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

It will also be different if you use a debit/checkcard. At places that will put a hold of $100 on a credit card here, they'll only do a $1 pre-authorization if I were to use my debit card. I learned this when I first started using credit cards for gas at my normal stations. I can pump with only $30 in my checking account, but it would be declined if I only had $95 available on my credit card.

[ReturnOfTheCredi]

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@GApeachy wrote:

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@ReturnOfTheCredi wrote:

Interesting.  I haven't been hit with anything less than $100 when using this card, doesn't matter the station (and I'm all over the place in a 25-30 mile radius from my home).

Cap1 gets it right instantly.  Why can't they all be that good? :/

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Your card runs on the Amex network right?  Also, the same chain that charges our Amex card $100 hold can and does charge that at their out of town stations....again run by the same ownership as the one by our home.  So different ownerships can place different hold amts. because it's their policy they adopt. 

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Right, but I'm not using stations that are under the same ownership.  This is happening at big chains and the mom-n-pop stations in various places.

[GApeachy]

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@ReturnOfTheCredi wrote:

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 This is happening at big chains and the mom-n-pop stations in various places.

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Here's a good read about Holds and length of time Holds are held....

https://www.cleveland.com/business/2014/09/who_puts_that_hold_on_your_car.html

[HeavenOhio]

At the stations I frequent, the hold is almost always a dollar. My AMEX card (issued by AMEX) makes that dollar hold disappear as soon as the actual charge is determined. On my Chase Visa, the hold usually sticks around until the end of the day.

When I've enountered $100 holds, there's generally been a trigger. Canceled transactions have produced them. And in one case, I apparently earned a month of $100 purgatory by entering the wrong zip code at the pump.

Aside from that, I've rarely seen large holds that I didn't directly cause. Since I first became aware of the possibility of large holds by reading this forum, I've seen it happen three times. I was hit for $80 twice at Shell stations while driving across several states. And I got hit for $100 in a small resort town. I believe those holds stuck around on my AMEX card for two or three days.

[Loquat]

I have noticed that some places have stickers on the pumps telling of the authorization holds and a little about how the process works.

[seattletravels]

Right. Your bank knows if you have funds available, why would they place the hold? The gas station does it to ensure the card is active and there is funds available.

[ReturnOfTheCredi]

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@seattletravels wrote:

Right. Your bank knows if you have funds available, why would they place the hold? The gas station does it to ensure the card is active and there is funds available.

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So does the gas station distrust AMEX?  Why am o having this issue with the Propel, but nothing else?  At the same stations?