Us zip code cc automated machines

jackieblack

eddddy wrote: »

If you can't pay at the pump, there's also discussion about having to pre-pay the cashier with your credit card - and also some dodgy practices like having to leave your credit card with the cashier while you're filling up, or the cashier making a big charge on your card before they let you fill up, then refunding the difference. (I wonder if this general practice in the US, or only in high-crime areas.)

In my experience, it all depends how much fuel you want to pump.
If you just want, for example, $10 worth they charge $10 to the card and pre-set the pump to cut off after $10 worth of gas has been pumped.
If you want to fill up then they'll charge a larger amount eg $60 and if you then only pump for example $45 worth the other $60 is cancelled and $45 charged - they will either give a receipt at the till to show this or some pumps spit the receipt out automatically.

We've always found the attendants to be very helpful when trying to estimate how much the tank of a rental car might hold.

katsu

We had this problem with a travelex cash passport card in the US. We had to do the pay in the garage in advance as our UK postcode couldn't be entered at the pumps.

rb10

At the machines in New York subway stations, just don't put anything in when it asks for the zip code. After a few seconds the transaction will complete anyway.

Roger1

katsu wrote: »

We had this problem with a travelex cash passport card in the US

The T+Cs of my (non-Travelex) prepaid cashcard say that it's not to be used with automated fuel pumps, or car rental too. I think it's because of the temporary block mentioned above, and the time taken to refund it which could prevent future use elsewhere.

As far as the OP is concerned, there seems to be no standard answer. Sometimes 00000, 111111 or similar works, sometimes it doesn't. We found that on our recent trip to the US Southwest (California, Nevada, Utah), supermarkets and highway filling stations largely didn't need ZIPcodes but city locations largely did. This may be part of a transition programme though.

I suppose the only way is to try, then if no go, leave the card with the cashier. I don't like that, for obvious reasons, but it was OK for us on our trip.

jackieblack

Roger1 wrote: »

I suppose the only way is to try, then if no go, leave the card with the cashier. I don't like that, for obvious reasons,

I've never left my card with any cashier at any location anywhere. They can charge an amount to it and then this is adjusted when the nozzle is replaced and the pump registers the amount.

Westin

I used to be able to key '00000' but I have found on my last couple if trips to the States that this no longer worked at gas pumps.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

jackieblack wrote: »

I've never left my card with any cashier at any location anywhere. They can charge an amount to it and then this is adjusted when the nozzle is replaced and the pump registers the amount.

This is my usual method too.

dzug1

Certainly on a recent trip I was never asked to pay in advance - just pressed the pay cashier button, tanked up, went inside and paid.

I think it very much depends on the individual gas station and how they perceive the risk of driveaways. There is no one size fits all. I would imagine big cities are higher risk. In smaller places they probably know all their customers anyway.

bert&ernie

I can't be sure, but would expect the pump terminal is using the the Address Verification Service (AVS)

AVS is a numerical system, so in theory it should work if you just enter the numbers from your postcode. However, the terminal might have some local validation that checks for a correct length ZIP code (5 or 9 digits). Also, I'm not sure how a UK issuer would respond to what is, in effect, only a partial address match. As the numeric portion of a UK postcode is not a fixed length, it can't split this from the other numbers in an address e.g. house number.

Roger1

jackieblack wrote: »

I've never left my card with any cashier at any location anywhere.

Lucky you.

Our experiences obviously differ.

dzug1 wrote: »

There is no one size fits all. I would imagine big cities are higher risk. In smaller places they probably know all their customers anyway.

Exactly.