Buying petrol with a credit/debit card.

hardpressed

Filled the car with petrol today, went to pay as usuall with my debit card, the card was refused! I knew there was money in the bank to more than cover the ammount. The assistant said I'd have to pay by another method, well as it happens, for once I had enough cash to cover it, but what would have happened if I hadn't? He was quite agressive, I used the card less that 10 minutes late in a shop and it worked fine, so I guess it was his machine that was playing up, not my card.

What do I do if it happens again and I haven't got cash? After all I can't put the petrol back. Do I keep £20 hidden in the car as a back up? What do others do?

taxiphil

Same happened to me at a Tesco garage and it was entirely the fault of their computer systems, by their own admission.

You don't have an obligation to carry cash around in case their electronic systems aren't working. The correct procedure is for the garage to take a note of your name and address and ask that you make payment at a later stage.

You haven't done anything wrong, as by going to the till and presenting a valid card you had a clear intention to pay, therefore it doesn't consitute a "drive off" which is a criminal offence.

poppy_f1

my friend at work went to the garage, filled up his car with petrol and attempted to pay by cheque, when the assistant told him they didnt accept checques he claimed well it doesnt say anywhere, she then walked him out to the pump to point it out and it was covered up by black tap,
they gave him 24 hours to pay up or they would report him to the police

molar

You could carry a second card around with you just in case. I once had a mental block and forgot my pin number. :eek: Luckily I was at a cash machine and not in a petrol station.

Aidy

i would have thought shops would have to have some form of back-up, in case the Chip & Pin machine fails, as it has here. I wonder if they are obliged to also keep the old style duplicated paper card transaction slips and the manual machine that was 'run' over the card and slip to indent to card numbers etc. Might need additional telephone authorisation from the card issuer depending on the amount, but I would have thought the onus was on the retailer to be able to have fall-back?

Might be worth checking with Tesco's HO and/or your card issuer?

maninthestreet

"You don't have an obligation to carry cash around in case their electronic systems aren't working. The correct procedure is for the garage to take a note of your name and address and ask that you make payment at a later stage."

A retail outlet such as a garage are not obliged to accept anything other than cash. My local BP garage has a sign up saying that if you don't have the money to pay, you can leave the car and keys with them, whilst you go to get money/payment, or get someone to bring money/payment to the garage, and they'll let you use their phone for this purpose.

uktim29

Aidy wrote:

i would have thought shops would have to have some form of back-up, in case the Chip & Pin machine fails, as it has here. I wonder if they are obliged to also keep the old style duplicated paper card transaction slips and the manual machine that was 'run' over the card and slip to indent to card numbers etc. Might need additional telephone authorisation from the card issuer depending on the amount, but I would have thought the onus was on the retailer to be able to have fall-back?

Might be worth checking with Tesco's HO and/or your card issuer?

I work in retail and the thing is most cases is due to lack of funds in the customers account. If you were to do some manual method incase anything went down you have know way of knowing if you'd ever get the payment. Also it's massively open to fraud as it's back to signatures again.

RunningRach

I've had this on occasion from 1 particular petrol station (Asda) which I've discovered will only accept my A&L visa debit card on a 'pot luck' basis for reasons best known to the software - the attached Asda store accepts the card perfectly well. I tend to use my credit card when I have a problem.

Hope this helps.

molar

uktim29 wrote:

If you were to do some manual method incase anything went down you have know way of knowing if you'd ever get the payment. Also it's massively open to fraud as it's back to signatures again.

Not really. Just use your credit card imprinter and stationary to copy the card. Customer signs the slip. You telephone the bank for authorisation so you know your going to get the money. Using signatures is hardly massively open to fraud as all the potential fraudsters don't know where and when this event is going to occur.

moonrakerz

Don't, don't don't EVER use a debit card in a petrol station !!!!

Altarf

maninthestreet wrote:

A retail outlet such as a garage are not obliged to accept anything other than cash. My local BP garage has a sign up saying that if you don't have the money to pay, you can leave the car and keys with them, whilst you go to get money/payment, or get someone to bring money/payment to the garage, and they'll let you use their phone for this purpose.

The garage is very very wrong with its sign. Once you have put the petrol they cannot prevent you leaving the petrol station (with your car) even if you don't have the means to pay, whether it is due to a system failure or you have forgotten your wallet. If the garage try to prevent you leaving then they are commiting an offence (false imprisonment, ABH, etc) for which the police would take a very dim view.

It is a criminal offence to intend to fill your car with petrol, knowing that you have no intention to pay. It is also a criminal offence to fill your car with petrol intending to pay, but then deciding not to and just driving off (known as bilking). This is not the same as filling your car with petrol fully intending to pay, but then finding you don't have the means to pay. That is not a crime, despite what a garage may tell you.

Most of the oil company's own retail sites and the supermarkets know the law and will get the customer to fill in a form with their name, address and a 'real' phone number, and a promise to pay within 24/48 hours. If you then fail to pay within the 24/48 hours they can then pass it onto the police for them to take action. However a lot of the sites run by individuals (which includes a lot of sites branded as BP, Shell, etc) do not know the law, and make it up as they go along.