Asda Pay Pumps
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The BBC have now got hold of this story. The protagonist declares:
"All I wanted to do was top up my almost full tank, because having two children, you never know when you'll need it," she told the BBC.
"Anything could happen over the next few weeks that might mean I can't afford to put fuel in, so as a precaution to make sure I can get me and my children from A to B, I sometimes top up silly amounts like £5 to keep it at full."
Bizarre - I imagine if something happened to mean she couldn't afford to put fuel in, it would be more important to have the cash around to feed her kids/get a taxi to hospital.0 -
Asda's trial of this £99 preauthorisation charge (in Dewsbury, Barry and Widnes only) has now been suspended after the negative publicity, according to https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2018/05/asda-suspends-trial-of-99-card-charge-for-pay-at-the-pump-customers0
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Must admit seemed very bizarre when I first read about this. I mean what if you are a moped user putting a few quid petrol each time. E.g. deliveroo driver, just about making ends meet.Asda's trial of this £99 preauthorisation charge (in Dewsbury, Barry and Widnes only) has now been suspended after the negative publicity, according to https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2018/05/asda-suspends-trial-of-99-card-charge-for-pay-at-the-pump-customers
Is the technology not available so it only pre-authorises the amount of petrol you want to put in? Suppose then you cannot change your mind after making selection, but can always start fresh transaction, no?0 -
If places want to use pre-auth then they should have a method of billing the account with the correct amount and removing the pre-auth as soon as the true figure is known. I. E. Within minutes of leaving the pump.
I understand they want to cover their a**e but they should not be using a system that screws people up.0 -
I'm surprised that none of the news articles have picked up on this (and simply allowed ASDA's narrative about "doing the right thing" in removing the charges) but this isn't just bad customer experience - it's flat out illegal since January under the new EU payment laws (PSD2 - the same ones that ban surcharging).
ASDA has implied collaboration with Visa and MasterCard on their approach to pre-authorisation for un-manned petrol pumps and I'm not clear how they've interpreted the law (the card schemes have not actually commented in this story to my knowledge) but to paraphrase the PSD2 rules themselves:"The payee will only be allowed to block funds on the account of the payer if the payer has approved the exact amount that can be blocked"
It doesn't sound like any affected customer was told in advance their card would have a £99 hold, therefore ASDA were breaking the law, their decision to review / act in customer interest doesn't come into it.
https://twitter.com/r!!!775/status/9944524149829591040 -
Well it's not as simple as that ...
supposing you had £150 in your bank account and were expecting your mobile phone bill for next-day to be direct debited let's say £60
ok you fill up with £40 worth of petrol today leaving 110 more than enough to pay your phone bill not knowing that another £99 has been reduced from the available balance and your phone direct debit will bounce0 -
First of all you don't get charged for a "block" on your card. It's just a block that reserves part of your credit for use to pay for your goods and services. They use it even in restaurants in America, but it's not a charge and it won't affect what you have to pay on your statement at the end of the month.
Secondly, why can't we do what they do in America for petrol, where you request a block on your account for a specific amount before you get your petrol, then you use the pump and it stops automatically when you reach the specified amount. It took us by surprise when we first came across it but you soon got used to it and it seemed to work very well. If they can do it, we can.Retired at age 56 after having "light bulb moment" due to reading MSE and its forums. Have been converted to the "budget to zero" concept and use YNAB for all monthly budgeting and long term goals.0 -
tempus_fugit wrote: »First of all you don't get charged for a "block" on your card. It's just a block that reserves part of your credit for use to pay for your goods and services.
A block on a DEBIT card will reserve funds against your bank balance until that block is then released by the merchant. If you are regularly short of money and dependent on those same funds to cover other critical expenses (bills, cash), then any issues between ASDA and your bank in promptly releasing that block, will result in you being broke until the natural release / expiry of the block several days later.
This is why customers are upset, it simply isn't an acceptable way to operate.0 -
This is why customers are upset, it simply isn't an acceptable way to operate.
Many hotels have been doing this for years - the earliest I can remember it being done to me by an hotel is in the late 1980's.
The difference now is that it is being applied to a much wider section of the population and those don't have a buffer available - or a credit card with a large-ish limit.0 -
Why does this only apply to pay at the pump? I've never been asked to prove I have sufficient funds before filling up when paying in the shop, so why do it for pay at pump?0
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