There is nothing worse to me than unnecessarily paying more money for things than I expected, so when I pulled into the gas station on my way home from work I looked up at the big board and noted the price. It was higher than I would typically like to pay, (I know there are cheaper stations a bit farther from home), but I was in a hurry, hungry and getting ready for another weekend road trip. I decided convenience was a bigger factor than price and wanted to fill up on my way home, rather than on my way to the beach.
I pulled up to the pump and began dispensing, but as I watched the numbers climb, I thought this can’t possibly be correct. I looked back up at the big billboard just to make certain I hadn’t misread the price and when I turned around I realized it didn’t match the price on the pump.
It turns out this particular gas station charges more for the use of credit and debit cards, though it doesn’t say this anywhere on the pump, the big billboard or on the gas station building itself. No, if you want to find out the true value of the price after using a credit card you have to look on the ground at a small poster sized sign that is sitting in a clump of very tall grass.
So how much more did I pay to use my credit card? Ten cents per gallon! Of course, by the time I realized my error my tank was nearly full. All told the fuel cost me nearly forty cents more per gallon than it would have at the gas station I typically use.
In the big scheme of things this mistake cost me roughly $5.00. While this is by no means the end of the world it does really tick me off!
Little things like that tick me off too. Nothing rubs me the wrong way more than spending money I shouldn't have to
Once I went to this local place and was charged a $1 for using a credit card to pay for my haircut! I got so mad! Never again will I go there!
If gas stations are going to charge more for credit card purchases, they should be required to post their credit card prices in the main signs and not their cash prices.
I think it's technically illegal to charge more for using a credit card. Though, technically, merchants can get around that rule by giving people who pay cash a discount. It's really the same thing, but they should advertise that better.
When I do go to gas stations that have different prices for different forms of payment, they have both prices posted at the top of the pumping station. Very weird that they didn't have the information in an obvious place. I'd be pissed, too. Sure, it's only $5, but it's $5 you wouldn't have spent if they were clear with their pricing scheme.
Gas stations are grandfathered from the "no credit card surcharge" rule.
It's because the major oil companies used to issue their own gas cards. The credit card networks had to give up something in order to get them to switch.