Community Chat

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Yesterday I filled up my tank at Chevron. The total came to $31. I went online to check my credit card balance and noticed that Chevron had charged my card $100. I did a bit of research and this is apparently common practice with Chevron, Texaco and a few others. They will charge a "pending" amount to your credit card unrelated to the actual charge/s made. The pending charge will drop off eventually.

This practice seems pretty sketchy to me. Don't think I will purchase my gas at Chevron again.

[Preds]

Don't think I would either. I've never heard of that before, but I wouldn't want any charges on there that I didn't do.

[glb613]

Many places do this for debit cards to make sure the real amount will be paid before the account runs out of money. It's one of many reasons I don't use a debit card.

[pommom]

The gas station I use when I used my cc - which is no longer a practice of mine - does just the opposite. A ""zero"" amount shows for days. Sometimes as long as a week before the charge came through.

[SydneyH]

Depends on your bank, many retailers will run a phantom hold before processing the real transaction. My bank does not remove the hold from my account, just the transaction.

[esmeraldagooch]

We have this happen with hotels frequently. Unless you have a small credit limit available it should make no difference.

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I would understand if a hotel did this but a gas station? Why place a pending charge for 3-5 days (which is the average hold time) that is over 3 times the original purchase? I'm curious as to why this is done.

Interesting pommom.

[brii]

It's common practice because the purchase price is Not known. You may put in $30 of gas or fill up for $50. My understanding is if you go in and have your card swiped, there is no hold placed on funds.

[pistolino]

All the gas stations in my area have a notice at the pump that if you use a credit or debit card at the pump, a hold will be placed for a specific amount (no matter how much you end up buying) and that hold may not be released for a day or two.

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I don't remember seeing a notice on the pump but I will check if I ever go back.

Thanks for the info brii.