Credit Cards at gas stations (zip code, prices, vs)

[littlewheels]

My husband and I just moved here from the East coast and have found that paying for gas is pretty inconvenient. Why are there very few pay at the pumps - where you can use your credit card? Instead you have to pay cash/debit and if debit there is an extra charge. What's the deal?

Thanks!

[thepinksquid]

Where are you going? I've never had issues paying with my credit card at the pump here. I go to various stations (whenever I'm out and need gas) and have never encountered that.

[moved]

Where do you get gas? I always pay at the pump, but I use my debit card. I've never had a problem.

[djxpress]

I've never run into that problem. Except for Arco/AMPM, I don't think they take credit cards.

What's weird is how in a lot of other parts of the country you pump before you pay. I remember reading an article where some gas station owner in the midwest was wondering how to reduce the number of people who pump and run, and I was thinking "wow, how can you let people pump before they pay?" Another article talked about how people were literally rioting because their gas stations were instituting pay before you pump. Really weird.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by djxpress

I've never run into that problem. Except for Arco/AMPM, I don't think they take credit cards.

Yes, Arco has more limited pay options, and they have those shared payment kiosks. Any Shell, Chevron, 76, etc... places have standard credit/debit pay at the pump.

[littlewheels]

Hmm.. I guess maybe we have only been to stations that have that weird pay kiosk. I couldn't tell you the names of the stations, but will be on the lookout for Shell, Chevron, etc's.

Thanks for your replies!

[PharmboyinNC]

It's not you. I moved in from the east coast and it took me a while two figure out that certain gas stations have two prices; one for cash only and the other for credit/debit.

[lrmsd]

Huh;I've also never encountered this problem,and I am originally from the east coast.
You dont pay extra for debit,either.
And the debit/credit option is the same button-and then they ask you to specific when you put your card in,at which point you would put either you pin # or yoru zip code (billing zip code for credit card)...and get your gas.

Yes,there is a cash price-but I think that is normal;you get a discount for paying cash b/c businesses are charged a fee for each credit card transaction [this is standard nationwide,as this is how c.c. companies work.]. Makes sense to me-I've seen many types of businesses offer cash discounts.

[mongoosedn]

Arco is the only gas station I've seen that doesn't take credit card. The double pricing for cash vs debit/credit is intriguing though because I always thought that credit cards forbade businesses from doing that, which obviously encourages customers not to use their credit cards.

[oBak]

They can't charge extra for using a CC, and they can't give you a discount for using cash, but if they have two individual prices for cash and "all other transactions" they can get away with it.