BUYER BEWARE: Big Oil Charges $100 Hold For $6 Gas!!
*Stomping around blog* I swear I'm more frustrated than an anorexic at an all you can eat Big Boy buffet!
I mean, in what alternate universe is it kosher for a company to charge you a hidden $100 hold fee for a $6 purchase?!?! Is that even LEGAL?!?!?!?!?! Hellz to the no!
And to think, this all started because I had the audacity to press DEBIT instead of CREDIT at the pump!!
Okay, so I'm not the one who actually pushed the button (Whoops! Tiny Toons Flashback! Baby Plucky: "I push the but-ton!" LOLZ) but I told my Mom she could and then this happened. Same difference.
A little lost? Let's rewind...
I sell stuff on Ebay, right? (Like any other red blooded entrepreneurial American does. J'adore Ebay! Viva la révolution d'enchères! Wait, that's French, isn't it? Heh.) And I have a PayPal Premier Business Account.
Got it so far? Good.
PayPal Business Accounts are AWESOME because they allow you to accept credit card payments from almost anyone. They also come part and parcel with a nifty little debit/credit card you're suppose to be able to use anywhere Mastercard is accepted. (**NOTE: the words "suppose" and "to", there'll be a quiz on it later.) PayPal even lets you order an extra card for family, friends, and/or business associates. I got one for my mom because I like to know she has access to back-up funds when she really needs them. (Love you, Mommy! Muah!)
So imagine my surprise when Mom calls me up from the gas station yesterday and asks me what to do when the pump turns down the PayPal card after she's already poured $6 worth of gas. (She didn't bring any cash with her because she thought all she needed was the card.) The pump wasn't recognizing PayPal as a known credit card provider, despite the fact there's a Mastercard symbol dangling itself right under the PayPal logo.
"What do I do?" Mom asks. "Should I use it as a debit card?"
"No," I say. "They always charge you a fee when you use your debit card. Try taking it up to the clerk and see if he can run it through first."
Mom calls me back five minutes later saying, "He tried to run it through as credit but it didn't work."
"Okay then," I sigh. "I guess we have no other choice. Run it as debit. You remember the pin number, right?"
We hung up again, Mom promising to call me back if she ran into anymore problems. She still needed to head over to the supermarket to pick up a few groceries.
Out of curiosity I decided to log into PayPal and check to see what the new transaction fees are for using the card as a debit. (I haven't used my debit/credit cards as actual debit cards in years because of the fees associated with that.) What I saw was a -$100 transaction pending RIGHT BEFORE the -$6 gas transaction!!.
-$100?? For WHAT?!?! WTF?! Did she accidentally press one too many zeros or did the gas station attendant just rip me off through my Mom?!?!
So I call Mom back and ask her what's going on. "What do you mean?" she asks. "Everything's fine. The debit card went through, no problem."
"Oh, trust me, I know the card went through. I saw that already. What I want to know is why there's an additional -$100 transaction pending in the account now? There's no more money left. There was only $70 in that account to begin with."
Of course, poor Mom is dumbfounded, swearing she only saw the attendant swipe the card once and she made sure he couldn't see the PIN code when she typed it in. Furthermore, it couldn't possible be an error on her part since she got $6 worth of gas and not $10. An extra zero on $10 equals $100, a few extra zeros on $6 would've put me in full-body traction.
So she goes up to the attendant to ask him "Wassuuuuup?" (Because my Mom may look like a sweet looking golden haired June Clever but deep down inside she's all gangster, baby! *Throws up gang signs* LOL)
At first the attendant doesn't know what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks she's talking about (which seriously had me fuming over the phone and probably giving poor Mom a huge case of indigestion because I'm getting more certain by the minute that the asshole purposefully tried to rip her off), but then he tells her, "Oh! That's right! You used debit! There's a $100 hold they place on all debit card transactions. It's standard procedure nowadays because of the high gas prices. Don't worry, they usually lift the hold within 24 hours. It all depends on your bank."
Wait a minute...What? WHAT?!?!?! HOLY CASH COW, BATMAN!!
You're telling me Big Oil is allowed to place an additional -$100 transaction on MY card WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION?!?! *bites fist and counts to 100* (Deep breaths, Mia. Looong, deeeeep breaths. Aum. AUUUMMMM...)
Yes. Apparently, they are. Annnd...hold on to your g-strings and jock straps, America! Because it gets worse!
If you don't have more than $100 in bank and Big Oil decides to cockblock do this to you guess who's going to wind up getting screwed in the rear bumper with excessive overdraft fees?! Go on--GUESS!!
(If you can't figure it out after five minutes then go ask your Fifth Grader. According to FOX, they're most likely smarter than you anyway LOL).
That's right! YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Plus, the "hold" can be in effect for UP TO FOUR BUSINESS DAYS (depending on your bank) soooooo... UNTIL THE HOLD IS LIFTED YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE EFFECTIVELY FROZEN!! Again, if you don't have more than $100 in bank you're screwed--unless you want to get an overdraft fee for each additional purchase you make after the hold is put into effect.
"What do I do now?" Mom asks me, clearly near tears. (My Mom and I are best friends. It was literally breaking my heart to hear her so confused and upset.) "I still need those groceries."
Do you know how freaking hard it is to tell your own mother she has to go home and do absolutely nothing?!?! Even if it means she won't be able to eat that night? But we were up shit creek without a paddle as long as the hold was still pending and I HATE Big Oil even more because of it!!!
So I did the only thing I could do, given the circumstances, I Googled the situation and settled in to do a little research. I wasn't exactly sure who I should contact because my PayPal account is tied to my regular bank account via back-up funding. PayPal I could contact immediately but my regular bank wouldn't be open until 9 am the next morning and Mom needed the help right away.
That's when I found this article from NBC.
Turns out I'm not the only person this has happened to. Millions of people around the country are risking this same exact situation every time they fill up at the pump and press DEBIT.
Some get charged $100, some $76 (it all depends on the gas station in question) but one thing that's universal is the fact that NONE of them agreed to the charge because NONE of them were WARNED BEFOREHAND THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE ONE!!!
If this happens to you CONTACT YOUR BANK IMMEDIATELY AND ASK THEM TO LIFT THE HOLD for you!!!
That's what I did with PayPal (after reading that article above) and--lucky for me--PayPal was gracious enough to immediately address and resolve the issue for me.
Thank God PayPal is all about buye/seller protection! Within an hour the hold was lifted and I was sending a happy Mom off to the store again to buy herself some grub. :-)
It just goes to show that we all have to be dilligent when it comes to learning the rules of the companies we deal with financially on a daily basis. KNOW THE BOOSHWA YOU BANKROLL, PEOPLE!! Own that shit like another one of Paris Hilton's chihuahuas.
Otherwise, you may get a nasty surprise.
xoxo
Miss Mia
I mean, in what alternate universe is it kosher for a company to charge you a hidden $100 hold fee for a $6 purchase?!?! Is that even LEGAL?!?!?!?!?! Hellz to the no!
And to think, this all started because I had the audacity to press DEBIT instead of CREDIT at the pump!!
Okay, so I'm not the one who actually pushed the button (Whoops! Tiny Toons Flashback! Baby Plucky: "I push the but-ton!" LOLZ) but I told my Mom she could and then this happened. Same difference.
A little lost? Let's rewind...
I sell stuff on Ebay, right? (Like any other red blooded entrepreneurial American does. J'adore Ebay! Viva la révolution d'enchères! Wait, that's French, isn't it? Heh.) And I have a PayPal Premier Business Account.
Got it so far? Good.
PayPal Business Accounts are AWESOME because they allow you to accept credit card payments from almost anyone. They also come part and parcel with a nifty little debit/credit card you're suppose to be able to use anywhere Mastercard is accepted. (**NOTE: the words "suppose" and "to", there'll be a quiz on it later.) PayPal even lets you order an extra card for family, friends, and/or business associates. I got one for my mom because I like to know she has access to back-up funds when she really needs them. (Love you, Mommy! Muah!)
So imagine my surprise when Mom calls me up from the gas station yesterday and asks me what to do when the pump turns down the PayPal card after she's already poured $6 worth of gas. (She didn't bring any cash with her because she thought all she needed was the card.) The pump wasn't recognizing PayPal as a known credit card provider, despite the fact there's a Mastercard symbol dangling itself right under the PayPal logo.
"What do I do?" Mom asks. "Should I use it as a debit card?"
"No," I say. "They always charge you a fee when you use your debit card. Try taking it up to the clerk and see if he can run it through first."
Mom calls me back five minutes later saying, "He tried to run it through as credit but it didn't work."
"Okay then," I sigh. "I guess we have no other choice. Run it as debit. You remember the pin number, right?"
We hung up again, Mom promising to call me back if she ran into anymore problems. She still needed to head over to the supermarket to pick up a few groceries.
Out of curiosity I decided to log into PayPal and check to see what the new transaction fees are for using the card as a debit. (I haven't used my debit/credit cards as actual debit cards in years because of the fees associated with that.) What I saw was a -$100 transaction pending RIGHT BEFORE the -$6 gas transaction!!.
-$100?? For WHAT?!?! WTF?! Did she accidentally press one too many zeros or did the gas station attendant just rip me off through my Mom?!?!
So I call Mom back and ask her what's going on. "What do you mean?" she asks. "Everything's fine. The debit card went through, no problem."
"Oh, trust me, I know the card went through. I saw that already. What I want to know is why there's an additional -$100 transaction pending in the account now? There's no more money left. There was only $70 in that account to begin with."
Of course, poor Mom is dumbfounded, swearing she only saw the attendant swipe the card once and she made sure he couldn't see the PIN code when she typed it in. Furthermore, it couldn't possible be an error on her part since she got $6 worth of gas and not $10. An extra zero on $10 equals $100, a few extra zeros on $6 would've put me in full-body traction.
So she goes up to the attendant to ask him "Wassuuuuup?" (Because my Mom may look like a sweet looking golden haired June Clever but deep down inside she's all gangster, baby! *Throws up gang signs* LOL)
At first the attendant doesn't know what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks she's talking about (which seriously had me fuming over the phone and probably giving poor Mom a huge case of indigestion because I'm getting more certain by the minute that the asshole purposefully tried to rip her off), but then he tells her, "Oh! That's right! You used debit! There's a $100 hold they place on all debit card transactions. It's standard procedure nowadays because of the high gas prices. Don't worry, they usually lift the hold within 24 hours. It all depends on your bank."
Wait a minute...What? WHAT?!?!?! HOLY CASH COW, BATMAN!!
You're telling me Big Oil is allowed to place an additional -$100 transaction on MY card WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION?!?! *bites fist and counts to 100* (Deep breaths, Mia. Looong, deeeeep breaths. Aum. AUUUMMMM...)
Yes. Apparently, they are. Annnd...hold on to your g-strings and jock straps, America! Because it gets worse!
If you don't have more than $100 in bank and Big Oil decides to cockblock do this to you guess who's going to wind up getting screwed in the rear bumper with excessive overdraft fees?! Go on--GUESS!!
(If you can't figure it out after five minutes then go ask your Fifth Grader. According to FOX, they're most likely smarter than you anyway LOL).
That's right! YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Plus, the "hold" can be in effect for UP TO FOUR BUSINESS DAYS (depending on your bank) soooooo... UNTIL THE HOLD IS LIFTED YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE EFFECTIVELY FROZEN!! Again, if you don't have more than $100 in bank you're screwed--unless you want to get an overdraft fee for each additional purchase you make after the hold is put into effect.
"What do I do now?" Mom asks me, clearly near tears. (My Mom and I are best friends. It was literally breaking my heart to hear her so confused and upset.) "I still need those groceries."
Do you know how freaking hard it is to tell your own mother she has to go home and do absolutely nothing?!?! Even if it means she won't be able to eat that night? But we were up shit creek without a paddle as long as the hold was still pending and I HATE Big Oil even more because of it!!!
So I did the only thing I could do, given the circumstances, I Googled the situation and settled in to do a little research. I wasn't exactly sure who I should contact because my PayPal account is tied to my regular bank account via back-up funding. PayPal I could contact immediately but my regular bank wouldn't be open until 9 am the next morning and Mom needed the help right away.
That's when I found this article from NBC.
Turns out I'm not the only person this has happened to. Millions of people around the country are risking this same exact situation every time they fill up at the pump and press DEBIT.
Some get charged $100, some $76 (it all depends on the gas station in question) but one thing that's universal is the fact that NONE of them agreed to the charge because NONE of them were WARNED BEFOREHAND THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE ONE!!!
If this happens to you CONTACT YOUR BANK IMMEDIATELY AND ASK THEM TO LIFT THE HOLD for you!!!
That's what I did with PayPal (after reading that article above) and--lucky for me--PayPal was gracious enough to immediately address and resolve the issue for me.
Thank God PayPal is all about buye/seller protection! Within an hour the hold was lifted and I was sending a happy Mom off to the store again to buy herself some grub. :-)
It just goes to show that we all have to be dilligent when it comes to learning the rules of the companies we deal with financially on a daily basis. KNOW THE BOOSHWA YOU BANKROLL, PEOPLE!! Own that shit like another one of Paris Hilton's chihuahuas.
Otherwise, you may get a nasty surprise.
xoxo
Miss Mia