Gas Station Alert in Plano: Customers Charged More Than Double?

PLANO, TX – A resident living at the Villages of White Rock Creek is raising a serious alert for all Plano drivers. At the Sam’s club gas station on Ohio and McDermott Rd the credit card machine is charging more than double the amount of your actual gas price!

Even though the receipt will show the correct amount, your credit card will be charged more than double, according to the resident. In their case “I put gas for $ 41.2, I always keep receipt, and after 5 minutes my card company (according to my alerts) texted me that Sam’s gas station charge $ 100.00.”

Asking Customer Service

The next stop for the resident was the Customer Service desk. There they found out “it’s happened to many customers and money will come back to your account”.

Be alert on how much you pay, and have your receipt with you. Staying cautious is your best choice.

What do other neighbors think? Did it happen to them, too?

Unfortunately, yes. This is their take on the situation:

One of the neighbors thinks this might be simply a credit hold: “It happens to me all the time. The charge gets reversed and the actual charge is what shows up to be paid on the monthly statement. I was shocked at first but then realized what they were doing”

This is seconded by another resident who says “I have seen it happened not only Sam’s but other Statius so well. Only statement shows exactly charges.”

Whereas the hold procedure is known to several people, some of them thought that it had been stopped.

One of them advises everyone not to get stressed about it: “They do the same thing when you rent a car. Don’t panic. Unless the hold will cause other transactions to bounce. In that case, pay cash, and you’re golden.”

Shedding more light on the issue a comment points out it’s not the actual gas station doing it: “They do that at a lot of gas stations to ensure u can pay. If u have less than 100 u have to go inside and pay and tell them exact amount u will put on ur card. I’ve also been shocked by this and I’ve been told it’s not the gas stations it’s actually who ever is ur card holder.”

There is also a resident who didn’t have that happen before. However, it could be because the transaction was pending and the hold dropped off.

One of the residents explained the situation for everyone: “It is simply a “hold” to authorize your card because when you put your card in at first, it doesn’t know how much gas you’re getting yet. It could be $10 or $100. The system needs to make sure you have a fair amount of money authorized because if you only had $10 available on your card but you spent $50 after the fact, they would lose money. Once your transaction is finalized, the actual amount is debited and the rest is released. It may take a couple of business days but it usually quick. The authorization does not post on your account, it is a temporary hold.“

Apparently this also happens at Kroger: “Normal stuff, it happens to one person not another. It happened to me one time at Kroger (Parker & Tollway) and I have been buying gas there for close to 20 years. I thought my account was hacked! It was fine…but that should never happen”

How to avoid the issue completely?

Possible ways to go round the problem have been suggested.

According to one of the neighbors in the area “Only a debit card with a pin will charge exact amount. Credit Cards put a hold up to $125.00 and then it will off in 2 to 3 days and the actual charge will show up. Standard procedure.”

For extra security you can choose to pay in cash and not have to worry about any amounts put on hold.

Another resident suggests this to forestall fraud: “It is best to go to gas stations where you can pay inside instead of at the pump. Paying inside does not place a hold on your card and you will only be charged what you use. Even if you tell them a higher amount to prepay. Paying inside also stops thieves from stealing your credit/debit card information.”