Fuel Pre-Payment

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Thu 10 May 2018 10:32
Fuel Pre-Payment - MikeM100

I don't like the sound of this:

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/asda-petr...l

Card 'charged' before delivery ? Bit like hire car and hotel pre-payments

So what if you want to pay by cash ?

Reminds me of visiits to States when you had to pay for fuel before delivery which made it difficult to 'fill it up' ! Do they still do that ?

I plea for the return of petrol pump attendants

I loved this bit: "Mastercard said the move was designed to prevent drivers from filling up with more fuel than they could afford"

I thought thats what credit cards were for - credit !.

Edited by MikeM100 on 10/05/2018 at 10:37

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Thu 10 May 2018 10:47
Fuel Pre-Payment - gordonbennet

Unfortunately we all have to suffer the consequences of criminal or scam/chancer actions, and this is the real reason why they are taking this action, that gentle referral to the 'forgetful' is eyewash.

I don't see the problem personally, if its stops criminals doing their thing i'm up for it.

Asda won't give two hoots for the threat to buy fuel elsewhere, they are almost always the cheapest in an area, though we personally don't use the place even though its closest because the speed humps on the Kettering site are horrible.

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Thu 10 May 2018 10:58
Fuel Pre-Payment - nellyjak

I thought this had just been suspended.?

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Thu 10 May 2018 11:09
Fuel Pre-Payment - Bolt

I thought this had just been suspended.?

It has. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44062476

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Thu 10 May 2018 11:12
Fuel Pre-Payment - Bolt

Reminds me of visiits to States when you had to pay for fuel before delivery which made it difficult to 'fill it up' ! Do they still do that ?

they did in Florida last year, I just put in 30 dollars worth till next time, nearly used it up getting lost lol

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Thu 10 May 2018 11:43
Fuel Pre-Payment - colinh

Had this system in Spain for a couple of years (at non-manned stations where the unions have allowed them!). €100 is deducted from your account if you press the "full" button only, and then the balance is refunded. If you want €20, say, it just deducts that amount.

Fortunately Spanish banks update accounts in real-time, unlike the evening batch processing in UK, so the refund is credited instanteously.

Prefer this system to the alternative of subsidising the non-paying runners

Edited by colinh on 10/05/2018 at 11:44

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Thu 10 May 2018 13:10
Fuel Pre-Payment - SteVee

I had this problem in France a few years ago. It caused me some problems because I was using a pre-loaded card and the 100 Euro charge for each fill was a problem - the 100 Euros was refunded a few days later and the actual payment charge levied. The problem was that I was filling a motorcycle - which cost much less than 100 Euros per fill, and with around 200 miles range, it sometimes needed multiiple fills per day. It wasn't a problem using a credit card, although the exchange rate and commision charges increased the cost. It doesn't cause me any problems or costs using a UK credit card in the UK.

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Thu 10 May 2018 13:31
Fuel Pre-Payment - Gibbo_Wirral

So what if you want to pay by cash ?

Not sure what the Asda filling stations are like round your way but mine are fully automated - no human pay booth at all.

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Thu 10 May 2018 13:38
Fuel Pre-Payment - badbusdriver

So what if you want to pay by cash ?

Not sure what the Asda filling stations are like round your way but mine are fully automated - no human pay booth at all.

Same here, our local Asda is fully automated so no cash.

The OP mentioned pump attendants being brought back, well the filling station (attached to a small garage) in the Aberdeenshire village of Oldmeldrum my folks live in, has just that. As does a filling station a couple of miles from me, but both probably a bit out of the way for most backroomers!.

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Fri 11 May 2018 15:44
Fuel Pre-Payment - Steveieb
Motorists in Saudi Arabia are not happy about the recent petrol price rise from 7 to 15 pence a litre !
So drive away , no pay customers are even now not a problem!
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Fri 11 May 2018 17:46
Fuel Pre-Payment - concrete

I had this in Spain this year. A Shell station in Jerez. I had to guess what I would use. As I was topping up before a journey it was not easy. I guessed at 60 Euros but used 53. The attendant in the store gave me 7 Euros cash back. Unusual, would have been simpler just to tale right amount after the fill up, but if drive aways are a problem I understand their caution. Motorbiking through France is going to be fun though. Filling up every 100 miles or so. Need to look for a manned station, if they exist!!

Cheers Concrete

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Fri 11 May 2018 18:01
Fuel Pre-Payment - Galaxy

When I was still working I often used to buy fuel fairly late at night, usually after I'd been out somewhere.

It was quite a long time ago, now, but I found that most of the fuel stations on the A127, near to where I live, wanted either a swipe of your credit card or a substantial amount of cash placed with their operative in the kiosk before they would turn your pump on!

I must say I did find this very difficult to get used to. Fortunately, in those days, I did a lot of miles so was a farily regular customer at these fuel stations so, when they saw it was me in my car, they'd usually turn the pump on for me without my having to pay a deposit!

As I was saying to a relative only the other day, the system which Asda have recently introduced doesn't sound very much to the one which I myself first encountered probably something like 20 years ago.

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Sat 12 May 2018 17:07
Fuel Pre-Payment - concrete

I know a few forum members live in France, so some information would be useful. I do not mind the automated filling stations, fairly quick and easy. As long as they are pre-authorisation as opposed to pre-payment. From memory in France earlier this year you could select an amount up to and the card would be pre-authorised. When complete the actual amount was taken and a receipt issued. I hope this is still the case.

Cheers Concrete

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Sun 13 May 2018 02:06
Fuel Pre-Payment - focussed

It's the same in France, you put your (french) bankcard in the machine do all the code bit and you get authorised and charged for up to a certain quantity, which strangely, varies from week to week.

Some weeks its 95 or 98 litres, other weeks it's 108 litres - don't know why!

Or you can queue up with the locals and pay at the kiosk at the supermarket fuel station we regularly use. The only other reason to have a manned kiosk is that they sell cooking/heating gas as well, France only has mains gas in the towns, not out in the sticks.

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Sat 12 May 2018 17:31
Fuel Pre-Payment - Bolt

I thought thats what credit cards were for - credit !.

I got stuck behind a young chap at the payment till today who got through to his 8th card before it was authorised, every card he handed over he said should have credit on it...but didn`t, till the last card

you would think people would know how much credit they have left on their cards, it would save holding other people up who want to pay and go quickly....

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Sat 12 May 2018 19:56
Fuel Pre-Payment - galileo

I thought thats what credit cards were for - credit !.

I got stuck behind a young chap at the payment till today who got through to his 8th card before it was authorised, every card he handed over he said should have credit on it...but didn`t, till the last card

you would think people would know how much credit they have left on their cards, it would save holding other people up who want to pay and go quickly....

What is worse is when they start fannying about trying to transfer from a smart phone to a credit card : this means a long delay!

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Mon 14 May 2018 02:36
Fuel Pre-Payment - Bilboman

It strikes me that one solution to all of this would be the invention of a fuel gauge that actually showed the amount of fuel left and therefore the maximum amount required to fill up. I realise that there is always a breather tube, there is evaporation, expansion, contraction, whatever and the shape of a fuel tank is always irregular, but is it really beyond the realm of 21st century science to devise a fuel gauge for a car accurate to within 5% or so?

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