Gas station question (Rant)

[Motorcycledave]

Hi, I can answer that

Hi it was good to see you at the Nor Cal Rally
It is a requirement for the vendor to have the ZIP code to process the sale
if you are at a gas pump just enter 12345 that is the generic code for Canada.
Ride Safe
Dave

Hi all,
I have just returned from an 18 day 4000 mile run which included the Norcal rally. Had a great time, except for riding in and through the tornado in Salt lake City last thursday.

My question (rant) is this:
Why do i need a postal code to use a credit card at a gas pump in the US? I live in Canada, i don't have a postal code. i have a zip code. So, I put in my card, go through all kinds of screens only to have it say that I have to go inside and see the cashier.
Now here's the funny part.... i go inside, usually wait in line, have to guess at how much gas I need, slide my card in the machine....... and go out and put gas in the bike. No questions about postal codes. No pin numbers required. No ID shown, just a huge waste of time. And all for under $10 worth of gas.......

Thankfully only about 2/3 of all the gas stations asked for a zip code.

Ray

 

[ARtraveler]

Security reasons for sure. The go-inside part kind of screws that up though. I always carry some cash--just in case. In Canada, I always get my "funny money" in advance--from a bank. So I don't get shafted by the many places that take advantage of the exchange rate.

 

[Deer Slayer]

Hi all,
I have just returned from an 18 day 4000 mile run which included the Norcal rally. Had a great time, except for riding in and through the tornado in Salt lake City last thursday.

My question (rant) is this:
Why do i need a postal code to use a credit card at a gas pump in the US? I live in Canada, i don't have a postal code. i have a zip code. So, I put in my card, go through all kinds of screens only to have it say that I have to go inside and see the cashier.
Now here's the funny part.... i go inside, usually wait in line, have to guess at how much gas I need, slide my card in the machine....... and go out and put gas in the bike. No questions about postal codes. No pin numbers required. No ID shown, just a huge waste of time. And all for under $10 worth of gas.......

Thankfully only about 2/3 of all the gas stations asked for a zip code.

Ray

Same reason the paper don't come out of the pump. They want you to come in and buy something. I WILL NOT!
:riding:

 

[bcer960]

if you are at a gas pump just enter 12345 that is the generic code for Canada.
/QUOTE]


Ill try that next time Dave, thanks.

Nice meeting you as well.

 

[cognaccruiser]

Since I started using this formula. It has never failed to work. Don't know what to tell you.

I know this thread is a little old now but I agree and don't know why bcer960 wasn't able to get it to work. We just got back from the Red Rock Rally (which was great incidentally) and traveled many of the same areas. Whenever the pump asked for a zip code we used the 3 numbers from our postal code in sequence and added the two 0's after. Never failed to work for us. Amusingly, we traveled part way back with a fellow spyder ryder from Oregon and at one station he had to go inside because the pump wouldn't take his zip code from two different credit cards. He wasn't impressed but it was sort of funny to us.

Gary

 

[bcer960]

I know this thread is a little old now but I agree and don't know why bcer960 wasn't able to get it to work. We just got back from the Red Rock Rally (which was great incidentally) and traveled many of the same areas. Whenever the pump asked for a zip code we used the 3 numbers from our postal code in sequence and added the two 0's after. Never failed to work for us. Amusingly, we traveled part way back with a fellow spyder ryder from Oregon and at one station he had to go inside because the pump wouldn't take his zip code from two different credit cards. He wasn't impressed but it was sort of funny to us.

Gary

Can't tell you why, I tried 21900. Next time I'll try the 12345.....

Ray

 

[billybovine]

http://www.mastercard.ca/education/travel-tips/US-gas-code.html

 

[bcer960]

so, after reading the post above, I called my bank. A few months ago we got new cards, and were told that we did not need to inform the bank if we were going to the states anymore. Apparently that is not quite true. If I had of told them, then my postal code #'s would have worked.........

 

[SuperDave_GPS]

If this is such an impediment to your enjoyment of the experience: why not just pay with cash? :dontknow:
I agree with Roger...

I am a Canadian, and with my experience of travelling into the US (geocaching trips), I've discovered that the advertised price for fuel on those big gas-station signs is ONLY if you pay with cash.
If you pay by credit card, the price per gallon is actually a few cents more.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I am a Canadian, and with my experience of travelling into the US (geocaching trips), I've discovered that the advertised price for fuel on those big gas-station signs is ONLY if you pay with cash.
If you pay by credit card, the price per gallon is actually a few cents more.

I just noticed that also on my recent trip. There was a day when the CC companies' agreements with retailers prohibited adding surcharges to cover CC processing fees. I don't know if that provision of the agreements has fallen due to retailer pressures, or if the latest consumer finance law now allows it. But if I recall correctly the upcharge was on the order of 3 cents/gallon. At $2.50/gal the 4% rebate on my Costco Visa card still gives a $0.07/gal reduction over the cash price.

 

[Trbayth]

They don't call it a surcharge if paying by credit; they call it a discount if paying by cash. /shrug

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

They don't call it a surcharge if paying by credit; they call it a discount if paying by cash. /shrug

In which case the price on the pump should drop, not rise, when you start pumping! :dontknow:

 

[Gray Ghost]

Not all stations do that so you really have to watch. When we lived in Kissimmee, FL there was a Shell station in the middle of a strip mall area (13725 S Apopka Vineland Rd, Orlando, FL 32821). I remembered their credit card price as being ridiculous so I just looked it up. A review from 6 months ago said regular was $1.79 cash price, $5.99 credit card price. When I last worked retail American Express charged the retailers the most and that was 6%, just about everybody else charged 3%. That station was not the reason for the Orlando area being called the Happiest Place on Earth.

 

[jcthorne]

I can tell you the CC processing agreement we have for our business does not prohibit charging a CC processing fee. Also the max fee charged is 5%, goes down based on volume for us.