Over the past 13 years of towing I have fueled up at Loves many times but either they have a new policy or the one on I 75 just north of the I 285 merge in north ATL has it's own.

Anyway, I stopped there on the way home intending to fill up (around 120 gallons plus DEF). Pulled around to the truck lanes and the wife went in to be held hostage while I pumped. After a few minutes she came back and said they would not start the pump until she gave them a number of gallons or dollar amount and that I would then either not get it full or would have to have the excess charge credited back to my card. THIS WAS TRUE EVEN THOUGH THE WIFE WAS GOING TO STAND THERE NEXT TO THE PERSON WITH THE CARD. Because I try never to encourage BS from businesses and because I believe that the way for a business to prevent shrinkage should not be to inconvience the customer, I said forget it. But, I really wanted to check the mileage and there weren't going to be many chances until the south side and I wasn't sure I had enough to get there and I really really did not want to run out. So i pulled around to the front to the pay at the pump island. Inserted the credit card and started pumping. With the price being $3.70 a gallon the pump cut me off at 100 dollars. (I can only assume that they plan on selling only to VW TDI drivers). Tank not full. So, I closed the pump down, waited for it to reset and then inserted my credit card back in as I've done many times at many pumps. It promptly told me to "PLEASE SEE CASHIER". Now, I'm starting to get a bit angry. I wait in line to see the cashier who tells me it is the credit card that sets the limits. I guess that is how they are trained, management thinks only morons buy fuel there. So I ask her to please explain how I was able to pump $450 into the tank in NC using the same card. She of course then went to plan B, "well it's only some cards that do that here". BS. So, I ask her to please reset the pump so I can finish filling the tank. She says "sure, how much are you going to pump"? She has to put an exact amount into the computer. So, I smile, tell her if she ever sees me ther again to call the looney bin because I have lost my mind. I go back to the pump, borrow my wifes credit card which is on the same account and which would be over drawn if mine was and finish filling the tank. So, if you need fuel and see a Loves sign i suggest you drive on to Pilot or whatever.

 

There is a brand new Loves being built in our town. Thanks for the heads up...won't be going there now.

 

I never use a card at love's or any truck stop, always pre-pay cash and then go back in to get the change. Pre-paying is the policy at love's, and most other truck stops for cash so I guess that is what they were doing even though you are using plastic.

Why not just give them an amount to tap your card for and then they will just credit back the amount you don't use?

 

Pilot is just as bad in my book. 2 years ago on a 950 mile trip, I fueled coming and going at the same Pilot in southern VA. Everything seemed fine on the trip down, but on the way home, they put a $500 hold on my Visa check card for a pay at the pump transaction. The bank locked my card up because of the $500 ping. I finished the trip on another card and contacted the bank on Monday morning. More than 3 days after I bought less than $125 in fuel, Pilot still had not released the $500. This year when we head to Florida again, I am going to carry cash for fuel so there are no problems.

 

Yup,par for the course for me too.This happens to me at pilot and other stations as well.I just play the game.Give them an amount and have it credited back to card the amount not used.Fairly easy to do since my wifes inside and it doesnt take much time to do it.But I agree its a customer inconvenience.But honestly most businesses involved in cust service nowadays dont give a crap about the customer.Most times you are dealing with a 25 yr old kid ( no offense to anyone here)who has no respect for anyone and could care less about the customer.

 

Yep same standards here too.
But thanks for sharing, so others know what to expect and their choices on dealing with it.

 

Exact same experience we had when traveling the northeastern seaboard a few weeks ago. And that was at Pilot, TA, Loves, and Citgo.

 

and the 25yr old is doing what he was told to do as part of his job.
he doesn't set policy.

apparently there has been a good number of scammers, and like always the 1% ruins something for the other 99% of us.

 

Nope you are missing my point.I obviously know its policy.My point was slightly off topic but relavent,there is no such thing as customer service anymore.Yes there are exceptions.

 

I agree on the customer service.

 

I get the "SEE PLEASE CASHIER" at my local Citco. I inquired about it the first time I got that message, and they told me that when they see the same CC get swiped more than 2 times within 2 days, they force a manual authorization to ensure that the person is using a valid card, and not a stolen one. In my case, I filled up my daughters car the prior day, then that day went with my truck, did the initial authorization, then cancelled that because I wanted to buy a carwash at the pump, so started over making it the third swipe in 2 days, generating the message.

In your case maybe that Love's only allows 1 per day, I dont know. Evidently as a chain, they must see their fair share of rip-offs to force pre-pay for a certain amount, then refund the difference. they are doing that to make sure *they* get paid for their fuel. A standard CC preauth at a pay at the pump is only a test for something like a $1 to make sure it goes through. If you then were to pump $200 worth of fuel, and the transaction is denied you have the fuel, they are out and trying to collect. Other than the hassle of having to go back for the refund, I dont have a problem with the process in general.

 

Does the Pilot/GoodSam RV Plus card change any of this?

 

$100 is a very common pay at pump limit, reswiping usually works fine though. The problem I've had is my bank thinks the card is stolen and shuts it off altogether on me.......
What's burns me with them is every memorial day I stop there on an annual jeep trip we take. I walk in and pay for$800 in various grades of fuel, girls will go get pizza and pops for another $50, and now charge me to use the dump station........

 

Yup, very true. Business is risk. Unfortunately, businesses have embraced the concept of passing risk on to the customer in the form of inconvenience. I've driven back-n-forth between Houston and Wilmington, NC several times over the past few years and Loves, Pilot, etc always charge $.30 or $.40 more than other stations located off the interstate. You'd think they'd be making enough to mitigate their risk.

 

That has been the annoyance at Pilot, Loves, and Flying J for along time now for me... And the limit is set by the CC company. Run into that all the time as well. I carry multiple credit cards just for that reason - seeing as I hate to go in to the cashier. Other than wanting to get bulk DEF I avoided the stations for this reason.

Now Pilot has a professional driver card that you can swipe outside and then use a credit card with.

I just hand them my Amex card and when they ask how much I say 1,000 gallons...