Paypal Sometimes Charges Me 75.00 to get gas..

[Andrew2]

I don't know why but I just looked at my paypal account and for some reason this is the 2nd time it has charged me $75.00 when I only get about 20 something dollars worth of gas, The transaction is pending yet the money is taken out of my account regardless. Last time I called and they removed it, So I'm sure I won't lose it.

Has this happened to anyone? Or something similar :-/

[Kasami2k4]

No. I think you're going to a gas station thats overcharging you =p

[Andrew2]

These were two different gas stations in two different cities and they are addition transactions aside from the originals :)

[capricieux]

It may be the gas station, something like that happened to me over a year ago w/ my credit card. We only got a few bucks of gas and then they charged me a larger amt. I forgot why but that's the reason my credit card went over the limit =[.

[Selena]

same thing happened to me, same amount too.
it was an exxon and i never pay for gas with my paypal card anymore usually. they actually called me i believe, or something like that. my mom took care of it though so thats a good thing.

i think its the gas stations personally

[tp07022]

Did you pay at the pump? Because if you did, what happens the gas station pre-authorizes your card for whatever the amount is that is standard for that station. After the transaction takes place, within a couple days the preauthorized amount is credited back or removed and the card is actually charged for the amount of the transaction. The reason they do this is so you wouldn't pump a 100 bucks worth of gas only to find out you only had 50 available on your card.

[Andrew2]

I notice it only happens when I don't ask for receipts :(

[xlove]

yeah some places have these things that take out fees when you use a card but when its done pending it goes back on your card this happens to me all the time but i get it back :[

[Andrew2]

Oh Ok, I'll just wait for this one then to see if it goes out.. :-s

[Kasami2k4]

Yeah, when I used my Visa at a gas station before in Michigan, they FROZE it. They froze it every time. They didn't say why though. WTF :/ Thanks for the explanation TP, though it's a retarded way to go about it

[xlove]

give them a call if not thats why i use $$ now cant trust cards man =[

[TaintedPearls]

Did you pay at the pump? Because if you did, what happens the gas station pre-authorizes your card for whatever the amount is that is standard for that station. After the transaction takes place, within a couple days the preauthorized amount is credited back or removed and the card is actually charged for the amount of the transaction. The reason they do this is so you wouldn't pump a 100 bucks worth of gas only to find out you only had 50 available on your card.
right because that has happened to me several times when i pay at the pump. it shouldn't actually ever go thru.

[Smurfwicked]

My regular bank debit card does the same thing, what it does it automatically approves $75 and then it credits back what ever ammount of the $75 you didn't use.

I think you'll look on your transactions you'll see that where the same station charging you is also crediting you in this case should be $55 if you got $20 in gas.

Not sure how it works for using pay pal but for me the credit is instantly given with no wait needed.

Basically whats happening is the pump has no idea how much gas you're going to be getting so it approves the $75 just in case.

edit: Its a good thing you check your transactions frequently especially using that account for online use, and to the all the people freaking out, I'm sure if they checked theirs they've would've noticed this too.

[Greg-J]

Because my fuel sucking daemon truck takes about $100 to fill, I have to swipe my card twice when I'm low because not only does it preauthorize $75, it only authorizes $75 so you can't pump over that.


They're not keeping your money, but if you don't want it held for the day or so they hold it I'd suggest paying cash for gas.