Tesco Charging £120 "Deposit" on Petrol Sales

[bramling]

Paying upfront causes the issue being discussed in this thread, the pre-authorisation of a set amount. Basically retailers can't win!

I don’t really see why that causes so much of an issue for some people. It shouldn’t be that hard to specify X pounds worth of fuel, pay for it, and then have the pump cut off. I guess it affronts people simply because they’ve always been used to doing it a certain way, and as usual people react in strange ways for anything to do with their cars!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don’t really see why that causes so much of an issue for some people. It shouldn’t be that hard to specify X pounds worth of fuel, pay for it, and then have the pump cut off. I guess it affronts people simply because they’ve always been used to doing it a certain way, and as usual people react in strange ways for anything to do with their cars!

I wouldn't want to have to go into the shop twice, once to pay and once to refund and get a receipt, but am more than happy to pay at the pump and the option to specify an amount to authorise would be a worthwhile addition and technically not hard.

 

[bramling]

I wouldn't want to have to go into the shop twice, once to pay and once to refund and get a receipt, but am more than happy to pay at the pump and the option to specify an amount to authorise would be a worthwhile addition and technically not hard.

I’m surprised kiosks have survived as long as they have really, with pay at pump having been a thing for a fair few years now. I guess it’s only the ability to sell other goods that keeps this going.

As a (related) aside, it’s sobering to reflect that self checkouts have now been a thing in mainstream supermarkets here for 20 years. I guess pay at pump has existed for a similar time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I’m surprised kiosks have survived as long as they have really, with pay at pump having been a thing for a fair few years now. I guess it’s only the ability to sell other goods that keeps this going.

Most garages I believe make more money on other goods than fuel.

As a (related) aside, it’s sobering to reflect that self checkouts have now been a thing in mainstream supermarkets here for 20 years. I guess pay at pump has existed for a similar time.

The big enabler was Chip and PIN, which is of similar vintage, though I recall some very early Sainsburys ones having a signature pad.

 

[Egg Centric]

Don’t really see the issue to be honest. There is a big problem in this country with people wanting / expecting / thinking they have a God-given right to (delete as applicable) goods or services for which they don’t have the funds to pay for. The relatively easy and cheap availability of credit over the last decade and a half has largely encouraged this. I don’t have a problem with businesses doing what they can to try and prevent this.

Quite - if you can't afford £120 (or even £1200) then you shouldn't be running a car tbh. Things can go dangerously wrong with them which cost far more to rectify...

This didn't stop me from totally ignoring the above advice as a student of course!

 

[Hadders]

Most garages I believe make more money on other goods than fuel.

This. Expect to see more food on the go type of offer in these sort of places in future. Especially on busy main roads.

 

[CarltonA]

It wont be a problem for most pay-at-pump customers but no doubt there will be difficulties for some. Using a debit card at a petrol station is to be avoided IMO. Credit cards have a safety factor if the account goes wrong as there is time to correct the issue before having to actually pay.

Hopefully, I will be permitted a small nostalgic aside. In about 1978 I set off on my 250cc motorbike to join my parents on holiday in Cornwall. With no fuel gauge on a two and a half gallon tank it was easy to mess up on fuel management. Somewhere on the A30 near the Devon/Cornwall border I found myself with a fairly urgent need for petrol. In those days many stations closed up at about 7pm or so. I had passed a couple of closed for the night petrol stations when I saw a fuel sign illuminated in the distance. I rode in to find the kiosk closed up but a primitive pay at pump was in operation. If you inserted a pound note you could have a quid's worth of two star, yippee! The note had to be the old style which was being phased out however. I nervously checked out the three pounds I had, two of the new type but one old one. I made it to Hayle on fumes, lesson learned.

 

[Lucan]

It does seem that this issue could be solved at a stroke by forcing people to pay up front. I guess one potential issue with that it it would reduce footfall in the kiosks, so reducing spend on stuff like confectionery. Personally I take the view anyone buying confectionery on a whim from a petrol station is daft, but evidently people do it

In rural areas, like where I live, the petrol station "kiosk" has taken over the role of the village shop. My local one sells everything from beer to cabbages. Costs more than the supermarket in the nearest town but saves a long drive if you just need a cabbage.

Paying upfront causes the issue being discussed in this thread, the pre-authorisation of a set amount. Basically retailers can't win!

The issue will go away over the next few years as electric vehicles start to predominate, although I suspect that will create other cans of worms!

As OP, my issue was not with paying up front, but with compulsory over-paying up front. I'd be happy to punch in that I wanted £50 worth, or if I wanted a complete fill then I could punch in (eg) £150 and get the rebate - but the latter would be at my option, not theirs.

I don't see any difference to the issue that electric charging would make. While some are free at present, that won't last.

 

[Trackman]

BA do this, god knows why.
Book flight, say £450 then they pre-authorise another £450.
As @Bletchleyite says it's a right pain for someone with a small or no overdraft.
Then it hangs around about 5 days so your card thinks it's over or whatever even though it's a 'pending transaction'
Same thing happened again, BA say dont worry about it etc.. rung the bank this time and it was cleared within 12 hours. It wasnt an instant button pressing exercise but they had to email the department who deal with it. The bank knew all about this, dunno if she broke GDPR but said they had a customer who had booked a £1500 flight earlier with BA and they did the same!

 

[bramling]

In rural areas, like where I live, the petrol station "kiosk" has taken over the role of the village shop. My local one sells everything from beer to cabbages. Costs more than the supermarket in the nearest town but saves a long drive if you just need a cabbage.

Locally to me we kind of get the same, except in my case this isn’t a rural area. Indeed it doesn’t really work very well, as the forecourt becomes congested as people take longer, and at certain times (for example when supermarkets are closed on a Sunday evening) it can cause wider congestion as everyone heads there to pick up bits. A bit of a menace to be honest!

 

[PeterC]

Locally to me we kind of get the same, except in my case this isn’t a rural area. Indeed it doesn’t really work very well, as the forecourt becomes congested as people take longer, and at certain times (for example when supermarkets are closed on a Sunday evening) it can cause wider congestion as everyone heads there to pick up bits. A bit of a menace to be honest!

The worst case is when people park at a pump, despite separate parking being available, just to shop.

 

[bramling]

The worst case is when people park at a pump, despite separate parking being available, just to shop.

Or, round here, just inside the entrance, blocking everything up including the road. Seems to be another example of where special awareness and consideration have deteriorated since 2019.

 

[8A Rail]

Or, round here, just inside the entrance, blocking everything up including the road. Seems to be another example of where special awareness and consideration have deteriorated since 2019.

Only since 2019!! You mean this century as it has always been there, as it is not something new.

 

[Devon156]

I used to work in a supermarket petrol station, the police were not interested in any type of theft unless violence was used. We had a customer who owed us hundreds when she was finally caught (no insurance or licence) the fine was less than cost of fuel stolen from us. She’d stolen similar amounts from other petrol stations nearby.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I used to work in a supermarket petrol station, the police were not interested in any type of theft unless violence was used. We had a customer who owed us hundreds when she was finally caught (no insurance or licence) the fine was less than cost of fuel stolen from us. She’d stolen similar amounts from other petrol stations nearby.

One can see why pay at the pump is becoming more popular with garages! Easier to prevent dispensing of fuel than to catch a non-payer afterwards. Same with pub style restaurants where paying in advance for your food is usual now.

To be honest I don't think it would affect how often I went into the shop if it was just a concession rather than you paying for fuel there, normally if I'm going to get e.g. a coffee I've already decided I'm going to before stopping at the garage. And it'd free up pump spaces, as once fuelled you could move forward into a parking bay by the shop and free the pump up before going in. That said I suspect they do make a lot on impulse purchases.

 

[barringtoncem]

The Sainsburys Petrol Station In The Store At Ely Has Been Unmanned Since The Store Opened

 

[Bletchleyite]

The Sainsburys Petrol Station In The Store At Ely Has Been Unmanned Since The Store Opened

The majority of more recent supermarket ones are, the main reason for which being that they want you to go in the actual store (where you might buy more stuff), not a small convenience store. Though Morrisons and Tesco petrol stations do generally have a small convenience store as well.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Most garages I believe make more money on other goods than fuel.

Indeed so. If anyone is interested in the economics of petrol station retailing, there was a good discussion about it on an episode of The Bottom Line on Radio 4 last year (listen online or download as a podcast).

 

[Class83]

I don’t really see why that causes so much of an issue for some people. It shouldn’t be that hard to specify X pounds worth of fuel, pay for it, and then have the pump cut off. I guess it affronts people simply because they’ve always been used to doing it a certain way, and as usual people react in strange ways for anything to do with their cars!

The problem is that you don't know how much exactly 'fill it up' is until you've filled it up. Buying petrol is not a recreational activity, I go when I need some/am at the supermarket and put as much as I can in the tank to minimise the time I spend getting fuel.

Offering an option to set the pre-authorisation level to less than £120 might solve the issue if it's actually a thing for more than 1 person in the country per week.

 

[jon0844]

Has anyone tried filling up with less than £120 in their account? The idea is that it starts with £120 and if there's not enough funds, it will give a lower amount and cap at that. If you have no money available, it will be refused entirely.

If you're good for £120 to be held, the difference from that and what you fill up is rectified straight after, not a number of days later.

 

[bramling]

The problem is that you don't know how much exactly 'fill it up' is until you've filled it up. Buying petrol is not a recreational activity, I go when I need some/am at the supermarket and put as much as I can in the tank to minimise the time I spend getting fuel.

That’s more because people don’t take the time to understand their cars, though.

If my car is half full, knowing that the tank is 70 litres I can make a reasonable guess that I need about 33 litres of fuel. So it would be very easy to input that and allow the pump to work out the pre-authorisation amount.

I dislike waiting for the pump to cut off as it can lead to over-filling which isn’t really desirable.

I should add that I don’t particularly enjoy visiting the petrol station either!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Does pre-authorisation of £120 always require a PIN code to be correctly entered?

 

[Ken H]

Does pre-authorisation of £120 always require a PIN code to be correctly entered?

Not for a 'customer not present' transaction. For them you need the CVV (3 digits on the back)

 

[PeterC]

Does pre-authorisation of £120 always require a PIN code to be correctly entered?

I can't recall ever having contactless as an option.

 

[Ken H]

I can't recall ever having contactless as an option.

Contactless limit is £100

 

[PeterC]

Contactless limit is £100

And you make a hole in each end of the egg

 

[Bletchleyite]

Contactless limit is £100

Unless, as almost everyone seems to now, you use a mobile phone to pay. Then, unless the terminal is badly configured, there is no limit, because the phone itself provides secure verification.

 

[stuu]

I can't recall ever having contactless as an option.

Got petrol at Morrisons just now, pumps now offer contactless for pay at the pump

 

[philthetube]

Tesco are rolling out a scheme to take £120 from all Pay at the Pump customers, even if they buy less (there is a £100 limit anyway). They refund you "shortly afterwards".

Their claim is to stop people driving off without paying. However, I don't get it - if they can charge you £120 if you drive off, why cant they charge you for the £20 (or whatever) that you actually bought? In any case, wouldn't someone intending to drive off choose the Pay in Kiosk option since that does not require you to insert your card in the pump reader?

.People are furious In many cases it is putting their account in the red. How is this even legal? Suppose I buy a bar of chocolate in a corner shop and the shop "borrows" £1000 from me for a few days? I won't be buying from Tesco in future, not even paying in the kiosk.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/tesco-shopper-blasts-crazy-amount-8250639

Which local paper do you work for?

 

[py_megapixel]

I’m surprised kiosks have survived as long as they have really, with pay at pump having been a thing for a fair few years now. I guess it’s only the ability to sell other goods that keeps this going.

Not sure if it's peculiar to my area or a nationwide thing but paying with a card reader at the pump seems to be exclusively offered by supermarkets. At branded filling stations (Shell, BP etc.), pay at pump is either not available at all or you have to use an app - which presumably allows them to replace the revenue from impulse purchases in the shop with the benefit of being able to market things through the app and collect user data, as well as perhaps the slight tendency someone might have to use the brand they already have an app for

This. Expect to see more food on the go type of offer in these sort of places in future. Especially on busy main roads.

This is already happening. BP seems to have settled on its format with M&S Food and Wild Bean Café, there's the "Asda On the Move" format at EuroGarages which often come with Greggs and Subway concessions, and provision for hot food seems to come as standard with nearly every major refit of a convenience store (in or outside of a petrol station)