Tesco Pay at Pump rip off

[Wazza]

Apparently from 1st July when you pay at pump, Tesco are pre charging £99 on your card. They then take what you spend but it can take a few days to process so they have your £99 until it’s processed. Supposedly it should get released back within 60 minutes, but I’m sure that won’t always be the case.

I’ll only pay at kiosk.

Sainsbury’s are expected to also introduce this

[Peter H]

Why? That seems a strange things to do. It won’t stop people doing a runner.

[BevS97]

Why do you say it won’t stop people doing a runner? Surely that’s exactly the point.

Is it an actual charge or a hold such as you can get at hotels when you check in ?

[Wazza]

Originally Posted by Peter H

Why? That seems a strange things to do. It won’t stop people doing a runner.

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The official line is ‘to help drivers manage finances better in real time’

[Peter H]

I don’t drive but from observation people fill their cars then pay. Do you have to put a card in to make the pumps work. If not I can see this encouraging people to do a runner

[Peter H]

Originally Posted by Wazza

The official line is ‘to help drivers manage finances better in real time’

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Thanks cross posted

[BevS97]

Originally Posted by Peter H

I don’t drive but from observation people fill their cars then pay. Do you have to put a card in to make the pumps work. If not I can see this encouraging people to do a runner

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You do at these pay at the pump stations.

[BucksBugsy]

There is a quirk in the tesco pay at pump system (as far as i understand it) which is as follows

1) when you select "pay at pump" and put your card in prior to filling tesco take £1 immediately and then allows you to draw up to £99 of fuel.

2) the balance of the payment is normally taken a couple of days later (I assume this is due to batch processing of the tesco systems but that is speculation on my part.)

3) so what happens (under the existing system) if a customer has enough funds to cover the £1 initial payment but not the balance I have no idea. It used to be that (for example) if you paid for a train ticket when on a train it wasn't possible to truly authorise the payment the banks would guarantee payment even the customer didn't have the funds. In that respect the banks (IMHO) are protecting both the retailer and the customer.

It could be that the £99 hold under the new system is a new hold but I wouldn't describe with as a rip off and has been already stated you normally have the option of paying the cashier.

[Pookie3101]

It’s not uncommon I use a BP garage and pay via their rewards app. If I chose to fill up the whole tank £100 is held. The actual amount is usually debited the following day or a bit longer if a weekend.
You do have the option to select an amount which would also be held until the actual payment is debited.
It’s not a rip off as such as they don’t actually take that amount you only pay for what you actually spend. It’s just held for that transaction. You also have the option to go in and pay for your fuel.

[disneypars]

Always pay at the kiosk at Tesco although the option to pay at the pump is there.

Our local Asda removed the kiosk so it's all pay at the pump. The last time I used it there was a pre payment authorisation of £1 which disappeared from my account when the transaction was cleared. Took several days though.