Limits at the Pump

Topic: Indianapolis Living | Transportation

Posted: Wed, Apr 6, 2005

We all know that gas prices are insane right now, but I was shocked by something other than the total price after filling up my car on the way home tonight. The pump actually stopped working when I reached $50.00. OK, I was shocked by the price too, but the bigger issue at hand: have we reached some bug with pay-at-the-pump systems that limit how much gas can be pumped at a time? Are gas prices so high that they have outstripped the functionality built into the pumps? When gas prices top $5.00/gal will I have to actually make two transactions to completely fill up the car? Is this a sign I should trade in my SUV for a Prius?

Key variables:
- about 21 gallons were pumped in the car
- price per gallon was $2.38 (87 octane)
- I used my debit card
- I used a pump at Kroger on 65th and Keystone

Comments

1. Apr 6, 05 11:11 PM | bilerico said:

It's all about liability. You're not signing for anything - you're just sticking a card into a pump. Credit card companies will accept purchases that aren't signed for (convenience charges) up to a maximum dollar amount - usually $50. Most gas pumps are automatically set to a $50 limit to comply with the credit card companies. If the charge was over $50 and it wasn't signed for, you could claim it wasn't you and the gas station would have to bite the charge. Oh, the things you learn as a convenience store manager...

2. Apr 7, 05 09:42 AM | Rachel Wolfe said:

Trade your SUV for a Prius! (That is, get on the waiting list now and you might get one in 2006...)

3. Apr 7, 05 09:49 AM | Michael Packer said:

What Bilerico says makes sense. Back in my salad days as a gas station c-store jerk, the pumps certainly went higher. This was before automated pumps, mind you. Don't panic ;)

4. Apr 7, 05 10:26 AM | Brent Mundy said:

I can understand the $50 liability limit, my point is that if I can so easily hit this limit; isn't the limit obsolete? I'm sure that 20 years ago when the credit card companies envisioned this convenience charge limit they never pictured some dude not being able to get a full tank of gas because of it.

And yes, I would love to get my hands on a Prius. The gas savings alone would almost make a car payment (currently getting 13 miles/gal).

5. Apr 7, 05 01:51 PM | Steph Mineart said:

About the Prius - get my girlfriend to comment, because she's tried to worked out the math on getting one, and has discovered that it isn't cost effective to get one, much as she wants it.

6. Apr 7, 05 05:15 PM | Matt Barton said:

I don't have much of a problem with gas being so expensive right now.

I see it as motivation to get the market to move over to safer, renewable fuels, which is something we will experience at some point.

If you think gas is expensive now, just wait till supply gets really tight. Gas will be even more expensive then.

7. Apr 14, 05 11:06 AM | Shawn said:

Peak Oil, anyone? Fuel supplies will only get more constricted as demand explodes in non-G8 countries and new supplies get harder and more expensive to find.

I hope higher fuel costs create higher demand for public transportation. It would be nice to have other options for my commute from Shelbyville.

8. Apr 15, 05 06:07 PM | Brad said:

Peak oil is a scary notion. Here's an excellent site that describes the issue and links to a lot of other sources: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

9. Jun 22, 05 10:06 AM | Jason Mundy said:

I worked for a gas station back in 1987. Gas was a lot cheaper back then. It was around $1 per gallon. We had the mechanical odometer style pumps which had a different problem. It was possible to "flip" them over.

I had one person who was driving a big dump truck at a self service pump. He was able to flip the dollar amount from $99.99 to $0.00 and then ended on $1.22. Luckily the person was honest and let me know what happened.

Limits at the Pump

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