AIBU to have lied?

[toningwater]

Payday not till tomorrow. Had a meeting 40 miles away.

I lied at a petrol station and said apologetically I'd forgotten my purse and filled a form in.

I have 48 hours to pay.

Just make sure you keep proof of payment-I filled out the form once when I actually had forgotten my purse and went back either the same day or next day to pay (I forget which) and months later they sent me a threatening letter about taking me to court over the non payment!!

@BarbaraofSevillle

I did not create the rule. I don't control visa or MasterCard. Why are you arguing with me?

I'm sure there must be a petitions somewhere for them to change the rule, go find out. Argue with them.

Visa put out a statement saying there had been too much abuse. People using it for fuel they couldn't pay for, then going into an overdraft and being charged fees for however long they stayed in it. Then being unable to afford the fees and complaining about that etc.

As soon as your card is authorised, you have the ability to obtain £99 of fuel. They just want to make sure it can be paid for. If you want less and have less than £99 in your account and the system has been upgraded to the new spec, then you just can't use it. Thems the rules. I didn't cause it.

I'm not arguing with you .

I'm simply pointing out the difficulties that such systems create, that many people may be unaware of until it affects them directly, such as the petrol pump bags all their money for a couple of days and they are unable to buy other essentials.

@Chrisjenavasalara

I don't think you understand. They aren't making any extra money and at the end of the day you won't have actually been charged extra. I'm not explaining it again. It was well publicised and still is if you just Google it.

Yes I DO understand thanks ... And I HAVE looked into it, and they ARE making money from people, as it can take 3 days for the difference to go back into your account.

Many people have been disgusted with it. Taking £99 from someone's account (even if they only had £20 of petrol,) and then refunding the difference 3 days later!!! And you say it's not a money making scam exercise.

Jog on!

As a few others have said, some people may only have £103 in their account, and won't be able to pay for bus fares or food until the extra money they stole - yes STOLE - is put back into their account.

Taking £99 when you have only had £20-30 of fuel is disgusting, and they should be ashamed. Like fuck would I tolerate that.

And I know 'THEMS THE RULES' as you so eloquently put it, but the fact that you think it's OK says a lot about you.

It's another example of how expensive it is to be poor.

@newnameforthis7

I don't agree with it. I actually wrote an article about how shit it was at the time, which i probably why i know about it more than others. But that's the way it is, and I was just making people aware of it on here. Then you all start arguing with me like I have control over it, and coming up with "what if" scenarios... what do you want me to do? I didn't make the rule up. That's the way it is.

Am I the only one budgetting for January's long gap to pay day?

It’s pretty shocking and I didn’t inow about it. Also when some banks are now charging exorbitant interest rates for making use of AGREED overdraft facility (66% ish is Lloyd’s annual rate and is now under investigation by oops forgot the authority) it’s worrying. That could unexpectedly take you into your
Overdraft when you had no such intention and no idea.

@newnameforthis7

And just one more thing. They don't ever have that money.

When you authorise a card, your own bank ring fences that amount. So the bank just puts a hold on the £99. The petrol station doesn't even get a sniff at it.
The station will then tell your bank how much your spent. Your bank will send them that exact amount. Your bank will then release the remainder back into your account.

The petrol station don't get the extra money at all, not even for a few days. So they don't earn interest on it or anything. It's your bank who holds it as an authorisation.

Chrisjen - I haven’t seen anyone arguing with you! You’ve been brilliant giving info and the rest of us are joining in a discussion. Nothing has been personal at all.

I recently went to petrol station where you had to go inside and pay BEFORE you got your fuel. I just paid £35 and stopped pumping when I reached that amount. I don’t know what would have happened if I had gone over or if I had overestimated how much I needed.

On second thoughts, perhaps they were controlling the pump and I suppose they could have refunded an overspend but what a faff!

Perhaps they have had a lot of drive offs or forgotten wallets.

I did this once, I didn't have my purse. Anyway, same thing, I went and paid it feeling mortified.
Apparently however they have regulars that do it and pay a couple of days later when they have been paid

It's another example of how expensive it is to be poor.

^THIS

I was thinking about starting a thread along these lines. I may still do so sometime, if you don't mind.

I've seen signs in petrol stations where they tell you they'll add £10 admin fee if you can't pay then and there and have to come back in the next day or two. This represents approx an extra 10-15% on a full tank, but when you can only manage to put £10-£20 in at a time anyway, it's a lot extra (yes, I realise they're a business not a charity and fully within their rights to do so, you've taken fuel for which you had no means to pay, etc. etc.).

It's like when you sail close to your maximum available funds with your bank and dip into OD (or over your authorised OD) and get fees whacked on. Yes, it's all in their T&Cs, you've temporarily used their funds without asking them, I get that. All it means is that people with very little money available at the end of the month (for any of a myriad of reasons) then start the very beginning of the next month with even less.

It massively annoys me when you see the periodical government reports berating fuel stations for ripping off motorists, saying that, with current fuel markets, they should be charging a penny or two less per litre. That's as maybe, but when they're taking something like 85% of the cost to the motorist in tax and VAT (I thought it used to be illegal to add tax and then charge VAT on the whole amount - may be wrong there), it's extremely hypocritical of them to hurl mud at the retailers.

Also, I just had to tax the car and saw the several options open to you. The standard quoted price is if you can afford to pay the whole 12 months upfront. If you can't afford it and have to pay for 6 months at a time (whether or not by direct debit) or monthly, they whack an extra 5% or so on to the total cost. I understand when private companies do this, as they can't get interest on your money if you don't pay it upfront, but for the government to do it (and it's all automated, so it doesn't cost them extra in admin costs) is an absolute slap in the face.

There'll be somebody along soon to say that running a car is a privilege and, if you can't afford to cover all costs upfront, you should just use the non-existent bus service to get to and from your 12-hour night-shift. Alternatively, an electric car will save you hundreds in tax and potentially more hundreds in fuel, so why not 'simply' shell out thousands upfront and buy one of those instead.

I recently went to petrol station where you had to go inside and pay BEFORE you got your fuel. I just paid £35 and stopped pumping when I reached that amount.

I've had this once - at a relatively remote petrol station in the middle of a very fast, traffic-free A-road. Fair enough if they do suffer from a lot of bilking and need to protect their business, but I imagine this has the unintended effect of people who know they need fuel, but don't know exactly how much they could fit in the tank, just using them as a stop-gap and paying for £20-worth - and then filling up completely in the next few days at a more traditional pay-afterwards station (if they're able to afford it).