So I just got home from work after filling up the tank on my motorcycle at a local Chevron gas station on my way home. I happened to check my credit card on my bank's website just randomly and I saw that there was a $126 charge on my card in addition to the $18 I spent on gas. I immediately called my bank assuming that my credit card had become compromised, or possibly I had paid for someone elses gas. I was completely surprised when the nice lady on the phone said to me that she gets the same call all the time and Chevron, as well as some other gas stations, often puts a large hold on peoples' credit cards until after the transaction has cleared in a couple of days. This is not posted anywhere and for all intents and purposes they forced me to give them a loan for a couple of days. I believe that this sort of business practice is completely unethical and should be against the law. I made an $18 purchase for which visa and my bank assures that they will get paid. I did not agree to pay 7 times the actual cost of my gas. What do you think/have you ever run into similar situations? What companies should I avoid, because I don't believe I'll ever be buying gas at Chevron again.
