Embezzlement of personal funds via debit card

I've been in banking for 25 years and I can tell you when purchasing
gas using a credit card (be it a debit card when used as a credit card
or an actual credit card), they hold $1. Instead of using it as a
credit card, use it as a debit card and it will only hold the actual
amount of your purchase.

I don't know why you think this is "embezzlement", however, it is not.
Don't know why they held $125 if your husband only purchased $11
worth of gas, unless he purchased other things and just did not inform
you of such.

Law Enforcement would NOT agree this is stealing, as it is NOT
stealing. It is NOT embezzlement either. So, call Glenn Beck, call
your local TV Stations.

Again, use the card as a debit card, and it will hold only the amount
you have purchased.

I got gas yesterday after reading this letter, and their notice said
that any holds placed would be from the financial institution, not the
gas station itself. I'm wondering if that's true, and if so how come
different stations seem to hold different amounts.

Next time go inside the store, tell them how much gas you need and pay
for it inside the store instead of swiping it outside that way there
should be no hold put on funds in your account. That's what I do if I
have limited funds for gas. Is it more of a hassle? A bit, yeah, but
doing it that way I don't have to worry about funds being tied up.

Or chose a station that won't put a hold or such a large hold. I
really don't see how you are entitled to 125$.

If you ran it as credit (like you stated you did) it should not have
put a hold on there. I thought they only did that for debit
transactions. It doesn't matter though, because as long as it is just
a hold, they are not stealing from you. They are simply making sure
they get their money. There are little stickers on every gas station
I've been to recently (even the ones that don't hold your money)
saying that this may happen so it's not against the law. Yes, they
will let you overdraw your account. What happens is you have say $30
left in your account, you make a purchase for say $20 but it doesn't
post autimaticly becuase you used credit, then you make another
purchase for $15. $20 + $15 is more than $30 but becuase the first one
had not posted by the time you made the second one you are allowed to
do it and then hit with overdraft fees later. I just did it last
month. And why would they pay you $125? If your account was overdrawn
go and talk to your bank. Mine will refund any overdraft fees if the
cause is a hold that lasted more that 2 days and was for more then the
acutal amount of the purchase.

There was no embezzlement, you just didn't understand that when you
use a debit card at the machine it puts a hold on a specific amount of
money to ensure there is enough funds to pay for the gas.


Just because you are mad and want to call it embezzlement does not
make it so. I could take a giraffe and call it an elephant but... it
is still a giraffe.


Now that you know how debit cards work you may want to consider how
you use them in the future.

"What you are doing is stealing and I am sure law enforcement would
agree."

You would be wrong.

"so many vicious remarks"? I read all of the remarks and NONE could
be considered "vicious" by any reasonable standard. If someone
happens to disagree with you -- or merely points out that this was a
posted policy and your husband either didn't see it, or disregarded
it, that's "vicious"? Someone else suggests using cash (ALWAYS an
option) and that is "vicious"?

I see a big contradiction between setting the bar so low as to what
constitutes being "vicious" and then mentioning Glenn Beck in the same
breath.

Just like how telling a customer "no" isn't rude.


It doesn't stroke the ego to be told "you're wrong" but... if telling
someone when they're wrong is now "vicious".... that's ... a bit
mad.

Your husband could have gone into the station, used an ATM, and paid
with cash. Seems that even an ATM fee would be preferable to the hold
on your card.

From reading here, I've learned to avoid using my debit card to pay
for gas, hotels, sit-down restaurants, and rental cars. I'll gladly
swallow a $2-$3 fee to avoid a hold on my account.

You just need to learn how debit cards work, and what "debit holds"
are. In a nutshell, when you swipe that debit card at a gas pump (or
restaurant, or hotel, or rental car agency; anywhere you present your
card BEFORE the actual final purchase amount is known), there's a
pre-authorization done for an amount that should cover whatever size
transaction will follow, and to put that amount of money on hold to
ensure there will be enough to cover the transaction to follow. $125
seems reasonable for a gas station; they don't know at this point
whether you're filling a lawnmover or a truck with two tanks!

When you're using a debit card, this hold applies to the money in your
bank account; when you use a credit card, the hold applies to your
available credit limit.

At the end of the purchase, another transaction goes through for the
actual amount of your purchase. It can take 1-3 days for that
pre-authorization hold to drop off. This is pretty standard stuff.

As far as your statement, "There are no debit or credit cards out
there that will let you purchase anything without the funds being
available anymore. It is an automatic." This HOLD is the mechanism
used with debit cards to achieve this. The statement makes no sense
applied to credit cards as there are no funds attached to the account
at all.

The way to avoid having the funds in your bank account tied up this
way is to use credit cards instead of debit for these transactions.

This isn't news, and Shell owes you nothing. Your local news won't do
anything, unless this prompts them to put together a "understanding
your personal finances" educational human interest story.

you know). While I'm no of Shell, they are certainly not the only gas
company to do this. You are absolutely incorrect that no debit cards
will let you purchase without funds being available. They'll just hit
you with overdraft fees.
I can't wait to hear what Glenn Beck has to say about this. Or your
local law enforcement. I'm sure it will amount to the same thing - a
big fat "Who cares?". But go ahead and put a small business in the
dust because you forgot about a common policy that you've already
experienced.