So, the guidelines state in all cap red letters do NOT use a gift card. Use debit or credit only. Well, that's screwed. My credit card has been skimmed twice at the pump which is the reason I started using gift cards. Furthermore, after using the card at the pump a couple of times the system automatically blocks the card from being used at the pump. I guess I will have to prepare to have 2 or 3 credit cards getting skimmed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2020 07:16AM by 1forum1.

@1forum1 wrote:

So, the guidelines state in all cap red letters do use gift card. Use debit or credit only. Well, that's screwed. My credit card has been skimmed twice at the pump which is the reason I started using gift cards. Furthermore, after using the card at the pump a couple of times the system automatically blocks the card from being used at the pump. I guess I will have to prepare to have 2 or 3 credit cards getting skimmed.

Is that what you meant to write?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2020 02:58AM by SoCalMama.

Use the Skimmer Scanner app to check for gas station card skimmers.

I also prefer to use the gift card at the pump. I have 3 on my desk right now. I guess I'll use them in the store?

So, now we have to rotate cards, so they don't lock up. I think that I only have about 10 credit cards to rotate for gas. This is lame. It's going to be very lame if they start getting skimmed too.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@1forum1 wrote:

So, the guidelines state in all cap red letters do use gift card. Use debit or credit only. Well, that's screwed. My credit card has been skimmed twice at the pump which is the reason I started using gift cards. Furthermore, after using the card at the pump a couple of times the system automatically blocks the card from being used at the pump. I guess I will have to prepare to have 2 or 3 credit cards getting skimmed.

Is that what you meant to write?

NO! I meant to write DO NOT use gift card.. Thanks!

Don't forget we are supposed to use cash for the store purchase.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Use the Skimmer Scanner app to check for gas station card skimmers.

I can't find an app with that exact name and others of that ilk have horrible reviews. Do you have more info? Thanks!

Why not buy prepaid, reloadable cards? I have one, and I even have direct deposit from a couple MSCs on it.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Why not buy prepaid, reloadable cards? I have one, and I even have direct deposit from a couple MSCs on it.

In my experience these companies are even harder to deal with when the card is hacked. One company a few years ago demanded certified letters proving the fraud and other proof that would have cost more than the $20 or $30 hacked from the card.

Isn't that the whole point of having such a card? To limit any losses? I keep about $20 on mine. If it gets hacked, I can write it off on my taxes (LOL), and it's not enough to hurt me.

When my Wells Fargo debit card was stolen and used, they got $1700+ out of my account over one weekend (I had reported it lost Friday, and WF did nothing, didn't block it or lock it or anything; they just rather calmly told me to report it on Monday. Fortunately, I had proof that I had reported it, in person, to a WF branch office; but it took almost two months for them to pay me back the loss.) With the prepaid VISA, they won't get more than $20.

Ummm, client and ms company all in one subject line?

Wow, my experience with my CC companies have been quite different from yours (I never use debit, it don't think they have the same protections). My credit cards have been compromised 3 or 4 times in the past few years. The CC company has always picked up on the fraud within the first few transactions contacting me to let me know. They've immediately removed the charges and sent me a new card. I haven't been doing gas shops since my main car is now electric. If I were I would get a few more business credit cards to use for the shops. Since the cards aren't used for anything else it isn't inconvenient if the issuer has to change the number when replacing the cards. It's a hassle but if doing these jobs regularly probably worth it.

@Sandy Shopper wrote:

Ummm, client and ms company all in one subject line?

Chevron customer first is the shop.

The MSC is not named anywhere.

@wwin wrote:

Wow, my experience with my CC companies have been quite different from yours (I never use debit, it don't think they have the same protections). My credit cards have been compromised 3 or 4 times in the past few years. The CC company has always picked up on the fraud within the first few transactions contacting me to let me know. They've immediately removed the charges and sent me a new card.

There are people who don’t have credit cards.

Group of three people trying to check into the hotel without credit, only debit and cash. Well, since they didn’t have $1600 to check in, it was a big problem.

@1forum1 wrote:

Don't forget we are supposed to use cash for the store purchase.

I have used chevron gift cards and Apple Pay for the last year for the purchases inside. The receipt generates automatically.

That being said, I’ll have to read the new (maybe not new?) guidelines. I have zero idea who my scheduler is. I self-assigned about 50 within 20 miles of my house.

ETA: Yep. Definitely the case, since it is on the quiz.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2020 06:00AM by SoCalMama.

Reviews are skewed. Don't place too much weight in them.

I found out about Skimmer Scanner from a techie website. The engineers were hired by a police department to reverse engineer a skimmer found at a gas station. After success, they created the app.

That was good enough for me.

@sestrahelena wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Use the Skimmer Scanner app to check for gas station card skimmers.

I can't find an app with that exact name and others of that ilk have horrible reviews. Do you have more info? Thanks!

By law, banks have to give you a credit when your account is affected by fraud. Wells Fargo calls it Regulation E.

@ceasesmith wrote:

When my Wells Fargo debit card was stolen and used, they got $1700+ out of my account over one weekend (I had reported it lost Friday, and WF did nothing, didn't block it or lock it or anything; they just rather calmly told me to report it on Monday. Fortunately, I had proof that I had reported it, in person, to a WF branch office; but it took almost two months for them to pay me back the loss.) With the prepaid VISA, they won't get more than $20.

They did eventually repay me. Took 7 weeks. They said I didn't report it until the following Monday, and asserted I had used it. I had to file a fraud report and endless hassle. If I hadn't been able to prove that I had reported it in person on Friday, I don't think they would have repaid me. The person used it at Walmart to buy a big-screen TV and many other items over 300 miles from my home, in the same city that I reported the card lost/stolen on Friday afternoon.

I posted about this several weeks ago, when an editor dinged me for paying with a gift card...guess they updated the guidelines.
This is utterly ridiculous. I certainly don't have 10 credit cards to rotate for doing shops, so they'd better hope my 2 paypal cards and 2 debit cards hold out for a full day of shops. What, exactly, are they testing here? They want timing for pumping a gallon of fuel, and they want to know whether or not the ICR is working. There is zero reason that a gift card won't accomplish both of those things. So frustrated!!

@Mousegal I remember that post. I still finished off the 3rd quarter using the gift cards. I’m not risking it this quarter after seeing the quiz.

I am the lucky one, I guess... there is only one location (and one card for my version of the project) for me.

Although I don’t do these particular shops, I do plenty of shopping work, and use my American Express card. The reason? Of all the cards I have ever used, AmEx, without fail, has the best customer service. Whenever I’ve had unauthorized charge issues, or even stores that just want to nitpick over returns, I call them up and they reverse the charge and investigate. No lengthy questioning, and you are “right until proven otherwise”.

Contrast this to Bank Of America who wanted a certified letter and made me seem like the bad guy when unauthorized charges showed up from Australia. I hadn’t even traveled there, and there were local charges on the same card on the same day.

American Express is the way to go... I have a business card for shopping projects, and personal card for my everyday. They also offer a prepaid card called “Serve” if you want to go that route... same customer service.

Just thought I’d toss that out there... I didn’t realize why everyone is so loyal to them until I had them and had my first “issue”. As far as stores not taking them, it’s so much less of a problem than it used to be — I have a backup Visa for the 2% of times they don’t take them.

Not trying to make a commercial — but if you are worried about dealing with skimmers and fraud, their process for handling that sort of thing is far and above what I’ve experienced elsewhere.

Good info about Amex! The kicker, though, is that you can only use it at two stations of the same brand per 24 hours. Any one credit card from any institution. So more payment methods are needed if doing more than 2 per day. All major gas brands that I have shopped have the same rule. It will decline the card at the third station. It must be a petroleum industry standard.

@sestrahelena wrote:

Good info about Amex! The kicker, though, is that you can only use it at two stations of the same brand per 24 hours. Any one credit card from any institution. So more payment methods are needed if doing more than 2 per day. All major gas brands that I have shopped have the same rule. It will decline the card at the third station. It must be a petroleum industry standard.

Yep. This. Had a route of Chevrons today...card quit on shop three. It works fine inside, just not at the pump. So..I took pics of the "please pay inside" prompts, and then paid inside. Have a large route of these tomorrow. It will be the same. Apparently this is what they want, so..that's what they'll get.

@Mousegal wrote:

@sestrahelena wrote:

Good info about Amex! The kicker, though, is that you can only use it at two stations of the same brand per 24 hours. Any one credit card from any institution. So more payment methods are needed if doing more than 2 per day. All major gas brands that I have shopped have the same rule. It will decline the card at the third station. It must be a petroleum industry standard.

Yep. This. Had a route of Chevrons today...card quit on shop three. It works fine inside, just not at the pump. So..I took pics of the "please pay inside" prompts, and then paid inside. Have a large route of these tomorrow. It will be the same. Apparently this is what they want, so..that's what they'll get.

That bites.
I pulled out all of my credit cards when I did a route last weekend. Some of them a rarely use. I have a really old Target Mastercard that I can use anywhere. The new ones only work at Target. I also haven't been using my Carnival Cruise Mastercard lately, as I don't need any more cruise points. Who knows when we will be cruising again? I just keep them in order in my wallet, use them one by one and then repeat once I have run through them all.

Yeah, we don’t use credit cards much. I have two Paypal cards, and two bank debit cards.
I honestly just think this is ridiculous that they are asking us to use (and risk having skimmed), our own cards this way, when the gift cards work perfectly.

There was no issue with my card when/after I purchased fuel at my recent shop.

Does the client want to recoup some money from the mystery shops for which they reimburse shoppers? Otherwise, some other merchant gets money and the client gets no money. Yes? No? Maybe so?

I use three different accounts for MS. I have a SoFi account, a Level Account and I also use BB&T. I call and let them know I am doing multiple shops and they note my account. The best part is I get cash back on all these cards 1-10% . I have a referral code for the SoFi if anyone wants it so you can get a $50 bonus and I get a $50 bonus. (FYI on SoFi I lost my card and someone else "found " it and started using it as their own. SoFi handled everything and I had my money back in 24 hours.)

@Shop-et-al wrote:

There was no issue with my card when/after I purchased fuel at my recent shop.

Does the client want to recoup some money from the mystery shops for which they reimburse shoppers? Otherwise, some other merchant gets money and the client gets no money. Yes? No? Maybe so?

It is the Chevron gift card they "outlawed" so I think it's actually money they are losing. Every time we pay with a credit or Visa/MC branded debit card, they are losing what...3%?

And the issue doesn't occur the first time...it's when you've done 10 shops already in a day (mystery shops, non-reveal, takes 10-12 minutes). I am not going to be forced into the position of having to use 4 or 5 different cards for one day's shops...I'll just stop taking these if it comes to that. In the meantime, my reports will all have a photo of "Please pay inside" screens...and then a receipt for the card inside...

Ahh. The large number of shops and the large number of purchases increase the chances of a card being skimmed.